February has sneaked up on me.  I have barely started to work on my veg garden, getting it ready to start my early crops, and my new greenhouse is still without glass in it.  Time is getting away from me and all my plans are already getting behind.  To keep up on things I really need a good 8hrs a week at the moment.

Having a (more than) full time job, dark evenings and wet weekends is really getting in the way of getting things ready for this years crop.  luckily for me, I have some annual leave this month (2 weeks away from now) which should give me a chance to catch up and maybe get the first crops on the go.

One of the reasons why I love gardening is the idea of free food each year.  Unfortunately, free food is quite far away at the moment due to the need for me to invest some capital into my garden.  So far this year I have already put over £1,000 into a new greenhouse and footings, I haven’t even started buying compost or plants, let alone bought the extra land I’m after!  So, another thing to learn this year; how to reduce running costs to maximise return on investment. 

This weekend has been a washout, literally.  It has either been raining or throwing down sleet all weekend making it miserable to work outside and impossible to dig.  In the few dry periods over this weekend, I have managed to put the slate base down in the greenhouse ready for when we put the glass in next week.  Having the greenhouse p and running will really help get the garden going.

Being the 1st February, it is time to plan the month; my key tasks are:

• Sowing leeks under cover
• Planting garlic
• Cloche areas I will be using for sowing
• Add some rhubarb into he garden
• Plant out shallots
• Plant out onion sets

I will also trying to track down hibernating snails.  The decimated my cabbage and sprouts.  This year I intend to win the war.