Keeping up with the seasons or the Jones's

I have an admission to make. I think we are in March despite it blatantly being the end of January.

Two factors have helped me in this delusion.

Firstly, we seem to be playing spot the winter this year. 2011 was the second warmest on record and while December is officially average, it certainly felt unusually warm with reports from around the country of daffodils blooming early and roses blooming late. Perhaps we were collectively comparing it with the previous December which was the coldest ever on records.

The other factor that is supporting my early spring fever is being connected to other gardeners. I buy a lot of gardening magazines. And by a lot, I mean all of them. I follow fellow gardeners online via twitter and I have countless reference books at home. The advantage magazines and online updates have is that they are timely reminders of what we should be doing and when. It is too easy to leave the books on the shelf when glossy pages demand your attention.

The problem is that magazines in particular are ahead of schedule.  February issues come out in early January and have tips and things to do now. I no longer know if they mean now, early January, or now, the February that is still a month away. 

This means I am always worried about being behind time, like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  Luckily my inertia and other time pressures means that I am a month behind (or ahead depending on which month the tips are supposed to be for). So I still have to sow the broad beans and chillies and tie in the raspberries (and cut down a third of them to see if they are really autumn or summer varieties).


At least the potato resolution is going well - one mammoth cooking session later and we now have Sarah Raven's dauphinoise to look forward to and we have already tucked into a bastardised version of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall' Jansson's Temptation. This is made of matchsticks potatoes softened in a pan with onions then stirred with cream and anchovies and cooked for 45 minutes at 200 degrees.  As I didn't have cream or anchovies I used up some left over bacon bits, chorizo and skimmed milk instead and I can say it was delicious even if it wasn't up to the authentic Swedish dish.