Getting better

It has been well over a week since I felt ‘normal’.  Actually, I never feel normal, let me rephrase that.  It has been well over a week since I felt well.  This cold has really taken its toll on me.  To start with I was resting to recover and did things I never do, like stay in bed all day and intermittently sleeping between watching chick flicks and exhausting every gardening show and you tube video I could find.  Not only was I slowly feeling better, but it was a huge indulgence.  I am normally a productive relaxer and feel most at peace when I’m doing something.  To do absolutely nothing leaves me feeling frustrated.  I really hate being sick.

I really need to get the winter food situation right. More often than not I’m like – we can’t just get stuck into these, they have to last, only to end up with a bit of a glut as we race to eat them to make more space in the garden or in the freezer! Maybe I should meal plant more. Tonight we are having turnip.

It is almost time to dig in the cover crops so they will have rotted down in time for the spring plantings. The lupin have done really well.

The more I lay there in the cosy warm, the more frustrated I felt.  Spring is just around the corner and there is so much to do, and it won’t be being done all the while I’m lying there.  I tried making mental lists in my head but having not been in the garden for over a week it was hard to truly visualise what needed doing.  All I could really worry about was the unfinished tasks that don’t need that much of a push to get them done.  Then there is the shelving in the dome to be done, but that requires a clear head to work it all out as it is far from straight forward.

Weeding the salad bed reveals a pitiful supply of salad crops remaining. I’ll need to rectify this soon, but they will need to go into their new season bed as per the crop rotation plan.

The elephant garlic is doing well, all by itself, with little help from me, which is just as well as I haven’t exactly been in a position to pamper it.

It was good to spend time getting all my paper working things up to date, but they weren’t that far behind as I’d taken care of everything before we went on holiday.  It is weird the way I do that.  I’m only gone for ten days but I tie up all the loose ends like I’d be away for a year or more!  I’ve almost been as unwell for the same length of time and I did no planning or preparation for that absence of leave.  I think the holiday helps and compounds the situation; I wasn’t wildly out of control but the time out of the garden over the last 6 weeks is much greater than the time spent in it.  This is also down to the weather as it is finally behaving like winter.

I think it is safe to say the asparagus has taken well. I’ve taken a few spears here and there and they are delish! But being as it is the 2nd year I’ll take it easy. I’ll take the fat one in the front, and maybe the medium sized one behind it…. it’ll be fine…

I haven’t seen many bees about but if they want to come then I’ve prepared this lovely broccoli flower for them. If I can’t eat it, because it went too far while I wasn’t looking, then it is good to know someone else can find joy in it.

But enough is enough and while I am not 100%, I am probably well enough to drag myself out there and do something.  So that is what I did.  I didn’t have a plan, or a list and I just went out there to have a look and find a nice gentle task that would leave me feeling satisfied that I’d done something and made some kind of progress.  Wandering around the garden I knelt down to pull a wayward weed and took great pleasure from the ease it released itself from the loose fluffy soil.  It felt good to be back in touch with the earth and have dirt under my nails.

This bolting cauliflower looks like some kind of firework explosion. Another thing I missed while being unwell. Mind you, it doesn’t look like it was a very big cauliflower. Maybe I should eat it anyway – cauliflower sprouts – is that a thing?

Now not all my brassicas were are disaster. Check this romanesco broccoli out! It is so amazingly beautiful and will be delish to eat.

So good, in fact, that one weed lead to another and another and before I knew it I’d weeded and entire bed, moved on to another and then another and before I knew it I’d done eleven beds, before the sky began to darken and threaten to rain.  Being rained on is the last thing I need right now; I might end up catching a different cold.

Now this is a problem. I grew two kinds of gladioli in my cut flower garden last year and one I loved., The other not so much, the colour was an orangey pink reminiscent of all that was hot in the 80’s and to be honest I didn’t like it. So I bought some nicer ones – deep red gorgeousness to replace them. However I haven’t got a chance to dig the old ones up and now they are sprouting, while the new ones are still sitting on my desk waiting for some kind of action….

Tonight we are having mashed turnip with loads of butter, steamed leeks, and steamed kohlrabi smothered in a cheese sauce and possibly some meatballs to go with. I have some parsley to use up too as I weeded it out by accident… opps. Eat up family – I need the space.

It doesn’t bother me that I didn’t tackle anything on the list that worried me while lying in bed.  There is still plenty of time and knowing the garden is mostly weed free is one less thing to worry about as we move towards the spring and will be easier to stay on top of than trying to tame an out of control jungle while trying to do all the things the new season requires of us.

I am so proud of myself – I actually cut some flowers out of my cut flower garden! Which is what it is actually for but I can never bring myself to cut them because they look so pretty attached to the plant! I just wish I could smell them…. stooopid blocked nose!

I am so pleased I managed to sow seeds before I got sick. now I have a little green forest emerging in front of my windowsill with a cosy start from the heat mat. But they can’t stay there – I really need to build a shelf in the dome.

In the meantime, I’ll share some of the things I discovered while pottering about in the garden, and all going well I’ll be able to get back out there again tomorrow and maybe even start crossing things off lists.

Come again soon – I am more well than I am unwell and so there is nothing stopping me from doing a spot of gardening… except maybe some rain.

Sarah the Gardener : o)

NB – clicking on the photos will tell you more about what is going on in them.