Trimming the vine and general tidy-up

February (Well January really) is supposed to be the time for cutting back grape vines. So that is what we did. All of the stalks and growths from last year were trimmed leaving the main growing struts ready for this years crop.

Yes I know the main trunk end looks kind of scraggy, but that is how we inherited it in the first place. Unfortunately there isn't a way to fix that now. The trimmings were cut and then used as the base for the new compost bins. That way it keeps a decent amount of air at the bottom of the bins to ventilate it. The old compost bin has been emptied and the larger remains transferred into the new bin. The good compost will be mixed with the soil emptied from the potato bags and will be mixed in with the various beds.

The "small" rhubarb behind the artichoke has done it's usual trick and started up first. It always seems to start ahead of the big rhubarb, same as in previous years. Unfortunately it always seems to act as a focus point for slugs so the actual rhubarb is produces is not the best.

Meanwhile the Daffs are in full swing.

But there is still much to do on the rest of the plot, as it kind of looks like a bombsite.

We need at least 4 more raised beds, three to complete the mains group of six - which will then have a cage built around it, hence the need for the old for-sale signs. Then one larger one at the front for the strawberries.

Things are starting to come back to life. But whether the weather promises a cold snap in the future remains to be seen. But we're not going to be planting our seeds just yet as it's still too cold. But there is still a lot of work to do.