Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
8th January 2022
Ex-seed-ingly Good Catalogues
So we’ve just had the warmest New Year’s Day on record at a balmy (or barmy) 16 degrees – lovely for working outside but it’s not really right is it?
A few dustings of snow on the mountaintops and a few iced up windscreens this week have been a sobering reminder that there’s a lot of winter left for nature to make things difficult yet. And even though the Christmas temperatures were more March-like, it has still been pretty wet and slippery underfoot.
There’s the dilemma – on the one hand it’s great to make the most of the t-shirt days to work in the garden at this time of year – I certainly did – but you really don’t want to be compacting the soil in beds and borders and/or making those little muddy sheep tracks all over the lawn.
I have managed to turn over the soil in some of my veggie beds but I used old scaffolding boards to stand on, which will prevent compaction – and traipsing mud everywhere. If you can turn over the veggie beds now, any future frosts will then break down the surface organically, doing a lot of the work for you before spring sowings.
And talking of sowings, I love the fact that soon after Christmas cards, it’s the seed catalogues that are coming through the door. Yes, I know I should be doing these things online but I don’t want too. You can’t beat leafing through the glossy pages and marking all the must-have seeds with a pen – so much more satisfying than ‘Adding to Basket’.
Of course, my top tip – use the old seed catalogues for wrapping paper. They are so pretty. A creative friend also pinches a catalogue from me to do her Origami with. You can’t do that by ‘Adding to Basket’.
Bloomin’ Early
Whilst it is traditionally the right time of year for Christmas Roses, or Hellebores to be in bloom – it is amazing the amount of ‘summer’ roses that are still in bloom too.
Some of my daffodils are already in bud and the little primroses are blooming as though it’s spring. They’ll all have a shock when we get the frosts – as will the gardeners – and for that reason I always try to bring a brave little flower or two indoors and put them in a little vase next to my computer.
Even if it is a just a small primrose flower or a single periwinkle bloom – with a little sprig of foliage like rosemary – it always acts as a reminder that even on the harshest of days, you can still bloom.
Get It Done
Despite the luxurious t-shirt days and occasional glimpse of blue sky at this time of year, it is obviously the hardest time of year to be working outdoors. From a ‘professional’ point of view, there is always something than can be done in the garden – which keeps my Bank Manager happy – but I appreciate if you don’t actually have to wrap up in more layers than an onion and brave the elements, those things might not be top of your priority list.
But there’s always stuff in the shed to do too. Make sure all your tools are clean and oiled – any needing repair can be taken to Tools For Self Reliance in Crickhowell (if local enough) and who will appreciate you ‘beating the rush’ in the spring.
Similarly, get your mower serviced and blades sharpened, and hedge cutters, strimmers, etc. all overhauled and ready to go ahead of the grass-cutting season.
If this warmer weather keeps up, it’ll be a long season.
SMART Goals
A new year has also brought a new term at college for me and I am really enjoying learning more and more about health and fitness. As someone who has been interested in fitness all my life, but not really understanding any of it, going to college has been like having lots of separate crocheted squares and now I’m able to bring them all together to make a useful blanket. I love analogies.
What I don’t love is the fact that as soon as I elevate my fitness training, I get ill. I know it’s not an ideal time of year to be training on top of working physically outdoors but I am sure that if only I can get it right, it can be done and can be beneficial. It is only a non-runner that will ask – ‘Why not just stop running?’
Apparently long COVID is not in my favour either – just as the menopause was a bloody hindrance too – but they are all real things which I am confident can be accommodated. I just need to find out how. And that is the lovely thing – instead of getting bent out of shape at having another respiratory infection, I am embracing the fact that I have this real-life opportunity to find out what works and what doesn’t.
There is a saying that ‘Experience is better than knowledge‘, so surely combining the two can only be advantageous.
I am also learning that appropriate nutrition is essential to attaining the shape and level of fitness that you want. After diarising what I eat daily – more interesting than tedious – I found that I am not consuming nearly enough calories and therefore will be storing fat ‘for emergencies’. A bit of a basic explanation but an essential realisation.
And then there is the psychological side of it all – reassessing SMART goals. Are they Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely? Suffice to say some of mine most definitely aren’t.
I recently watched a programme on sugar consumption where the presenter underwent hypnotherapy to try to shed some light on his sugar craving. It transpired that as a kid he hadn’t been able to afford many sweets as they were a ‘poor’ family. He grew up associating being able to buy sugary, confectionary ‘treats’ as a sign of being wealthy, so his subconscious was driving his cravings and overriding any sensible conscious reasoning.
It all fascinates me. So, fascinating or not, I’ll be keeping you updated on my own fitness path and trying to find a healthy work/fitness balance – with the added bonus that it helps keep me accountable. Thank you for that.
Leave a Reply