February Gardening

All the garden magazines currently coax us to begin sowing seeds for melons, chilli peppers, early lettuce, peas and other wonderful visions, but with the winter snow we're experiencing in the UK Cotswolds it's surely a foolhardy exercise right now, even with a heated greenhouse. I'm currently battling with clearing snow from the greenhouse and fruitcage roof, and knocking the snow from hedges leaning with the weight of the recent snow to prevent them from being deformed or damaged for the season, and find that it's as good a workout as I'd get from the gym! Time is more prudently spent ordering and buying seeds and bulbs for the new season and planning what we hope to see in the warmer months.Wildlife are currently scavenging anything left growing in the garden like overwintering oriental lettuce, leeks, spinach and the bark of autumn planted fruit trees, which while frustrating, what else do they have to eat? I sacrificed a badly cooked fruitcake to the birds the other day, feeling sorry for them searching for non-existant worms and insects in our gardens, and hope to god they're still able to take off after sampling my poor culinary skills....On the plus side, we live on the steepest hill in the town, and any downfall of snow always attracts children from surrounding streets to bring anything they can slide on - sleds, skis, bin liners or trays. The sound of laughter goes some way to compensate for not being able to garden - seeing families enjoying time together and having no traffic in the street is a rarity.We're predicted temperatures to -10 over the next couple of days, so I guess the 60 yews I should be planting will have to wait a few more days.

Hi Karen

I wonder if it is the pressure that we all feel to earn a living now that makes us feel wretched if we cannot work a full month in January and February?

I always remember when my business was in its formative years (I was between nineteen and twenty five) and I always felt guilty if I took a day off for leisure purposes.

Later on, with a workforce that fluctuated between eight and sixteen, I always lost sleep when we were forced to down tools for long periods due to foul weather

The only time I can remember like the UK is experiencing now was 1985 when it snowed and snowed and then froze for about three weeks. I had 150 square yards of turf stacked in the back garden of a property waiting to be laid but I ended up going through France down to Spain with a friend who had a haulage company.

They told me that it was 'always warm in Spain' and that the break and relief would do me good.
The reality was snow right across France and minus fifteen with wind chill making minus forty.

Lorry drivers died in the back of empty lorries from carbon monoxide poisoning as they huddled to stay warm in the enclosed space with gas heaters.

Bridges collapsed and thousands of cars were abandoned on motorways. The three lorries that were in our convoy all suffered and were abandoned in France after freezing up (brakes, diesel and cooling systems).

The British Government sent emergency relief to UK lorry companies to get their drivers back and all in all I was stranded for nine days (that was after four days holed up in a garage waiting for a head gasket to be fixed on the way out) stranded in a service station. We ate packs of cold ham and cold beer and hot chocolate from a machine until our money ran out.

An old French lady who cleaned the garage took pity on us and made a chocolate cake. We kept warm using the toilet heater and showering in the garage shower.

The best cooked English breakfast I have ever had was in the cab of a and old Volvo bull nosed lorry that had been sent from the lorry depot cooked using a blow lamp held under a frying pan with a steaming hot mug of tea and the lorry heater on full blast.

My local pub, where mutual friends gathered to hear news of our predicament (no mobiles then) gave the best impromptu party in the world when we walked in on the evening we arrived back.

I was twenty at the time.

I hope that this year, that garden related businesses put a little money aside so that they can shut up shop and not even bother to venture out when the conditions are so poor. In my experience, the following winter is usually similar.

The good thing is, a heatwave is predicted for this coming year (although that brings its own hardships for gardeners and landscapers too).

I like the bit in your post about children laughing and parents playing as families. We lost power here for three days due to storms and ended up with oil lamps and candles and playing hide and seek and hunt the thimble with the kids.

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Phil Voice February 7, 2009 at 9:18am

Hi Karen

I wonder if it is the pressure that we all feel to earn a living now that makes us feel wretched if we cannot work a full month in January and February?

I always remember when my business was in its formative years (I was between nineteen and twenty five) and I always felt guilty if I took a day off for leisure purposes.

Later on, with a workforce that fluctuated between eight and sixteen, I always lost sleep when we were forced to down tools for long periods due to foul weather

The only time I can remember like the UK is experiencing now was 1985 when it snowed and snowed and then froze for about three weeks. I had 150 square yards of turf stacked in the back garden of a property waiting to be laid but I ended up going through France down to Spain with a friend who had a haulage company.

They told me that it was 'always warm in Spain' and that the break and relief would do me good.
The reality was snow right across France and minus fifteen with wind chill making minus forty.

Lorry drivers died in the back of empty lorries from carbon monoxide poisoning as they huddled to stay warm in the enclosed space with gas heaters.

Bridges collapsed and thousands of cars were abandoned on motorways. The three lorries that were in our convoy all suffered and were abandoned in France after freezing up (brakes, diesel and cooling systems).

The British Government sent emergency relief to UK lorry companies to get their drivers back and all in all I was stranded for nine days (that was after four days holed up in a garage waiting for a head gasket to be fixed on the way out) stranded in a service station. We ate packs of cold ham and cold beer and hot chocolate from a machine until our money ran out.

An old French lady who cleaned the garage took pity on us and made a chocolate cake. We kept warm using the toilet heater and showering in the garage shower.

The best cooked English breakfast I have ever had was in the cab of a and old Volvo bull nosed lorry that had been sent from the lorry depot cooked using a blow lamp held under a frying pan with a steaming hot mug of tea and the lorry heater on full blast.

My local pub, where mutual friends gathered to hear news of our predicament (no mobiles then) gave the best impromptu party in the world when we walked in on the evening we arrived back.

I was twenty at the time.

I hope that this year, that garden related businesses put a little money aside so that they can shut up shop and not even bother to venture out when the conditions are so poor. In my experience, the following winter is usually similar.

The good thing is, a heatwave is predicted for this coming year (although that brings its own hardships for gardeners and landscapers too).

I like the bit in your post about children laughing and parents playing as families. We lost power here for three days due to storms and ended up with oil lamps and candles and playing hide and seek and hunt the thimble with the kids.