Wet, windy weather and time to make plans

Last weekend we made our first visit of 2023 to the allotment.  We haven't done any work on the plot since the middle of November but we went down a couple of times after that, once to cut greenery for Christmas and again to dig up some leeks, parsnips and swede. 

The weather has been very wet this month with some very strong winds and I've been wondering when we will ever get down to the allotment. But we had a short break in the rain one afternoon at the weekend so we thought we would go to check if there was any damage from the winds. I was hoping that the greenhouses would still be standing and thinking that the membrane sheets which we had put over the beds in November might have blown away. 

                                                 

Well fortunately everything was ok apart from the garden chairs and one or two other things blown over, but no damage.   

Lottie the allotment cat came to say hello.  She always pops round to see us when we are there and we give her some food. She looks very healthy,  I know she gets food and has a nice warm shed with a bed on another plot.

As we walked around the plot I was pleased to see that the rhubarb is showing signs of new growth. This is the variety 'Timperley Early' and it always lives up to its name of starting off early. 

                                                 

The leeks are still growing although they are a bit small yet.

While we were there we assessed what work needs to be done when we eventually get some better weather and there are lots. The first and most important job is to take off all the membrane from the beds. If there are any weeds underneath they will be removed and then we will start mulching the beds with manure or compost.  

                                     

We also need to clear the greenhouses of the dead vegetation from the tomatoes and cucumbers and then give them a good clean. Other jobs which I can do at home are to sort through my seed boxes and buy what I need for this year. I also need to work out my growing plan for the beds.

The plot looks really damp and dreary and I'm longing for the weather to improve so that we can get started on all the jobs which need doing. At the moment as I write this blog there is snow outside, so no chance yet.

Through the Garden Gate--December 2022

Not much work gets done in the garden during December, Christmas preparations take over my time, although some of them are garden related. I've spent a lot of time looking out of the windows thinking about what needs doing, admiring areas which look good and watching the birds feasting on the crab apples and anything else they can find.

At the beginning of the month I cut greenery from the allotment and the garden to make Christmas wreaths and flower arrangements. I managed to get conifer and berried ivy from the allotment, box and rosemary from my daughter's garden and Pittosporum, Brachyglottis and dried hydrangea heads from my own garden.  I had a few busy days making the wreaths--one for the front of the house and the other for the side. We bought the Christmas tree from our local garden centre and this provided me with a bit more greenery.

A couple of weeks into December we woke up one morning to see snow had fallen overnight. It was the weekend our daughter Sarah and family came up for a pre Christmas visit. Cars were sliding about, wheels spinning, so we decided to cancel our plans to go out and about that weekend and stayed indoors in the warm. We had a lovely weekend with our family together and I made a big Christmas meal. It took a week for the snow to go from the paths and garden and was very slippy out.

Now at the end of the month we are getting a lot of rainy, windy weather and the garden is looking quite bedraggled. I'm looking forward to some better weather so I can get out and do some work again. In the meantime, I received some lovely garden books for Christmas so I am doing quite a bit of reading.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you a happy and healthy New year.

I am linking this blogpost to Sarah's blog at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' post.