Whilst not a good month for gardening, it is a good month for looking at the seed and flower catalogues that come flying through the post. How about this year trying some new varieties (?) or, you could always stick with the tried and tested varieties.  Good luck this year whatever the case as sometimes, a vegetable just does not want to perform. For us last year it was Brussels.  White fly decimated them so this year, we might try environmesh.

If you have homemade compost like us, keep yourself warm by spreading it out on the garden ready for the worms to do their work.  Get the trenches dug for your runner beans, then add a good lay of mulch/compost before back filling.  Also, remember to check your tree stakes in case we get any high winds this month.  

Now is the time to start some of your vegetable seeds off in the greenhouse - tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks, peppers, etc.  Your potato tubers should be chitting ready for planting out in April when the soil starts to warm up.  At this time we cover our Rhubarb rhizomes with large black tubs to encourage early growth, and when you see the new pink Rhubarb you really know that Spring has come!  You can now enjoy the fresh, young tender stalks either roasted or steamed and turned into crumbles, pies or fools. What a treat!

When we open our gardens for our Charity events such as supporting the Life Boats (RNLI) we organise these to include tasty treats such as cream teas or homemade cakes.

- Home made cakes with tea & coffee     - Cream teas with fresh strawberries