Yes this weekend has seen the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch come round again. It’s where you observe the wild birds in your garden for an hour noting the different species that appear, and then report your findings into the survey to build a picture of the health of the British bird population. At the time of writing I haven’t yet done my hour, but I will, and maybe later in this piece I will share my findings. However good my tally is it won’t match up to the opportunity that some residents of Stowlangtoft have had in the past couple of days. Imagine entering White-tailed sea eagle in your survey results! Yes it’s true, the birders were out in force yesterday with their long lenses and their spotting scopes as word spread that this unusual visitor had been sighted. It’s not the first time one has been seen locally, one was spotted a few years ago on Mickle Mere at Ixworth/Pakenham, but nonetheless it’s quite a coup. 

All of a sudden it’s really noticeable that the days are drawing out. On a nice bright day it’s not quite dark at 5.00pm, which reminds me that I need to alter the timer on the door closer on the coop that the ducks sleep in. Last night they got locked out because they were still fannying about in the half light when the portcullis came down. The hens are always in bed at a sensible time, but the miniature Appleyards are like naughty children who try to stretch bedtime out for as they possibly can. 

I know that it’s still January, but as well as the longer days there are signs that a new season is on its way. Aconites and Snowdrops are looking good, but you would expect to see those at this time, but on Friday I saw some Daffodils flowering in a customer’s garden in Ixworth – surely that’s very early. And going back to birds, have you noticed how much more birdsong there has been in the past week? Yes everything is on the move, so it’s time for me to start sowing some seeds. I will fire up the heated propagator tomorrow, I ordered 2 x 47kg gas cylinders last week to heat the low greenhouse for when the seedlings come out of their cosy nursery. I will start with tomatoes and peppers, but will fill the propagator with some early brassicas and lettuce. From now on it will be a constant cycle of seed sowing right into late spring.

Last week I pruned the peach tree in the greenhouse, which is quite a lengthy job because I have to release all of the branches from their support wires, reposition them into a vague fan shape, cut back any dead or diseased wood, and crossing branches, before tying everything back to the wires. The flower buds will soon begin to swell before bursting forth into Barbie pink blossom in late February. I have got 2 quite large lemon trees growing in big pots which live outside during the summer but are brought in to the greenhouse for the winter. They had begun to put out some lovely new baby leaves and flower buds, but they were badly damaged by that -6° night on the 17th and are now limply hanging blackened by the frost. I don’t heat the main greenhouse, so when the temperature dips that low it doesn’t offer as much protection to tender plants as you might expect.

New product alert! This week I am offering, on a trial basis, Watercress from Somerset. I haven’t seen it, so I’m not sure if it will be baby leaf or more mature, I don’t even know how much is in a pack, but I thought that it would be nice to give it a try. Supply will be limited this time, but if it is good I will order more in the future. It is unlikely to have a long shelf life, so I would recommend using it within a couple of days if you do order any.

Apart from that there is not very much different in the shop, apart from red cabbage. So there are Savoy cabbages, Brussels sprouts and curly kale, plus mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and lots of root vegetables. There is plenty of citrus fruit again, and Spartan apples. Seville oranges should continue to be available for several more weeks, so there is still plenty of time to get marmalade making. 

Okay, I’ve done my bird count, and observed the following in the allotted timeframe: Blue tit, Great tit, Long-tailed tit, Dunnock, Blackbird, Song Thrush, House Sparrow, Robin, Chaffinch, Greenfinch. So nothing unusual or particularly exciting – no Eagles, but I was pleased to see the Thrush. We have Wrens, but on this occasion one didn’t show up. In the field behind us there were hundreds of Fieldfare and Redwing, but they didn’t come into the garden so I couldn’t include them.

Right I am calling it a day because I really do have to get on with entering data into my spreadsheet for my tax return – I now have only 3 days to complete it….eeek!!

Here’s wishing you a good week

Phil