Rhubarb

I bought a bare rooted rhubarb crown way back in the autumn, and I was worried it hadn't made it through the awful Winter we had. Much to my relief, this week it decided to show itself. Don't think we'll harvest any this year, but next year should be fine.

Fruit

Ready for raspberries and strawberries

My fruit patch has expanded! I thought I'd done enough the other day (here), but after browsing the garden centres and seed catalogues (a dangerous hobby unless the credit card is hidden!) I decided to expand it a bit.


The brick edging previously stopped about halfway along here. I'm not entirely sure why, although at one stage we had a missing fence panel which our children thought was great for playing with next door's children! I think it was around that time that my Dad helped with a load of tidying in the garden, including installing the brick edging. Maybe he ran out of bricks? - or time more likely. Anyway, I found enough to bridge the gap up to the compost bin.


I have ordered 6 raspberry canes and 12 strawberry plants for the time being. Depending on how well these grow, I may put more in later in the year. The rhubarb will have to wait until the Autumn. The garden centres charge a fortune at the moment and it is supposedly better to plant it later anyway.

Apple blossom

Apple blossom

The existing fruit trees are all bursting into life compared to just over 2 weeks ago (here) and judging by the number of bees around we might even get enough cherries to feed us as well as the birds this year!

Cherry blossom

Cherry blossom

Fruit patch

After tidying up in the back garden the other day, it occurred to me that I had the ideal place for my rhubarb and raspberries. This patch has never really had much done to it and was overgrown with crocosmia. The children's sand-pit (now rarely used) has sat here all winter, so there's not much growing underneath it - weeds or otherwise. The neighbours had their fence replaced last year, which makes this area look even more bare (the old ancient fence was covered in ivy), so this seems like an ideal place for my raspberries. It's south facing so should get plenty of sun to ripen the fruit. Seeing how rhubarb and raspberries are permanent fixtures I figured they might as well both go here. So, a sunny afternoon in the garden and this is what it looks like now - ready to plant.