Leaping into Action

Why didn't the squirrels eat us?

It is not often you ring someone in the NHS and they can't talk for laughing but a lady in the x-ray department was almost hysterical this morning.  It was refreshing.  She and her friend had a pact that they would propose marriage to the first man they saw.  However, an octegenarian with a zimmer frame was not suitable (shame on the NHS for such ageism) and she wondered if I knew anyone who might be available.  (I didn't.)  She was simply desperate to 'have a go' at the Big Question.  Perhaps it is a good thing that leap year only comes round once every 4 years.

Anyway, appointment made (painful hip) I swallowed some more paracetamol and hobbled round the plot with my camera. You can see a lot in a slow wander. 
 

Builders rubble and gravel present no challenge to snowdrops

 

Busy Bee on a Camelia flower



What a mess!  Badger damage amongst the daffodils



It's time the hens were moved to new pasture.  Good dust bath though!



Autumn planted shallots and onions doing well

New strawberry plants ready to go



Pansies and salads still doing well

Pity I could not pull up a few weeds and cut back the flower borders.  However, aching hip or not, I managed to prune a few stray branches from the climbing roses, sow some seeds and do a bit of tidying in the shed. 

It's nearly time....

The seed box is sorted and I have brought a couple of unheated propagators into the kitchen so they are ready and waiting.  I have a large bucket full of sieved compost, a packet of plant labels and a felt tip pen that works.

Sowing my tomato seeds during the last week of February is a ritual.  An early start gives the plants the longest possible growing time and the fruits can reach maturity before the autumn.  It also gives me the wonderful feeling that spring is happening, it really is!

I am supposed to be scaling back the vegetable production at Springfield this season because I have a lot of family and work commitments this summer.  However, I am not sure if I really can show restraint when it comes to the number of seed packets I actually open.  If I could grow every single tomato variety there is, I would.  And I don’t think I am alone in my ambitions because most gardeners have a vision of grandeur.  For some it is Versailles or Kew Gardens or an entire tropical rainforest.  For me it has to be a vegetable garden that would feed our entire village.  Maybe I was a farmer in a previous life?

Contrasts

Friday night was the coldest we have had this winter and when I trundled down the path yesterday afternoon, the fluffy white snow was crunchy underfoot.  The ice cold air tickled my nostrils, the sun was shining and the garden glistened, like someone had spinkled glitter over everything.  It was the perfect winters day for walking in the countryside.  It was crisp and exhilarating, as long as you have confidence in your footwear.  We have several areas of compacted snow on our plot which have turned to smooth sheets of ice.  I avoid these, I value my bones too much.

I popped along to the greenhouse to check on the potted plants I am over-wintering in there and when I opened the door there was a rush of warm, humid air.  The contrast between outside and inside was remarkable and I am going to buy a thermometer just to see what the temperature climbs to in the winter.  Even at sub-zero temperatures it does not take much sunshine to warm up a glass house and the stone flags we have for the base of ours, absorb the heat and keep the plants cosy during the night.  I have a watering can full of water in there and it remains unfrozen, unlike one by a water butt.

As I was snipping and checking and moving around in there, the snow on the roof started to slide and I had my very own mini avelanche.  Luckily the glass in the cold frames outside are made with safety glass!

There was one thing I was not happy about in the greenhouse. Whitefly.  Being toasty warm in the greenhouse all winter means they can get on with what they like to do, with little threat.  They love my parsley and three pots of it are now useless.  It is so annoying.  

And then there is February....

I should not complain because sub zero temperatures and snow is not unusual for February.  It's just that the bulbs are up and about and I was mentally preparing for sowing my tomato seeds.  I think they call this a reality check.  Last week is a very long time ago.

Our three girls are not unhappy in the snow.  In fact they look at me rather disdainfully as I plod around the plot looking like a sherpa.  Today they looked quite surprised that I found it a struggle to clean them out . 

The coop was frozen, the watering can, likewise, and the water bowl needed de-frosting twice.  Still, my hands were toasty warm.  I wear a pair of 'Thinsulate' gloves with a 'Hottie' stuffed into each one and then a large pair of rubber gloves.  I don't think I could thread needles but dealing with chicken poo and straw is fine.  I wore two pairs of socks and thick, fleece lined rubber boots but the girls seem to manage fine with nothing at all on their feet!

We were due to go and see friends tonight, for supper and a good catch up.  However, they live further north in the Peak District, so that is a no no even with a shovel in the boot of the car.  There is an inch and a half of snow here and it is still falling.  Up there, who know what it could be like in the next half hour.   Buxton is probably cut off already!