Floods & forward planning
Monday 10th February. A lull between storms. There is a sense of disconnect between the air and the earth. The wind and the rain swirls and blows; the water forms puddles and torrents. I find it easier to be inside, by the fire. But the ground knows it is Spring and plants are pushed through the soil into the stormy elements. The first wild garlic appears. The late planted tulips. Even some (very) late planted crocuses outside the kitchen window. God knows what they think about what they’ve emerged into.
Tuesday 11th February. We have a meeting of minds; a village initiative to think about sustainability and resilience. There is talk of growing food together, apple pressing, nuts and seeds bulk buys, skill shares, local action and big change. I swap three spare pots for a box of duck eggs.
Wednesday 12th February. The road by the racecourse is flooded again because the farmer has filled in the ditches which used to hold the water. The idea that we are all invested in land management comes into sharp relief. We are custodians. At this time of year I plan the plantings and the sowings, but also the husbandry of the soil. The kitchen garden and the matrix planting are all no dig, apart from a couple of square metres where we ran out of top dressing. It is no coincidence that it is only this area that does not drain, and where puddles sit on the surface.
Thursday 13th February. A rare full day in the clinic. Children’s therapy. Babies and parents. Teenagers wondering how to fit in. Little ones with big feelings. I manage to get to Collate in Axminster in my lunch hour. Changing hats.
We celebrate Valentine’s Day a day early and have a date night at the old cinema in Wellington.
Friday 14th February. A morning walk around the field to see what is out. Peering into corners and under hedges. Blossom; sloe and cherry. White borage. Hellebores in every shade. Even a Brunnera macrophylla unfurling its blue, forget me not flowers in a corner. A few cream roses in bud. The first daffodil at the front by the tumbling down wall.
Saturday 15th February. Another storm. Another battering. More floods and water and fallen branches and rattling windows. Time spent by the fire, laying out plans and making lists. I have decided to use the far end of the orchard as a formal cutting garden, very different from the matrix planting and from the meadow patch. It will be edged with chestnut paling with hazel gates. Blocks of cornflowers and peonies, cosmos and dahlias.