Winter Veg

Here's my kitchen window shelf, a microcosm of my preoccupations:

You see on the right the ancien regime passing away - the last of the squashes and almost the last of the courgettes, waiting to go in the curry. And on the left a tray of lettuce seedlings which, since I took this, I've planted out at four inch intervals in the space that the squash used to occupy in the greenhouse. I hope to have enough for salad when I get back from Sudan (Sudan? ... another story ... waiting for a visa at present). And I put some rocket in a seed tray on the Aga this morning too.

(The thing in a pot at the back is... ginger! I had a root in the veg bowl and it started putting out sprouts. I love nothing better than to encourage things that want to grow so I planted it. Of course, the trouble with ginger, as with all root plants, is that you only know whether it's been down there long enough when you dig it up, after which it's too late. I hope it turns out more impressive than my sweet potato.)

Tomatoes are still keeping up with my hearty appetite, and spinach is thriving, though they suffered a bit last night, as the North of England got its first frost and even down here was chilly. Some of the leaves had gone a bit tired and wilty when I came to pick my lunchtime salad.

But it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good. Apart from one patch of rocket and one remaining courgette plant, the summer veg has gone altogether, making room for kale. I have a dozen developed plants now, and yesterday I planted them out, each in its own two foot square. They look happy, though still small. Maybe they'll see me through February.

Winter Colour

In town the other day I saw a notice advertising a plant sale at the Robinson College gardens department. People wonder why Oxford and Cambridge colleges spend so much money on gardening, and the answer is, it's cheaper than salaries for academics. Many Cambridge dons could double their salaries going to America but they love the ambience, and some of the best gardeners going are are employed to maintain it. Robinson is a relatively unaesthetic college, on the wrong side of the river - but they had a lot of good stuff to sell off. I'm going to keep my ear to the ground. The Trinity or Emmanuel sale should be worth a look.

I blew forty quid on a car load. Three mature buddleias went in close to the house to attract butterflies. A couple of hydrangeas close in and two more to add colour to the shrub jungle. Three Penstemons, two blue and a pink one still in bloom (but, I found when I snapped it, now suffering from the cold). And a tray of Perovskia and Caryopteris which are supposed to give me blue flowers after the Columbines are done (pictures available next year).

Sounds like I know what I'm doing, huh? Well... at least my garden can't have less colour as a result of this excursion.

Winter Fu-u-el

As in "then a poor man came in sight, gathering winter fuel". There's a huge elder tree that threatens the structural integrity of the garage, and I don't know the right time of the year for pruning elders, but the right time is definitely before they start knocking down my outbuildings rather than after. So off came some limbs. Ditto the damsons - who has time to stone damsons anyway?, and however many I cut back there are still guzzillions, like weeds, filling the gutters with leaves. And soon it'll be time to start on the apples, which I let go rather the last few years so they're getting unruly.

The result - a great pile of branches and whole bits of tree at the front of the house which, unless I park carefully, keeps the milkman away. My nearest neighbours are very tidy, and I feel rather ashamed. But if I get to grips with it now, I'll be warm as toast when the winter really gets going. Less blogging, more logging!

More by jbr | Oct 13, 2005 | | TrackBack ()