{"id":13936,"date":"2024-02-13T01:30:53","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T00:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13936"},"modified":"2024-02-13T01:30:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T00:30:53","slug":"the-shortest-day-has-passed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13936","title":{"rendered":"The Shortest Day Has Passed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/strong><\/em><\/span>HE VILLAGE GARDENER<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Happy new year everyone<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Now that the shortest day has passed we can think about the year ahead. The plans we make now may not come to fruition but will give us hope that we can put some of our ideas into action. We all have our own thoughts of what a garden should look like, whether its colour, structure, neat or wild. The one thing it has to be is interesting. Small or large, all gardens have room for different aspects, it\u2019s all in the planning. Some of the best examples of interesting gardens belong to Joyce Hoy & Heulwen Davies; these two library volunteers love to talk about horticulture.<\/p>\n

Trying to keep interest in the garden throughout the year can be very trying and expensive if you get carried away by the plants in garden centres. Just try to remember that these have been nurtured in heated greenhouses. As soon as you get the plants home they will deteriorate unless you provide them with what they have been used to. January doesn\u2019t offer much in the way of colour but winter flowering jasmine is a ray of light on dull days. This will shortly be followed by primroses and crocuses pushing their way through the frosty ground followed by daffodils and then tulips and then, before we know it, Spring will be here.<\/p>\n

The allotments are still mostly in hibernation, with a bit of digging being done by some brave souls and repairs done to broken structures. Upturned buckets or pots on plots will be covering rhubarb which is being forced to give an early crop which will be tender and sweet. Any free standing apple trees can be pruned now; start by taking out any diseased branches followed by any limbs rubbing together. Like most fruit trees apple needs an open aspect to allow air through the tree. This helps with disease prevention.<\/p>\n

The walls around the allotments will, along with tubs and old baths etc, be harbouring the dormant snails who will be waiting for the first crops to emerge so that they can start their constant battle against the plot holders. You know where they are at present so let the hunt begin. Don\u2019t throw them over the wall as they are guaranteed to be back in time for your harvest. New allotmenteers will be\u00a0given a warm welcome and plenty of advice by the old guard of Colin, Bernard and the cantankerous Herbie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take care and happy gardening<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE VILLAGE GARDENER Happy new year everyone Now that the shortest day has passed we can think about the year ahead. The plans we make now may not come to fruition but will give us hope that we can put some of our ideas into action. We all have our own thoughts of what a garden should look like, whether […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3CM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9733,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9733","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":0},"title":"Village Gardener Tips for June","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Stella Gardening Tips for June Tips from Heulwyn Davies of the cherry tree garden. Grow more veg in pots, it's so easy and tastes better than flowers. Think of the future and put in some raised beds. Sow pansies for Autumn flowering this month. Gardeners will always\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/waterCan-2-257x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13196,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13196","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":1},"title":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER \u00a0 Two expats, Sean Connor and Penny Wise, give their thoughts on aspects of gardening. Sean Connor 1. Consider turning a small area of your front garden into a veg patch, it will create interest and, if kept well, will be an asset. 2. Do not overdose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14508,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14508","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":2},"title":"Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Watering, Weeding And Dead Heading Watering, weeding and dead heading are the jobs that need attending to every day at this time of year in an attempt to keep the garden looking it\u2019s best for as long as possible. Some of the late flowering plants, such as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16703,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16703","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":3},"title":"Desperate To Go Out into the Garden","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER Desperate To Go Out into the Garden March brings longer days but not necessarily better weather. We are desperate to go out into the garden and get it ready for Spring. We need to be sowing annuals and getting veg beds ready to plant carrots, turnips, beetroot,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for March 2026"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for March 2026","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=431"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11583,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11583","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":4},"title":"Gardeners’ Question Time","author":"Alan Williams","date":"6th May 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Event Notices"","block_context":{"text":"Event Notices","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=237"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/G-Q-Time.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/G-Q-Time.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/G-Q-Time.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/G-Q-Time.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14916,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14916","url_meta":{"origin":13936,"position":5},"title":"The Festive Season Is Upon Us","author":"Alan Williams","date":"10th December 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE VILLAGE GARDENER The Festive Season Is Upon Us With the festive season upon us, the garden gets a bit neglected. That is probably one of the reasons artistic gardeners say we should leave the dead stalks of perennials standing, as it gives structure to the plot. It\u2019s bad enough\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13936"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13938,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13936\/revisions\/13938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}