Not spring yet:

The weather window forecast last week did not happen for most. There was a bit of planting done, especially of beans, but there was also a fair bit of rain in places. Most rain fell in the west but a number of days of almost continuous drizzle prevented field activity in much of north Leinster. For a change, the south had less rain.

There are still a lot of beans to be planted and they become a bit more urgent after St Patrick’s Day. However, nature tends to compensate and, as there were really no opportunities missed to date, one would certainly take a chance up until the end of the month. And hopefully there will be sowing windows before then.

Growth is now visible in all crops and more advanced and southerly crops are moving into stem extension with winter rape at various stages of flowering.

There was an amount of ploughing done recently in anticipation of planting. Some land that was ploughed for some time has been slow to dry out beneath.