Sunday 6 January 2013

Green shoots

Meteor peas
Most people know that the shortest day is the 21st December but not many people realize why it is well into January before they feel that the days are getting longer.   The reason is that only now is sunrise beginning to get earlier.  The evenings have actually been getting lighter since the middle of December - before the Solstice but the latest sunrise continues through to the new year and today it was a full 2 minutes earlier!

 We may still be struggling to get up in the cold and dark but the plants are quick to sense the lengthening days and my peas and broad beans are now getting going - helped by some mild weather.   I had my annual seed planning meeting with my friend Jane last night and we dined on the beans that had been hulled by the bucket load whilst we watched Wimbledon on the TV.   It was good to know that this years crop is already growing. 
Broad beans

The first onion
The autumn sown onions are also putting in an appearance - the chicken wire is to stop the birds pulling them out to investigate! 

Unfortunately the lengthening days also mean that the moles' thoughts turn to breeding and some have decided that my nicely dug veg patch is the perfect place to excavate a family sized underground nest!

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