According to form, the most depressing day of the year falls at the end of January. I can vouch for that. As far as gardening news goes, not an awful lot happened.
Then we had a cold snap, and it became blatantly obvious that it wouldn’t be warm enough in there. So, off I went to town and happened upon a half price paraffin heater in our local hardware store. Too good to miss, and the last in the shop, I whipped it off the shelf and scurried to the checkout, before they changed their mind. Feeling rather smug with my bargain, I was almost praying for a frost that night, so I could go and play with my new toy. My wish was granted, and the heater worked a treat. However, from that moment on, the rest of the month was spent running up and down the garden, tending to the seed trays.
At night when it was cold: heater on. First thing in the morning: heater off. Bit of sunshine: seed trays out on the bench. First sign of cold: seed trays back in the small greenhouse. Last thing at night: heater back on, and door zipped up. At some points I’ve seriously wondered if I took as much care over my children when they were young… And that’s not all. Cold weather equals frozen chicken water, so I’ve also had to run up and down replacing that. With all this extra activity during what’s supposed to be the ‘quietest gardening month of the year’, I fully expect to have lost the muffin top I picked up over Christmas. And after all this running around and extra effort, what am I rewarded with? A tray of pea shoots, and not much else.