Beginning of January, and even though the days are still quite dark, there is a change to be noticed and it does the soul good. The mist and heavy clouded days have left us for the last few days, and though we have still not seen any sunshine, there seems to be more light in the sky. It is good, I think that one could learn to live without any sunshine, though it is hard to get used to it – it seems to be here to stay!
This morning I went into the garden and took stock of what is happening, and there is lots! There are the strong rigid and juicy looking leeks, the bright red and colourful chard, the celery and the cropping cabbages. There are also the many different herbs which are flourishing right now, oregano, thyme, lavender, sage, feverfew, dandelion, mullein, broad leaved parsley, three-cornered wild leeks, young cleavers, and even some young and tender nettles. It’s a very mild winter here, though we had very much rain during October, November and part of December. The temperature has not gone much below 10 or 11C and the soil temperature has only just now reached 10C whereas it kept to a steady 12 to 15C before Christmas.
The days for planning my garden for the next season are now, that is always very enjoyable. This year my plan it to grow many more flowers, wild and cultivated, so that as many as possible insects will have food. For ourselves I plan to grow some flowering shrubs that will cheer us during winter. Bright yellow Forsythia comes to mind, but more research is wanted.
What I take away from this winter is that there are certain vegetables that will grow easily and that we eat every day, these would be leeks, kale, chard, and herbs, these I will grow again and more plentiful next winter.
I wish those of us who garden a great season and much fun and happiness in their garden! 🙂
agoyvaerts 
Looking forward to reading about and seeing pictures of your 2019 gardens.
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Thank you!
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beautiful overwiew!
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Thank you Viviane
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Good to hear and see your garden still being so productive, Agnes. I’ve just been up to the allotment to tackle some weeds. They’ve been flourishing too.
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Yes Tish, I think your winter has been mild also hasn’t it.
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So far. Got positively overheated doing a bit of digging.
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You certainly have plenty growing for wintertime. I’m posting my lettuce garden later today. It is wonderful to grow vegetables in the winter.
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Great! I’ll come visit 🙂
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I wish you a lot of success with your garden in this year and a lot of crop, dear Agnes. Kind regards Mitza
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Thanking your kind thoughts Mitza.
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It is amazingly mild here too, things are starting to grow and i hope the frost won’t come too sharp. I too am starting to plan for this year! It is exciting 🙂
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Yes I hope so too. Enjoy your planning 🙂
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So much more surviving the mild winter. Nasturtiums are our barometer. Still blooming
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Yes Derrick it is as if they have forgotten to stop growing 🙂
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Most definitely. The brightness increases quite dramatically for the next few weeks! I love January for the new year and new feel in the weather.
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Yes, I do as well, January is a energizing month.
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LoVeLy !!
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Many thanks David!
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