January Blog

Here we are in the third week of January and another lock down. In many ways this doesn’t affect us here at Tumblins as we work from home which continues regardless of lockdown. Steepton Bill farm shop provides most of what we need which means we go into Blandford once a week on market day to go to the fish van. The local mussels are wonderful at this time of year, it is very noticeable since 1st January that his choice of fish is less, he says the lorries are not getting through, this week that was combined with the latest named storm which prevented fishing boats from going out. We were lucky this week that he did have mussels.

Everywhere is sodden and the Stour has broken its banks at Blandford, though the flooding hasn’t reached the car park yet which it has done in previous years. I miss seeing the sun, low grey skies are depressing enough on their own without anything else going on. I have heard nothing about vaccinations in north Dorset, Bournemouth has a big centre but that area is full of people who retired to the coast and will be very busy. It is always difficult in rural areas as the population is spread out and often has no public transport, it will be interesting to see what they come up with.  Until we are vaccinated it is not safe to mix with other people, sadly.

We continue to garden when the weather permits and there is always much to do. The rhubarb is sprouting which is always a welcome sign that we are approaching spring. We often make our first picking in February, a wonderful harbinger of things to come. I start to sow seeds for aubergines and beefsteak tomatoes in February as they need time to develop.

Having said that, I have three aubergine plants in the conservatory, one of which has an aubergine. With a bit of luck, they will continue to thrive through the rest of this year. The winter salad is also doing well in spite of the cold week we had. 

I have geraniums in the garden and some look a bit unhappy after being frosted, this is their third winter so they have done well. The green house is quite colourful with the overwintering geraniums in flower. Every so often I pick a bunch for the house. The snowdrops are out as are the primroses and the hellebores are beginning to put on a good show. There is one plant, that the birds provided, that flowers first, in mild winters this can be as early as November, this year it was the first week of December.

The apple and pear trees need their winter prune, I have done half so far. The fig on the top terrace had a branch that sat in the water of the water butt and rooted, it is now growing happily in a pot in the greenhouse waiting to be planted out in the spring. I love free plants and I love fresh figs.

With the new variant of covid causing the havoc it is the idea that we might be able to reopen for Easter may be too optimistic, it will depend on the effects of the vaccination program and there is nothing any of us can do but wait and see and be ready when the time comes to welcome people back again. Stay safe.