Spring-ish cleaning!

I say Spring-ish as its not quite Spring yet, in fact this last week or so it has been very very cold here. I have checked my planting diary from last year and I am already two weeks behind where I was in 2012. I don't know about you, but as much as I love my garden, I hate being cold. 

Sprouts were first order of business this week, Along with my leeks, they have been very successful and plentiful over the winter. In fact so successful that even the dog and the hens have been eating them. Gibson, it would appear is very partial to a sprout, with no obvious detrimental effects. 

The remaining stalks were looking a bit sad, but it didnt take long to clear them. 

We have been eating these remaining few all week and the last of them are ready for dinner tonight. 

They were a variety called Brigitte F1, I will definitely be growing them again . They were delicious. 

And then the broad beans. Up until the end of January, the beans I planted late last summer were amazing, lots of growth and loads of flowers, in fact they were so good, I was jovially accused of faking pictures by some of my readers. I got my comeuppance though, Snow did them lots of damage and now they are very sad to look at. Some are making valiant efforts to regrow, but I am not sure what the outcome will be. 

For reasons known to me at the time, but to be honest, now long forgotten, I planted another row of broad beans in a different bed, right across the middle. Not the most sensible thing to have done, as the bed was now split in two by a row of beans. 

Only 5 had survived the snow, so I decided to try a bit of transplant surgery and move them in with the others. The advice I received from fellow gardeners varied from, "It will be fine", to "don't do it they will die!! ". So I did it anyway. 

They are now resident under the straggly beans, it will be interesting to see what happens. 

Now I had three of my bed completely empty and one still full of a green manure that I planted at the end of the summer. I seemed to remember the instructions on the packet, that I could no longer find, said to cut the grass and leave it on the soil for a couple of weeks, before digging it in. Jim got out his strimmer, and made short work of it for me. 

The other three beds all had a dressing of two year rotted, New Forest Pony manure and quick turn over with the rotivator. 

They are now prepared, and ready to provide me with another's summers bounty. Potatoes will be going in next week. 

I had lots of birds for company whilst this was going on, they were really enjoying all the nice fat worms that were being turned up. This little chap stayed all afternoon. 

All I need now are for my seeds to grow. Not much happening on that score yet, but signs of life are definitely in the offing. 

My rude chillies are growing nicely, 

Others are not looking so good, I think this may actually be a weed that has grown in the compost, but I shall give it the benefit of the doubt for now. 

Thats all I have to report from the veg patch for now, at the  other end of the garden, we have been trying to remove a huge bush root for a couple of weeks, I think it may be a long job as the roots spread is huge. 

And finally, out and about, we made a flying visit to france last week to visit our TR6 under restoration. This is the view that greeted us from the garden where we were staying.

Beautiful, I think you will agree.. Have a great week.