Showing signs of life

 

Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more...

It has been said (often by me) that without hope we have nothing, and it is with the kind of optimism that only a glorious False Spring day in February can provide that I have gone out into the back garden and given it a bit of a tidy in preparation for giving it all another go.

There wasn't much to do, really. When we put things to bed at the end of last year's absolutely fucking dismal season, we'd done a good job. All I did today was remove the dead flotsam and jetsam from the strawberries, trim some dead bits off of some other things, and look for anything attempting to live. Quite a few things seem to be giving it a go: the oregano that refuses to die, the winter savoury, even the salad burnet survived the storms. 

Rosemary...that's for remembrance

I've righted the enormous rosemary and tied it to a stake, since it's been bothering me since November. I might - when Farmer Goth isn't looking - give it a bit of a haircut so it becomes a bit more stable. I think lamb on some rosemary skewers would be quite nice, if I'm being honest.

Ace, our wee acer maple, has been moved into the sunlight for a bit, just to encourage the little buds on all the branches. I always feel so awful when I trim him back, so I'm always grateful that he manages to squeeze out new leaves.

The Sainsbury's garlic that sprouted so I shoved it into some dirt to see what would happen continues to not die, so that's a fun experiment. In semi-related news, I actually purchased seed potatoes, this year, rather than rely on the ones we've bought to eat getting out of hand before we can eat them. Jazz and Ratte - both waxy and weirdly shaped - with one being an earlier harvest than the other. We'll see how we get on.

We'll give tomatoes another try. There will be peas, again, and haricot verts. Harrier squash, and maybe the Parisian carrots because they're so damned cute. Leafy greens, of course, and always radishes. Lots of flowers, this year, I think. For the bees and butterflies.

The Sun is creeping down the fence, now, but I'm making myself wait a bit before starting any seed trays. Maybe next weekend I'll get those going. Maybe later today. Who knows.

Creeping Sun is creeping