and we're off again

The first gardening week of 2016 and despite having zero energy, it has been great. It is such a wrench leaving home having had time off and somehow harder being out in all sorts than going into a desk job. Yet, I have enjoyed frost, rain, wind, sunshine and tranquility.

At Heale we have been getting ready in the veg garden despite a vast amount of rain most days (or during the night) and working off of boards to start our digging. It has to be done, yes the ground is wet but we work carefully so as not to trample all over it. HG has done loads and I came in to play my part but I cannot dig as much as he can! I love my long handled spade though. I can keep going a lot longer with that thing, a wonderful tool for the veg gardener. In fact, I worked the soil at my plot today with an 'ordinary' spade and my goodness, that is hard work. Terrible on the back.

We have only Leeks left in the ground at Heale but I do have to remind myself that it is January! We will be sowing again for the next season very soon and we need to stop at some point to prepare.

When it really rains and is too wet, there are plenty of jobs to be done. Wisteria pruning is always a great job to do when you have a spare bit of time and we worked with a very old Sinensis plant at Heale this week. Much dead to remove as well as new shoots, very different to working on a newly planted Wisteria. The branches are covered in the most beautiful moss and lichen. That plant has seen a lot of action.This one is grown as a standard, arms wriggling out to reach the air. There are others at Heale, trained on pergolas and walls and one which HG is training to grow horizontally towards a seated area. So clever, a creative pursuit which takes a lot of patience if you want to wait and see the final outcome!

Much is happening ( a bit too early for most folk) since we have experienced warmer weather than usual for December/January. Snowdrops are up, Aconites, the Akebia still has lots of leaf, the Chaenomeles (spellchecker wanted to say Chamomile) in full bud and rose buds swelling ready to go again.

We started to think about seeds again for the veg garden. Round and round we go!

I made it to MY special garden this week too, my allotment, Bugs and my robot top (a name from my boys when they were small and it has stuck) and had helpers in the form of a 7 and 10 year old and hubby giving me a hand. What a treat!