Rhubarb Rhubarb!

Right I am not going to talk about the weather as it is getting rather repetitive, all I will say it that it is perfect weather for ducks!

I managed to get half an hour out in the garden today and picked our first harvest of the year! As you can probably guess from the post title it was indeed rhubarb. I only picked four stalks as I did not want to leave them growing for much longer otherwise they become rather tough and woody. I have washed, chopped and frozen them for use later. I also picked off another flower and put it in the compost bin along with the leaves.

The sweet peas have reached about 10 inches so I pinched out the tips so they will become bushy and produce more flowers once they get planted out. The girls enjoyed them. I watered the seedling that appeared a little bit on the dry side as I don't want to kill them off through under or over watering. It is starting to warm up a little bit in the greenhouse, I still have not purchased my thermometer yet.

It has stopped raining the past hour and the girls are making the most of it having a good scratch about in the mud! I think I really need to put the slabs back down it is like a quagmire in the run at the moment. They have been quite good the past week by keeping under shelter when it has been raining . They seem to get the idea that you stay out of the rain! We had four eggs today, it always seems that we get four eggs on a Tuesday, funny that.

I decided to flick through my gardening magazines last night, looking for some inspiration in the garden and what I could do whilst the weather (oops, there I go again!) is too wet to actually do any proper gardening. I found several packets of seeds that were still attached to the covers that I had forgotten about. One was Hot Cayenne Chillies which can be sown now so I am going to do those tomorrow. There was also an interesting article by Monty Don all about seed sowing and how to boost germination by using a propagator or heat mat. As I have neither I think I shall be making use of my sons bedroom windowsill again as this gets the most sun (when it shows!) and is generally quite a warm spot.

And finally.....I published the new recipe for my online cooking class Lemon waffle pie! The link is on the recipe page for anyone interested. I made it yesterday and it has already been devoured! Bye for now and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day x

Scarf, gloves and hat at the ready!

Everything is wrapped and protected now as we sit and wait to see what comes. Parts of the country has seen snow and sleet and in large areas rain. So far I have just had a few drops of rain but it has turned rather cold. I have my hat, scarf and gloves on the table in the lobby ready for walking the dogs tomorrow and I always wear my wellies even if the sun is shining!

The girls laid two eggs today, I think they spent most of their energy on emptying out the coop! There was bedding and newspaper scattered all in the run. I cleaned out the coop and cleaned up the mess they had made. They sure are a mucky bunch.

I sowed a few more seeds today some sweetcorn and a couple more of tomato. I will need to sow some more cabbages and peas but I think I will give it a week or two before doing anymore sowing and hope that the weather improves.

I removed the flower from the rhubarb today and hope that by doing so this cold weather will not cause any damage to it. The little round ball behind the pinkish flower looks like it is going to be another flower. I only planted the rhubarb last year so we did not get to have much from it as you are not supposed to take anything from it during it's first growing year. It seemed such a waste that I did take four stalks and made a small crumble with it. It looks like there is going to be plenty this year though.

And finally.....Just as I am finishing this the heavens have opened and my water butt will be filling up nicely. I bid you a good evening or day x

An oddity among the rhubarb!

Well the sun was still shining today, all gardeners are talking weather in the forums. It is supposed to change mid-week. Everyone is busy placing fleece and cloches on everything in a vain hope it will survive. We had a very warm spring last year followed by a wet summer, throwing everything in the garden out of sync. I wonder what this year will hold for the humble gardener.

Whilst having my daily wander around the garden doing my inspections this evening I noticed something rather odd looking growing out of the rhubarb. The only way I can describe it is that it looks like a head of broccoli. After a quick look on the web I have since found out that this is in-fact a rhubarb flower and needs to be removed as it takes all the goodness away from the production of the rhubarb. My battery had run out on my camera so I will post a photo tomorrow before I remove the flower.

Two of the pepper seeds have started to emerge today, however my seed germination does not appear to be as good as last year due to the much cooler weather we have had this year compared to this time last year. It has obviously had an effect on seed germination. I think I will look into getting a heater for the greenhouse for next winter to help speed things up a bit.

The girls laid two eggs today, Matilda has been busy jumping for flies, whilst Octavia was contending in the cabbage leaf chuck! She would take a peck at the leaf then fling it over her head. It was quite comical to watch and Dory and Bell were having a tug of war with a cabbage leaf stem. They sure will make great contenders for the chicken Olympics!

And finally..... It's getting late and my bed is calling. I'll bid you goodnight and good day x