Getting through January........

So it's that time of year in Southern Manitoba when it's -20deg C before windchill and my Beloved is out womanning the snowblower to keep our paths clear so Molly the Dog can run a little bit without disappearing in the snow drifts and its a very grey day and will be again tomorrow and thoughts turn to planning for spring and there is an urgent need to tidy up the garden and plant something, anything!

But then look at it!

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Not a lot of outdoor activity today and yesterday wasn't much better although it was sunnier and it's always easier to feel happier in sunshine even if the wind chill is below -30deg C. What can one do if one can't do it outside? Well there was a space in the growing room with nothing in it......it has been annoying me for months

The Space

I must digress a little in order to clarify the term "Growing Room" in the context of our little world. Just the other day someone asked me if we used it to grow tall, spiky leaved, interestingly perfumed plants, especially as we use a lot of lights at certain times of the year. When I eventually cottoned on to what I was being asked I not only recoiled in horror but wondered if other people were wondering the same thing. No, no, no! It was a small, dark, windowless,cold, miserable bit of our garage until it was transformed two years ago into a small,light filled,dry,insulated space with windows, lighting and a little heat to keep it at about 8-10 deg C, in winter. We use it for all sorts of thing including: starting off seeds and young plants for the veg and flower gardens so we can plant out as soon as the snow melts and the ground is defrozen (yes I know it's "defrosted" but "defrozen' gives a much better idea of reality) ; storing last years produce such as butternuts , onions,  potatoes; overwintering geraniums and herbs; pottering about in when desperate to see a bit of green and when the garden shed is surrounded by 6 ft snow drifts and several hundred yards away across snowy wastes

Back to The Space.


' We need more shelves!' I had exclaimed at some point.

We found a flatpack full of wonderful shelves and brought it home and looked at the box for weeks.Then we trundled it into the GR where it was in the way. Today was the day to unpack the box, read the instructions, apply the rubber hammer where necessary, and build a masterpeice. And so it was and Lo! 6 shelves on wheels appeared in The Space and all was well. And suddenly, there was on the shelves, a multitude of interesting and very useful objects which had been lying aimlessly about the place for months.

I still wanted to plant something but what? I sparingly watered everything green and growing and chatted to Wilfred. Wilfred has been around. He started life as a Factory Gnome and then became a Shelf Gnome in a British supermarket. He soon became a Garden Gnome in Surrey UK where he was very happy but circumstances meant that he had to emigrate to Canada where he became a Step Gnome looking after containers of flowers on the front steps of his new home. There was a tragic accident and Wilfred sustained a terrible head injury. Although he recovered somewhat he has never been able to resume his former duties so now he is a Windowsill Gnome in the GR and he is currently supervising  Siberian Iris(es) which may or may not bloom soon.

Wilfred wasn't much help but I remembered a small packet of 20 Anenome de Caen which was left over from a failed planting last year. I found a small green trough and used our own seed compost which I had rescued from the compost heap before it froze in November and filled a big container in the GR for just this very purpose......planting something in the depths of winter when desperate.


Satisfied at last and with the daylight beginning to fade I retreated into the depths of the lounge where the seed catalogues live, and with curtains closed, the fire on, a cup of tea and the last of the Christmas biscuits I resumed dreaming of spring flowers, and long hot lazy summer days in the garden.