New GYO Poll: Are you a fair-weather gardener?

[Nikki Arnold]

Do you spend less time at the plot in winter? Are you put off by bad weather?

Let's face it, a trip down the allotment (or even the end of the garden) always seems more appealing when the sun is shining and the air is warm. And, with fewer crops to tend during the winter months, plus frosts and gales that will challenge even the most experienced gyo-ers, it's not surprising that the colder weather has some veg growers running for the hills!

This month we want to know – are you a fair-weather gardener or a die-hard grower?*





*Please note answers may be edited and published in the November issue of GYO

[zazen999]

Die hard!

We spend the winter sorting out any problems and as we grow all winter, we still crop, and weed. And with green manures they often need chopping back. We also walk to the plot on c*mas day and come back home in time for hot nachos. Nothing like a wander there in the snow, and popping into the pub on the way home.

Plus, no matter what time of year, weeds are removed easier when it's been raining so as soon as the sky starts clearing, I nip down for a half hours weeding session; when I can.

[chefgage]

My small plot/raised beds are in my front garden. So I can look out the window, see its sunny and then dash
outside to do a bit. If it then starts raining I can run back inside and hide untill the sun comes out again

[shona_b]

I start off with good intentions of not being deterred by the weather but when its cold and wet the suggestion of retiring to the pub and an open fire seems so much more appealing! Thankfully we have the ability to make hot drinks at our site and to shelter from the worst of the weather in the cafe area. Bacon butty mornings in the winter are also a good way of enticing plot holders to venture out.

[Florence Fennel]

Die Hard with a Vengeance. However, my growing space is on the side of my house, so I can nip out, do a bit of weeding or tidying and nip back in before feeling the nip!

[Thelma Sanders]

I'll go unless it's freezing or pouring hard.

There'll still be stuff growing over winter, and some forking over to be done - so I get there as often as I can. Probably Jan and Feb are the worst 2 months, weather wise

[Chocolate8me]

I have a dislike to extreme weather conditions but there is nothing I like more than to brave the elements to do what is necessary to my garden/raised bed/greenhouse, etc. for a bit of fresh (& oh boy it can be fresh) air in the winter. Jumping in a hot bath afterwards is the best reward for my effort & hard work.

[Andromeda]

It really does depend on what needs doing. If I need veg or a problem needs sorting It will be done unless the weather means it physically can't be done, if it's blizzard conditions outside and the job can wait until it settles then it will wait. Having a greenhouse complex and hot house means there's usually something needs doing all year round.

[Newton]

It really depends on what I'm gardening.......I will not do the garden in the rain but frequently attend the allotment! My vegetables are clearly more important than my shrubs!

[bearded bloke]

Yep,I go there at least twice a day (often more) every day regardless of the weather.

[veggiechicken]

Every day, whatever the weather, I walk around my garden - saying Hello to whatever plants may be braving the elements that day. Outdoor gardening is a dry weather job: when it rains I'm either in the greenhouse or indoors planning and plotting!

[ladylottie]

It has to be serious weather to keep me from my lottie - usually heavy snow or lashing rain. Even then in lashing rain if something needs doing in the glass shed I might pop up there. Sometimes if it gets too hot I'll go up the lottie very early in a morning or late evening when it's a bit cooler (haven't had to do much of that this year though........).

[Rhona]

Only heavy snow will keep us away for longer than a week. Winter is a great time for seeing the plot in a totally different way when everything has died back. We will plant onions/garlic, and then start manuring through the autumn and early winter. It's a big plot, and shovelling/barrowing a ton of horse manure over it takes a while; (Mr R shakes his head in quiet horror when I remind it's 'that' time of year again). Mulching celeriac, parsnips etc., green manure upkeep, staring and planning...nope, no time off for us either.

[redser]

Coming to the end of only my first year but I made at least three trips every week in that year regardless of the weather working me n*ts off all winter getting the plot in shape. Questioned my own sanity sifting stones out of soil to fill raised beds on dark January mornings before going into work. After losing the feeling in your fingers, in the pitch dark, you develop a sort of psychic ability to pluck pebbles and chuck them into an invisible bucket over your shoulder. Jedi gardening. Always had the horrible fear in the back of my head that this would turn out to be a mad fad. This winter I'll be making a wildlife corner with pond, laying paths, moving fruit around and making over the tunnel beds to get more planting room. Cant wait

[solway cropper]

I'm lucky in being able to walk out of the back door into the garden and the only time I'm not out there is when there's torrential rain. Even with the ground frozen hard in winter there's still plenty to get on with. Winter pruning of fruit trees and bushes, general tidying up and reorganizing, cleaning all the pots and containers I use, etc. With a large greenhouse filled with overwintering salad crops and the first container-grown spuds planted in late February there really isn't any time of year when something isn't going on.