The Old Vicarage B&B, Little Ouse

Time to start separating the onion seeds that grew last year. Between the onion rows, there are sowings of Carrots (Nantes type) as well as radishes and beetroots. I sow half a row of each and then will do another sowing in a fortnight.

When sowing seeds, I put in the drill and water that, then sow the seeds in the wet drill, before using the back of the rake to smooth the drill over.

On the left I have sown mixed lettuce leaves and perpetual spinach under the plastic sheet. The plastic sheeting is the bag a mattress was delivered in. I split it with a stanley knife and will keep it on until the seeds show through.

The main reason that I put a cover on the vegetable plot is that the deer, rabbits and other animals, will forage in any recently dug areas.

In the car park at the front of the house I have set up a couple of decorating trestles with scaffold boards on to start hardening off the geraniums and other plants.

During the renovation I had some guttering left over. I have now moved the strawberries from the fruit bed and popped them in these. I have used the soil they were growing in. This has the advantage that it does not dry out as quickly as the new peat free shop bought compost.

The majority of the strawberry plants are Elsanta. I have bought a new variety Fenella and will see how that one fairs over the next few years. This year, I’ll stop any fruiting on it and try and get as many runners as possible.