2 Days to a Shorter Winter Month

Although many plants & the soil benefit from cold weather & rain, I will be glad when January & February come to an end this year. The inconsistency of the weather recently does nothing to aid planned outdoor jobs, working the soil, early germination or indeed deciding wether or not to wear a wooly hat.

Before

After 10 Minutes

This week despite heavy rain I have been able to clear my top fruit bed of weeds & turn & hoe it. More mulch was added to my Rhubarb crowns, (which seem to be enjoying the colder weather), after they had been earthed up.
 My 2 year old Pear tree had a couple of branches growing from the rootstock which were removed. The cuttings could be propagated & used for future rootstock, but I do not have room for more fruit trees so the cuttings will come in handy as pea sticks.

Fruit Bed weeded-Rhubarb Mulched

I prepared six large plastic barrels which I am using for sowing Carrot seeds into later. I added compost from my heap to the barrels with a layer of soil on top then added a layer of potting compost onto the soil. If this method of growing Carrots is not a success, the barrels can be emptied later & the contents used to feed the surrounding soil.

Barrels ready for Carrot Sowing

For some time now I have been adding all my discarded paper & cardboard to my compost heap. I noticed when moving the compost yesterday that there was a tremendous increase in the amount of worms within the compost which I attributed to the additional paper & card?

Who Needs a Wormery

Couldn't Find Another Bit of Downpipe

More seeds have been "trayed" & "potted" up today. The ground is too wet for sowing peas, even under cloches, so another 100 Hurst Greenshaft were sown into deep trays as well as 100 Spring Cabbages (Spring Hero). Spring Hero can usually be sown in Spring or Autumn.

Seeds Awaiting the Correct Germinating Temperatures?

Friday afternoon was spent helping one of my fellow plot holders move the remainder of his gardening equipment to his new allotment. It took 4 of us to carry the greenhouse around the allotment road about 500 meters to its new home. This was surprisingly easy, until we reached its final resting place & then realized it had to be lifted up over a row of raspberries and their recently installed 2 meter high supports??? Ever had one of those days?

Never mind there's always tomorrow!!

A Cool Week



No rain for a week, lovely. At the weekend I managed to completely tidy my back garden, clearing away all the dead vegetation & debri after the Winter, hoed all the beds & borders & cleaned my greenhouse. Even the lawn got mowed, (the 1st time it's ever been cut in January). All looks tidy now, giving me time to concentrate on working "down the plot".

Went down the plot all day on Tuesday and prepared 2 more large barrels ready for sowing Carrot seeds into later. I added 50% manure & 50% soil to each barrel. After this was done I cleared the storage area behind my shed, plastic trays, plant pots and other bits & pieces were checked for slugs & snails, cleaned & put back in accessible order. 250 plastic milk bottles were washed out & will be used as cloches for my Sweetcorn & Cucumbers later. The bottles have capacity markings on the side of them, so I figured out that my last years Cucumbers were 2 litres tall when I removed the bottles from over the top of them in April. I don't rinse out the newer empty ones as the smell of sour milk confuses some insects.

The weather was a little chilly but pleasant enough when the sunshine penetrated the clouds.

Rhubarb arriving unforced

Wednesday was a little warmer with some weak sunshine & the slight breeze of late had dropped. The soil is starting to dry out & if raked over, the top couple of inches is drying out rapidly. I spent the morning helping one of my friends who is moving to another plot with a few "lifting & shifting" jobs.

Onion sets & Parsnips protected from cats.

In the afternoon I planted some Onion sets & sowed some Parsnip seeds into last years Brassica bed in keeping with my 4 year crop rotation, although this years potatoes will be planted in my other plot. I potted up, Peas (Hurst Greenshaft), Runner beans (Enorma & Scarlet Emperor), Cucumbers (my own seed) and Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight), & Brussel Sprouts (Evesham). Loaded the trays & pots into my car for moving them to my greenhouse.

Thursday morning was warmish again with some sunshine as I arrived at the plot. It clouded over about half an hour later & the air temperature dropped a little. I planted some daffodil bulbs, (& 2 Blackcurrant bushes I was kindly given by Roger one of the other plot holders).

 I then cleared some dead foliage from my Strawberry plants & transfered 3 of the plants to my other plots' Strawberry bed. I potted up some more peas (100), cleaned out my cold frame and decided to call it a day. I loaded up my car with rubbish & certain things I don't put on the compost heap from the plot & garden. These will be taken to our re-cycling centre in the morning.

Friday the 13th, was a lovely sunny day with bright sunshine after a heavy frost last night. I ventured down to the plot in the early afternoon just to check on the effects of the overnight frost, had a chat with a few of my fellow plot holders then toddled off home.

Derek & Mickey (2 of my fellow plot holders) working hard as usual

There's always tomorrow.