Frosted Potatoes, Flowering Chillies and Flying Dolphins

Well, it's a month since my last post but time seems to have gone backward. We lost 20 degrees along the way and my early potatoes got frosted (yes, the old sages proved right, a layer of plastic was not good enough against decades of experience).

This was snapped in the 3rd week of March after the unseasonal warm spell left us. Can you see the lighthouse through the haar which rolls in from the North Sea? It's no wonder this was needed at the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour. As an aside, it was designed by Louis Stevenson who was the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Meanwhile inside, on my windowsill, my tomato and pepper plants are so big that little natural light gets past them; the tomatoes are like triffids. I have nearly caught them growing a few times but they're too smart for me and only do it when I'm not looking; I have flower buds on my chillies. The idea was that they moved from boiler cupboard to windowsill to greenhouse in a seamless progression but night temperatures in the greenhouse are so low that they and the toms are stuck at second base.

Did I say that this blog was not for those who wanted to learn anything? Unless of course you count learning from the mistakes of others. Like learning not to start plants in artificial heat in February in North-East Scotland unless you have the heated space to grow them on in.

But enough of the gloom and doom. I watched a pod of dolphins at play in the harbour mouth (no camera with me to record). I say at play, but is that too anthropomorphic? Perhaps someone better informed than I am can explain to me what the attraction is of the fresh water of the river mouth. Is it more practical than playful, maybe to get rid of sea lice?

The therapeutic effect of dolphin watching puts things in perspective. I'm sure in a few weeks or months, what seem like set-backs now will fade into insignificance as the garden moves into growth and the potatoes, undeterred, find enough remaining energy to throw new shoots. Dolphins and potatoes - what an inspiration!