Time to nurture

Seed sowing time and a Gardener needs their inner Mamma/Papa coming through every step of the way. One false move and it can all be over. Too much heat/too little. Too much water/too little. Glass on/glass off. In the cold frame or not? the days can be really warm in March and the nights still below zero. This week at Heale, we lost power to the greenhouses for about half an hour and the temp dropped 5 degrees (not much but in a frosty morning quite a lot!). HG is on the case but with no Gardener in at the weekend, it is a testing time. Still we have lots on the go. Salads, Celeriac, Peas, Sweet peas, Brassicas, Leeks. We did some flower sowing this week, lots to come, Cobea, Clitoria, Zinnia, Cosmos, Ipomoea and more.

One sunny blue sky day this week, I was reminded why we all stick to Gardening and what pulls us through the long Winter. We had a warm bright day, Daffodils arching their necks to the sun, birds flitting about my head, Swans on the river and soil *just* warm enough to get planting. We got our first Broad beans in and made some Hazel supports for them. 

We are pretty much ready to go in the veg garden. We spent time mucking the wigwams, which will provide support for climbing flowers and possibly some extra Runners (along side our productive Bean plot). I can picture it all now.

In the bigger picture the garden is undergoing some changes and HG has been busy preparing a new seated area. The Japanese tea house has been released from its Winter shutters and has come back to life. It is such a treat to see it peeking out of the trees from the Veg Garden. The weather has been strange though this year and wandering through past some of the early Magnolias, the buds have been damaged. They came too early and got frosted which is so upsetting because they are such beautiful blooms when they are at their best.

I got to explore the wider picture last week. A quad bike trip into the fields and woods high above the valley. We went collecting Pea sticks and supports. Certainly gives you some perspective. Returning into the garden down the drive, you realize how small it is really and if the Leeks don't work perfectly, well there is always next year ;)