Rain, Slugs, and Darkness

While winter in a garden in a mild maritime climate poses its own challenges, it's still true -- the worst day in the garden is better than the best day in the office. Even when its too dark to mow the lawn the instant I get home, I can still pull a few weeds from the raised beds, tossing them onto the compost pile. And there's always the traditional winter work: caring for tools, mulching tender things that need a winter blanket, and planning the next year.

Planning the next year this year should mean moving some of my half-barrels to make room for more of them. (Or, if I could find one the right size, for a greenhouse.) The barrels I moved on a Saturday a few months ago were quite heavy (full of well-watered soil and plants!) so I only got the four of them shifted on the same day that I installed and planted the brick-lined flowerbed. While I don't relish doing more of that same work in less clement weather, the end result should be more productive.



I plan on following a 4-season crop rotation this year -- spring crops make room for winter crops, which stay in the ground until those barrels are planted with summer crops, which get pulled with just enough time left to start on some green manure. Then those barrels are planted for spring again. Grouping my barrels into three chains, each with its own watering zone, should be just the right foundation for keeping the plan in place. For Christmas a few years back my parents got us a "words in stone" kit -- basically some quick-setting concrete, rectangular molds, and big typeset letters to press into soft concrete. I'm thinking of making signs for "Spring", "Summer",  and "Winter", and then moving those signs around the garden.

Winter time is also when I spend more time nurturing my other (indoor) hobbies, so I might not get around to posting here for a while. So in the mean time, check out what's blooming in November:

 And what there is to eat: