Diary for the month of January 2021

1/1/21

Sowed jalapeno chillies in a split jug in the greenhouse, along with several more Skyr pots of coriander. These have been the perfect size for use in the kitchen all winter and seems to germinate OK, albeit slowly.

12/1/21

Transplanted 20 strawberries from a pot on the terrace. All self propagated. They’re in the unheated greenhouse.

13/1/21

Sowed giant leeks, Egypt beetroot & cardoons in the greenhouse but brought them in, in front of the sitting room window as the temperature plummeted to -10. Watered everything in the greenhouse - sweet peas, citruses, young chrysanthemum plants, salvia, figs, rose cuttings, pansies & hollyhocks.

Sowed Jessy sugar snaps, Chinese giant peppers & Black Beauty aubergines, Aji Panca peppers - all in sitting room & under clear covers.

16/1/21

Had a 1m3 delivery of fresh horse manure from the lovely Christelle & Johan. Loaded it into the frame in the greenhouse.

21/1/21

The manure hotbed is now 70℃ and really heating the greenhouse well. The outside temperature was 10℃ today, but 20℃ in the greenhouse.

Now that it’s warm enough to germinate seeds on the hotbed I began sowing.

Tomatoes: Balcony, Bumble Bee striped pink cherry, Beefsteak, Roma, Blue Beauty, Basinga, Dikaya Roza, Amethyst Jewel, Amish Paste, Guker’s Special, Black Beauty, Join Or Die x Beyond Verde Claro

Peppers: Aji Amarillo, Yolo Wonder, Dedo de Mocha Sweet Aji, Amy Sweet Hungarian Wax (creamy yellow)

Broccoli: Purple Sprouting

Celeriac: Giant Prague

Also planted out Lincoln Dwarf Pea plants that I’d grown in the greenhouse plus some red onion and spring onion plants grown from seed over the winter in the greenhouse.

The seeds that are in the sitting room are germinating well and I will move them out into the greenhouse in the next couple of days.

Pruned the apple and mulberry trees. Probably should have done the latter in autumn but I simply forgot. The trees are young and have only been planted here since 2012. I think I’ve only pruned them once, but now that they are formed into a five armed umbrella I’ll prune them annually.

22/2/21

I picked green sprouting broccoli and mizuna from the potager this morning just as the rain started. We haven’t had any rain for a while so I watered the potager earlier in the week. It’s bone dry after several hard frosts so a good steady rain will help it no end. Checked the greenhouse. Hotbed steady at 70℃ and the greenhouse feels comfortably warm despite there being heavy cloud cover. External temperature overnight was 4℃.

22/1/21

More seeds arrived today, this time a second delivery from the wonderful TomatoEden. They really do have the best selection of rare tomatoes. Sowed:

Tomatoes: Alice’s Dream, Helsing Junction Blues, Indigo Rose, Currant Gold Russian and Antho Weiss Cherry

Peppers: Aji Panca long black.

They are all on the hotbed in the greenhouse. Moved the Jessy sugarsnap peas from the sitting room to the greenhouse now they have germinated.

23/1/21

Sowed Colgar late hanging tomatoes and Chinese cabbage. Potted on 10 Jalapeno peppers. Planted out 20 strawberry plants in the rhubarb bed which has sides so the strawberries can’t take over.

Another 1.5m3 delivery of horse manure ready to top up the hot bed and put in the compost bins in the potager. Next one coming in 3 weeks’ time.

25/1/21

Topped up the hotbed with more manure. The purple sprouting broccoli seeds have germinated despite being out of their declared viability range. Pretty good going in just 4 days on the hotbed.

Repaired two arches in the potager, ready for climbing beans.

26/2/21

Pruned the huge pampas grass then separated off nine plants to use in three new planters in the courtyard. Planted them up and they are looking very promising, hiding the schist bank.

27/2/21

Remade/repaired/replaced several of the non-working solar lights in the drive and the courtyard. Eight in total. Now they’re all working once more & all off a 100w solar panel. 20 in total.

Bought three inexpensive garden arches and installed them side by side in the potager ready for climbing beans and cucumbers. They’re secured each end by a stake driven into the ground and fixed together using cable ties. Total expenditure, 52 euros including ties.

Picked some delicious mache for lunch.

28/1/21

Moved lots more horse manure into the compost bins in the potager. Planted some already sprouting Gourmandine & Cherie (red) potatoes from the supermarket in bags in the greenhouse as it’s way too early for them to go outside. Picked tenderstem broccoli for supper plus daikon and various salads for lunch. The hens haven’t stopped laying all winter so we could share some eggs around the neighbours too.

29/1/21

Sowed mesclun and Asian salad mix in the greenhouse. The latter comprises pak choi, mustard red metis, mizuna, brassica juncea var. Multiceps, red giant mustard, and tatsoi which is probably my absolute favourite.