Happy Easter

A wet but reasonable mild Easter weekend. The rain has done wonders for seeds (and weeds). The radishes have emerged but none of the other things I sowed have shown themselves (to be expected, really).


The miniature pear tree at my deck has opened up its blossoms. Hopefully I get some fruit this year.


The tomato seeds are showing mixed results: Ildi and Tigerella are very slow to germinate but I may still get one or two plants out of them. Orangeberry, Costoluto and Red Pear are doing ok, even San Marzano finally cooperated. Not sure if it is the toilet roll method or just the seeds. My money is on the seeds.


I have been reading Digging for Victory: Wartime Gardening with Mr.Middleton which is very interesting. It features lots of Derris powder (I don't think you can even buy that anymore). It really surprised me how much he talks about buying seed instead of seed-saving (I know my great-aunt was a very committed seed saver for everything, including tomatoes). It also reminds me how much more space gardeners seemed to have had - a recommendation for a small garden is to grow an apple, a pear and a plum tree along with 30 ft rows of potatoes, beans etc. Very interesting storage methods: the "clamp" which is basically a straw-thatched earthen mound to keep potatoes, carrots, etc. I think that is part of the problem with urban gardens - not a lot of space to either grow or store. It has reminded me though that I should really look into pruning my greengage tree - no idea how but it may improve the way it is growing and also the amount of fruit it sets. I like reading about gardening, I learn something new every time.