8th May

By the end of last week, the tunnels at long last have started to heat up.

And what a difference a wee bit of heat has made.

The spinach, rhubi chard, spring cabbage and lettuce have shot on.

This week we are harvesting salads again, along with spring cabbage and some spinach.

All the brassicas and onions that we have taken out of the tunnels to harden off are ready for planting, so the plan is to start on planting on Tuesday.

We also need to take the Leeks out of the tunnel to get them hardened of.

But last week I had a wee break down in the john deere.

I was bedforming on Wednesday night, and around 9.30 pm I started to hear a different noise, got out of the tractor, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

It was not a loud noise and everything was working fine and no warning lights were flashing.

But by 10pm I could still hear it, so out of the field I came.

I went back out at 7am on Thursday morning to see if I could locate the noise.

Nope I could not, and it was still there.

So back in again, I stripped all the side panels of, started the tractor and there it was, two loose fan belt pulleys aaaahhhh. The bearings were on their way out.

So straight into Earnvale the tractor shop, for two new pulleys luckily, they had them on the shelf.

By the end of the day, I had it all stripped off and ready for a re build.

The only problem was, on a Friday I deliver and, on a Saturday, I am at a market.

But by Sunday morning, I had it all re built and back in the field and bedformering again. Sunday night was another late finish.

The only plus side was that it was wet on Friday and the field hadn’t dried out until Sunday, so I couldn’t have been out anyway.

We are now at the time of the year that there is loads to do and not enough days or hours in the week.

The best time of the year.