New Year bits and bobs

[Monika]

By coincidence, I received my seed potatoes from Thompson & Morgan today, too. I like ordering from them, because you order by the number of tubers rather than weight which makes it easier to plan the plot. They look fine and I shall leave them in the open box in the cold garage (unless it gets very, very frosty again) and put them out to chit when they look like getting "lively".
This year, we are growing Kestrel, Blue Danube, Sarpo Mira, Cara (20 tubers each), Anya, Rooster and Nadine (10 tubers each). The last one will be grown mainly in bags for our village show and for the "one potato grown in a 9" pot" .

[oldherbaceous]

A rather lovely Moonset out there this morning.

[alan refail]

Yesterday morning was an impressive lunar display here. Hanging very low in the north-west directly over the long road through the village a huge ivory full moon in a clear black winter sky.

[peter]

Yes indeed it was Alan.
Something of August or Harvest time about it I thought, a very creamy colour and incredibly clear to see.

[Clive.]

I think it was Wednesday night when the moon was incredibly bright here...and at 12-20am when I looked out it was shining on and reflecting off next doors greenhouse to such a brightness that it looked like there was a large halogen light on in there.

..and this morning as I had a walk round in the half light on first arriving at work it was an amazing sight going down in the West.

I didn't espy any Deer this morning.....but they have been chewing on shrubs in the front triangular shrubbery.

Frosty nearly all day today...so I left the Rose bed forking as it would have been a messy lot and did a little bit of hedge laying to fill in a gap in part of the cottage garden hedge...

Clive.

[Monika]

Minus 5 here the last two nights and probably colder expected tonight, daytime just above freezing point, but what lovely days! Dawn to dusk sunshine and in the morning everything glistening with haw frost in the rising sun. I managed to clear all the rotting brassicas on Wednesday (unfortunately this included all the purple sprouting broccoli which succumbed in the heavy frosts) and forked over the ground but since then it's been frozen solid again, so no more digging.

[alan refail]

Is it just me? Or is this winter, with another eight weeks still to go till the equinox, longer and darker than usual?

[oldherbaceous]

I think the long cold spell before Christmas is making it seem a lot longer than normal, i normally work up to Christmas without losing anytime through bad weather, but this year i lost a couple of weeks all told.

But the mornings do seem to be staying rather dark longer than normal, as well.

[Clive.]

I think to me it made it feel like it was after Christmas before Christmas..

It does seem dark this morning...it started to get light then came down a bit foggy..now rolled back to misty in the distance.

I did two pieces of digging here yesterday...it was plenty wet for it..but it got a bit more into order.

Clive.

[Geoff]

Too frozen to think about digging here yesterday. The hoar frost did finally melt off the orchard so I was able to spread the lime round the apple trees - couldn't see where I was up to before then. But I cheered myself up with a big bonfire, I'll spread the ash round the plums today.

[Clive.]

I have just completed another section of digging at home here...and that has got the open ground areas dug. Bits more to sort as Leeks and Parsnips come out and a light fork along the centres of Raspberry rows and around some Currant bushes...

...and it never really did seem to get light today.

Clive.

[Compo]

I stayed on the plot till five today, left in dusk, cold mind with a slight northerly blowing. I am making up some heavy frames with corrugated plastic roofs for the early spuds. Bits of scrap wood, screws, wood preserver, and plenty of tea..... I was like a dog in a bone yard!!

CoMpO

[alan refail]

-8C last night and freezing all day today despite the sun. So much for the mild west coast

[oldherbaceous]

Never a dull moment in our lovely British Isles, i don't think anyone could say we haven't had a bit of everything this Winter.

Bitterly cold wind here, but kept warm by dropping a wild plum hedge by 10 feet, then having a good old fashioned bonfire with it, and gaining some potash at the same time.

[oldherbaceous]

Rather fresh out there this morning, infact it was quite a chilly draught blowing up my nightgown a minute or two ago when i was outside.