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Happy Christmas - I hope that you are all rosy of cheek, tousled of appearance and brimming with goodwill to all men, women, children and close relations.The chances that this Christmas will have snow is anybody's guess but we might get slightly

Since Christmas the weather has been almost universally ghastly - rain, fog, leaden skies and general Januaryness. Over the last couple of days, however, I have noticed everything change; the skies are blue and the sun is shining. In the hedges buds

I always have the best of intentions post-Christmas. After the blow-out session that is the traditional festive season, I approach new year with the firm belief that I will treat my body like a temple, drink plenty of water and only touch wine

. This is the second volume - I am hoping to get the first for Christmas (hint, hint). A series of essays on a whole raft of fascinating subjects ranging from worms and guano to the Chelsea Flower Show and garden machinery (via plant hunters in China and Sir Walter

. Some emerged along the drive at Christmas, and from the responses to my daffodil blog it seems lots of other people had super-early (if somewhat confused) daffodils.My May daffs are in what we grandly call the 'picking plot', which is a slightly unkempt

going in fresh herbs.The plants didn't do much before Christmas and in January and February they just sat there, looking rather forlorn, pinched and chilly - a bit like me. But, once the longer days and milder nights of March arrived, they sprang

I've been madly planting brassicas as if they're going out of fashion. Perhaps Brussels sprouts have never actually been in fashion - but they are with me. I greatly missed harvesting my own sprouts for Christmas lunch.This year, to make sure I don

of all.Other than a bit of slug damage (you didn't think I'd get off that easily did you?) the plants look very good. The fledgling sprouts are forming nicely and each top knot of leaves is lush and sturdy. It all bodes rather well for Christmas dinner

. bonica, which will almost certainly still be flowering at Christmas.It is very important to be quick off the mark when bare rooted stock arrives. Don't let them dry out - I tend to put them in the water butt for a couple of hours as soon as they arrive

've already eaten and given away pretty much an entire row of one of our early varieties, but it's the maincrop potatoes that are worrying me (yes, I'm thinking ahead to Christmas lunch already).Small brown patches have appeared on the foliage and early signs