The Year Turns –
It is a dark and dismal grey morning following a dark and stormy night, I am out with the dog simply because he gave me the sad eyed look which says I really want to go out even though the rain is falling at 45o and the wind is blowing a gale. What can you do? So we are out. The lane is wet, the field beyond is heavy going – I had never considered this field to be a hill but this morning it feels like a 1 in 3 slope. Then the dawn breaks and slowly the new light arrives. I can see the outline of Duncliffe against the clouds and the next line of rain is beating its way in from the west. Dog spots a rabbit that hadn’t noticed our encroachment on his territory. Rabbit takes off with dog close after him. Now the dog, in human terms, is about 84 and I should think the rabbit is about 40 but they are both putting their all into it. Needless to say rabbit hits the hedge line well ahead of the dog, who would be hard pressed to know what top do if he did catch his mark. However with respect for their age, we move on. Back down the next field, grass not mud, the day improves. The light is better and I can make out the village houses. I know I am lucky to live where I do, and I will not complain, it’s just December.

As a horny handed on of the soil, medium to heavy loam, of good depth and drainage since you ask, the turn of the year is a big deal for me. The winter solstice is a critical date in my calendar. A little internet research [BBC web site if you’re interested] will tell you that the winter solstice is as ever in these latitudes, on December 21st when the length of daylight will be about 7 hours and 50 minutes. Because of the earth’s apparent elliptical orbit, sunset gets later each day as from mid-December, but sunrise gets later each day until January somewhen. I say apparent elliptical orbit as personally I have no way of establishing whether this is true or not and can only rely on what I have been told. The upshot of all this is that the shortest day is December 21st but don’t expect the 22nd to be any easier for getting out of bed. A bit of general interest for you, Northern folk such as ourselves who spent much of out time outsides, saw the sun as a wheel that turned. The word for wheel was houl, which became Yule, and gave us an excellent excuse to light fires, drink sweet ale and create interesting chocolate covered logs.

So to my point. The gardening year is tied to day length. Short winter days seem to drag on for ever, but that gives a little breathing space to prepare for the better light. Time to clear away the old rubbish, clean down the equipment and prepare for the spring.

Jobs for the month –
Always plenty to be done but will depend on the weather. My intentions are to tidy away all the old rubbish in the veg garden. Get the fork under the deep rooted perennial weeds, put ground covering material on the paths between the raised beds and then cover the path with bark. Fruit tree pruning will be done in good time this year. We had a fantastic crop last year so I expect this year there will be less blossom so careful pruning will be important. Looking round the garden, there are hedges and shrubs that are overgrown. Hard pruning in the dormant season is the best way to deal with them. The new space will let light into areas that have been shaded out over the years and allow other plants to thrive or create new planting opportunities.

Growing your own food has never been more topical. Last year was not the easiest to manage, an early start caught many of us out, then prolonged wet weather ruined a number of crops. The weather pattern has changed and early starts are probably the future so as gardeners, we will have to adjust. Crops started off in protected conditions then planted out when the weather is good enough, really do give you a head start. Find room to say peas in pots or old lengths of guttering, salads in plugs or better in peat pots that can be transplanted without disturbing the roots. Sweat peas and broad beans can go out early and these are often sown in November. If you missed that window, then sow in pots in January.

This is also the time to beg borrow or steal a seed catalogue and make a list of crops to grow, and a plan of where to grow them. Most seeds are bought on impulse – that’s fine, impulse is fun but don’t miss out on the really useful crops just because your eye was taken by something sparkling on the seed rack!