It's lunchtime on Friday 15th January 2010 and it looks like I might just get down to the plot this weekend.
Next weekend I have the rather large 40th birthday of a very dear friend of mine and I will not be around. the next weekend is Coryn 65th Birthday bash so it is imperative that I make an appearance this week.
There won't be much I can actually do as the soil will be too damp and cold to walk on. Soil structure at this time of year is so fragile. My dirty great size 12s stomping all over it will do no good at all. Size 12s are however very useful for preparing a firm base for planting the brassica plot later in the year.
As I am blessed with a very large greenhouse. I’ll move the tea making stuff into there and have a potter around. Perhaps I’ll prepare some pots for planting or just sit and listen to my ipod.
Seed potatoes arrive next weekend. 8 weeks til spring.
It’s been the coldest winter for many decades. But you know what? The water in the toilet bowl still hasn’t frozen. When it does, that’ll be proper cold.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Be careful what you ask for
So in my last post I was ruminating on the idea that a few decent frosts might kill off all the bugs in the soil that have been ruining my carrot harvest this season.
Because of all this rubbish weather I've been to the plot twice since mid December.
I went once to pick up some cabbage to be greeted with a two inch covering of snow all over the plot. This was about a week before Christmas. Not until you see the snow on the ground do you realise just how busy the foxes are on your plot. Every couple of inches across the whole plot there were fox prints. The whole site looked like a massive skin of a golf ball.
An couple of days before new year I dropped off some manure and spread it around on one of the plots and picked up some fresh herbs for my trip away to the Cotswolds for New Year.
Since then the whole plot as been frozen solid and covered with snow.
We did manage to get some planting done at the beginning of December. We managed to get a lot of garlic in the ground which will love all the snow and frost as garlic likes a good cold snap.
We also planted some Broad Beans which will now be dead. They were a bit leggy when they went in so the snow would have crushed them. Never mind I'll get some more in soon and hopefully they will be big and strong before the aphids arrive.
It will soon be spring!
Because of all this rubbish weather I've been to the plot twice since mid December.
I went once to pick up some cabbage to be greeted with a two inch covering of snow all over the plot. This was about a week before Christmas. Not until you see the snow on the ground do you realise just how busy the foxes are on your plot. Every couple of inches across the whole plot there were fox prints. The whole site looked like a massive skin of a golf ball.
An couple of days before new year I dropped off some manure and spread it around on one of the plots and picked up some fresh herbs for my trip away to the Cotswolds for New Year.
Since then the whole plot as been frozen solid and covered with snow.
We did manage to get some planting done at the beginning of December. We managed to get a lot of garlic in the ground which will love all the snow and frost as garlic likes a good cold snap.
We also planted some Broad Beans which will now be dead. They were a bit leggy when they went in so the snow would have crushed them. Never mind I'll get some more in soon and hopefully they will be big and strong before the aphids arrive.
It will soon be spring!
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