Born To Be Wild

Due to the adverse weather we haven't been spending much time in the garden but rest assured, our various seedlings are poised and ready to go out. The squash (7 types this year), courgettes, chilli, cucumbers, runners and dwarf beans are currently occupying all south facing window space in the house.

However, the veg plots aren't completely empty. Our potatoes have started coming up:

We think that these are our pink fir apples

And the broad beans (planted in the autumn) are flowering:

But, as per usual, the most prolific plants in our garden seem to be those that we have had nothing to do with, the wild flowers. We have never seen so many bluebells (apart from in Bluebell Wood):

The primroses and forget-me-nots, that seem to have come from nowhere, are, well... unforgettable:

We like primroses because the remind us of our favourite crisps: Skips

Most successful however, seems to be this little yellow flower that crops up everywhere, even when it is mowed over. Can anyone identify what it could be....???

On a sadder note, we are sorry to say that Muffin seems to have gone missing. We have had a very miserable week looking for her, to no avail. We like to think that she has completed her training and decided that domestic life is not for her; it was time for her to move on and try her luck in the wilds of the Midlands. Every good parent has to learn to let go...

Good luck Muffin, our door/cat flap will always be open!

Hocus Crocus

Spring phase one has come to Harbill's Garden.

Going Snowhere

Pictures of the garden this weekend:

The garden yesterday afternoon

The garden today

Leeks, Shoots and Leaves

A belated happy new year to all of our Blogciples!

For the Harbills, the new year brings fresh hopes for a bountiful harvest. We are already imagining baskets brimming with luscious red tomatoes, enormous, crisp runner beans and squash the size of footballs. But let's not get too carried away, first we have to grow them and the process began yesterday with our first batch of leek seeds.

As you might expect at this time of year, the garden looks devoid of all life:

But if you look a little closer...

..you can see Primula pushing through the dead leaves.

And the crocus and daffodil shoots (planted together in two layers) are coming up:

We mentioned our broad beans before Christmas. They seem to be still growing, the leaves in tact and unaffected by frost so far, so will hopefully give us an early crop.

Unlike the garden, Muffin, who has spent most of the winter asleep, is still asleep.