Warmer weather means... watering

We've been busy at the Gardens over the past couple of weeks. In addition to sowing seeds of broad beans, lettuce & chives, we've also been planting some of the hardier vegetables.

Swiss chard, variety 'Ruby' is attractive & hardy

Here we're planting lettuces among parsley plants that have survived the winter

 The warmer weather means that those plants that have survived the winter have been growing fast:

Field beans (Vicia faba) and Phacelia tanacetifolia

The field beans and Phacelia tanacetifolia have survived the winter, we sowed the beans in the autumn, the phacelia plants are self-sown. Both plants are used as green manures. For maximum benefit as green manure the plants should be dug into the soil just as they come into flower (right now for the beans), but as their flowers are not only pretty, but also attractive to insects, the digging in may not happen until after they've flowered.

Very sprouty 'Sharpe's Express' seed potatoes

I couldn't resist a garden centre bargain, this bag of seed potatoes. First early potatoes, like 'Sharpe's Express' are traditionally planted on Good Friday, so I was a month late with these ~ we'll see if they come to anything. I've also just planted some Jerusalem artichokes, Helianthus tuberosus 'Fuseau' ~ these always emerge very late, so I hope I've not been too late in putting them into the ground. 'Fuseau' is a modern variety with regular, spindle-shaped tubers, much less of a labour to clean & peel than the very knobbly older varieties.

All this sowing of seeds & planting in the bright sunny weather inevitably means:

Watering, by hand