The weather has warmed a little but it’s still only around 3/4c most days, sometimes with a heavy fog, plenty of conspiracy theories online about this 🙄
We have managed to do a bit outside although there comes a point when fingers and toes are protesting a lot and that’s the time for me to come inside and do something else. I try to wait for it to warm up enough in the morning but it’s not really getting anywhere near the nice 12/14c we had between Christmas and new year, can’t expect much else really in mid winter 🥶
The work we have been concentrating on is where we took the old fence down after putting up the new one. Over time there have been hazel and sycamore saplings that have self set and they need to come out plus clear any weeds/debris and get the area clear to start again. We have decided that some new compost bins will be good down there as well as extending all the existing beds down to the old fence line. We are building the compost bins out of old pallets and these will be lined so that the material can heat up well and hopefully destroy and weed seeds. Home made compost is fantastic stuff if you can avoid spreading weed seeds everywhere and you do this by making sure that the material gets enough heat to kill off anything lurking in there and rot everything down really well. Turning the compost is key because not only do you make sure you incorporate everything but it also helps to reignite those warmer temperatures that you need.
There are a couple of things in pots that I have been wanting to get in the ground for a few years. One is a fig that has been in a pot for about 4 years and we actually do have enough space to get it in the ground I just was never sure where I wanted it, now it is in the ground I might get a good crop of figs next year 🥰 The other shrub I have planted is next to the decking and is for floristry, it is a eucalyptus parvifolia. It will give me two things, some dappled shade on the decking area which gets full sun in the late afternoon and evenings and cutting material for bouquets and arrangements. Eucalyptus is a winter foliage and used during the winter months, we stop using it around May and start again in October/November.
We have had a few fox visits this week, I spotted it this morning and it’s a big healthy specimen 😬 John saw it yesterday right outside the back door when he went out there. We have had to start keeping the door closed and not let Mia have free range and I think that because if that Patch is staying in more and so there are no dogs out there to ward it off.
The reason we have had to keep Mia in is because she can no longer see or hear anything so when she goes outside she can’t find her way back on her own. I explained this to John and said if she is out with you then you need to watch her at all times 🙄 This did not happen on Friday and consequently when he went back outside he couldn’t find her. Luckily Sam and Shelley were here and so a search party was sent out and she was found just over our boundary in the field of the farm behind us. But she is also getting pretty infirm especially after walking all that way and they had to get a wheelbarrow to bring her back. She wanders aimlessly but can’t find her way back so she has to be constantly watched.
We are people who when the time is right will have her put to sleep but at the minute she is eating, drinking and isn’t incontinent, she enjoys sleeping most of the day and that’s not a bad life for an old dog, I am hoping she just goes to sleep quietly and gently here, in the meantime we just have to make sure she doesn’t wander off!
I have been organising the greenhouse ready for the big seed sowing race in March. There are only a few things you can sow now, broad beans (not decided if I want to grow these yet or not) Sweet peas (I have the seed soaking and chitting as I type) Onion seeds and I am growing perennial onions this year so as not to take up too much room and I have also sown some verbena seeds for cut flowers. Apart from that I am just waiting and watching the weather, it’s good that we had some freezing weather as that triggers many plants including the tulip bulbs into growth and I have 600 of those planted 😂
I bought a job lot of beer traps to try and tackle the slugs this year, hopefully as we have had the cold they won’t be as prolific but if we have another cool wet spring they will be back. I did a bit of research on which slugs are the good guys this week because not all of them are pests. Some only eat decaying material and some eat other slugs so we want to keep those if possible which is why it’s not a good idea to use slug pellets, killing all of them is counterproductive. Cellar slugs which are the bigger greeny coloured ones are good and leopard slugs are also useful. Neither of these pose a threat to my plants and so they can stay, the rest need to be knocked back in numbers so I will be giving them beer to drink and that’s not a bad way to go is it 🤪
Getting as much preparation done in the garden at this time of year will make the rest of the year much easier to manage but there are jobs that need to wait until the time is right. I don’t cut back any dead foliage until the weather has warmed up a good bit, the beneficial insects need somewhere to overwinter and the birds need the seed heads and the coverage if it’s cold. As much as I would love to start clearing it all I know that the whole garden will reap the rewards if I leave everything alone until those mentioned can survive sufficiently.
frieslandfarm (flowers) 