At last I have been able to plant the potatoes, which have been " chitting"  by the kitchen window for a month, and now have some healthy shoots sprouting.

However there will be no more planting,and sowing.digging and growing for our dear friend Tom who passed away this week.
He had been in hospital for three weeks, and developed pneumonia.
This last harsh winter was just too much for him.
The end of an era. 
A gentle man loved by all who knew him.
We will miss him.
This was a tribute to him in our local paper four years ago, when he received the certificate for 70 years service to the Royal Horticultural Society.
See HERE
Pictured among his tomatoes which were his pride and joy, the likes of which we will never taste again.
RIP Tom now in the Great Garden in the Sky.