February 2018 in pictures

February is always a relatively quiet month in the garden, so it's a good time to do some stock taking. We have enough jam, marmalade, chutneys and pickles in the cupboards to keep us going for most of the year or at least until harvest time when more will be prepared. We're down to two bottles of elderberry syrup but they should see us through the rest of the winter and any coughs and colds we might develop.

It's also a good opportunity to tidy up the bookshelves and take an inventory of what we have and note what is still to be read! 

Meanwhile, outside the celery that I grew from the remains of a bunch I bought in the local supermarket has survived the bad weather and I found an overcrowded clump of spring onions. I suspect a whole packet had dropped out of my pocket some time in the autumn and was then mulched and covered over with compost. Time to thin out and eat!

We are now down to our last home grown squash. It's the second monster squash, which weighed in at 3.2kg. We may be eating it for some time! We are still harvesting some kale, cavolo nero and Babingtons leeks, and we have had the first pea shoots of the season (grown on the window sill). 

One of our lunches this month: squash and leek risotto, accompanied by puy lentils with leek and cavolo nero and pea shoots as a garnish.

And finally, the daffodils are coming out in what we call our "front patch". One could almost believe that spring is around the corner but the forecast for the beginning of March is not good.We could be seeing some heavy snow.

March 2017 - blossom time

March is blossom time for our cherry plum, damson and pear trees. Sharp overnight frosts are still common and we carefully monitor the weather forecasts for signs of overnight drops of temperature so that we can try and protect at least some of the blossom with horticultural fleece. The pear is easy enough to cover as it is on growing on dwarf root stock, but we can only protect some of the lower damson branches and the cherry plum has to look after itself. At the moment it looks as though all three have fruits that survived this first of the weather challenges.


At the front of the house the crocuses have finished flowering but the grape hyacinths have taken their place and the daffodils are now open.

The rosemary bush loves it in the full sun but could do with a bit of pruning. We have plenty of recipes that have rosemary as an ingredient and now is also a good time to take some heel cuttings for propagation.



In the main back garden we have plenty of winter and spring greens: swiss chard, cavolo nero, curly kale (mostly red ursa), leaves from cabbages and brussel sprouts, a few brassica florets, and the ramsons (wild garlic) are flourishing.

The nettle patch at the back of the garden next to the fence and compost heap is rampant, but rather than pull them up we shall be eating the tender, young leaves over the next few weeks. I'm thinking nettle tea, nettle and squash soup; nettle, ramson and Babington's leek risotto; nettle, ramson and cheese tarts.... mmmm.

Having made several bids for freedom through the bottom of its growing bag, which had been on ground next to the strawberry patch, the horseradish has now been banished to the concrete path. Ha Ha! Try and get out of that. Horseradish leaves are still popping up amongst the strawberries and I am regularly pulling out roots. These have been taken up by members of various local veg growing and allotment groups, although one person subsequently decided not to plant them after learning how invasive they can be.

And finally, the birds are now in full song and a true delight to have around the garden.

Ooops!

I planted some onion sets in the tub that had cucumbers growing in it earlier in the year. The onion sets are doing well but I had forgotten about the daffodils that were already established in the tub and which are now also doing well :-( I'l leave the tub alone and see what happens.



I suspect that the onion sets will lose.