An Ode to Spring II

My main aim in the garden this year is to increase the number of flowering, fruiting and edible plants.

While last year involved a lot of clearing, this year I hope to plant more.  It's wonderful to sit here and look down the garden at an expanse of lush vibrant green.  Until last year your gaze would have been arrested by an ominous wall of dark, deep green conifers, which we have taken out.  We cut down a lot of trees, so this year we are planning on planting new ones and have also put up bird boxes and feeders.  I've planted a walnut tree at the end of the chicken run to replace two large conifers that were shielding us from our neighbour's view at the side of the garden.  

I've tied in the young apple trees I planted last year and am excitedly waiting to see them blossom.  James Grieve looks to have lost its' lead shoot, which is a little worrying, but there are 2 other healthy looking verticles, one of which I guess will have to take over.  

In the hexagonal greenhouse the fig and olive trees have made it through the winter and are starting to wake up.  And above is a picture of the cutting taken from the grape vine in our old garden, which is sending out new leaves and shoots. My Mother's Day gift this year was a quince tree, it is presently in the greenhouse, I've not decided where to plant it yet.  

We have managed to erect the frame of our other greenhouse on the veggie patch.  Just the glass to put in now and then it too can be used to propagate new life.  There are 3 more raised beds to finish building on the veggie patch.  In one that I constructed last year are autumn planted onions and garlic that seem to be surviving the chicken's attentions at the moment.  I guess the chicken's will have to be confined to their run once seed sewing starts in ernest, otherwise they will just be digging everything up as quickly as I can put it in.

Little geranium plugs in the greenhouse

In the hexagonal greenhouse I've sewn nasturtiums, tomatoes, chilli and cavalo nero seeds.  36 classic red geranium plug plants will soon be joined by some Geranium Appleblossom Rosebud, which look gorgeous in the catalogue.  I've two Viburnum shrubs waiting to go out, and cuttings from lavender, curry plants and a few other shrubs from my mother-in-law's garden.  

Meanwhile, potatoes are chitting on top of the quail brooder.

Of our quail; Amber and Sleepy are thriving, Squeeky Cheese remains much smaller and we are hoping this is because Squeeky is a male.  In Japanese Quail they tend to be smaller than the females.