Springing into life

Lots of things are bursting into growth this week. In the orchard there are buds on every tree. The Meteor cherry looks as though it will be the first to blossom, but the apples won't be far behind:
In the tyre garden, the asparagus has finally begun to make an appearance:


and next door to the asparagus, the rhubarb leaves are unfurling.


The gutter-grown peas have done so well that I transplanted them into the garden last night. The germination of the Lincoln peas was more patchy than the Oregon Sugar Pod II snow peas/mangetout, so I've sown more peas in amongst the Lincolns. The picture is of the more impressive row of snow peas.


I'm using some of the space in the greenhouse raised beds as nursery beds for the brassicas. Don't these baby red cabbages look gorgeous? Like tiny green butterflies, I think.


There was a very loud bird up at the pond this evening. I couldn't see it, but its song was quite distinctive, so I'm hoping someone will be able to identify it for me. Have a listen:

And on the subject of birds, I ordered my first set of chicks yesterday. I'm going to start of with a set of a dozen Buff Orpington hens from local specialists Performance Poultry. We'll be collecting them in six weeks or so. Really looking forward to this new venture!