Debra Manskey

L – R: Hipster, Mephisto, Emo and Henrietta

Hi everyone,

As I write the sun is struggling to come out after another arctic (or should that be antarctic?) blast hits Tasmania and south eastern Australia. Don’t get me wrong, I really love winter and the crisp, clear winter days we usually get. They’re wonderful for working outside, pruning and preparing beds for spring, but this is wearing a little thin now even for me! There are signs that spring is just about to happen, blossom starting to appear on early flowering cherries and spring bulbs popping up.

And yesterday morning, I found one of my beautiful old White Leghorn hens had died during the night. I thought she was older than the rest when I got her about three years ago and she’d never been a great layer, but she was affectionately known as Emo and we all loved her ❤ The funny thing is, Emo had been looking increasingly shabby despite having moulted in autumn, the same time as my other White Leghorn, Hipster. I even said to her on Monday (doesn’t everyone talk to their chickens?) that it was probably time to say goodbye before she started to suffer. I was planning to do it this weekend, when the weather is supposed to improve. Perhaps she knew.

Nevertheless, I felt bad about her passing and checked her over before burying her in a sunny spot in the garden. There were no obvious signs of disease or any parasites, such as mites and I think she just stopped wanting to be. After digging a decently deep hole, I laid her carefully at the bottom and said goodbye. Emo will eventually become raspberries, which will be great if I manage to transplant any runners this winter! I feel I’m very behind in this winter’s work.

Admittedly, I did have a very cold and long weekend away playing shows (more about that in my next post – with pictures!) and study has been taking up a fair bit of my time, but I feel I’ve done very little in the garden this winter. I have taken out a diseased cherry tree and planted a new apricot and dealt with the annual rhubarb clean up, feeding and mulching but there is a huge list of jobs that I really should attend to. So, this weekend I’m finally going to dig some of the raspberry runners, plant out some snow peas and spread some much needed mulch around the winter vegetables and fruit trees. And of course, there will be weeds for the chickens and playpen time for the rabbits 🙂

Take care wherever you are,

Debra ❤

What do you do in your garden in winter? What are your top tips for getting the most out of the short days?