We are waiting. Gardens in the winter are suspended, resting …

It’s been wet, very wet since the beginning of December and we had strong winds. The New Year was wet again, and then last week, the snow came and stayed for a week. Today felt like the first day for a long time when the sun appeared and we saw greens and blues again.

Friends and London Road Station gardeners have all said the same thing, rather apologetically: ‘I haven’t been past the garden for ages’. But there’s no point trying to do anything. Nature is in hibernation, it’s pointless to interfere. The garden is asleep.

I ventured by just before the snow fell. It all seems to be surviving. I put plastic cloches over our leeks and our frisee lettuces, and over some of the onion and garlic shoots. If I remember rightly, the onions and garlic are both overwintering varieties; they should be fine.

In the orchard, the leader stems of the fruit trees are growing away from the diagonal, but Bryn Thomas from Brighton Permaculture Trust is coming to prune next week. We will need to prune the raspberries and the black currant soon, but not a good idea to do anything while it’s freezing.

In the shady triangle, our two shrubs, a fatsia japonica and a mahonia japonica are really doing well, thanks probably to the amount of moisture in the soil.

Everywhere the shoots of all the bulbs we planted are coming up. Our cyclamen have maintained their bright spots of colour against the washed out greens and browns.

It’s resting time, recovery time, planning time. Already, though, we’re planning events. Things happen quickly once winter ends.