Winter is slow in the garden but there is so much on my gardening mind

I look out into the garden and can see so many things to do. There is a big pile of pots that need washing out so I can reuse them, the strawberries need tidying up, the paths need sweeping and a once over with the pressure sprayer to get rid of the slippery moss and lots of general tidying up to be done. On the other hand, the plants seem to be not doing much at all and growing so slowley in the cold weather. I find it all a bit frustrating actually! I find myself longing for the warmer weather when everything was growing like mad and our produce was bountiful.

There seems to be such limited time to get out there and do things now as well, perhaps only a few hours in the middle of the day. The last few days we have been out there for a while, but sooner or later my littlies feel the cold, or want to play in icy water, or dirt gets flung into eyes and unlike in warm weather when dirt is brushed away soon to be forgotten and a bit of water play is all part of watering, they are just wanting to go inside into the warm.

So, Stephanie, what do we have from you to be inspired by? First thing in the book is Amaranth which you tell me I should plant from September. Better hold off on that one.

Next is Apples, Pears and Quinces. We have a three way apple that we put in last winter which is still very small and won't produce for a while yet. Although a pear tree would be good I'm not sure if we have the space concidering my husband doesn't like them. Better just bake something for the apples, pears and quinces for now. I'll get back to you on those ones.

Artichokes. Stephanie recommends 2 or 3 plants per family as they have a high yield. We don't eat many fresh artichokes currently, so I thought putting in one would suffice. Once I got out to the garden centre I could only find quite small pots of artichokes. However, many pot had two or three plants in each, so I have put in 3 small globe artichoke plants in a nice protected spot as they don't like frost much.

Garden centres tempt me. I had a sleeping two year old in the pram while my husband wandered with our older child, so I actually had a good wander and picked up more than I had intended to buy. I walked away with the artichokes, 4 heritage raspberry canes, an olive tree and 2 varieties of seed potato. Even more for me to do!

Having a productive garden excites me, seeing the different things grow and mature. Caring for the plants and being rewarded with beautiful tasting produce that half the time is so easy to pick and eat that our children 'spoil' their dinner eating it.

Speaking of which, it's dinner time now...

PJG