Winter Jobs

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've blogged but only because I've been overwhelmed with stuff at work. No excuse really!

Even though winter is setting in (slowly) in my part of the UK, there are still plenty of jobs to do in around the garden and allotment. I'm hoping to visit my allotment tomorrow if the weather allows it and get some much needed work done.

Do you remember those broad beans that I sowed a few weeks ago? Well, now they're growing. Not all of them but I always expect that. My advice is to never be disheartened by your seed germination. You aren't always going to get the same number of plants from the seeds you've sown so expect this and compensate when you can (I sow more seeds for this reason).

Seven broad beans growing here, three more in another tray and another four about to pop up through the soil!

One of those broad beans in my photo looks a little bent! That's because I had used a short cover for the tray and as it was the first bean to come up it grew and hit the roof. I've since changed the cover for a taller one to give the beans some more growing space before I transfer them to pots.

Other things I've done are quite simple jobs really. Two that I do which involve wildlife are topping up my compost heap and feeding the birds. Don't forget to give birds fresh water too, especially when there are hard frosts. I like to encourage the birds in my garden because so many eat insects in the spring and summer. Plus they're nice to watch.

Sparrows love this seed feeder the most but I also have niger seed and fat balls in the garden.

My green bin in the kitchen fills really quickly each week. I've just topped up the compost heap with this lot. The one thing I don't do over winter is turn the compost as I tend to get animals hibernating there. Slow worms tend to enjoy the warmth and usually appear in spring.

 To prevent my flowers getting frost damage I've protected some with mulch but my dahlias (grown from seed a couple of years ago) get dug up and stored in pots lined with straw. The tubers retain their energy and I plant these out when I see small shoots emerging from the roots in late spring.

Dahlias in the ground before digging them up. They have died back already and a week before taking them up I cut the stems right down.

One dug up, I put the roots in a pot and line with a bit of straw. Newspaper will do. I find they survive kept dry.

And finally...
I brought some tasty pumpkins home a while back and created some autumnal food. I love pumpkins and squashes and always grow these on my allotment. This year I made pumpkin pie using shortcrust pastry and just pumpkin with egg and dark sugar. Not bad. If anyone has any savoury pumpkin pie recipes let me know and I will try to bake one!

The brutes on my doorstep! I have more on the allotment still.

One sweet pumpkin pie. This one was delicious when eaten hot and served with cold, fresh double cream.

Hopefully I can fill you in on how the allotment work goes over the next few weeks, preparing the plots for next year very soon.

All the best and keep gardening!