My plan seems to work – I keep adding seedlings of cabbages, curly kale and kale Cavolo di Toscano to the latest net cage (close to the shed) and find that I still have some room.

There will be crop rotation between the cages, three will have brassicas in and the other two will have ‘other’ veg – the heritage peas, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and whatever else might need home.

The next to be planted were the dwarf French beans – these went in one of the raised beds. I purposefully didn’t fill the beds to the top and it is very handy because small plants are protected from the wind. I also covered the bed with an old net, not quite against pigeons or butterflies but to give it a ‘blanket’ against any frost we might still have during the nights.

It was a busy day on my farm today, the weather was just perfect. I had a look at my second early potatoes and they are all coming through so they had to be earthed – quite a slog, the sun was blazing down (not complaining!)

As I had a look at my lovely apple trees I noticed that some of the branches needed better support. The Egremont Russet is covered in blossom and it would be great shame if the branches couldn’t carry the weight of the fruit (I hope there will be plenty, it looks good). I made a couple of t shaped props and hammered them in the ground. The ties are old socks cut into strips, they’re nice and soft, also quite stretchy so it won’t damage the branches.