This week in Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden we will be wrapping up warm before heading out into the cold temperatures. We have been spoilt by the mild winter until now and the freezing conditions have come as a shock. Thank goodness for the winter gloves that Santa left in my stocking this Christmas. There’ll be no cold fingers here!
We will be making sure our bird feeders are constantly topped up this week. This is a job we do every week in Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden, however through the mild weather we have noticed that the birds haven’t been that interested in our food. As soon as the temperatures dropped to freezing, our feather friends flocked to the feeding stations and are eating us out of house and home.
This week we will be putting our rhubarb forcers in place onto an established crown in order to produce a crop of tender sweet forced rhubarb later on. Our rhubarb is already shooting so now is a good time to start forcing. We always choose a crown that hasn’t been forced for a couple of years as the plants need time to recover. Plants that are repeatedly forced will become exhausted and won’t be as prolific.
Also this week, we will be taking delivery of a trailer load of well rotted farmyard manure from a local farmer. This will be spread onto our pre-dug beds ready to be dug in before planting. Armed with a large spade and a wheelbarrow
