8th April

The heater in the greenhouse is still working well, this week it was 6 degrees outside, and in the greenhouse it was a cosy 18, we now have two hundred French beans sown, and in the greenhouse.                                               Next week we will start on the two thousand Courgettes, these are all one month earlier than I would ever have done them in the past.

The growing season is really on it’s way now, This week we will need to take out over half of the trays in the main blocking tunnel, which will be around two hundred and forty thousand plants, these plants have shot on, and are almost ready for planting.

We always have to take them out of the tunnel, where it has been nice and cosy, and leave them sitting for at least a week outside, here they can get accustomed to the cooler air and get hardened off, before getting planted in the open field.

So its now going to get really busy, as the planting season gets closer.

Last week I was going to start preparing the ground for the plants coming out of the tunnel, but it rained and snowed.

So this week if it stays dry, I’ll need to Grub the field, then go over it with the triple K, this is like a huge heavy rake on the back of the tractor, this levels the field and breaks down any big clods, making it smooth and even for me to go in with the bedformer.

The bedformer is the final machine that makes a smooth bed, ready for us going in with the planter and getting the plants planted, the bedformer is a slow job, I can max out at a warp speed of 5 mph, if the ground is good, but usually its around 3 mph, but this is the most important part of preparing the ground, this is what makes the bed for the plants to be planted in.

With the grubber and triple K, I can go anywhere between 10 and 15mph, this feels super fast in the field.

So that might give you a wee idea that it’ll take a few days to get the ground ready.