Wind, rain and herbs

Winter gardening makes me feel a little isolated, not in a bad way, it's just that all that outward stimulus has been pruned back. The flowers of late summer are dying down, the exuberance of growth shrinks back into the ground and even the weeds appear to be stunted.

Fewer people pass us by, and the ones that do, hurry past and are less willing to stand and chat. I suppose that in our winter garb we look less approachable. Stubbly, pale skinned, muddy, disappearing under ever increasing layers of work clothes, we look more like survivalists than gardeners.

One of the nice things about this time of year is that we get to catch up with ourselves, clean the garden slate so to speak and reorganize things a bit. Seeds are ordered, projects mulled over, bulbs are planted by the thousand and Springs potential can already be felt!

In the past few days we have been sprucing up the herb/veg garden, so out went the Basil, Runner Beans, Sweet Corn, Pumpkins and Sorrel, the herbs got a hair cut and down came the Hazel wigwams.

Trimming the Thyme and Oregano is a lovely calming activity, the smell of fresh herbs clings to your fingers and the watery air is punctured by the sound of chuckling Magpies and the high thin calls of small groups of Redwings passing overhead.