Well, I had good intentions. I always do, every spring. I’ll get in there, vanquish the weeds, dig that bit I never get round to, and have seeds sprouting all over the place.
But then life is amazing. I managed to control the weeds, and nature did the rest. The garden is beginning to bloom without much extra attention, and the polytunnel is getting there.
The vine has survived its first year. Hurrah! I was having severe doubts, but then it appeared and is growing strong. I’ve managed to start some salad leaves (in a slightly haphazard way, but who cares). I’m going to try just a few tomatoes this year, and leave the squashes. We have more than we can eat from the wonderful organic veggie box anyhow.
So, okay, it’s not exactly self-sufficiency, or a production line. But it’s growing slowly. And I’ve had so much pleasure from just sitting in the polytunnel on coldish days, enjoying the sun, it’s been worth it for that alone.
So now that things have quietened down a bit, I’m going to finish clearing that outside space for spinach and get a few chillies on the go.
I’ve got this dream of a mini solar fountain in the middle of the (very) mini pond in the polytunnel. Gently rushing water as I sit there admiring the grapes grow and the salad flourish.
It was a beautiful day, fresh and just warm enough to keep comfortable and smell spring in the air. The frogs were singing away in the pond, vanishing every now and again when one of the cats decided to go and watch proceedings. For the first time in what seems like forever, I spent almost the entire day doing the stuff I should have done last autumn, except that the snow and ice appeared so quickly and then stayed so long.
The mountains of dead and rotting leaves had been prodding me every time I went past, which – as you go through my garden to get to the house – meant at the very least four times a day, during dog walking duties.
I didn’t quite get down to serious weeding and sorting. But at least now it looks as if I care, I can see which plants have survived and which look very dead and might have to be replaced. And the daffodils have room to breath and grow.
So now I know where I am with the whole garden, which is good. I also know just how much work needs to be done in the next month or so. Which is not so good. Seriously scary, in fact.
Thank goodness for the vegan chocolate-and-ginger cake I made at Christmas to practice for lots of parties with vegan friends. Being holed up with flu meant I didn’t see any one. The non-vegan one got eaten anyhow, and is now compromising the belt of my trousers until the serious dog walking season arrives. Luckily the vegan one ended up frozen in chunky slices in the freezer for just such an occasion as this.
Back to the Polytunnel Handbook, and Alys Fowler’s ‘The Edible Garden’, which has just arrived. I’ve got a definite craving for salad leaves at the moment, now the veg box has finished until June and the potatoes, cabbage and leeks are gone. Time to get planting! Yippee!
Well, time at last to venture out into the garden and take stock. After such a harsh winter – and with the ground frozen hard again this weekend – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
But life is amazing. Already little bits of green are appearing. And I’m not just talking the daffodil stalks. Tiny new leaves appeared as I began to clear away the tangled brown slush that had once been hardy geranium. The first primroses are starting to flower. And, most unexpected of all, the parsley in the hanging basket just outside my kitchen door is still going strong. From frozen parsley to green and growing. It even tastes good, too.
And so to the polytunnel. This is the first real year of the polytunnel and I’m beginning to get excited about the growing season ahead. I’ve cleared out the old manky stuff, leaving just the vine hanging on in there. It needs a good dig over and then it will be ready. 
I haven’t quite decided yet where to start with the seeds and how to make best use of the polytunnel yet. But I do know the first thing I’ve going to do is to sort out an irrigation system. So much for the romantic idea of standing there each evening lovingly waving the hose to the soothing strains of Mozart on the iPod.
It has, I should hastily add, survived its first experience of deep snow. A polytunnel in Narnia. I brushed off the really heavy fall, then left the second, not so heavy, layer, as insulation at protection against ice.
The structure is intact. The overflowing nasturtiums are not. Ah well. I had planned to plant winter greens and salad. Perhaps it’s as well that life took over and I didn’t quite get round to this. I have a feeling any greens would have gone the same way as the nasturtiums. Mind you, the veg box is still going strong, winter greens and all. But then they have much bigger polytunnels. (Well, that’s my excuse, anyhow.)
Well, at least I did manage to keep to the resolution of making preserves and sloe gin for Christmas presents.The Ginger andRhubarb jam didn’t quite make it. It wasfar too nice, and the little bit left has already been opened. The spiced plum chutney, on the other hand, has survived. It was gorgeous, but thanks to a friend with a glut of plums, I made so much it actually lasted.
And the sloe gin? Not quite as good as last year, when the sloes up here were juicy and plentiful. But pretty tasty, though I say so myself. And definitely went down a treat as Christmas presents.
I did stick my nose outside today. It was dry, and the birds were singing. There was even the faintest sniffof spring in the air. But there was ice on the pond and it was a bit too cold for the comfort-loving gardener. So the dire mess of rotting leaves the snow and ice have left behind can wait until another day.
Meanwhile, I’ve got freshly ground fairtrade coffee, the last of the seasonal chocolate, and the future of a polytunnel to plan.
Welcome 2011!
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