It's March

1st March already today, how time flies when you are having fun, and it's almost time to put in those long awaited potatoes. Last night it was so stormy, the windows were rattling and I could hear the swirling of the leaves, I haven't had a minute to go and check everything is ok today but I'm hoping it will be.

My tomatoes are coming up a treat on the draining board. My husband thinks that 20 plants is too many but we'll see, 10 are a bush type giving cherry toms and 10 are moneymaker a traditional type of tomato, we'll see how we go on, I love tomatoes in salads and we eat a lot of tomato based sauces with pasta, I also have a great recipe for tomato chutney so chances are there won't be many left even if we do keep the 20 plants and we have a large extended family who will welcome any that we can't eat.

That's one thing I am wondering about, because this is our first year it's hard to know just what sort of yield we will get, I suppose some things will be successful and others not, it's just a case of trial and error.

Am hoping to get to the plot tomorrow after church, it's my 2nd Mother's Day and I am hoping my husband has remembered to get at least a card. Then later in the day we have to go and visit our own Mum's, will have to find 10 minutes though just to check over the wind damage.

Making progress

This was part of the plot before we started today, (we've done more now) it's really making progress and just from cultivating some of the land the drainage has improved massively. The nice weather has also helped and my drainage trench at the back of the plot. We've been making small steps forward the last couple of weeks but looking at the photographs really helps illustrate just how much progress we have made. Mini is loving going down to the plot now and getting muddy, last week I had to stop her from eating mud off her spade, aren't kids lovely!?

So far we have broad beans and early peas in the ground and some new raspberry canes. I have parsnips and tomatos coming up in trays and the potatoes are spread out in trays to chit. I have prepared a large pot with peat so I can have a bash at growing some blueberries a much rated superfood so it would be good if we could grow some and I've also made up some large terracotta pots with compost ready to grow herbs.

I'm really keen to grow the things that we like to eat, it's pointless growing stuff we don't enjoy because the likliehood is that it will get wasted. I'm really getting into my cooking these days too and I'm really looking forward to when I can make things with our own home grown produce.

Our wider family has grown this month too with the safe arrival of our nephew, baby Ole James. Perhaps when he is a little bigger he will be able to come gardening with us but certainly by the time he starts weaning we are hoping to have some fresh delicious fruit and veg to serve up to him yum!