101 practical ways with an airing cupboard

Winter-weather and women’s thoughts often change. English proverb

February, such an unpredictable month but Valentine’s day is, weather depending, often my trigger to fall back in love with the soil. 

A few days ago it was warm enough to garden in a thin jumper and eat soup on a sunny bench. I heaped fresh compost onto the rhubarb crowns, dug out barrow loads of unwelcome self-seeded Brunnera plants and thought about replacing a crumbling fence with a Rosa rugosa hedge. 

The previous week I hadn’t been the slightest bit tempted to even set foot outside. After a particularly turbulent afternoon I did check that the netting swaddling my broccoli was intact and that my autumn sown broad beans had not been uprooted but then only tarried just long enough to prise a few frozen sprouts off their stalks and grab a bunch of snowdrops for the kitchen windowsill. 

Whatever the weather, it’s time to start sowing some early seeds, tomato, pepper, cucumber and salad, which means time to reorganise the airing cupboard. 

The airing cupboard? 

Now that sounds like a nice, warm activity for the time of year! 

I now have one shelf reserved as a propagator, another for proving my sourdough, the cat has commandeered the blankets and if we're lucky there might be room for damp towels!