Pushing up the daisies

The new year doesn't really start in January at least not in the garden. In February, new shoots start to appear on many plants: the rhubarb has shown its face and new shoots have come on the artichokes.
So yesterday was an excellent moment to prune the raspberry canes before the buds grow, to divide and plant out rhubarb crowns (hope I did it properly! I just stuck the spade into the clump and planted the bits that came away!) which is what I also did with my artichoke that is a bit tired. Now of course I have little artichokes in several places - I might have to give some away or there won't be room for anything else!
Last day for Brussel sprouts, I had a magic crop this year, and now they have been ripped out, poor sods. Also dug up the last parsnips (excellent flavour, White Gem. must get more, except Alan Romans have none left :-( ) and snipped out some baby rocket leaves. Delicious.
Have started planting shallots. I am a bit concerned about the garlic - I can only see one sprouting so far. Maybe I will plant some more now to be on the safe side. They were planted in December during a moment of respite from the bitter cold. I hope they were not frozen. maybe they are just taking time to root....
I also did some tidying up yesterday - put manure and shredded paper around the fruit bushes, spread the manure a little more, cleared off the paths and pulled out all the dead stems of flowers etc. I also pruned the roses, better late than never.
So little by little it is getting ready for a new year of cropping. Now I just have to wait for the first bursts of spring that mean it's time to really get stuck in.

Labels: artichoke, parsnip, pruning, rhubarb, sprouts, tidying, winter