"Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle ... a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl. And the anticipation nurtures our dream." - Barbara Winkler
And the garden is full of bulbs starting to appear. I think the increase in daylight is encouraging them, despite the cold and snow we have had. A gradual increase of an extra 2 hours of daylight this month. Spring will be here soon, or am I being a bit too optimistic?
Talking of snow, I found our first snowdrop flowering in the garden last week. We planted about 80 round the garden last autumn, so there are more to come. And the raised bed is full of purple crocus. There hadn’t been much colour in the garden. But the bulb tubs from the yard have been moved in now, so we will have the colours of spring bulbs coming up over the next few months.
Did you know that February was known as 'Sprout-kale' by the Anglo-Saxons? This was thought to be because it was the time kale and cabbage was edible. Well, we still have the last of our cabbage and kale in the garden if you want to give it a go.The broccoli is there too, but mainly leaves rather than the flower heads.
We’ve just had a session of manure spreadinground some of the veg garden. We also have some fresher manure that we are mixing with soil to turn into compost for the garden. Horse manure suits most plants as a soil food. Our soil needs a good feed ready for things to start growing in the spring.
The WI have been making green hearts for their annual ‘Show the Love’ campaign. This is about community based climate change action around Valentine's Day. Some of their hearts were used to decorate the garden this week. Help yourself if you see one.
People sometimes leave things in the garden for others to share. We often have new dinosaurs, cars and rabbits added by visitors. Wandering round the garden last week I found that something new had appeared on top of Bugingham Palace. It looks like one of the insect residents has morphed into a monster!
I am currently looking into vermicomposting for the garden. I will be keeping you up to date with my progress on this. “What is vermicomposting?”, you ask. I’ve got worms!
The Blooming Old Gardener
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