Blackthorn Winter

A cold dry March has merged into a slightly wetter and today cold April.Grass growth is steady, but the land remains too wet to allow the cattle to be turned out.Things are slow in the nursery, too:plants taking their time after the rush of a mild winter. Benches built for the polytunnel out of recycled timber-surprising how much I found about the place, but what’s left is really only fit for the woodstove.

Storm Katie was reasonably kind to us, though she dislodged the cowl of the Aga chimney, which on inspection was found to be beyond repair. We are awaiting delivery of  a Fluecube. A long rip in the old polytunnel, repaired with sticky tape. Time for replacement methinks.

A wintry Spring

The first week of March, and we’ve done two plant sales in cold and windy conditions:Goodnestone Snowdrop and Hellebore Extravaganza with Kent Hardy Plant society, and the new Teynham Produce Market, held in the village hall of that parish. I’m not familiar with that part of Kent,but the folk seem keen about gardening:let’s hope that the weather next month will be more conducive for outdoor activities.

 

The demise of Horsmonden Farmers’ Market has left us with fewer sales, so we are keen to find new outlets, preferably on a Saturday morning. We are pleased, therefore to discover that there are to be a couple of new markets in the Westgate Hall, Canterbury starting next month.We’ve made contact with the organiser, and hope to attend the Saturday iteration on the 16th of April. We have never  attended a Market in a “large” town before, so we are excited.

The day after this is the first of this year’s Plant Fairs Roadshow event at Hall Place in Bexley.The Plant Fairs Roadshow is a collective of family run independent plant nurseries from Kent and surrounding counties which travels round Kent and South London bringing unusual and specialist  gardenworthy plants. At present we have three dates for this year, but we hope to have more as the season progresses.