In the bleak Mid Winter, Bits and Bobs.

[Clive.]

Will have to wait for end of April into May for a Cauli from the garden here...

....there was some frost on the digging this morning.

Clive.

[Monika]

Got all the vegetable patch in the home garden dug yesterday (digging in green manure) and was pleased to see it covered with a good frosty crust this morning! Alas, it's raining now, but I am hoping for more frosty nights to break it all down.

[oldherbaceous]

People really do seem to be sending Christmas cards earlier each year, just recieved our first one, but it had got a first class stamp on it, so i suppose that sped things up a little.

Good old royal mail....

[retropants]

[oldherbaceous]

I have got two loads of logs to stack today, for seperate people, a job i really enjoy, so looking forward to getting out at it.

I did manage to get four hours digging in over the allotment Tuesday, what i was very pleased about, but it is now too wet again.

[Ricard with an H]

Bleak is how things are looking on my plot at the moment even though I have garlic and winter salads. The cabbages are still being attacked and not growing at all, I lost three to strong wings and Molly or the fox pulled at least one.

Todays photos in between the hail and rain.

[oldherbaceous]

Some lovely photographs. Richard, and i bet your plots are no worse than anyone elses.

Well i was enjoying the log stacking, until half way through the second load, then the heavens opened, and the job just didn't seem quite the same.

[Ricard with an H]

Well i was enjoying the log stacking,

Ahhhh, log-stacking.

Even though I always complain about the work I have to do because it hurts my back, messing with logs is deeply cathartic. I'm managing to fill my store before winter sets in, I generally start during spring. The local dealers are keener to sell what they have and it's more of a pleasure heaving a chainsaw, splitting and stacking.

This year it was all larch, I wasn't happy but I am surprised that well dried larch burns nicely even though its a substitute for oak, ash or sycamore.

This photo shows one £80 delivery of larch and it still needed cutting and moving to the log store.

Because we also burn homefire/multiheat cobbles I cut a lot of sticks so that I can always quickly start a fire. Lots of dry sticks is the answer for those who can't easily start fires.

[Westi]

Richard - your plot looks fab! I have quite a bit of mildew on my leafy crops, some toe rag has nicked my sprouts - BUT my caulis are well grand!

Obviously my thieves are selective - thankfully!

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

You are so kind Westie but my bed of spring flowering flowers that are bi annual look very sad, mostly the effects of wind has yellowed and stunted them to such an extent I doubt they will survive. The cabbage, by comparison looks healthy. It was waste of time for me to plant broad beans but as I keep saying, I'm learning.

Last years crop of garlic are still supplying us so the garlic shoots you see give me a lot more confidence and I'll grow winter garlic every year unless white rot takes over.

My sea buckthorn windbreak hedge has suffered from wind rocking it in the planting trench to such an extent I've been tamping the earth around the roots in order to steady them. Presumably I needn't worry about the sea buckthorn.

I'm on the roof again today re bedding ridge tiles,I really shouldn't be doing this at my age and with two hip replacements but I have few choices.

And finally, we have lots of daffodil shoots showing so it'll be a colourful St David's day display.

[oldherbaceous]

What a difference this Winter has been for the Winter veg, compared to last.

I have just harvested, Caulis, savoys, leeks, purple sprouting brocolli, curly kale and some celeriacs. All of which were of first class quality, so i'm very pleased and makes it all very much worth all the effort. I think i'm most pleased with the caulis and celeriac, as i know these can be a little troublesome to grow.

Just goes to show, even i can get a decent crop with a little help from Mother Nature.

[Ricard with an H]

Just goes to show, even i can get a decent crop with a little help from Mother Nature.

Do you have a sheltered plot ? I'm hoping that after a couple of years even the bare winter branches of our sea buckthorn will slow the wind down enough for over-wintering crops to survive.

Dessication by the wind is not something most gardeners talk about even though it is an issue with us all. walled gardens were created many years ago even in places far from the coast and I note after some recent reading that walls and growing wind-breaks are often the causes of loss of light if not considered carefully.

My two previous matrimonial homes had nice warm sunny and sheltered gardens though without the fabulous outlook I have now and whilst i'm sure I could grow most stuff here I would need ten years of planting and growing wind-breaks. I should have thought about this ten years ago.

All the land around us has now been sown with grazing and for silage, the surround in fields used to produce barley and rape though clearly they were not profitable crops in such a wet and windy place.

For me, more clever sheltering from wind is needed though I'm mortified at the cost to me so far during the last three years just to create these four raised beds which amount to only 40 sq-metres including the cold frame.

Even the seemingly sheltered areas around the barn suffer from the wind being channeled and pushed through at twice the velocity of the prevailing conditions.

My cabbages that were covered in just ex-mesh seem to be coping so the ex-mesh alone does slow the wind a little but lets in more light than the ex-mesh covered in fleece.

[oldherbaceous]

Morning Richard, no, our plots are not sheltered, but saying that, they will not be as windy as yours, that i am sure of. The use of your ex-mesh seems to be doing the job, and i would say it's probably stopping around 50 percent of the wind. Things will improve for you Richard, when you hedging gets going.

Hope you got your-ridge tiles sorted, i must admit, after many years of doing a lot of roofing work, i'm not so confident about working on them now. Mainly down to nerve damage, allowing me to lose my balance every so often.
Not so bad when i'm working at ground level, just makes one feel a little silly when you suddenly find yourself laying on the ground.

[Ricard with an H]

Hope you got your-ridge tiles sorted, i must admit, after many years of doing a lot of roofing work, i'm not so confident about working on them now.

Thanks again for the encouragement OH, the effort is well-spent on me.

Regarding being on a roof, my problem is i'm very confident and have good balance and shifting-balance skills but my strength doesn't last and this time of year I have to wear expedition-underwear to keep my legs warm. Possibly due to slowing circulation around the extremities. I was on the roof for a few hours again today whilst we had a dry period with a bit of sun, i've reach the end of the loose ridge tiles now so I can call it, "Job-done". As well as buttering the ridges with new stronger mix I have also glued the top row of slate to the ridges and each ridge tile has 110mm stainless steel screw through it and down into the ridge timbers.

It'll take an act of god or a bombing raid to shift them now.

[oldherbaceous]

Just had the most awful storm go through, lightning, thunder, hail and huge winds. I have been down the lane just behind us, and there are trees down everywhere, i think it had a leading edge of about 100yards, as there seems little damage either side, quite scary......