We finally got our turn down here in South Wiltshire with 6 inches of snow on Thursday. Not as much as most areas but the first time I’ve seen snow this early in the 25 years I’ve lived here.
I’ve been reading with interest some of your snow posts like the ones from Jo and Sue who have had a lot more of the stuff!
With the garden locked in the freezer for a few days I turned my attention to Christmas bargains. Rach picked up a couple of codes off the Internet for Thompson & Morgan £10 vouchers with no minimum spend so just had to pay P&P.
With one of the offers I ordered some raspberry canes, 9 canes of 3 varieties, Glen Moy, Glen Ample and Autumn Bliss. With the second offer I turned my attention to seeds, well with 50-odd varieties in store and a Dobies order on the way I thought I was a bit light on seeds! So I bought:
Nicotania sylvestris – looks pretty and hopefully the strong smell will ward off the cabbage whites.
Asparagus Pea – the flowers should attract beneficial insects to the plot and we can eat the crop.
Alyssum Golden Queen – planted around the plot edge it should attract more insects in meaning heavier crops.
And herbs summer savoury and chervil.
I think 2011 is going to be a busy year! Hope you’re having a good weekend.
Two Chances Veg Plot Blog 
Hi Damo;
The snow pictures LOOK lovely, but the weather has certainly put a stop to my gardening activities for a few days!
BTW: I didn’t realise you were from Lancashire… Are you a keen cook? Do you have your own version of Lancashire Hotpot perhaps?
Hi Mark, I know what you mean I haven’t touched the garden in a while. My family moved to Salisbury from Oldham when I was 14 so I’ve been brought up on some traditional meals like hotpot. My all time favourite is probably Steak & Kidney Pudding. I haven’t got my own hotpot recipe (must see if Mum has one handed down) but use the one in Rick Stein’s food heroes which is pretty good. I must grow some red cabbage next year to make my own pickled cabbage which is just perfect with hotpot.
Glad that you have finally got some snow – we have a slow thaw at the moment which I hope speeds up as we will be without heating next week!!
We bought Glen Moy, Glen Ample and Glen Magna last year – the Glen Ample were particularly delicious. Even though we planted them late they produced a few raspberries.
Best of luck with no heating Sue, they say this cold spell is with us for a while. I’m looking forward to the raspberries!
Hello Damo, I’m new here but I thought I should tell you that “nicotiana sylvestris” is very beautiful and prone to greenfly to an alarming extent!This might be a good thing , it might keep the little blighters of other things. Very worthwhile growing tho’.
Thanks Naomi, I’ll give it a go may be more sacrificial to keep the greenfly away from the veg.
That was a good offer from T&M. Although I’d already got all I needed, I’m a sucker for a bargain and managed to spend £10.04, less £10 + postage. How’s that for being tight fisted!
You drive a good bargain, you can never have enough stuff!
I’m sure the girls will have been delighted with the snow, even if it means that gardening has to be put on hold for a while. Thanks for the mention, our snow is starting to slowly thaw, though much of it has turned to ice this morning. I wish I’d known about the T&M offer, I’m a sucker for a bargain.
They loved the snow although couldn’t stay out in it long as they get cold quickly. If I see anymore bargain offers I’ll post about them.
There was only an inch or so of snow here on Thursday which had, thankfully, gone by the weekend.
I see that you’re a typical seedoholic. Mind you I would have done the same!
You can never have too many seeds Flighty, it’s just finding room to sow them now!
Damo, do you find that your (presumably huge) collection of seeds lasts well? A lot of the seed retailers would have us believe that you have to buy new ones every year, but I have never found that to be necessary (with one or two exceptions, such as parsnips). OK, you may not get 100% germination with old seeds, but we always sow more than we really need, don’t we?
Absolutely Mark, parsnips are the exception for me and I just sow the whole packet each year. I’ll be on my 4th year with some seeds such as squash and courgette and the majority of my packets will be in years 2 and 3 and I don’t expect too many problems. We don’t need commercial returns as long as a reasonable proportion germinate that’s good enough for me.
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