new year garden - not doing well

neither peas nor broad beans are looking very healthy after the long spell of frost we've had.

picked this week

some last minute brussels sprouts for Christmas dinner - got a bit worried with the constant frost - thought it wasn't going to be possible to pick any!

snowdrops and blackbirds.

mild again today and noticed that the blackbirds have been going round the garden turning over leaf rubbish but also lifting snowdrop bulbs, so I've been out re-planting them

after the frost

the snow has melted away at last. have had over a week with daytime temperatures barely above freezing - today is mild by comparison and sunny.
taken the cloche back off of the broad beans - the stems of some look completely rotted through from the frost and only likely to survive by shooting from the bottom of the stem.
also opened up the front of the sten house - all the plants in there should be frost hardy, just thought last week's super cold spell might have been too much for them - all of these look ok, brought the hyacinth bulbs inside just before Christmas as I thought they'd had enough of a cold snap to start them growing.
peas, leeks and brassicas that were looking very bad during the frost have now picked up again.

christmas

christmas! whoo!

midwinter garden

we've had several days of hard frost with some days not above freezing at all, followed by some snow.


the over-wintering peas are still standing - just.

have had to re-cover the broad beans with the cloche



















the leeks and broccoli are bent over by the cold
even the brussels sprouts look under the weather

picked this week

nothing picked from the garden this week. have lifted the second piece of ginger - this is better grown than the first but both have new bulbs that are bigger than the originals.