The May tree is gradually coming to life. No sign of blossom yet but it is a May tree! There are some very pretty daffodils bunched up in the rockery and the tulips are forming up strongly around the tree trunk.

I have taken the top off of the lawn and will give it another cut later in the week.

Otherwise, the main job is to get the fruit cage (left) and fencing back into order. Everything is coming back to life and needs to be protected from the local birdlife.

Some of the birds, especially the pigeons, that perch on my fence are beginning to give me quite menacing glares as I net up their summer banquet. The soil needs a good wetting down and digging over but that can wait until the ‘building’ work is completed.

The herb bed too is, of necessity, netted over, due to the planting of the annual ‘soft’ herbs. The chives, thyme and sage are recovering but the seeds will need protecting for a couple of weeks yet. 

The parsley (foreground) also survived the winter quite well.

The main reason I think, is that this was an old brick-built barbeque and the soil is only in the top quarter, leaving a large air gap beneath that never gets down below freezing.

Moving on, we have the main greenhouse with the vegetable seedlings and the ‘first-early’ seed potatoes all ready to go.

The early potatoes will need to go in soon, tomorrow hopefully.

Here are the first seedings of carrots, leeks, beetroot, baby aubergine and courgette, though there is very little to see as yet.

I tend to buy tomatoes, bell peppers, cucmbers and runner beans as plants as they come available in the local garden shops since this saves on space and I can put them straight into their growing positions. It also means I can select the strongest plants and a couple of different varieties instead of just the one in a seed packet.

I’m not too sure if I shall be doing chillies yet.

They don’t seem to ripen very well in this climate, even in the greenhouse.

To the left is my seed propagator. I find the smaller space hastens germination. It also holds the warmth  better than the main greenhouse.

In here I have squash, peas, chinese cabbage, more beetroot, sweetcorn and kale.

Finally for this visit, there is the onion bed (below left) The white onions are in here while the red onions are going to be in the main patch with the potates and spinach.

The tall shrub on the laft is a laurel, (or bay) and below it there are some wild strawberry plants.

The patio needs a good scrub too! Now that is one job I hate doing!

Oh well, onwards and upwards!