Winter Drawers On…

…as my grandmother used to say when she got out her thermal underwear. We have been doing some ‘winterising’ in the garden recently. Bob gave the bench and the table a protective coat and then, once dry, swathed the furniture in tarpaulins.

We also did a lot of pruning and cutting back of shrubs. While he painted, I gathered up clippings.

I am afraid we both disliked the huge 6 foot tall cordyline which was taking up the space where we would like to put the sundial. So that got trimmed right back – it will be dug out completely soon.

There were a number of discarded bins which have been filled with prunings. This will be shredded and dealt with later. I got a punnet of blackcurrants from the big bush before that was cut right back

I am hoping for more fruit in 2016 now it has access to more sunlight. My little raised bed has yielded a few smallish beetroot, and lots of escarole for salads. The carrots remain pencil thin. But this has been my best year ever for growing vegetables- considering I just planted all the seeds in my tin [some very old] and did very little else, I think we have harvested about £10 worth of vegetables. It has inspired me to plan better for next year and see what crops I can raise then.