In the Bleak Midwinter ('Usual' View - ed)

Jan 2005: In the Bleak Midwinter.

As you can see things are looking a bit barren at the moment. The bed in the foreground covered in black groundcover was double-dug in the Autumn using some of the 10 tons of chicken manure delivered to the site for general use by the farmer friend of a plotholder. This bed is in readiness for pumpkins when the time comes.

The wooden box further into the plot is an old sandpit I'm filling with chicken manure and topsoil for an attempt on the carrot-growing front. It used to be a run for the Guinea Pigs but Bubbles has no further need of it and I'll have to find something else for Shadow when it gets warmer.

I try to keep as much as possible covered over in the winter to avoid weed growth and to keep the soil warm. In the growing season it keeps the plants weed-free (slight exageration) and prevents them from drying out.

I used it on a strawberry bed for years and thought the weeds had disappeared until I finally took it off and within a few weeks the bed was alive with convolvulus. Not a pleasant surprise!