It's cold out there!

After a short break to La Palma for some sunshine and plant spotting, we got back home to a cold shock with a blanket of snow covering most of the country on Monday. We had a second heavy fall of snow here on Thursday and, although there is a slight thaw, I don't think I'll be doing any gardening for a while. Professionally this is a problem as the few jobs I have at this time of year will start to back up and I can't get out to earn any money. On the plot front it's a real problem as the work I want to do to get things in place for the spring is on hold indefinitely until there is a sustained thaw and the ground becomes workable.

Here's a couple of snaps taken at a wintry-looking plot on Tuesday 3rd February, a day after the first decent snowfall in several years here:

Doing what little I can, I've sown another batch of Kelsae onion seeds just incase the first lot don't pull through. I potted them on a fortnight ago but they are looking a bit leggy and were also subject to an assault by our kitten a couple of days ago as she can now climb and reach places that were previously out of bounds!!! It appears nowhere is safe! I have also sown the first two 'Emerald' artichoke seeds in some spare compost to see if I can steal an early march and maybe get a small crop this year. The packet says 'sow early from Febraury to March for a crop this year' so nothing ventured, nothing gained...

My order of apple and pear trees arrived the day before we left for La Palma and with weather conditions as they currently are I've had no chance to plant them. To keep them (hopefully) safe for a few weeks, I've put them in a large pot left over from an old tree planting job, filled it with old compost and topsoil, and bubble-wrapped the pot to keep out the frost. Being dormant they should pull through fine provided I can keep them damp and away from the worst of the weather. The full list reads as follows: Beauty of Bath, Lord Lambourne, Laxton Superb, Worcester Pearmain, Rev W. Wilkes and Ashemead's Kernel for apples and Beth and Beurre Hardy for pears.

My seed order also arrived a couple of weeks ago so I'm now all set and ready to go as soon as the weather allows. As well as the aforementioned artichoke, this year I'll also be trying for the first time celeriac (Monarch), tomatillo's, swede (Brora), melon (Hearts of Gold), scorzonera, squashes such as 'Jaspee de Vendee' and 'Potimarron' and chillies such as 'Padron' and 'Pinocchio's Nose'. With the polytunnel I'm hoping to be able to grow chillies, melons and tomatoes more successfully than would be possible outside and also use it to extend the season at both ends for early and late crops of salads.

Although I like the snow, I'm now looking for an early start to spring so I can get all my jobs done before work takes over and the plot has to start fending for itself. Let's see what the rest of February brings.