Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
December 16, 2008: fighting the festive freeze
What a week it has been. Every day has been like a winter wonderland with those harsh overnight frosts leaving the landscape glistening and the late arrival of that winter sunshine, writes Terry Walton
On my allotment nestled on the side of our rolling hills the sun doesn't arrive until almost midday, giving me a whole morning of white beauty. The only problem this gives me is the difficulty of gaining access to this paradise. The padlock on the gate is frozen and it takes many minutes of heavy breathing on this stubborn padlock before it yields and allows me to enter.
The same process is necessary before my greenhouse padlock springs open and I gain access to this frosted place. By now I am short of breath and a wheezing wreck. No heat on in this house yet and the poor chrysanthemums have made a brave attempt to throw up a few shoots which look a little frozen and slightly limp. No problem: the later sunshine will soon revive them and they will survive.
The late salad crops I have sown in the border are also refusing to grow in these arctic temperatures. They are 'there', but that is about all. It only goes to show how important warmth is in plants' growing cycle. So at the moment there goes the plan to have fresh salad leaves for the Christmas period.
The garlic planted at the end of October is loving these low temperatures and is keeping its head down. The result is lots of root activity below ground which will feed those emerging shoots in the New Year and furnish us with large tasty bulbs.
What a great all-year-round vegetable garlic is. It adds flavour to so many dishes, even if its aroma may not win you many friends. Despite its demonic connotations it has many beneficial uses. It helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol, making for a healthy heart. It was used in the early 20th century for treating wounds and as a natural antiseptic. It is even said that garlic was used by the Romans to treat leprosy and asthma.
Boiled garlic can be used as an insect repellent and keeps many pests away, while its oils are said to have an adverse effect on slugs and snails.
Me, I rather enjoy its exquisite taste, rather than waste it on all these functions. So much from a simple bulb that is relatively easy to grow.
Christmas is fast approaching and it is time for all us gardeners to write our gardening wish list to the jolly, tubby man in his red outfit and white beard.
We are usually a thrifty lot and make do without spending too much of our cash, so this is a time to indulge in those presents that we would not buy ourselves. Looking around those festive garden centres I have seen some perfect gifts for myself and they are in my letter to Santa.
As I get older I find that packets of seeds go astray. I saw the perfect answer to that. A garden seed organiser. It is a board to hang in the shed with wooden pockets, marked off in the months of planting to house those seed packets. The perfect storage for those seed packets and a reminder of the time to plant them.
I also am a messy user of string when tying my plants. This rolls about the plot and gets into all sorts of knots. So for me this year a twine on a stand will solve this problem. This will always be at hand and easy to use.
And it shouldn't be forgotten that a good pair of gardening gloves never goes amiss!
So get working on those gardening Christmas lists this week before you miss Santa's last post. If not, disappointment will be your only present on Christmas morning.
More from Terry Walton
My Life On A Hillside Allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called, My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon
