Sunday 15 May 2011

Rough Winds DO Shake the Darling Buds of May

but which buds would Shakespear have been referring to?

I have a feeling these wouldn't have been around in his day:

Redcurrant (unripe)

But maybe these would?

Elderflower in bud
 At any rate we've had wind bad for a week in Edinburgh and I'm fed up with it. Whereas I expected a break from zipping up the two plastic greenhouses as the weather got warmer instead I'm leaving them zipped up all day as well as night to protect the plants from the wind!  My beans (all 130+)  have outgrown their pots and need to be planted out, so what to do?  Here's my solution:

Like shipes in the night
 As you can see the whole plot is beginning to look like a badly run laundry. In the distance there's a tunnel of dwarf beans and the other white mounds are thrip nets over carrots.

Runner beans all aboard

Even hardy old rhubarb is protesting about chill winds:

Rhubarb in shock


The only protection my peas are getting though is from the birds.  The picture doesn't really show the wide gauge pea netting strung between the posts (although the nearest, earliest, row has a more robust chicken wire tunnel). That's six rows now, three presprouted in toilet rolls and three sown direct today - Mangetout, Petit Pois and "ordinary" Kelvdon Wonder.



A proliferation of peas

The only protection for spuds  is mounding. After the frost two weeks ago more have emerged. 


Mounded potatoes

 And to end my weekend roundup on a cheery note, our local pair of swans have a new brood:



New arrivals (1 day old)


9 comments:

  1. Adorable little swan babies!

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  2. I suppose this is when I'm glad of the 7ft fence around my garden (I usually moan about how much light it blocks) However I still did the same as you with my plastic greenhouses, as over here in Falkirk we've also had plenty thunderstorms and sideways blown rain!

    I think I might try your trick with barriers around my runner beans too as mine are looking a bit peaky after this sudden turn in the weather.

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  3. Same over across the pond in Nova Scotia..weather has not progressed to sunny and warm yet..sounds like yours.

    Poor plants..standing in line for planting out, crossing their roots in anticipation..."please..can we go out soon" I hear them say...

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  4. It's really interesting to hear about all the different weather issues many places have had this spring. Sounds like a bugger wind. It's been too cold to put out fragile plants here, so my beans sound like your beans, granted, far less in numbers. The wind barrier idea looks like it's doing the trick..who said gardens were meant to look like something out of Sunset magazine..we need to be practical people! :)

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  5. The wind is horrible. I don't remember these tearing winds 20 years ago or so. I've just looked out and decided not to put my French bean seedlings outside today.

    Love the laundry metaphor.

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  6. well it's looks like you've had a busy weekend....certainly done a lot more than me. Our winds haven't been too bad...only about 35mph which is barely a breeze to us...lol

    My newly sown bean are starting to germinate so hopefully I will be planting soon....I do love the fleece solution to burnt leaves...i will keep it in mind!!

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  7. what great Photos and those swans make me homesick for the River Severn

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  8. Very windy here too everything is being batttered. The large hostas that have avoided slug damaged are now being tattered by the wind - can't win can we?

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  9. If it's any consolation Mel, we have had strong N to NW winds for ages now here in Brittany. It just takes the edge off. The plot is looking good though. Keep up the good work.

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