A Fresh New Start

A new month, a new year! Happy New Year everyone. The festivities are over and time for a reassessment, New Year resolutions and looking ahead.

Snow has fallen and covered the garden in a pure white blanket. A timely reminder that Winter has begun.

Although the garden is mostly dormant there are some lovely plants which defy the weather. Before the snow fell I captured a few of these with my camera.

I have a male Skimmia which has raspberry pink flowers and a female Skimmia which produces scarlet berries from tiny white flowers.

Evergreens are wonderful to have in Winter. Their bright glossy leaves shine out on dull days and give life to the garden. Euonymus shrubs are my favourites with their green and gold or green and cream variegated leaves. They also grow happily in our dry sandy soil.

Clematis cirrhosa is another favourite at this time of year with its lovely bell flowers and its dainty leaves. It can spread vigorously but I love it.

I haven’t as many vegetables in the polytunnels as usual so I intend to remedy that situation for next Winter. I usually have parsnips but they didn’t germinate well last Spring so my meagre crop was used before Christmas. Celeriac is another staple we enjoy at this time of year but I experimented with celery instead. Not very successful so I will return to celeriac this year.

I do have a few carrots left and parsley. Nice to have fresh parsley for soups although I do have some in the freezer for days when it’s too cold and slippery on the paths to venture down the garden.

The garlic I planted last Autumn is growing well in one of the tunnels. I hope it will be a good crop. The fresh sweet taste of homegrown garlic is so good.

In the greenhouse I have a few winter lettuces. Unfortunately the ancient greenhouse roof leaked a bit and some of these rotted. The remaining ones are fine and provide a small amount of fresh green leaves now and then. I only remove the medium sized leaves and leave the centre of the plants to grow more. No need to remove a whole lettuce plant.

My son gave me some Summer bulbs for Christmas. A packet of mixed which includes Gladioli and a packet of Ranunculus which apparently need soaking before planting. So when the weather improves I have a project to find where to place these.

I’m not a fan of Winter but it is a time for rest and planning for the next wave of gardening. I need to sort out my seed packets and to order any replacements. A pleasant task which fills me with enthusiasm for growing food and flowers. I’m not very adventurous in my vegetable growing. I mainly stick to the ones we know and enjoy. I did try two new squash varieties last year though and I was pleased with those.

Because it’s not practical to go outside during these very cold days I find knitting relaxes me when I’m restless. I’ve started knitting a jumper in chunky yarn. I found the plastic needles I was using gripped the yarn and prevented it from sliding on and off easily. Hard work! Although I have many metal needles I hadn’t got them in this size. I’ve now replaced the plastic ones and knitting is much easier with them.

During a previous Winter I was inspired to write a poem about snuggling down on a cold day when there’s no pressure to do anything. When we have that feeling that there’s no place like home. I hope you enjoy it.

Home By The Fire

Chasing away the blues
Lying on the sofa,
Having a lovely snooze
And being just a loafer.
The fire is singing along,
Its logs burning brightly
With a gentle soothing song
That falls on me so lightly.
The sights and sounds of home
Drift softly in my senses.
No desire to stray or roam,
No need for false pretences.
Familiar noises in my ear,
It's where I want to be.
I know that I belong here
Where I can just be me.

Lots to look forward to with luck and a willing spirit. I hope we all have a good year ahead of us. Bye for now. With you again in a couple of weeks.