Now is not the time to rest on your laurels when the first lettuces start to show, but to sow the next row.  This year I have been trying wine boxes, which seem to have the advantage of providing a barrier to slugs.  I'm not sure if it is the rough wood, or wether they just haven't spotted them yet, but so far so good.

Another invaluable option for bringing seedlings on are paper pots made by a paper potter.  They too seem to provide a better barrier for slugs than seed trays.

Its that time of year when males can be very territorial.  We have had a cock pheasant living in our garden for a few months (the one on the left) and in the past few days he has had to see off several intruders.  So far he has succeeded, despite being smaller than most.

There is no sign of a hen, but maybe she is sitting somewhere under a bush.  Let's hope the foxes stay away.

The cabbages we are about to start eating are a variety called January King.  I'm not sure our crop is fine enough to merit the title King, and clearly the January bit has misfired, but they nevertheless have a texture and colour which is very appetising.  We have had so little rain for the past few weeks that they have not filled out as much as they should, but at least the lack of rain seems to have kept the slugs at bay.

Time to start spring cleaning the greenhouse.  It has kept us in salad all winter but it won't be long before I will need the space for tender tomatoes and chillies.  And yet it seems such a shame when the mustard is full of the colour of spring.

I'm not sure why the early spring is so dominated by yellow.  Daffs, primroses, cowslips and mahonia are the only colour we have in the garden at the moment and they're all yellow.  Maybe its a wake up call for the pollinating insects.