The weather

Blood red dawn at 8.17am this morning

The safest topic in Ireland is the weather. You can stand up talking to you neighbour, never mention his business liquidation, the fact his wife ran off  with his brother last week or that his children are smoking cigatettes behind your boundary wall as long as you can sympathise/console/congradulate each other on how wet/dry/windy/cold and on rare occasions even how hot it is. An honest chat about how you are actually doing belongs to American tourists in cafes loudly discussing their emotional states/medical problems/ psychiatrists reccomendations with an unfortunate friend who probably wishes they were anywhere except there. And we all know how crazy the yanks are,(except in Boston) so we'll stick to safe topics and talk about the weather.


Another hard frost overnight and the ground is like cement this morning, up on the hill pockets of frost are not moving from the shade, but in the valley below a watery sun is starting to warm things up. The air is still bitter but change is coming, according to the weather forecast we should jump up to +5 by tonight and rain is on the way. And we are also set for a loud bout of roaring as the neighbours cheeky black and white cat is doing laps of the garden so its only a matter of time before he runs into Ginger and the showdown begins. I apologise to my neighbours in advance, although you should all be immune to it by now. I know I am.

the coldframe

 Outside the coldframe is still closed and the onions seedlings have an extra blanket of newspapers overhead to hold in the precious bit of warm air trapped between the ground and the glass. At the other side the delicate plants seem to be coping fine. The french tarragon is even starting to sprout and grow, the little olive tree is green and lush and the birds of paradise look well and happy. Its amazing what a box of glass can do to save them from extremes of cold and wet!

I dont think I could do without it now, especially as I am without a glasshouse or tunnel. And unlike the portable light plastic greenhouses that are blown away all too easily by the wind, this is heavy and soild, the weight of the glass more than making up for the light aluminum frame. Height is its only limitation.


For the outdoor stuff in the beds its a little more tricky. Last evening it was out wth the horticultural fleece, (not the fleece you wear!) to wrap it around the tree ferns. Its handy to have a roll of this in the house or somewhere close by so you can grab it quickly if the temperature suddenly drops off or you hear the forecast after the 9 o clock news promising you frost that night and you have a shed like mine. The only thing you are certain to find in my shed is everything except the thing you are looking for. Or an avalanche of odds and ends might just take you out when you open the door. Its russian roulette either way. Keep the fleece in plain sight, thats all I'm saying.

Frost protection; tender plants under cover for the next few months until frost has passed, anything you cant keep in a glasshouse/tunnel/coldframe you will have to bring protection to. Use newspapers/straw/horticultural fleece. Dont forget to take it off once the temperatures rise.