
Many people think that winter is a quiet time for us in the garden, a time when we can kick back in the warm with a copy of the latest seed catalogue. The reality is somewhat different as there’s always something that needs doing and the weather has given us plenty to get on with.
Tree work

We were quite lucky that our tree surgeons came in to do some work in December; a Eucalyptus that was in danger of falling and a dead cypress were brought down just days before Storm Darragh arrived.
That’s not to say that we got off scot-free, as we did lose a few younger trees to the winds – one birch sapling simply snapped at the base of its trunk – and we’ve had to close a path in the woodlands due to a mature holly developing something of a list to the east… The weather has certainly ensured that our tree surgery bill is significant this winter!
Renewing woodchip

A benefit of the storm has been that we have had quite a lot of woodchip donated, so the volunteers have been hard at work renewing the paths throughout the site. Some areas became particularly squelchy over the Christmas break due to a mixture of rain and snowmelt, so the opportunity of improving the pathways was too good to pass up.
We’ve managed to mulch all of the paths around the veg area and we’ve got all the way to the bottom of the woodlands, so the volunteers have made really good progress. It’s also been a really good activity to keep us active and warm while the ground has been frozen as well.
Strategic leaf management

Another activity which has kept us busy while we’re out of the growing season has been leaf management. It’s been a constant job over the past few months to keep the paths clear, but the part that visitors might not have seen is the really hard work everyone has been putting in on processing 2023’s leaf fall just so we have some room to put the latest material.
We have several leaf bays dotted around the site in quiet little corners and we’ve sieved and bagged tons of leaf mould ready to mulch our beds as the weather begins to warm up. Some of it will go into our planned Hügelkultur bed (of which I’ll have more to say in a future post) and another good use will be to mix it with some of our own compost with a little sharp sand to make seed compost ready for the new propagation season.
Sowing and growing

Not to say that we haven’t continually been sowing and growing over the past few months – along with the usual garlic, onions and brassicas, we’ve also planted our winter broad beans and peas, which we were fortunate enough to get into the ground before the soil froze.
We also have quite a few nigella, sweet peas, poppies and poached egg plants (Limnanthes) shivering in our polytunnels, which are all reliable plants to sow in the colder months but like many of us, I think they’d like a few warmer days sometime soon! We’re very nearly at the point where we can really get into the new growing year, so fingers crossed for a good season.