Garden therapy

In some ways I look forward to winter as a break from the hard work out in the garden.  It gives me a chance to pick up some of my indoor pursuits, like knitting and other crafting and making.  However, I do find too much of the indoors isn't so good for my mental wellbeing, and this time of year--not quite spring but warming up, getting lighter--I start to miss my garden.  I suppose gardening in the tropics must be hard work--no season of rest like the temperate regions.  I do some very occasional garden tasks in winter:  maybe for 10-20 minutes one day a week (or every other week);  some things still grow here in winter.  For instance, I potted on some overwintered cauliflowers this past week.  It was nice to be out there doing something, no matter how small.

But it's been windy and not very sunny out there, despite a rise in temperature.  Not good for most garden tasks:  I keep putting off the weeding because of the weather!  Also not good for just hanging out there.  On sunny, calm days I like to just step outside and inspect the grounds.  Maybe sit down on the patio bench for a little while.  It feels good.  I haven't sat on that bench since last year and I miss it.  It's not even a very comfy seat!  But being outside in the calm and feeling the sun makes it much comfier.

Having my garden and this blog has helped me through some hard times.  I don't mention much of my non-garden life here, but we all have our own tragedies anyway, talked about or not.  And the past year has been a hard year for everyone, we can all agree.  I'm thankful for the small peace my garden gives me.

The end of an era (of garlic)

 We ran out of garlic last week.  I don't know how many years it's been since we *stopped buying garlic--both for cooking and planting--maybe even before the start of this blog.  But last year's harvest up at the allotment (my first time growing it there) just wasn't sufficient and we've used up the last (small) head.

Actually pretty much all of the heads were small.  Maybe the soil wasn't good enough, or maybe it was too hot and dry in the month before it ripened, but last year's harvest was thin at best.  I saved the biggest heads for planting out  (again at the allotment--I hope I don't regret it) and the rest was meant to last us a full year.  Will we go without garlic until harvest?  That would mean waiting till June at the earliest, or likely July.  We like garlic, and we've already been going easy on it to make it last;  instead of two or three cloves in a recipe, we were using just the one.

*We did actually buy garlic last year:  extras for planting out.  Since the harvest was so bad I wanted some fresh stock to make sure this year's harvest would be more numerous.  I hope it is!  I really dropped the ball with this one.

Seeds in winter

 I gathered some hazelnuts last autumn and have been trying to stratify them over winter.  I put them in a bag with a few handfuls of damp sand and hung it from a rafter in my unheated garage (to be out of reach of mice and rats).  I had a check on them last week but they don't look very promising:  they are supposed to sprout sometime this month, but it doesn't look like any are yet.  Well, I guess I'll have to wait;  at least they were free, so no loss if none germinate.  I would like to plant some out back by the chicken yard.

I have a tray sown half and half with leek and onion seeds, hanging out on the kitchen windowsill.  I hope they at least do something!  I broadcast them directly onto the tray and will prick them out when they've sprouting and grown a bit.  Hoping to have at least fifty each, or more;  these are for the allotment, but probably not to plant out until March.

And I also put a packet of 50 broad bean seeds to sprout, treated in a similar way to the hazelnuts above.  They, however, should only take a couple weeks to sprout, rather than all winter.  I have some tiny broad bean plants at the allotment from last autumn's sowing, although there seem to be some gaps in the rows.  I have one more packet of seeds in reserve, probably for starting in a few more weeks.  Once these sprout I'll plant them next to their more advanced friends at the allotment.  Provided it's not completely frozen or flooded (had both recently).

Seasonal fruit in winter

Well, winter isn't fruit season, is it?  Sure, it's available in the shops, but it's shipped in from across the globe, most likely.  Or it's been held in a low oxygen refrigerated warehouse since it was picked months ago. It's available yes, but not seasonal.

For a few years now we haven't really bought much if any fruit out of season.  Fruit in summer, certainly.  Autumn, no problem.  But winter to early spring, not really.  We get our vitamins and minerals from vegetables instead.  However, things are slightly different this winter:  I had such a good year for fruit in 2020 that I have many preserved still in the freezer and cupboard.  As a result, our family has been enjoying homegrown and own picked fruits long after the season is over.

What are they? 

• Bottled halves of apples, pears
• Bottled applesauce, apple butter
  
• Dried slices of figs, strawberries, apples
• Jars of raspberry jam
• Frozen whole strawberries, blackberries, pitted cherries, raspberries
• Frozen applesauce, plum puree

Seriously, we have had some excellent fruit dishes with the above so far this winter, including Christmas pudding and mince pies (dried fruits), ice cream and fool (berries and plum puree), trifle (berries), fruit and custard (bottled apples), linzertorte (raspberry jam).  There's plenty left too--I've got all of the above in my near future, and maybe a few more like fruit pies and crumbles.  And don't forget a nice bowl of warm applesauce and cream--or the son's favorite, frozen strawberries and cream.