Harvesting....

 Seems a bit surprising to be starting to harvest crops already, but here I have an early bunch of mixed salad leaves - mustard, spinach, chives, lambs' lettuce -

and some cabbage just starting to bolt but still edible.

While my back's been turned....

 I haven't been well for the past week so not out and about in the garden much. What I have spotted from inside though is that Spring is advancing happily enough without me. Snowdrops are starting to die back but it doesn't matter because purple crocus and bright yellow daffodils are bringing their colour to the garden.

March - waiting in the wings

 Despite the cold wind and threats of snow, buds are opening on trees and shrubs, and new shoots are appearing all over the garden.

I'm especially glad to see these - day-lilies picked up through Freegle last autumn. Some seem to be trying to push out of the ground completely, so I've added an extra layer of soil over their roots. I've never grown these before so I'm really looking forward to flowers on them this summer.

The blackcurrant seems almost ready to burst into leaf


and,after trying on and off all through winter, the forsythia at last looks near to flowering

More leaf buds - a flowering currant this time






and a clematis

a real sign of Spring - bluebell shoots.


Foxglove rosettes spreading everywhere again!

 The veg patch isn't quite so healthy looking. The cauliflowers which I hoped would crop about now are still looking frosted and nearly done-for, but there are salad leaves growing - spinach (left) and American land cress - I'm also found self-set lambs lettuce but picked most of it already.

Inside the windowledges are filled with seedlings - tomatoes here, and red onions, cayenne peppers and celeriac, with more set in the heat of the airing cupboard.

Picked this week - March 1st 2015

A few salad leaves from the garden - spinach, land cress and a red mustard that self set in a hanging basket













and an old crop from the allotment - the last of the parsnips

March in flowers

 March has come in with sun, snow showers and blustery winds but it definitely feels like Spring is on the way. Although the garden is still dominated by snowdrops, lots of others are starting to show. Unusually there were daffodils out for St David's Day - only two, but they're bright and cheerful.

 There are polyanthuses showing every shade of pink, purple and red.

 Buds on the bergenia.

 and the first crocus showing colour.