On feb 1st I started writing a blog about how excited I get when the calendar turns to february; the month I think of as the return to two digit temperatures and noticeably longer days. But it was cold. A couple of days later it snowed, and it snowed the next day and a couple of days after that still more snow. Then it just was plain freezing for another week.
My garden lay buried for a good two weeks. In feb!
We got a reprieve for a few days when the rains moved in and finally washed away the snow but not until the snow absorbed tons of moisture and and broke limbs on trees and splayed shrubs. Then I think ok, that’s it, and it was nice for a couple of days, but it got cold again. Today it snowed. And it’s cold tonight and will continue cold. It’s been cold for three months and I am not used to this much cold in a winter. The nights, yes, but the days, especially at this time of year, usually get pleasant, but it’s painful trying to work outside most days. (What a whiny west coaster, eh?).
I want to clean up the garden and to get planting but instead spend my spare time in the studio-not so bad-and wait. On workable days I get out for a couple of hours and tackle something. Here is a list of a few things that got done:
– planted some onion seeds and put them on a heat mat in the greenhouse.
– cleaned up the strawberries on dry days (because I didn’t do a final clean up of them in the fall)
– washed pots for use in transplanting
– start transplanting my small potted lavenders into bigger pots (still keeping them in the greenhouse)
– pruned some shrubs and the espaliered apple tree
– manured the rhubarb and raspberries
– picked up a load of manure and many trugs of seaweed
That’s it. Not very impressive compared to my usual feb but at least some chores got scratched off the list.
In a few days it is march, and in a few weeks, the equinox. I am so looking forward to some warmth and some colour.
Bulbs underneath the Pansy tree.
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