Although it is starting to get warmer there is still a coolness in the air and then the sun comes out from behind one of the grey clouds and suddenly there is a lightness to the air and heat against the skin.

I have been in the garden this afternoon. The first job was to put up some netting around the few remaining onion shoots in the hope that they can pull though after the fat bastard chicken got most of them.

Then I pulled up the remaining calvolo nero from last year which as all gone to seed and tidied up a couple of the beds ready to plant out the beetroot next weekend. It took me thirty years to develop a taste for beetroot and now I find myself looking forward to when it will be ready to eat. Particularly the yellow ones that seem to be doing very well in the greenhouse.

Tidying up the beds involved pulling up some thick shanks of horseradish.

Then it was time to repot the dahlias.The tubers have spent the winter in an old Sayer’s  tray in the basement. They are starting to shoot so they are now all in pots ready to be planted out in a month or so’s time when the bluebells and daffodils are done.

Finally I planted out some of the potatoes which have been chitting in the basement. They have gone into a bag made from old fish meal sacks.

This evening we are going to eat a variety of dishes out of book called Medina Kitchen. It is a book of North African cooking I was given a few years ago. I am not sure I have cooked out of it before but it should be good.

Last night we ate pizza and this morning I delved into the freezer to finish of the Gubbeen bacon I bough last summer. It made a particularly good bacon sandwich. We are back in Cork next week ans I will be able to stock up on some fresh supplies.