It’s been an awfully chilly start to 2025 with lows of -8 celcius, snow, ice and solid frozen ground… Just when I was getting my gardening bug back mother nature put a big old stop to that! Although it’s too cold to tick off many gardening jobs, it does give me ample time to sit down, plan and sort through our seeds for the coming year. So it’s not a total loss, and gosh does it look beautiful outside at the moment.
The garden may be in limbo but we are eager to get cracking. The greenhouse foundations were dug out last year and I’m very excited to get that up and running this Spring so we can fill it with lots of seedlings. There’s also plans to dig out 2 new cut flower beds as soon as the ground thaws out… which is why I’m also very thankful to have this time to sit inside by the fire and plan because this year will bring new challenges, new areas to work on and new seeds to buy!
One crop that appears to be loving this weather is the garlic, infact they need cold frosts to split into the cloves that we all know and love. It always makes me smile walking through the allotment and seeing these little green shoots growing happily amongst the snow, it brings hope for the year ahead and makes my mouth watering at the same time.
As well as the garlic, the chickens are also in their element. It’s that time of year when they are allowed out the orchard and into the allotment where they can forage, scratch and sunbathe until their hearts content. And I’m not complaining, it makes me incredibly happy to see them free range from the kitchen window and ‘help’ me in the garden. Plus the eggs are still coming and they are delicious!
When I’m not inside planning, working or wasting time watching the chickens… you’ll find me in the potting shed with a cup of tea, dreaming about Spring. After a rather hard 2024 it feels like an age since I’ve done any gardening, I truly felt like I lost a little piece of myself, my passion had completely disappeared and I had no will to go outside and get my hands dirty. But I feel very hopeful for 2025, I can feel that girl returning and after a few little sessions in the garden I am very keen to get my hands as dirty as possible this year!
