Heatwave!

I wouldn't normally expect temperatures to be so hot in May that seeds actually 'cook' in their pots, but this is what happened, despite maximum ventilation. The second sowings of squash and French beans all spoiled by heat, after starting to germinate. I've made another sowing, but I suspect it will be a little too late; just a few days delay in the planting of squashes can have an enormous impact on how well they do later in the season.

On the plus side, I was able to plant out the sweetcorn and earlier squash sowings rather earlier than I'd expected, as the soil had warmed up considerably in the 80 degree heat.

This week's sowings

Outside

Beetroot Boro F1 - 2 rows

Beetroot Alto Fl 1 row (cylindrical)

Lettuce  - Kos 1 row outside

Parsnip - Panache F1 and Avonresistor F1

Inside

Squashes - Marina di Chioggia 

pumpkin

Zuccino Tondo di Toscana

Lady birds

Ladybirds have been very much in evidence over the last month, mostly crowded on to the blackcurrant bushes which they seem to like particularly. 

We have been quite concerned about the continuing increase in the population of the non-native Harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis); they over-winter inside in great numbers, and seem to have driven out the native ones from the cracks in our metal window frames. There has also been something of a plague of them at my print studio over the winter. Early in April, there seemed to be roughly equal numbers of Harlequins and Seven-spots, and a good number of two spots. Now I can mostly find Harlequins which seem to have a longer breeding period. There are fears that they will have a negative impact on native species by out-competing them.

Ten Spot Ladybird

Two and Seven-spot ladybirds

Asparagus!

Finally, a pickable crop of asparagus! Lovely, thick, strong stems in abundance. Unfortunately, only from 2 plants. The others are still alive, but the shoots are tiny and sparse in comparison.

I started this bed about 3 years ago. I initially planted with crowns in early spring, against my better judgement, as I know from experience how little asparagus likes being disturbed (see below). A few did try to grow, but withered within a few weeks of first showing their heads later in the Spring. It was an expensive and frustrating mistake.

Luckily I had planted some from seed the previous year, and was planning to use them to fill the gaps. The first ones are now growing strongly, but I'm still filling the space gradually with more batches of ones grown from seed, so it will be a while yet before I have a full bed full of mature plants. I'd never bother planting crowns again, seed is much more reliable and barely takes any longer to establish and bulk to cropping size. The only disadvantage is that the varieties available as seed are not as good as some of the newer, all-male ones commercially available as crowns.

Variety - mostly Martha Washington from T&M, but also one batch of Mary Washington from a vendor on eBay. I'm afraid I didn't keep note of which batch was which (initially I thought 'Mary' was just a miss-print of Martha; it is in fact a distinct cultivar and also an all-female one like Martha). With hindsight, it would have been better to have looked for an all male variety, but I couldn't find any available as seed at the time I was planning the bed.

My inlaws had a wonderful asparagus bed in the orchard of their 16th century farmhouse. This must have been well over 50 years old and still cropping reliably, although the bed had become a bit congested. My father-in-law had the bright idea of digging it up, thinning out the plants and giving the spares away, as quite a few people had expressed interest in having some crowns. However, the replanted crowns all died and rotted very rapidly, and the whole bed was lost. Very sad, but it  taught me the lesson, that asparagus crowns absolutely hate being moved. In contrast, the seed will sprout and survive in the least favourable places!

This week's sowings

Inside:

Leek - King Richard

Lettuce - Red Fire, Cos

French Bean - Blauhilde

Broccoli - Rudolph

Sweetcorn - Sundance F1

More Aubergines, as a couple of plants were eaten by mollusc life in the greenhouse!

This week's sowings

Outside

Parsnips Tender and True and Avonresister. I'll make later sowings of the same varieties to see if this makes any difference to carrot root fly attack.

Beetroot Boro to replace earlier row of Boltardy that failed due to drought.

Inside

Squashes Marina di Chioggia, Avalon and Jack be Little.

Lidl's brand Pumpkin and courgette.

Various lettuce 

Leek Caretan

Various saved bean seed that got accidentally soaked. 

More Runner Duck FAQs

My oldest runner ducks turned seven on Saturday, which is quite a good age for them (their father died earlier this year at 8). Amazingly they are still fertile and laying eggs reasonably regularly, if not prolifically, at this age. Which brings me to one of the questions that cropped up in my keyword searches.

How long will an Indian Runner lay eggs?

Well the usual answer is for the first three years, after which there is usually a fairly dramatic fall off in production, but this post has rather disproved this as an absolute rule.

One thing that improved egg production, and probably helps with a laying later in life and overall longevity is good genetic diversity; my birds are a cross between completely unrelated strains. 

Can I mix domestic duck breeds?

Yes, but remember that smaller breeds may be vulnerable to being attacked by larger ones during the breeding season, and can suffer eye injuries as the larger drakes often grip the feathers around the eye area when wrestling. Breeding birds should be segregated for at least a week before collecting hatching eggs to avoid cross-bred young (unless you particularly want them).

Wintering Indian Runners

Actually this is an issue even in the UK, as our older birds really suffered in the unusually cold temperatures of last winter. I think they found the long spell of frozen ground very uncomfortable on their feet and it was very difficult to keep their water from freezing completely, so their feather condition ended up quite poor and their eyes appeared a little sore at times. It didn't help that I was very ill myself at the time. In hindsight I wish I'd put much more straw down in their yard. The only solution for the water was taking a kettle of boiling water down to thaw out a puddle for them.

Keeping Indian Runner pairs

Keeping Indian Runner pairs is fine, although a trio will always be better; should you lose one then the other will still have a companion. 

Ducks discarding eggs in water

Ducks don't necessarily have the same discipline as hens when it comes to laying in nest boxes or inside their house at all. Quite often they can be discarded almost anywhere in the excitement of morning bathing. However, ducks always lay their eggs by about 10 am in the morning, so keeping them in their house until this time will force them to lay inside, ensuring that eggs aren't spoiled by being laid in water or stolen by predators such as crows. Duck houses need to be cleaned out regularly, as it's usually impossible to keep a nest box area/eggs clean of faeces otherwise.

More Indian Runner FAQs