Winter of Discontent

Snow covered 

Winters are often difficult for me. My refuge is my garden and access to the garden is limited due to the freezing weather and snow. During the spring and summer months, I must spend hours and hours there. Winters remind me of a kind of monotone effect where there are limited colours surrounding me. Effectively, during the winter months, my world goes into black and white. I normally hibernate until Spring. 

The BBC tells us as follows 

"Once the dormant season is well and truly upon us, this is the time to take stock of the year’s successes and failures, and to get on with planning for next year. It is also a great time to start construction jobs so that the new features will be ready for the start. Once the dormant season is well and truly upon us, this is the time to take stock of the year’s successes and failures, and to get on with planning for next year. It is also a great time to start construction jobs so that the new features will be ready for the start of next year’s season. It’s also time to enjoy displays of evergreens, winter flowers and attractive barks"

So, winters are essentially a time to prepare. Normally, it is a time to collect your seeds, think about your gardening calender and ask yourself what you wish to achieve for the next year. This winter, the best present I received was a book called " The Kitchen Garden Planner" published by Baker and Taylor. I have never found a book like it. There are other similar books on Amazon.co.uk. 

Preparation over the winter is important. Many people look through seed catalogues. I am probably a cheapskate and insist on wondering around like a tramp through the end of autumn sales buying up all seeds cheaply. The cheapest and the best seeds are probably from the supermarket Wilkinson. It also has relatively reasonably priced gardening equipment that won't break the bank. I have tried to buy seeds from the internet but firstly you never know how good they are and all the crops planted from sources such as the net were effectively overpriced and essentially ended up dying. If anyone has had a better experience, please let me know. 

For all amateur gardeners, it is important to watch DVD's on gardening just to give you a flavour of what you should be doing. I started watching the every brilliant Charlie Dimmock in her DVD - The Gardening Year. I did this overnight and at least learned to make a good slug trap :). 

In her day of fame, Charlie was more famous for her bust size. Infact, this was the reason why legions of men watched her programme. For more info, read on here. Her best asset though is her talent for gardening. Moreover, she makes everything very simple. So simple that even I can follow her guidance. 

Until next time..............