The overwhelming theme of this week is… cold! Can you see the two ladybirds sheltering in the frosty Echinops? We have had lots of snow here in Cheshire, and with frozen ground too there has not been a massive amount able to be done in the gardens. Some apple tree restoration pruning, trying to get ontop of some terribly overgrown and mangled cordon apples, and get them somewhat back to their original shapes.
That will have to be a project over a few years, any pruning too severe in one go will cause them to send up huge excess growth in the summer and undo any progress I have made. It’s also been a week for compost, digging out from the heap and spreading on flower beds, a job that warms you right up.
The brussel sprouts stalks are still half full, under a blanket of snow. The largest sprouts I have managed to grow yet, some are bigger than golf balls. I’m told the cold makes them taste better. That’s down to the plants producing sugars like sucrose and trehalose which lowers the freezing point of water within the plant, preventing ice forming within cells. As water expands when it freezes, ice can rupture plant cells and kill plants, but not the clever ones that have evolved this solution!
A sad week though as I lost my favourite chicken after a short illness. “Black” will be greatly missed as she was an excellent bug hunter on the veg plot. Hybrid chickens live a very short life, but hers was full of freedom, foraging and friends. Her sisters Blue, White and Big bird honestly don’t seem to have noticed she has gone, although they are mighty unimpressed by the snow, and refuse to come out of their covered areas. Can’t say I blame them.
Looking ahead, I’ve sown some Antirrhinum indoors, under lights, just because my green fingers were itchy for spring! The whole pack germinated in 2 days, and now my enthusiasm has been tempered by remembering I actually have to prick them all out and pot them on at some point. Hmmm. Better get sieving that compost!