Welcome to 2019!

There are few pleasures to rival the joy of stepping into the garden on a sunny January morning, the air filled with the sound of Robins' song and the promise of a new year.

Having spent literally no time weeding or maintaining the plot (seriously, not one second!) between August 2018 and January 2019, it has gone a bit wild in spots, especially since our weather has been so mild that the weeds are still growing strong. However that same mild weather comes with the great advantage of still being able to work the soil. We all know that you should never dig or walk on frozen soil, but so far the soil on our plot remains unfrozen and it took just one afternoon to grub out most of the weeds and get things looking more respectable.

THE REMAINING BEETROOT ALMOST SMOTHERED BY WEEDS...

A FEW HOURS LATER

One important winter job is pruning the berry bushes. Summer fruiting Raspberries and Blackberries need old wood cut away while carefully leaving the new stems that grew in 2018. Gooseberries and Currants fruit on older growth, so pruning is all about removing the dead, diseased, and undesirably positioned branches, and occasionally removing no more than 1/3 of old branches to stimulate new fruiting growth. Bushes were weeded, then branches growing low along the ground and in the centre of the bush were removed to try to create the "open goblet" shape that improves air flow to improve plant health.

WEED INFESTED AND OVERGROWN GOOSEBERRY BUSHES

WEEDED AND PRUNED BUSHES

In addition to producing seeds, Gooseberries also reproduce by tip-rooting. This means that any branches that come into contact with the soil have the potential to grow roots and eventually produce a new plant. Many of the Gooseberries on our plot have decided to tip root without waiting for our permission.

Hinnomaki Yellow, Hinnomaki Red, and Captivator all produced many tip roots, with one plant growing no less than 14 rooted branches! It's hard to know if this was because these varieties had the most low growing branches, or if they are naturally more prone to tip rooting. Either way, the free plants are a welcome surprise, and will be grown on and then sold for charity or gifted to fellow gardeners.

Now that the basics are done, it's time to take stock of the layout and plan for our most productive year yet!