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JANUARY Cats scratch a post before a wind, wash their faces before a rain, and sit with backs to the fire before snow.
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JANUARY
Cats scratch a post before a wind, wash their faces before a rain, and sit with backs to the fire before snow.
More weather folklore
- I hope you took your Christmas tree to be recycled at the local amenity depot.
- After a wet spell inspect the lawn for waterlogged areas, make a note for future remedial action. Plenty of chances recently! Don't do anything now as you will only do more harm to the soil structure.
- Make sure your spring bulbs aren't buried under a thick pile of leaves - a thin layer will not signify.
- Check fence panels, posts and other structures for signs of damage or rot, and repair or patch up for future replacement. There could be more storms, or a heavy snowfall could bring them down.
- Rhubarb roots are completely dormant and can be divided to provide more plants or older clumps can be revived by discarding the central woody parts and replanting young crowns. Dig over the plot and incorporate plenty of organic matter with a good general fertilizer. Mulch the plot with a 75mm layer of compost or strawy manure. Don't harvest from young plants until next year to allow strong development.
- Check the state of the buds on rose bushes. The traditional time for final pruning is March, but milder winters mean that they can start into growth earlier and if not pruned low enough the new shoots will break too high up or at the wrong place, giving an untidy bush.
- Start onion sets off in modules to develop anchoring roots.
- Check stored crops for signs of rot and remove any developing shoots on potatoes as they will cause the tubers to shrivel and become inedible.
- The long winter envenings are a good time to study the seed catalogues or online to choose the crops and flowers for the coming season. For the vegetables you could prepare a storage box with monthly dividers to set out a sowing schedule.
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