Early harvest!

After all the rain we've had two dry days - and it's amazingly warm. Up in the garden, tidying up around the leek bed and cutting back the ivy round the "thunder box" it was sunny and very still. The buzzards were soaring overhead and woodpeckers were calling around the woods. Almost like summer!

The rhubarb is coming up and, without any frost to knock it back, there's enough for a little taste. I roasted it gently in the oven with a little water. Lovely with some custard.

First rhubarb of the year

Rainbow chard leaves

The rainbow chard sown last summer is still going strong. I have been cutting off the flower stems and any old raggedy leaves and now there are lots of new leaves. So tonight we had steamed chard, potatoes (our own Desirees) sliced with onions and cooked in the oven with milk to accompany some left-over roast lamb.

It's great to be harvesting again - and unexpectedly early in the year.
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2016 Calendar

For the last few years I've been creating calendars for Christmas presents. The Vista print people do quite a good job, and if you look out for the offers they're not too pricey.

This is the image I used for the front cover of the Froggarts Cottage Garden 2016 calendar, quite a few from the photos on this blog:

Froggarts Cottage
2016

New Year

After an over-night frost 2016 has started wet and grey, following on from the warm, wet Autumn of 2015. For the last month day-time temperatures have averaged 12C with no frost at all.

This has resulted in hellebores, primroses and some daffodils already in bloom. The daffodils up in Coleorton village are always early, but this year are a month ahead of usual flowering. See Early Daffodils on the Coleorton website >>  However, the snow-drops are showing no sign - so maybe they know something!

The garden desperately needs work. The veg beds need digging over, a lot of leaves are lying wet and soggy where the bulbs and new growth will be coming, couch grass needs digging up and some new herbaceous plants and summer alliums are over-due for planting out. But it's been so wet and windy and the ground is horribly soggy, so things will have to wait a while. Wondering, if the weather is going to stay mild, whether it might be worth starting off peas and broad-beans.