A, F - ine, F - rost, F - ree, F - ifth - of - F - ebruary my condolences to everyone still suffering from the recent frost, ice & snow.
As I ventured down to my allotment this morning, the weak Winter sun was struggling to shine through an overcast sky. The overnight rain had ceased and the recent frost was gone. The sub zero temperatures of late had risen & it was a pleasant February day.
Only 2 of my fellow allotment holders were in attendance when I arrived at my plot. The ground was still damp from the overnight rain but the frost had done its job & broken all of the recently turned soil down well, on the planting beds. Around the shaded areas of the plot (frost pockets) the soil still contained traces of frost under the surface & the drainage ditch at the lower end of my plot was still frozen over, sheltered from the sun by the hedgerow close by. To my surprise I had one extra Blackcurrant bush growing from a cutting I had "stuck" into the ground last Autumn, which was well in bud.
Of course there's always tomorrow??
As I ventured down to my allotment this morning, the weak Winter sun was struggling to shine through an overcast sky. The overnight rain had ceased and the recent frost was gone. The sub zero temperatures of late had risen & it was a pleasant February day.
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| New Blackcurrant Bush |
After opening up my cold frame, containing several trays of peas (Hurst Greenshaft) sown in compost, to "air it out", I trimmed back the dead foliage on my Lemon Balm & Mint. I found several Ladybirds sheltering in the balm. The dead foliage was deposited onto the compost heap, along with the kitchen waste I had brought with me. Then it was time to hoe & weed one of my Strawberry beds. Although I was using a scaffolding board to stand on, to do this, the soil was too wet to work, so I removed a few weeds which I could reach from the path, cleaned some pots & left for home.
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| Lemon Balm & Mint Cut Back |
Of course there's always tomorrow??
You are lucky to have got away without any snow, we must have had your share. So as you can gather no gardening for me for a while. Most of the tomato seed that I put in last Sunday have come through so at least I have something growing.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your tomato seedlings are through. Hope the snow clears up, I would prefer that, to the heavy frosts here last week, it put my seed germination well back??
DeleteYour blog is really good! technogetafix
ReplyDeleteThanx, by the way compost v. good.
DeleteHi Rooko; Just discovered your blog via Elaine... I like what I see.
ReplyDeleteRe the title of this post: I thought you were going to say it was an "F-ing Freezing" day! I love your pictures of the frost patterns by the way.
Thanks for the comment Mark, Elaine has got some nice blogs. I don't really go with swearing, except perhaps when I accidentally step on a garden rake & it jumps up & hits me in the mouth!!
DeleteI envy you at present my plot is still under a blanket of snow! nice blog BTW.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment & joining my blog Stacy. I hope I can make future posts & pages interesting as well as useful. Snow is expected here this afternoon. Temperatures haven't been much above freezing for a couple of weeks now. Strange weather still. +1C here at 8am, 10 miles away it was -2C.Must be frustrating when your plot is covered with snow but the plus side is snow probably causes less harm than frost to plants etc.
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