29 March 2010

Battening down the hatches

Ian says I'm a pessimist - I say I'm a realist.  I guess we're both right but I'm not taking any chances this week.  The weather men are forecasting snow tomorrow and having been caught out in the new year (i.e. snowed in for 5 days) this week we're getting prepared.

It was a beautiful spring day yesterday so hard to believe the warnings.  However, we took the opportunity to tidy up the veg garden, do a bit more weeding and make it more weather proof.

First off we covered the potato bed with a double layer of horticultural fleece.  Potatoes are not frost hardy and although their haulms (stems) are not poking through the soil yet, being frozen into the soil wont do them much good either.

Then we covered the onion bed with a cloche.  Although garlic and shallots are pretty hardy, young onions are not so we're taking no chances.  Sudden changes in temperature now can either destroy the young seedlings or cause them to bolt (flower at the expense of a large bulb).  We had some spare pipe and clear plastic laying around from the house renovation so are making use of it.  I also noticed last week that the birds have lifted a few bulbs so covering them for a while will prevent this.

Finally we've surrounded the plot with a light gauge wind fabric to give it more protection.  Unfortunately next door's horses took a huge liking to the native hedge we'd planted and it's now very sparse at the north end.  Initially Ian didn't like the idea of the 'artificial' fabric. However, it's made the garden feel much cosier and strangely more manageable and we're now delighted we took the time to do it. 

The optimistic side of me is now hoping the experts have got it all wrong.

Ian's gone shopping 'just in case'.

1 comment:

  1. try burying one of the cloche in a trench on the windward side just like the polytunnel, then rocks to weigh down the leeward side that way the wind will not get under the sheet.
    regards,
    Ian, (Bohernabreena)

    ReplyDelete

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