Now that’s all over…

I always find Christmas and New Year pass too quickly for my liking. There not usually a lot to look forward to in January either. OK there’s the seed orders and some planting, if I can find room in the house for them, but it seems ages before it starts getting light again and I can get out and do some real work. Granted there a fair bit of tidying up I could be doing but that’s not easy in the frosty weather and virtually impossible in the snow.

There was enough of a thaw the other day to allow me to get my blackcurrant (Titania) planted. Fortunately the spot I’d prepared was sheltered by the bath so wasn’t frozen. After planting I pruned it as per the instructions, and pushed these prunings into the ground in the hope some of them take as there’s room for at least one more blackcurrant bush in that space.

Working my way down the plot, I finally finished tidying the strawberry bed and planted out half a dozen runners, chopped down the Jerusalem Artichokes, the rose bush (the only problem I have with it is that it’s in the wrong place) and some brambles.

Better late than never!

Finally I arrived at the brassica bed to sort out the netting that had collapsed under the weight of snow.

Typical rustic style on the plot

Sadly this proved easier said than done. The ground was still frozen down at this end of the plot so it proved impossible to get the sticks back into the ground to hold the netting up. Note to self do a better job with the netting before the snow this year.

And now to the seed catalogues…

If I’d wanted frozen veg…

… I’d have gone to the supermarket!

Sadly this extended cold spell has meant frozen soil for ages now – I forget quite how long, but it’s getting quite boring not being able to do anything down on the plot. Unfortunately the frost got my potatoes stored in the outhouse, not hugely surprising given how cold it’s been but it was a sad day today having to buy potatoes in the local fruit and veg shop for Christmas dinner.

There’s some sprouts in there somewhere

However the sprouts have survived the snow and frosts. The snow brought the netting down and I don’t think the purple sprouting broccoli is going to survive. [Cry] The sprouts are frost solid though and it was oh so cold picking them. Thought I’d pick them a couple of days early to let them defrost! I was going to get some ‘reserve’ sprouts from the fruit and veg shop in case my frozen ones aren’t so good, but all the ones in the shop were frozen from when they been picked in the field too.

The snow down on the plot had formed some great flakes/crystals too:

I’m keen to get some above freezing temperatures as I’m desperately trying to keep a new blackcurrant bush alive inside the house before I can plant it out anywhere. It’s currently living in the kitchen still in the bag being regularly watered, but it really needs to get planted. Somewhere. Anywhere.

Finally, from the less grumpy cat of Sheffield:

Happy Christmas!

Baby, it’s cold outside!

1.22pm on Tuesday afternoon up on plot no. 2

Here comes summer!

After the frosts of last week, looking at the forecast I’ve decided summer has arrived. I was feeling rather pleased with myself that my late planting of my spuds meant I’d avoided any frost damage since they weren’t through yet. I spotted the potatoes were through tonight, but on closer inspection my smugness soon disappeared. The tops must have been just under the surface and were burned by the frost – unfortunately the battery on the camera went before I had chance to take a picture.

The strawberries are looking very good too, far more flowers than they’ve ever had on, but they too got caught by the frost.

Hopefully they’ll survive though. The whole plot is very dry again so I gave them a good soaking and feed with the remains of the comfrey feed from last year. I went to make some more and discovered my bucket has sprung a leak. If the weather keeps up though I’ll have to put the ‘defences’ up soon before they start getting eaten.

The red currant and gooseberry bushes are loaded with fruit, but like everything else they needed some water. A good drink later I used some of the leaves to put down a good, deep mulch around both bushes. As with the strawberries I’ll need to net the red currant to make sure I get some of them on the next visit.

The rest of the visit to the plot was putting up the pea and bean netting, a task that always seems to take forever. It would have helped if I’d tidied up the netting when I took it down last year and put it away somewhere instead of dumping it at the bottom of the plot. Once untangled it only took an hour or so to get the up… It would have been easier if I didn’t use the old privet canes and stuck to the nice smooth bamboo canes, but where’s the fun in that!

Finally the rhubarb is in full swing. There are a lot of flowers this year, which I assume is largely due to a lack of water. The old crown I discovered on the plot when I took it on is by far the best crown of the four I now have on this plot.

Getting a steady supply, and given some away already. Soon be on to the jam.