I retrieved my globe artichokes from the root cellar where I had been storing them in shoe boxes filled with dry peat. They are already sprouting so I will pot them up (indoors) and nurture them until it is warm enough to put them outside. Great they survived the winter.  (I grew these from seed last year).

In the garden the garlic has come through and the first few sorrel leaves have appeared.  I looked under the mulch for asparagus but none in sight yet.

The new raspberries have been decimated by the rabbits.  They also finished off all the brussels sprouts (I don't mind so much).

Peter spent some time fixing the frame of the polytunnel which has suffered during storms this winter.  We are now considering building a wind buffer on the southern end of the tunnel. It's amazing that even WITHOUT the plastic, the frame still catches the wind enough to lift the whole structure off its foundations.

The shipping container is in good shape and nice and dry inside.  We used it for storing all the bee and honey equipment during the winter.  

I wasn't going to bother sowing tomatoes but then I remembered that last year I really struggled to find decent plants. My fault entirely since I left it too late to go shopping.  We'll see how these do, I can always buy some plants later if these don't germinate.  

Moneymaker.  150-200 cm vine tomato for the greenhouse.

Planted  32 seeds in plastic pots, two per pot + seed compost.

Shirley F1. Another greenhouse tomato or similar dimensions to Moneymaker 
but should crop earlier.

Planted 6 seeds, planted singly in plastic pots + seed compost

It was +5C when we went to bed last night and +5C when we woke up.  It would be great to get the plastic back up on the polytunnel but it was way too windy today.  P did shovel some gravel under the poles to stabilise the ground where the autumn storms had shifted the foundations.