Clearly I have been spending too much time in the garden scouting out goodies for the Six On Saturday show. I should have been cosy and warm inside reading the seed catalogues. This has now been rectified and some seeds are on their way. But it was the snow that arrived on Wednesday.
One
Wednesday was also the day scheduled for the builder to come and destroy the brick walls of the old compost heap. Bless him! He did come and the walls are no more. I have three wooden bins ready to be installed but they can wait for warmer weather. It was good day despite the snow. All the garden rubbish went into the skip plus plenty more from the house. The builder did not get frostbite and I didn’t run out of tea or milk!
Two
We moved to this house in 2016 and the garden was in need of a good weed and the addition of some new plants. Each year another little patch of the garden gets my attention. Last summer I managed to get this corner trellised and planted clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’. It was a lovely surprise this week to see it putting on new growth and buds.
Three
For some unknown reason I missed planting out shallots and autumn onions. Last year’s weather and lack of watering on my part did not lead to a bumper crop and the last few from the store have gone soft and been consigned to the bin. The shallots did store better and they have encouraged me to try again. A visit to the nursery is now urgent if I am going to get some purchases made before they sell out.
Four
I have been muttering for weeks that it is time to sow some sweet peas and as February approaches I feel that I might actually do it. I find I always start talking about sowing sweet peas early but then actually do it a bit later. These are my first two choices for this year but I am on the look out for a couple of extra packets, just in case.
Five
It’s still too early for me to be sowing tomato seeds but this year I do have some! Last year in a bid to increase the number of varieties grown but decrease the number of plants I limited myself to six plants bought from my local plant sale. This year I want to try ‘Green Zebra’. For more variety I chose this seed collection which gives ‘Marmande’, ‘San Marzano 2’ and a new (for me) yellow variety to grow – ‘Golden Sunrise’. The ‘Green Zebra’ had to be bought separately. I’m also looking forward to trying ‘Tigerella’.
Six
Here’s the compost area without it’s walls. Once the bins are constructed I will see what tidying up I have to do round the edges.
All done for another week, Mr P will be showcasing his goodies plus links to posts from around the gardening world. Stop by and take a look.
n20gardener 
Green Zebra tomatoes won’t disappoint you … Juicy, sweet and easy to grow. Just learn the right time to harvest them and don’t wait until they turn yellow or it will be too late.
I’m looking forward to seeing the new wooden bins constructed
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Instructions say it will be easy!! I’m waiting for a warm spell before any first attempts!!
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Congrats on the bricks going away, despite the snow — which looks pretty in your pictures. Great “art shot” of those shallot/onion bulbs — looks like it could be blown up into a nice print actually!
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Thank you! It is lovely to see the clear space and now I can think about next steps.
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I love love love Clematis armandii! Your snow shots are lovely, just rain here today (as usual) and gales (again as usual). A good time to dream of sweet peas and tomatoes to come!
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I had a mad moment on Sunday and decided that the gooseberries had to be pruned. I got very cold very quickly – the wind was the deciding factor.
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You have all the flowers that I love, the clematis, and especially sweetpeas (wish I could grow those) I look forward to seeing your garden!
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Thank you!
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You’ve had proper snow – I’m a bit miffed that it hasn’t come our way. Your Clematis is looking very promising.
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The snow was very well behaved. Came in the afternoon, stayed for a day and then slipped away. Just perfect!
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I never get around to sowing sweetpeas until quite late. Great snow photos. Good luck with the new compost bins.
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Thank you.
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Loved the peek into your seed stores! Those all look like excellent selections. I just got my sweet peas in after a thorough soaking. I’ll attentively follow the progress of your compost area, as we are in need of a re-do.
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It’s cold here at the moment and I know I won’t be building my new bins soon. I’ll definitely post once they are up!
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I love the look of those lavender/purple sweet peas. You’ve just reminded me I should be looking out for some sooner rather than later.
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Thanks for the reminder – I must sow my Sweet Peas. I’ve got one variety and am waiting for another to arrive in the post, along with some other seeds. New composting area is always exciting
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It’s time to start our planning. More seeds arrived today. I need to find my seed sowing diary and see what I did last year.
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I succumbed and sowed my tomatoes this weekend. I should have waited. I didn’t. Ah well.
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I planted clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ about 18 months ago and sadly it didn’t grow, which is rather annoying as it was an expensive plant and I didn’t keep a receipt. Lesson learned there.
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Sad news. I wonder why? Mine is in a very sunny spot and if we have a summer like the last one I am sure it will suffer.
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I put off trying ‘Green Zebra’ for a long time because I dislike fads so, but once I tried it, I really did like it, although only for fresh eating. I do not know what else it is good for only because I have always eaten them before trying anything else. The varieties that I wan are increasingly difficult to procure because of all those that are trendy. Another one of the trendy ones I want to try is ‘Amish Paste’.
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I haven’t heard of ‘Amish Paste’. That trend hasn’t arrived here. I discovered ‘Green Zebra’ in a trendy tomato salad last year. It did taste good.
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I got it from a produce market in Contra Costa County while I was working there years ago, only because they lacked more familiar varieties. I did not think it looked so great, but I do happen to like the tangy flavor.
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