Welcome back andHappy New Year you lovely lot. Christmas seems far in the past, we’ve been gradually emerging from hibernation to the call of our little autumn sown seedlings, asking rather politely to be potted on and it feels good to be back in the poly tunnel and stomping about in our boots and big socks, flasks of tea in hand. We have lots of Cornflowers, Ammi, Ranunculus and Clary Sage looking much happier in their roomier homes. We’ve planted lots of Sweet Peas too, including some of our own saved seeds, we can’t wait to see what they’re like.

It’s a quieter time of year at the flower field though. There is lots of clearing, and prepping for the growing season to be done. Josh has been busy cutting the hedges back, we’ve had bonfires, and we’ve been bashing posts into the ground for our long talked about new support system – no wind flattened flowers (we hope!). Despite the cold, wind and rain, the first hopeful Tulips and Narcissus are beginning to show their faces and the Foxgloves and Canterbury Bells are quietly doing their thing in the raised beds. We can’t wait to be cutting armfuls of them in a few months.

It’s always nice to stop and stand still for a while at this time of year. To think about all we achieved up here last year, what we’d like to do again and new things we’d like to try growing or doing. It’s really valuable time, even if it is a bit soggy.