Dreaming of Summer

One of the great things about gardening is feeling the seasons pass, being able to watch the subtle changes in the plants and wildlife that share our plot and planning meals to come. It slows you down, calms your thoughts and just makes you feel, well, better. But sometimes, usually around this time of year your fingers get twitchy, your mind gets restless and no matter your good intentions, the light just can't return fast enough.

So what to do? Stalk the snowdrops?

Harass the hellebores?

Chivvy the chillis?

Or plot, plan, scheme and dream of Summer & Strawberries

Sunshine and Sunflowers

Let the Season begin!

This weekend has, against the odds, been a great one for gardening. Now you may think I am mad - it's been wet, cold, dark and downright impossible to get onto the plot but m'dears we have gardened.

Saturday saw us dusting down the heated propagator, sieving the compost and sowing the first of this year's seeds. Chillis and sweet peppers both need heat and a long growing season so now is the time for us to get them started. This year we're growing jalapeno chillis plus sweet peppers from the Heritage Seed Library - Sweet Banana & Soror Sarek and the Real Seeds Catalogue - Kaibi Round #2. Soror Sarek and Kaibi are old favourites and indeed old seed so we've sown quite a few in case they struggle to germinate - if they all come good then we'll just have extra plants to give away at the Transition & Allotment Society Plant Swaps in the spring. Sweet Banana, however is new to us so it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

Brussels 2007

We also got an early start with our brassicas - Bedford Winter Harvest Brussels Sprouts for him, I loathe them with a passion it has to be said but the Other Half loves them so each year we give them a go - and Snowball Cauliflowers. Cauliflowers are one crop we fail miserably with year after year but as I love cauliflower cheese I'm determined to give them one more try this year. Keep your fingers crossed folks

Finally we're trying our luck with an early sowing of lettuce and basil - both of which should be ok but it may be a little too dark and cold just now. We're sorely missing home-grown greens at the moment and that's only going to get worse so let's hope these little seeds make it for salads in late March.

Oh and remember those seed spuds from the potato day? - They're now safely chitting in the attic. Let's hope it stops raining long enough for us to prepare their beds before March.

Food for thought

Today our Transition group held a shared lunch before its quarterly members' meeting. We all took a plate of something and then sat and chatted about life, the universe and everything before the business of the day began.

Sitting there watching folk take a bit of this and that, compliment each other's food and swap recipes set me thinking about how few opportunities I now have to do this kind of thing and I realised that I kind of miss it. There is something very elemental & satisfying about preparing food for other people to share then trying things that they have taken the time and trouble to select or make for you. Now some of us are lucky and still have enough family around to gather together and share a meal once in a while or we may go out to a restaurant with loved ones or occasionally colleagues but I realised today how rarely I sit around with acquaintances and literally break bread with them. How focussed on me and my life I have become and how little time and trouble I now take to find out more about the people & community that surround me and what makes them tick.

So as the year turns, the days lengthen and we celebrate Imbolc with all its hope for new beginnings it feels like it's time for me to try to change that, to look outside my comfort zone a little and take more time to get involved.

Snowdrops - Heralds of the New Year