Sweet winter

 

This morning it looks as if winter has arrived; there is a coating of frost on the grass, the puddles have frozen and the air is cold and crisp. I spent the first part of the morning pre-germinating sweet peas. When I sowed some last week I nicked the outer coating of the seed but I don’t like doing that as I think I may damage it. I read elsewhere that you can soak them but this can cause problems too. On the BBC website it says you can pre-germinate them on damp kitchen roll so this is what I’ve done. Sticking with recycling, I’ve used a supermarket cress carton.

Later in the day I decided to re-pot the apple tree. It’s never done very well and in the three years we’ve had it it has produced one apple which the dog pulled off! As an experiment, I have chopped it right down. I would love to produce a double U cordon tree and that is my aim. It needs to bud lower down as it is bare so I’m hoping the harsh treatment encourages this. If not, I’ve not lost anything and will try again with a new maiden next year.

It was nice planting today. I planted the asparagas crowns that have been sitting in a bucket of water for over a week. J and I planted some of the bulbs too. We bought a few packs from Asda but are running very short of pots. We’ve put them in pots that really, are too small but at least they’re in soil!

Ooh I’m shedding!

I have a new shed! OK, so it’s not brand new; it was second hand off eBay (yes, eBay again!). It was £150 which is a hell of a lot of money but it’s a 10′ x 6′ shed that will get tons of use! It has windows in one side that slide up and down and I will add two smaller windows either side of those that also slide. It needs a couple of parts replacing and the roof needs all the felt taking off and re-felting. The previous owner did do it but they kept felting – four layers we can see – over the top of the existing felt. Consequently the roof weighs a ton and is starting to sag. It took four of them to lift the roof on! And we’re not talking little chaps here – I mean S and his work colleagues (mates). The weight on the beams is too much. Still, as long as it gets through the winter without too much leaking I can do it next year. Fingers crossed the extra strain of any snow doesn’t finish it off.

I (well not me personally) have put it where the greenhouse was and should never have been moved from. S wanted to do something with the space so it was relocated but the area is a great sun trap. The shed windows face south and when I went in there this morning it was warmer than the greenhouse. I’m painting the inside white, not my favourite colour but I’m not spending any more and we had some in the garage.