Preparation, preparation...

With a break in the wet weather, and with a little spare time available before I restart gardening for my customers, I managed to get to the allotment last week.

The primary activity was addressing the repair or replacement of a number of fence posts. All of the posts needing attention had rotted off within the ground. As I dug new holes for the replacements I hit very high ground water, literally 10-12 inches beneath the surface. Some wire fencing also needed attention having been in situ for over 10 years.

In addition to the repairs, the area of the plot that has the espalier apple trees has been tidied up, with lateral growth tied in and any wayward shoots pruned out.

Today another visit to feed all the fruit in this plot: apples, raspberries (summer and autumn varieties), blackcurrants; using pelleted chicken manure. After applying the feed I applied a mulch of compost (made on site). I was very pleased with the condition of this compost, being dark, rich and moist.

I attempted to apply a (late) winter wash to the apple trees to kill off over wintering pests, but as luck (or not) would have it, before I could complete the task, my 2 litre hand sprayer packed in and stopped working. Looks like a replacement is needed as I couldn't fix it even after washing it out.

The rhubarb is growing very well now, up at least 18 inches and we've already sampled the first pulling. Got some more today so rhubarb crumble must be on the Sunday lunch menu.

A few pictures are below just showing the fruit tree plot - up together, set for spring...

Can't help dreaming....

As a follow-on from my last posting - one photograph of a place that some (most) of us might choose to be at this moment. Warm, blue sky... need I say more?

Well, it made me smile..

With a little enforced time inside out of the wet and wind I've had the opportunity to start sorting a few things out.

My daughter spent some time in the Solomon Islands during her university days and checking through a non-functional digital file storage device I've salvaged a hard-disk containing loads of photos and some videos of her travels. She knows about this, and has copies already before anyone asks...

One video clip made me smile today - which helped make up for a really bad weather day here. In the video I couldn't help but notice that wet ground didn't seem to put off the performers. Hope you enjoy...

Venturing out

As we appear to have been offered a dry day today I ventured to the allotment. It was with some trepidation I made the soggy walk to my plot, given all the rain and very strong winds of late.

I took some pictures of the plot, which was the best thing to do rather than actually venturing out on to any cultivated areas. The ground is completely saturated with water – a neighbouring plot has standing water in places about 4 inches deep! Fortunately my plot doesn't seem to be suffering from flooding, though the access path is very saturated to the point of squelching under foot. A number of fence posts have rotted off at ground level and will need replacing soon.

Saturated ground

Ground too wet to work

Rhubarb crowns - signs of life

Espalier apple - variety 'Howgate Wonder'

I managed to dig out some overwintering leeks – not the best specimens; some were a little soft in the heart. Still, enough for a meal tomorrow – by all accounts bacon and leek (something), yum..

I’ll be putting together my list of seeds to get for this year soon. Also, I’m looking forward to getting seed potatoes ahead of the potato weekend at Dundry nurseries.

I’ve been checking the Father Brown TV series on BBC1 this week as Snowshill Manor was used for some location filming last year. Today’s episode featured some good shots of the gardens and was a pleasant reminder of warmer and fairer conditions we enjoyed last year.

Slowing down ... stopped

The plan to slow down on the gardening front approaching Christmas occurred rather abruptly late last Thursday when I pulled some back muscles. Annoyingly, I wasn’t doing anything particularly taxing at the time, just carrying two large trugs with green waste in them. It was seriously painful and the journey from Snowshill to home was very uncomfortable. I had planned working on the Friday but that just didn’t happen.

So, all paid customer work together with my National Trust work for 2013  has finished. Plans to attend to my own garden and allotment haven’t happened due to the back issue plus some bad weather.

Last week I enjoyed the church Christmas lunch at the AppleTree pub in Woodmancote, and this week another Christmas lunch was enjoyed with the colleagues from the National Trust. Venue was the Fleece Inn at Bretforton near Evesham. The place is some 500-600 years old with seriously low doors, but full of character. The village also has some beautiful looking period properties, worthy of a proper visit, combined with a pub lunch perhaps in early 2014.

I am looking forward to recharging my gardening ‘batteries’ over Christmas. I have some plans to overhaul part of our back garden in the New Year. A recent visit to the allotment suggests that the ground is at the point where more mess and damage is likely to occur if any work is attempted on the soil.

Things are getting quiet…

While I was working at Snowshill last week and just about finished for the day, the village fell totally silent. Usually there is some background noise, some of which can carry a significant distance, such as dogs barking, farm machinery, or typically building/renovating work on the ‘chocolate box’ cottages that typify the environment. But, there was nothing – just a few birds, flying around looking for somewhere to bed down for the night.

I took some pictures and looking at them I’m struck by how, with this time of year nature is becoming quieter, settling down and waiting to rest over winter. Snowshill Manor itself, no longer open to the public sits resolutely, to face the next few cold months. The cottages opposite providing a bolt hole for people wishing to ‘escape’ to the country – to briefly sample a simpler life style.

The cottage gardens are now slowing down, as I pay my regular weekly visits to clear the autumn detritus preparing the borders to over winter. My time at these cottages is drawing to a close and early next month I shall leave the gardens to the winter weather and all that this might bring to bear.

Endings and beginnings

Earlier this week between jobs, time for a nice coffee break mid-morning and catching the sun just right.

A couple of pictures of the back garden (with recently revamped patio) with spectacular autumn colours from our Acer trees.

Patio view

Trees of fire

A final flourish of colour as autumn gathers pace, I think the best is yet to come. As we say goodbye to the autumn in a few weeks, when all leaves will have disappeared, we have hope in the future planting of tulip bulbs, poised in their pots and ready to explode with colour in April / May. It’s a long wait, but worth it.

Pots of promise