Things are on the move

Who knows if this is too late, but I have started chitting my potatoes in the conservatory. Arran Piper variety caught my fancy in the shop the other day, so I bought them. They are first early spuds and need to be planted in February or March, the label said. Still haven't dug the ground for them, never mind given time for chitting. Was going to make a start on preparing space yesterday, but the noise from the chainsaws being used to hack the adjacent bungalow's leylandii drove me nuts and I had to retreat. Chitting, I have discovered, is nothing more than putting them in a box and waiting for shoots to come through.

Must start planning ahead a bit more and deciding what I am going to do. Need to remind myself about the Cherokee Trail of Tears my friend Steve sent me. He says, incidentally, that they harvest their garlic come July when the green tops are dry and brown. I bow to superior knowledge. He always strings his, like onions. Don't know if I'll have enough to do that.

Green shoots of recovery

Now that the snow has finally cleared, I have given the vegetable patch a perfunctory inspection. Lo and behold, garlic is sprouting! I'm really pleased as I thought everything had been killed off by the bad weather. They must be resilient little things. My task now is to find out what to do with the garlic, when to pick it etc.

The birds are eating again now that we have changed the seed we put out for them. The stuff they didn't like turned out to have been from Wilkinson's rather than Lidl, as I had said earlier. We have bought Bill Oddie seed instead and they like that fine. The mealworm seems to be a particular favourite.

Next week I shall get out and do some digging. I feel as though spring has come, although I realise there is a long way to go yet.

A tough quiz (no prizes)

The thaw has set in pretty rapidly and the snow is almost gone for as far as the eye can see at our house. The only place with a good dollop left is...can you guess where?

Further weather report

It rained overnight and I woke up this morning to reports of the main road near us closed due to black ice. It was certainly very slippery underfoot when I took the dog out.

There was snow later in the morning, just when we thought it was all over. It was my misfortune to be going to the post office at the time. My little vegetable patch, which had failed to thaw to any great extent, is now covered again. I fear it may be some time before I see bare soil.

Weather report

The sun is shining, it's not too cold and there seems to be a thaw everywhere - except where I live. Looking out of the window just now, I see our small corner of Yorkshire is still covered in snow, apart from a small section where the car has been parked. The lane still looks dodgy underfoot and, needless to say, the vegetable patch has a white covering over it.

Grim up north

My mate Steve has emailed from his corner of Kent to say he has been out to his allotment and seen the first shoots of garlic coming through. He's lucky to see anything at all, my little vegetable patch has been covered in snow for the past week and got a fresh fall last night.

All this means is that I can do nothing but dream on for the time being. I like to think it's similar to cooking - it will all come together in the end. Hope so.

Looking out of the window over the past few days, I notice the birds have largely spurned the seed we have been putting down for them. My theory is that more food is being left out for the birds as people become more aware of their needs and the birds can afford to be choosy. Our seed was Lidl's finest - obviously not good enough for them.

I've lost that lovin' feelin'

I was trying to retrieve the dog from our snowy garden this morning and discovered we were chasing each other all over the vegetable patch.

How could I? Will the garlic and chives survive or have they had it anyway in this weather?