Feed the Birds

This friendly robin came to help on the allotment recently. As Rob on his blog http://sustainablegarden.blogspot.com/ has pointed out- the times are hard for birds which rely on getting their food from the frozen ground. This robin has learnt to check out the disturbed earth when gardeners are busy- I only managed to find a couple of worms in the frozen conditions to help him out. At home we have been putting out a range of seeds and fruit to help the birds- water is a problem, the pond has been frozen over for some time. At one time it looked frozen solid- it will be interesting to see what has survived in the springtime. Even though survival is an issue the birds have obviously recognised the winter equinox has passed, the days are lengthening and spring is on the way- the collared doves are pairing up and the robin in the garden is being bossy and territorial!!

New Year Allotment

On New Year's Eve the weather was above freezing and our thoughts turned to spending some time on the allotment.
At the end of November the weather turned cold suddenly and deeply- until then we had been picking a few late raspberries, the odd everbearing strawberry and had not had to buy any tomatoes- we had been taking green ones home to ripen on the windowsill!
When we had dropped in in December, the ice and snow had broken down the nets over the brassicas. The green manures- phacelia and mustard were flattened and frosted. We had not been able to tidy up the climbing beans. I was surprised to see the beetroot which I had imagined was hardier was badly affected, but the swedes were fine and clear for the time being at least of whitefly.

 So on the last day of the year we took the chance to cut down and tidy the autumn raspberries. Trev barrowed steaming leaves to top up the compost heap. However the ground was still frozen only an inch or so down so weeding and sorting out the asparagus bed will have to wait for a more sustained thaw.