Visit to Wallington. Plum blossom over, apple full out (a great quantity). First peas 1/2”- 1” tall. First beans 3”. Second beans not showing. Rhubarb growing but not good (? Protection necessary here for good crop; Mr A. [1] has all his in tubs). Strawberries in flower. In last three days main crop potatoes, onions, carrots, turnips, second peas & radishes sown.
Four nestlings in thrush’s nest in hedge.
In flower: wallflowers, tulips, pansies, arabis (full out & decorative), yellow alyssum, aubretia, forgetmenots° & a few narcissi. Roses not in bud. Gooseberries mainly taken by frost or birds. Sowed grass seed in bare patches & scattered lawn sand.
Hens have laid 92 eggs in 8 days.
[1] Possibly Mr. Anderson, a Wallington neighbour. Peter Davison
Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
Hats off to those hens. They are really performing.
Here (Portland, OR) the dogwoods are having a really showy year, and the chestnuts are blooming. Yesterday took a walk down at the local pond and saw 5 different duck families with ducklings in tow. The first groups I saw had 2-4 older ducklings, but I saw one pair with 14 tiny ducklings and another with 8. Sadly, I think those families will also be down to a handful by the time they get to gosling-size. Also saw at close range two very large blue herons, and 2 types of swallows came out in force at sunset to swoop over the pond.
We started our peas indoors weeks ago, and they have been outside awhile…5-6″ tall now and climbing their poles nicely!
There is an old saying ‘do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?’ Rhubarb grows better in Lancashire and the North country where there is lots of rain. Rhubarb juice will take the flavour of any thing that it is combined with. Rhubarb juice is shipped by the tankfull to France to be mixed with Champagne juice. Or was until President DeGaul banned the importation. I wonder if it is still sent today?
I wonder at how many readers are from Oregon in the United States! The internet is like an airport in Dubai. Standing at the terminal full of foreigners and strangers, you begin talking with the only fellow countryman around, only to find he lives down the street from you!
indeed this is the season of budding and blooming and Oregon is awash with damp, pleasant smelling blooming things and moist green leaves, even as these unusually strong winds whip at the new foliage and the freshened trees.
89 °F (32 °C), Heat Index: 96 °F (36 °C), South 24.1 km/h (25 mph)
Dallas/Fort Worth
:shock:
Dogwood just past its prime in Maryland, azalea in full cry. All the white trees are out except the fruits. I saw a duck with 10 ducklings – tiny – today; the geese have four. (If they all survived, we’d be up to our hips in waterfowl!) I saw orioles today – very bright and beautiful.
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