I have a cousin in Massachusetts on the East coast of America and I know she has to pack her gardening into a short space of time between spring snow and autumn snow! Says things grow like mad inbetween though. And she does lots of squashes. Guess we all learn to work with what we've got. So welcome...

That'll be a bit parky VPM! I'd enjoy your 8 degrees though, been around 2-3 degrees here for days but we've been promised the dizzying heights of 4-6 today. I'm taking my parents out to a garden centre to get their seeds etc today so could have done with it a bit warmer. They're 89 and 91 and still...

I was tidying the garden at the holiday cottage this morning, so pleased it's got forest on 3 sides... makes all the difference to cutting out the wind. I actually undid my coat. If this keeps up I'll have to take off the brown paper and goose fat

Motherwoman

I used to think that birds would be able to forecast the weather when they were due to hatch the eggs and time it all to perfection, until my chickens went broody two years running and hatched their eggs in wet, foul and windy weather. So it's either just the stupidity of chickens or birds have no m...

Speaking as somebody whose septic tank won't actually drain at the moment because the water table is so high in the surrounding fields... bring on the drought!!! It'll smell better......

Motherwoman

Very difficult call. Broadies will take a frost if not too soft as will brassicas. The polytunnel, being a bigger volume, may not get as cold as the mini greenhouse but a lot will depend on the site. One good trick is to have a water butt in the polytunnel filled with water which heats up in the day...

Hi Primrose, Haven't heard of that one before but I do put some paper products (cardboard, kitchen roll) in my rat-proof veggie waste composter as the red worms love the stuff and I get a better/quicker rot down than if I don't. The best thing ever for heating up (apart from manure) is wet straw. Th...

Well, I started with one and went up to 8 at one stage, but now have 6. I found that once you got past 2 it didn't make a lot of difference! Except for the dust levels indoors... Once they get to about 12 years old they start to calm down a bit. I think I probably am mad but don't care any more!

I was walking my dogs (6 springer spaniels) in the field this morning at around 6.15am and over the hedge at around head height glided a beautiful barn owl. It was only about 20 feet ahead of me and zig zagged about for around a minute before disappearing over the next hedge. It didn't seem at all b...

Nice snowdrops and a lovely brick wall! Is it part of an old walled garden?

I would guess that the modern water based fence treatments are probably OK but anything with creosote residues or other chemical preservatives is not a good idea. I think the advice to try lighting a bit and see what it's like is sound. Mind you if it's gone rotten enough to remove there's probably ...

Where else can you go from rotovators to good looks to cooking cabbage all in one place! Gardeners are a unique blend.

Good luck with your bidding.

I think they are dead ones that have been frosted. I had some like it a couple of years ago but the ones underneath will hopefully have been protected and should grow as normal, so don't try to seperate the clumps as you could do more harm than good. The canabalistic little tinkers will eat their de...

Laying in bed thinking can be a dangerous practice OH!

The daffs in the garden think it's spring, my chickens think it's spring (eggs all over the place ) but I don't think winter has finished with us yet....

Motherwoman

It's laying here alright, dogs come in with a frosty top! There's a big hill behind my house with a monument on top, can't see either at the moment. The snow is fine and blowing sideways in a bitter wind that stings my face. Paths are starting to crunch with ice and I'm going to stoke up the wood ra...