OK, I have been quiet on this blog for a month, but that doesn't mean I have been neglecting the plot, far from it.
Yes February did start cold with frozen ground - so no digging was possible...and to be quite honest with some of the uneven paths around my plot (more on that later), you don't want to be walking around too much when the conditions are icy.
You are then obviously limited on what you can do, so this blog builds on my last one when we covered some good tasks to do in these cold and quiet weeks.
First of all, let's make an assumption. If there is snow on the ground, or the temperature is minus something, there probably isn't anything much practically you can do, even if you wanted to. If you do pay the plot a visit (as I did in February when the temperature was below freezing), you may be a little shocked at the look of what's left in the ground. The spinach (in the raised bed) along with the wilting kale (both below) were both looking very sorry for themselves in sub-zero temperatures but they are hardy veg and they do recover when the weather warms up as shown by the 'in the ground' spinach immediately below (pictures taken one week apart).
Raised Beds
If the weather is a few degrees above zero, although the ground may not be diggable, the raised beds might be. They usually have the best soil (so very attractive to weeds!) so even in the winter, in a matter of weeks, can get completely out of control. That good soil though, makes the weeding process (mostly) quite satisfying as the carpet of unwanted green clears quite easily. That is apart from where the dreaded bindweed which regular readers will know is a real problem on this plot - has attacked some of my raised beds from below - grrrr. But I've still been able to dig over most of them, topping up with 'home made' compost from the pens on the plot which were being turned in the previous blog!
Manuring and the Potato Beds
The first main planting of the season will be the potatoes. You'll rotate crops each year so they never occupy the same bed in consecutive years (to stop pests and diseases colonating). So two things are going on at this time. You are preparing your new potato beds for the coming season by digging them over and adding well rotted manure for the worms to do their stuff. And you are topping up the manure heaps you are emptying with fresh manure. Both quite physical tasks so a good workout!
Now I prepared one potato bed (for the earlies) last autumn - they will be going where last year there was squash. The maincrop though, I have only just completed digging over, and, if you look at the pictures, you will see there is still some vegetation to dig up. I have two purple sprouting broccoli plants, not from last year but from 2019! They are practically trees which didn't die off as I expected last year and which are 'sprouting' again now.
So I'm going to give them another spring (along with my 2020 crop in another bed) to see if the quality suffers, before I do dig them up. In the meantime, I'm adding the well rotted manure for the spuds to go around them.
Moving Fruit Bushes
Another winter job I have managed to do is move some fruit bushes which had been overrun by weeds. There are a few red and blackcurrant bushes which I have moved to an old raspberry bed where many of the original plants have now died. The first picture is the overgrown bed, then the 'cleared' area (which I still haven't decided exactly what to do with yet) and finally, the plants in new situ...You can move these plants around at this time of the year as they are dormant and although they don't look much at the moment, they'll be fine in a few weeks or so (I hope).
Maintain your Infrastructure
This is also the best time to sort out infrastructure around the plot. By infrastructure I mean raised bed repairs, shed maintenance or making good pathways. I had one particular path which was very uneven and it's probably only because I wear wellies down on the plot that I haven't turned my ankle on the rutted surface.
Here's how it looked to start with...an uneven mix of mud, grass and weeds.
...and here we are now - just waiting for some form of 'topping' to go over the membrane covered plastic grid squares (much cheaper and lighter than patio slabs or paving) which I used, having been inspired by some off-road path building I had to do back on my own drive at home.
And Finally, Still Harvesting
Yes, remarkably, throughout all these cold, wet and windy weeks, eack week I still return with a small harvest - spinach, kale, cabbage (white and red), leeks or sprouts. The brussels in particular have been fantastic this year. I still have a number of sticks in the ground and although they are close to finishing, they will have been cropping for over 4 months, when they are finally done!
So there's my last few weeks - and that's without turning out the shed (it's been too unsettled) and checking, cleaning and sharpening my tools - just not got around to it yet. Both traditional winter jobs. I also haven't ordered any seeds for the coming season, even if I did finally manage to check my seed stock this weekend.
But both those latter activities have, however, been helped by having a birthday over this period too. The harvesting basket used in the pictures above and a seeds subscription from my daughter and son, and vouchers to cover the cost of renewing gloves and secateurs for the new growing year have all been very welcome.
So there you have it - yes, even in winter, there isn't really that much of a lull. As the saying goes, there really is always something to do, down on the plot!
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