Monthly Roundup: February 2023

February rocketed by; when there are so many competing and time-consuming things to do, being short changed by 2-3 days is a little galling. Despite it being so very (very) cold at times, there was definitely a lot of life trying to spring forth. Snowdrops, crocus and primroses are out, and the hellebores and iris reticulata are continuing to do well. Even in early February I've been putting the ladybirds back to bed. They come in to hibernate in our bedroom every year and we love watching them all wake up - but the 4th of February seemed way too early, so I popped them into a cool dark corner and hoped they'd drift back off.

I put a few seeds into the Little Plastic Greenhouse - lettuce, early carrots, broad beans and rocket. Might have been be too early, but it felt so good to have my fingers in soil again. And so good to feel I was actually DOING something, and making progress. Half term also disrupted the flow of things a bit, but we had a lovely few days away, returning if not rested, at least reinvigorated to get things going. I managed to make a bit more progress on the wood-chip path in front of the chicken and quail runs, so that at least I could now feed and water them without risking ending up on my arse being laughed at by poultry. Eventually I'll finish it off, and add some flower beds in front of the run and to the left of the path.

After what felt like a slow start, things started moving along nicely. The twisted broken willow that had been threatening to dump its branches on MrEOP’s car was cut back, along with all the other trees that had fallen across our fence line over the last couple of years. The hedgerow and some of the brambles were cut too, clearing the track so we can now access the field without having to limbo or become ensnared in briars. Or both. This allowed the work to start on the field fencing and gate replacement.

A very boring photo of very exciting progress

Work then went quiet on that, and to stop myself obsessing and worrying about the it not being completed in time (The piglets! The piglets are coming!!), I threw myself into other things. The last week of February was a bit of a task-ticking-whirlwind, including some jobs that hadn’t even been on the list (nothing like a bit of constructive procrastination). After the incident of Nanna Falling In the Stream I started cutting back the weeping sedge from the margins, and clearing out the debris to help it flow better. It had been so choked in places that the water had been creating a new path for itself – under the bank. This is a bit of a concern as the stream that flows through our garden is in a gully about 3-4 feet deep, and the sides are starting to erode rather precariously. (Particularly around the trampoline…). I made sure that as I was cutting back the vegetation I wasn’t disturbing any roots (even of the nettles, docks and brambles, which took some self constraint!) as they were needed to provide a bit of structure and stability to the banks. One day I think we’ll need to add some mesh to the sides to hold it up. But hopefully for now, provided it can flow freely, it should be ok. I also started weeding and sweeping the patio and some of the brick and gravel paths; I do actually enjoy doing this, but it is very time consuming, and often feels like its not the best use of my time when there are so many other competing tasks. But perhaps if I “just stay on top of it throughout the year along with the rest of the weeding it will be quick and easy”. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I cleared out the flower beds around the blue slide, giving a bit a breathing space to the snowdrops, bluebells, pulmonaria and tubular comfrey. All ladybirds, hairy caterpillars and survivalist rainbow chard were safely relocated. Much of what took the time was Waging War on the Ground Elder. Urgh. I think I might need to employ the help of some black plastic…

The other battle I’ve been involved with is against the red mites. Red mites!! In February!! I first noticed them (and not just a couple of them!), red and fat and huddled in clusters after a particularly cold spell. I’ve never seen so many of them, and never seen any this early on in the year either. So far I’ve used a combination of an aerosol spray, another spray and diatomaceous earth sprinkled in their coop, nest box and dust bath. The more I clean and brush and spray the more I notice the hiding places for the little buggers in the nooks and crannies of the coop. I think it might be time to invest in a plastic coop now, as the time and money spent will soon be made back. Not to mention the distress caused to the birds when they have to be locked out of their home for the day – I’ve never seen Chicken Pox run so fast! Straight up the ramp and into the nest box. Poor love must have had her legs crossed all day.

Towards the end of February the weather has again been cold and frosty overnight and not particularly sunny during the day, so I’ve gone for Little Plastic Greenhouse inside Big Plastic Greenhouse in an attempt to give the early seeds and seedings a fighting chance. The seeds yet to germinate go into the “inner sanctum”, some now with an extra layer of bubble wrap on top of the soil, and the germinated seedlings come out into the larger greenhouse. I’ll have to keep an eye on the temperatures and be vigilant about opening and closing the windows for ventilation - the range so far has been from 0-34˚C! I’ve also got the first seeds (Chilli Havana Gold, Tomato Tumbling Tom and Sweet Pea Antique Mix) on the heat mat in the utility room and some Sweet Pea Apple and Blackberry Mix on damp kitchen roll in a zip lock back as an experimental new germination technique. Last year I didn’t manage to grow sweet peas from seed – the only thing that came up in those pots were tall spindly mushrooms!! It’s possibly too early to sow tomato and chilli, but now that I’m on Twitter and can see that some people started a couple of weeks ago, I decided to leap on the bandwagon. That and #TomatoGate of course. I only did a few seeds and have ordered a UV grow light. Cabbage Tantour and Cauliflower All Year Round have been sown into trays on a windowsill, and I’ve got a second sowing of Carrot Amsterdam Forcing in the plastic greenhouses; as yet no sign of life from the first sowing on 9th Feb. Broad beans have very nearly broken the surface though! The wisteria, roses and clematis have all been pruned, and the apple trees have (almost!) been pruned.

I then went on a bit of a shopping spree: electric fencing, incubator, brooder items ordered, meat and eggs chicks and hatching eggs pre-ordered, materials to build the raised beds plus soil and compost due to be delivered in March. More on all of those later.

So, all in all, much progress made, though much of it was behind the scenes prep, by which I mean there are no new animals living with us!

Few random things I’ve learned from Twitter about farming and growing this month:

1. Supermarkets like to lie on packaging about products being British when they’re not

2. Supermarkets make up farm names so make products sound British

3. Supermarkets state county of origin as “UK and EU”or "non-UK" – thereby giving the consumer absolutely no idea where their food has come from

4. #TomatoGate was caused by bad weather in Europe (unless you’re in Europe, in which case it isn’t a thing)

5. If a ewe isn’t bonding with her lamb, introducing a (preferably fairly excitable) dog can kick start her protective, maternal instincts

6. I am becoming (even more) obsessed with Herdwick sheep. Just. So. Beautiful.