A (Not So) Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday the weather was horrid, in fact it hasn't been so great for the past week or so, very cold which has set back the growing of vegetables and makes me doubly grateful to the greenhouse for protecting my little seedings.

Today the weather was slighty warmer and most importantly it wasn't raining. I decided that the potatos had to go in and so three tubs of four potatos are now happily getting started outside under the pergola where they are sheltered from the worse of the cold. The compost had been out all winter and was very wet so I left it in the sunshine and will abstain from watering until I am happier that the potatos have started to grow and haven't rotted.

I also planted out 20 or so peas which germinated indoors on the damp paper, it amazed me how many turned mouldy or simply didn't do anything. Goes some way to explain why my pea growing efforts in the garden have been so poor.

I then set about (with assistance) to empty all the pots which had last years dead plants in and get them ready for planting up my flowers which i have grown from seeds. This was a fairly nice job which i could do from the deckchair and I got 4 of the Irish Eyes sunflowers planted up. I hadn't hardened them off so I will see how they do, hopefully there won't be a frost for a few nights. I also sowed some Chinese Forget-Me-Nots in the rose tub (which has aphids again), and added tall cornfowers and quaking grass to the pot which had grasses in last year.

I weeded the herb bed and all of the pots, the mints are slowly coming back to life - the apple mint is very slow but terribly pretty.  I rescued a rose seedling from the gravel at the back of the garden, it couldn't stay where it was and so i thought i would try putting it in a pot and seeing how it gets on, together with the dogroses from the school last week I have three varieties in my garden. Only the nursery grown rose has aphids!

I decided to come in and sort out dinner (slow cooked beef and mustard cassrole) and by the time that was done it had started to rain.

Again.

Germination Part II

Well, where to start!

Firstly the majority of seeds although much slower than their original expected timescales they have actually germinated. I have a butternut squash and a gourd as well as 3 out of 4 courgette plants. I have 9 out of 10 runner beans and all bar one of the Harlequins, the maskotska have a 50% germination rate and I will have to resow to get the 6 i need for the hanging baskets.

The peas have again been abysmal, i planted 50 Meteor and i have had 4 grow up, closer investigation has discovered the others rotted in the tub. I have started some Kelvedon Wonder on paper towels indoors which have now germinated, i am leaving them another day and will then try to transplant them.

Flower wise I have been quite successful, the sunflowers really need transplanting on tomorrow into larger tubs, they are dwarfs so I am going to plant some on in the greenhouse and the rest out in pots with some protection. I also have harebells, marigolds, lemon balm (slightly sickly but 1 is there), parsley (yippee!), and teh sweet peas are coming on in leaps and bounds looking really strong. I have also has some success with teh ones i planted directly outside around the old willow. Those ones are slower growing but with the weather we have had over teh last few days i am confident they'll be ok.

The crab apple is doingbrilliantly, a million and one blossoms, the vine, elstar eating apple and acer are also doing very well, as is the rose. The herbs are doing well and the honesty is bringing lots of bees.

Onto the other thing which has been brewing a while - I had my first Magic Garden placement this afternoon at a local primary school - here is the aim of the project which has been running since 1997.

"The aim of the Magic Gardens Project (MGP) is to promote the appreciation of quality food by providing knowledge of production. Our aim is to encourage the notion that to grow food yourself is surely one of the best things which can be introduced to children and adults alike. Staff at the Magic Gardens Project teach these values in primary schools and Sure Start centres through environmental education and practical gardening classes."

Today I did spend most of my time weeding, and then assisting with the after school gardening club, the vegetable patch they have is really 'magic' and they have lots of different spaces to use such as the wildlife garden, the pond (with tadpoles), the bird hide and the open spaces. As I have mentioned before I am interested in Forest Schools and although the time isn;t right for me to go further down that path I think the Magic Gardens project will go some way to letting me learn about children and the way they learn in an outdoor environment.

Germination

Last week was a bit manic, we had the house painted (will load pictures soon) and the house looks a million dollars. In addition I had rather a lot of freelance work arrive towards the en of the week so my lunches in the garden became lunches at my desk looking at my garden. The temperature dropped to 1.3*C but so far we have avoided any frost in the greenhouse, which given the slow rate of germination is a good thing.

Satuday I went walking for a hen party along part of the Norfolk Coast using the coasthopper, lovely weather but maybe a smidge warm! We had a picnic at Burnham Ovary Staithe and then walked back towards Holkham, not the longest of walks but a good one.

Tonight I escaped out to the garden to discover I have the following germinated;
1 Runner Bean
2 Marigolds
3 Courgettes (Midnight & Black Forest)
4 Harlequin Tomatos
6 Cos Lettuces,
And a million sunflowers, zinnias, mesembryantheums! ALso sweet peas are coming up and normal peas, although very patchy, given they were all sown at eth same depth at the same time it seems a little odd.

Hammock up, up , up and away!

Overnight Low: 3.8C Daytime High: 31.9C

Christmas 2008 I bought Hubby a hammock from Natural Collection, Christmas 2009 I bought him the hooks to put the hammock up as the hammock had not moved out of the wardrobe for a year.  Today the hammock went up and heres a picture of happiness! I had a go too and its is sublimely comfortable. We had dinner outside tonight - a first for the year!

Greenhouse got really warm today - still no evidence of seedlings but hopefully next week I will see some shoots. Marigolds should have come up by now!

A day of compost

Overnight Low: 5.3C Daytime High: 23.1C

I ate lunch again in the garden today - every day this week! I have pretty much got everything tidied up now ready for the grand house painting next week I am so excited!

Today I didn't do a huge amount, suffering slightly from yesterdays overexertions. I did lay a path out of old bricks, and one wheelbarrow and a 60litre bag of the new compost which we made onto the veg patch to make a courgette bed (L shaped in photo below) and a carrot/salad bed (square shaped) which will be fabric netted to a height of 70 cm to avoid carrot fly and also stop the ground drying out so the lettuces aren't as likely to bolt. In the foreground my garlic is to the right and my shallots to the left sheltered by the honesty. I have been collecting earthworms to put on my new beds and i will cover them up until they are ready to be planted - it will be several months before the courgettes are big enough to go out.

I am also looking for a new blog template, so watch this space! I want something more ephemeral, subtle and with greater control over the image placment

and i might - just might have had a furtle under the soil of some of the pots to check germination is taking place. patience never having been a virtue of mine!

Damn Grape Hyacinth (muscari)

Overnight Low: 6.1C Daytime High: 25.8C

Spent all day 'weeding' the front of small tiny irritating weeds and grass which invade the concrete and gravel. The house is being painted next week and I want to try and get the whole outside tidied up and looking pretty ready for the new arrival. I had to wear my ultra excellent straw gardeners hat becuase it got so hot in the sun. I am delighted by the fact that for the first time since planting the Rosemary out the front has flowered - i will post pictures soon.

The afternoon saw me return to the back and sweep the concrete by the veg patch, and the patio outside the shed as well as digging out the grass and weeds from the path. Then I turned my attention to the annoying grape hyacinths which manage to come up through the weed matting we put down under the gravel. They are a real pest, because the leaves bruise so easily they look ragged and untidy against the gravel and are right in the way of the pergola space. Other than dig the bulbs up (which I do) is there any way to get rid of them?

No germination as yet in the greenhouse - there is a frost predicted for Monday evening, I will have to wrap all the plants up carefully although hopefully the green house will protect them a little. I am more concerned about the new herbs I put out and the passion flower which I removed the fleece from yesterday.

Lunch outdoors again today though - 4 days in a row!

Will they? Won't they?

Overnight Low: 8.0C Daytime High: 26.2C

This is a picture of the greenhouse after I had been out to play today. I have sown additional seeds, mostly flowers and mostly old seeds from our trip to Heligan in Cornwall in 2008. Hence the title of the post - will they germinate or not?

The Zinnia, Aster, Ox-Eye Daisy and Mesembryanthemum are sown in big pots inside plastic bags to try and up the temperature to enable germination. The Sweet William, Marigolds, Parsley, Harebells and Lemon Balm are in my white plastic pop up seed try which enables me to extract easily the plants which need potting on while leaving the roots of the others untouched.

The only other plants to be given very special treatment are my sweet peas, seen inside the propoagators. This year I have spent very little on seeds and gardening materials. I did buy some new seed labels and Parsely seeds which are notoriously difficult to germinate anyway and wanted to start with the best possible chance.

I am wondering about a little sideline in money earning - maybe pot up 20 or so tomatos (I have the seed left from last year) and extra butternut squash, as well as cucumbers and rom them big and string before selling them for a pound or so each through hubbys work. Having taken a gander at the offerings at a few garden centres its obvious that the only seedlings available are bog standard run of teh mill types where as I have some really interesting varieties.

Tomorrow I'm going to get the soil in the tubs for the potatos to let it start warming and turn my eyes to the weeding as opposed to the fun planting. I have been advised by my yoga teacher to practice my squats so I will do this while weeding. Then I'll have lots to take to the dump on Saturday (we don't compost our weeds) when I have an extra pair of hands!

Rain and Flapjacks

Overnight Low: 5.0C Daytime High: 26.3C

The greenhouse seems to be really making a difference to the surrounding temperature, obviously keeping the wind off the plants is great but I need to find a way to store the latent heat in there overnight. I have collected a lot of plastic water bottles and tomorrow I am going to fill them up and leave them lying in the sun inside the greenhouse - hopefully it will work as a heat store.

I did some more planting today, having eaten lunch outside (now if I can do that everyday between now and July I'll be impressed) I skipped off to the garden centre in search of some sunflower seeds and more parsley - can't seem to find Rue anywhere anymore. I found some sunflowers named 'Irish Eyes' which are a dwarf variety suitable for shubberies (tee hee) and pots. They are also edible as young buds so I may try some in the vegetable garden.

Getting home I realised I had promised 'him' some flapjacks so I sorted those out with a very quick recipe.

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110g margerine

110g soft brown sugar

225g soft rolled oats

3 tablespoons of syrup

150g sultanas

Warm the oven to 180*C. Heat the margerine, sugar and syrup together in a saucepan, when melted and gooey pour over the oats and sultanas. Put in an 8" square dish and cook for 20-30min. Remove and draw a knife accross to cut into squares, allow to cool

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Then I got out into the garden, at which point it decided to rain. So I resorted to my deckchair in the shed and sowed

• 24 Sunflowers 'Irish Eyes' - dwarf variety
• 24 Lettuces 'Cos' - will also do some of these in the ground under the fleece polytunnel but need to prepare the ground first and allow it to wrm up a little.
• 6 Chilli Pepper 'Hot Tepin' - I wanted to try these as they grow as a shrub and have very pretty bulb shaped chilli fruits. I'll probably keep a couple in the greenhouse and have the others outside in pots - they have to be protected from the cold and frost at all times - can live to 30years old!
• 6 Gourds - Seeds from either last year or the year before, I will see if they germinate and if they do I'm going to grow them over the pergola on strings with the pots in the bathroom roof.
• 6 Sea Hollys, beautiful plants and very attractive to bees appartently. I am going to plant a couple in the back but most in the front as they are more likely to be able to deal with the south facing aspect. These seeds are from Heligan in summer 2008, as are the Globe thistles below, I hope the seeds haven't dried out.
• 6 Globe Thistles - these are specifically for the cats. I am going to place them at the entrance to the lawn so when one of the little sods tried to get past it'll get prickled.

Spring Cleaning

Overnight Low: 5.7C Daytime High: 25.2C I like my new toy.

This morning was bright but cold, after lunch I decided to clear out the shed and the sun came out - glorious! Grabbing my tools and my seed box I started to sow seeds and finished with;

• 10 Runner Beans 'Celebration' - two year old seeds but cropped well and by planting early if they don't germinate I can replace with 'Painted Lady' which were last years poorer cropping variety.
• 4 Greenhouse Tomatos 'Harlequin' - fabulous croppers, by reducing the number of plants I actually gorw in the greenhouse I hope to improve the crop.
• 6 Vine Tomatos 'Matkotska' - a new variety but I'll reuse the hanging baskets from last year and grow them around the edges of the pergola.
• 1 Butternet Squash 'Cobnut' - an old seed but going to try in a lined deep pot and see how I get on, my little sister makes the most jawdroppingly good soup from butternut squash (and cream - reather a lot of cream!).
• 2 Courgettes 'Midnight' - a very dark skinned variety, last years seeds but trying again for a better crop by planting in the veg patch rather than tubs.
• 2 Courgettes 'Black Forest' - these are the climbers from last year and I hope to get some decent crops off them this year, again by planting in the veg patch and not in tubs.
• 36 Peas 'Meteor' - winter peas but inspired by a few coming up of my pre winter sowing I redug one of the long thin tubs we used last year for onions and mixed in panty of home compost before covering with fleece to raise the germination rate and keep mice and pigeons off.

I have lots left which I want to sow, carrots and spring onions will go directly into the ground. I will do half and half for little gems - some outdoors inder the polyfleece tunnel and some in the greenhouse. I do need to do some tidying of the front garden which if the weather hold tomorrow I may do then. The tulips are now appearing in the front to the delight of the bumbly bees. which I am pleased to say I have seen many of. I am going to let just one borage grow at the back of the veg patch this year, along with cornflowers and limnanthus. I also have the honesty which is growing big and strong in the veg patch and will hopefully really bring bees in this year.


And then there are our wedding flowers as well to plant :)

Sunday Mending

Today dawned reasonably bright and sunny and therefore had to spend some time in the garden. Its the law. The perspex I bought to mend the greenhouse was very expensive but necessary and its been lying on my living room floor for the last two weeks, it wsa cut up and screwed carefully to the southern end of the greenhouse. If we were here longer I would be very tempted to replace all the polythene with perspex - 'he' pointed out if I'd done this to begin with it would have been cheaper to buy one rather than build one.

Then having dug over the last of the vegetable patch and put up the new extra tall beanpoles in a wigwam shape ready for the runner beans, I turned my attention to the sweetpeas. With poor germination rates I chose to soak the peas overnight in warm water before planting out in deep biodegradeable tubes, I have planted some straight outside into the willow pot which will allow them to grow up along the dead branches and worked quite well last year.

I also placed the sweetpeas inside propagators inside the greenhouse which should guarentee the temperatures needed for good germination. I have planted a mixed heirloom variety this year which should grow between 6 and 10 foot high, perfect for the trellis to break up the appreciation garden from the production garden.

I swept out the greenhouse and arranged the empty pots ready for planting. I have also fixed the electronic thermometer so we can start to get a direct reading each day, watch this space!

Easter Monday

Today was freezing! Really cold but last week I was determined to get help from 'him' in the garden to move a big table and get various bits and bobs done. I dug over the flower bed and deadheaded everything, the fennel has yet again come back in force. I have to confess to weeding from my deckchair now as the baby bump has become too big to ignore and almost impossible to kneel on the ground!

I also dug in about 80% of the green manure and then covered it with weed fabric to keep the cats off, the last 20% beat me and I just couldn;t bend anymore - frustrating as I was determined but decided to be sensible. Having weeded the garlic very carefully by hand I was really pleased to see that there was 100% germination and the glorious straight green shoots are looking string and healthy despite the continued coolness of the soil. The shallots have also germinated well, unlike the broad beans which are stunted and only two show signs of flowering, I will replace the B beans with runner beans well spaced as soon as possible to get an early crop.

The Japanese Crab Apple, Elstar eating apple and Acer are budding well and amazingly I have some herbs which have survived through the harsh winter - Parsley, Marjoram, Mint and Applemint. I have additionally planted up some Lavender, Bay, Thyme (x2), more Spearmint and a big Sage into the old flower bed where this year I will cultivate flowers and herbs. The vine looks healthy but no shoots yet - still too early.

Out the front the tulips are coming along well, the daffs have barely shown their heads and the myrtle is sufferng from frost bite. One of my tasks this week is to weed the front where I will top dress the myrtle to try and give it a bit of a boost. The Japanese Cherry is coming along beautifully, the flowers come first followed by lime green leaves which turn red to last through th eyear. This year a giant sweet pea (self seeding from 3 years ago) is twined through the Cherry which is a little odd but hey - who cares.

Tomorrow sees me mend the greenhouse with perspex (tools allowing) and hopefully get the first of the beg crops started in the greenhouse. I am concerned however that it is still too cold at night for little plants, even in the greenhouse. I have held back on planting out the potatoes for a similar reason.

Good Friday

Today was the first of our joint tentings of 2010 - I have had a great day out on the river a few weeks ago in the canoe but today we went with a crowd of people and many dogs up to Sheringham Park for a walk along to the viewtower which 'he' didn't climb due to his dislike of heights but I went up and in great tradition saw the North Norfolk Steam train pass by below - choo choo - in clouds of steam. We then headed for the coast and walked along to Sheringham whereupon we walked down the High Street searching for lunch, somewhere to seat 12 people and 9 dogs is hard to come by. Luckily the Lobster had plenty of seats outside and a great lunch was had before trekking back in less than perfect weather. Will most certainly do the walk again soon as it was a really good one.

Spring is on its way

Symbolised every year by my Japanese Cherry which is in the front south facing garden coming into flower. The buds have been ready a few days but it has taken it time flowering.

Hello garden my old friend, I've come to grow in you again

Last week I made a list of all the things which needed doing in the garden before I could get down to the proper growing season. The list was long and to make myself feel better about it I typed it up and made the font small enough so that the list could fit on one page of A4, since then i have had to add to the list but it was a step in the right direction.

We went up to our local garden centre today, the sun was so bright and warm and the entre is enclosed on three sides by trees so its almost like sitting in a forest. We are quite partial to the meals at the little cafe and today with the sun on our backs, birds singing and some very bumbly bumblebees pottering around while we munched on a toasted snrwich it was heaven. I also picked up the only two packets of seeds i have had to buy this year (tidying the shed and cupboards over winter brought forth a vast array of seeds!), my tomatos, Harlequins for the greenhouse and Maskotka for the pots and hanging baskets.

With bright weather and only a couple of wet spells since last weekend I was itching to get out today. A quick assessment showed that the garden has managed remarkably well over the winter, the main casualties being the greenhouse (plastic ripped beyond patching on south facing end) and the acer which is 50% smaller after one half was broken off by a falling birdhouse. The net around the vegetable patch has been torn in several places allowing cats in which they have taken full advantage of - i am continually frustrated by my garden being used as a cats toilet.

While very understanding husband cleared up all the poo I surveyed the 'green manure' and considered how I would get this dug in most effectively, I grew it mainly in the areas where I knew I would be planting courgettes this year so I am hopeful I will get a much better crop. Until the net is fully repaired I decided I would leave it as ground cover. We then dug out the bottom of the compost bin, a fair amount of mess was made in the process! However the rewards for the garden and for the bank balance are clear to see. We have over the last year created an amazing deep rich loamy compost fit for kings (and their plants). Although some things had to go back into the bin we have about 120liters of compost which is ready to go and a wheelbarrow load ready to be put on what was the flower bed but I am making into a herb garden this year.

I now sitting here feet up with a cup of tea watching the weather forecast to see when I will be able to get into the garden this week to carry on digging and mulching, the lighter evenings are ensuring the plants make the plants make the most of the sunlight. There are several clumps of daffodils coming up and I will have to be careful not to smother the later varieties already planted in the soon to be herb bed. I also want to get rid of all the old leaves on the cordyline and last years growth and seeds which have died back. The borage has seeded almost the entire veg patch, I am hoping to move one or two of the seedlings out of the vegetable patch into deep pots and the herb bed as its a bee magnet!

An Independant Crocus

At least I think its a crocus!

I have a little patch of crocus in my front garden which greet me every year without fail, I have tried to move them out of the various paths into the bed but they prefer the path. This one however has taken it to a whole new level being almost in the steet!

I feel Spring might have Sprung. After days and days of rain and grey skies we have glorious sunshine and I have noticed several bulbs surfacing. I have been pleased to see my compost bin emptying and rich compost at the bottom which I shall hopefully dig out once teh ground has dried a little. A fortnight of sunshine but cold nights would really help my veg patch.

The garlic is coming up strongly now and the very late broad beans i put in December are doing really well. The others will have to come out, there is no way they will be strong enough to bear good crops and I have a space issue this year. I also need to dig in the green manure before it simply turns to lawn. My actual lawn has turned to moss with cat crap thown in for good measure. This year we may lay down some turf or may reseed with hardier grasses. The greenhouse has also ripped badly, now need to get some tough polycarbonate sheeting to screw on the end and make it windtight. It has done better than I expected, only the south end which has been exposed to the most sunlight and weather (wind) has ripped to the point where it cannot be mended.

Now I really need to send off for my seeds but that would involve finalising my list....

Potatoes

 Are not bought, nor chitted. I have learnt from my lessons of last year and decided to leave them in the garden centre where they belong before i go and buy them to chit. This year I have chosen to just do charlottes in tubs as an early potato as we had more success with them and money it tighter with less to waste. This year the garden must be productive. I have set aside today to draw up a list of the items to buy, while bearing in mind that the garden needs to look pretty to be able to sell it. I like to draw out y plans as it makes them easier to visualise and i have my notepad and coloured pencils - so stand by for a wonky effort. Gardening I can do, drawing i cannot!

The 2litre water bottles I have been saving are going to be used to heat the greenhouse and also (as they are breeding overnight it seems) to be used to improve the flow of water to the plants roots by cutting off the borrom and burying them upside down next to a thirsty plant. This is mainly for the benefit of my beloved who can then wander the plot filling up the bottles, there are reasons why I shan't be carrying large volumes of water up and down teh garden but I'll save those for another day.

Stirrings

So more snow. Yup. Its the third (or fourth?) lot of snow since december and although it didn't hang around it has finished off the broad beans, their strange skeletal shapes is a range of brown and yellows add a little backdrop to the veg patch, although i would have preferred to have some damn broad beans early this season!

The shallots have come up but are half hearted and yellow rather than the deep green thick shoots i got with the later planting last season. I will see if they recover and reshoot but it may be that they also need to be resown. However the garlic is just peeking above the ground and so i hope it might end up being successful, having read more about the 'ideal' conditions i should have planted it nearer the fence where it is drier but we shall see.

While poking around the ground to see what else may have died/survived against the climatic odds i discovered a fat healthy almost looking like it was born to grow in the depths of winter - limanthus. Poached Egg Plant. Well I never. HOW???

I have been saving 2 & 5 litre plastic bottles to use as heat storage for my plastic greenhouse. I was going to try it last year but never had the space, this year i am going to just grow 3 tomato plants but train them properly so they produce the same amount 5 did last year. I'm also going to work harder with the tumbling tomatos to grow them in more unusual places - watch this space............

Sloe Alcohol

Wow - its good. Flavoursome with a hint of tartness and both the gin and vodka have the most wonderful colour to them. They are now stored away safely for the next few months to mature and will certainly be used for presents this year.

Damn weather

More snow is falling as I type, there have been a couple of flurries so far today but it is now giving a good dusting of the sheds and pergolas as I look out of the back window. One of my favourite Christmas presents was my wireless thermometer which we are currently using in the back room to try and figure just how much colder it is in there than the rest of the house. At the moment we're pretty certain its freezing each night and so haven't tried to put it outside!

The broad beans i planted in October have given up but they get an A+ for effort, when the deep snow melted it became obvious their lower leaves were damaged but now most have shrivelled or fallen over. I will plant up a second batch in early February. The shallots are looking spindly but have survived and even though I had to look pretty hard yesterday when I went to check on the compost bin I think that at least one of the 12 garlic cloves I planted has germinated. The green Manure which I sowed has done brilliantly and I am looking forward to digging it in. However the winter peas get a -E for effort with none of them germinating, having sown them under our fleece tunnel i am quite shocked that these have done so badly.

The earthworms have taken refuge in the compost bin now, each time i lift the lid up then its a wriggling hive of activity which is great. I think one of my first spring jobs is going to be to lift up the bin and gradually extract the proper composted material from the bottom and dig the rest in. I am not certain what has encouraged our bin to start working but i suspect the worms and the increasing amount of 'woody' material we've put in has helped.

So the Thompson & Morgan + Marshalls catalogues are open on the table and I have a cup of tea and slice of cake to help me work out what to grow this year. We are now thinking of moving house so my beloved garden will quite obviously not be coming with me, although the chance to have a proper shed/greenhouse/compost stack/vegetable patch is tempting me. I don't want to spend too much money on seeds because I can't take the plants with me if (when) we move, however i do need to plan ahead in case we don't find anything we like. I think the list will go something like this, peas, runner beans, courgettes, tomatos, carrots, onions, early potatos in tubs and spring onions. And lettuce.

I might not be able to take the plants with me but I can take the slug protection copper tape, the fleece polytunnel and maybe even the tomatos in baskets. We'll have to see. Overall the idea of getting dug into a new garden thrills me but the idea of leaving my little garden I made with the help of a few friends does make me a bit sad.

Under the weather on my birthday

Last time I wrote we had had some snow but not excessive amounts, I was additionally feeling rather tired and somewhat under the weather but put this down to the early start for my last day working in Suffolk. The beans were doing ok and the garden semed to have got through the frosts, the shallots were coming up and I was choosing from my seed catalogues.

New Year was heralded in with me coming down with severe bronchitis, I made it until midnight but faltered fairly soon after that and the last week has been a haze of honey with lemon, coughing, antibiotics and generaly feeling sorry for myself. It seems that the garden has been suffering in a similar way with some extraordinarily long lasting snow and heavy ice. I got some new boots today and they are so funky I just had to go investigate the garden.

Wrapped up warm I discovered that the fleecing i had wrapped around the acer, hibiscus and apple had frozen solid and (luckily) fallen off the shrubs. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that they will bud in teh Spring. The beans which in our pre-Christmas snowfall were merrily poking out of the top of the snow have given up and become buried, along with the shallots, garlice and honesty. The only things which seemed to be actually enjoying the snow were two green pea shoots which were waving around happily in the breeze.

My polytunnel which was about £15 has become a solid frozen icicle and although I got the worst of the snow off I didn;t want to rip the fabric and so couldn't tell how the peas underneath are doing. We are forecast several days if not another week of sub-zero temperatures so i think it will be a while before i can properly survey the damage to my plot.

New Years Resolutions included a determination to make the plot as productive as possible, and a final nail in the coffin of the supermarket for sourcing our food - especially fish and meat. My halfway house has been to get meat and fish straight from the counters rather than packaged, but I really really want to stop doing this and getting all our food direct from farmers markets or local food shops. Budget also comes into this, obviously, with only one of us working, but i can cycle to various shops now to get food.