The garden is looking rather bare and dormant on the whole but the Acanthus mollis under the apple tree is a mass of lush greenery.

 Work in progress. Postscript to my previous entry; been popping down to the allotment over the Christmas period to do some digging and mulching. Briefly hampered by a flat tyre on the wheelbarrow. Sunny on Christmas day, otherwise grey, bit of drizzle. Very peaceful. 

 "5 poles or thereabouts" is the size of the allotment as stated on the contract with the local council. The pole is a unit of measurement dating back to Anglo-Saxon times- about 5 1/2 yards. I've paced it out and the allotment is indeed 5 poles by 5 poles (or thereabouts).
 The concept of an "allotment" probably goes back centuries -perhaps this is why an archaic measure is used- but the ones we have today are a legacy of the 19th. century. Land was made available for the poor to feed themselves, particularly in the expanding towns and cites as industrialisation replaced a more rural society.
 10 poles was reckoned sufficient for a family. Maybe this allotment was split in half at some point; most on the site are 5 poles but several are 10. The neighbours on the allotment beyond grow a fantastic array of dye plants (as described on their website Nature's Rainbow).
 On a soggy grey day in December the beds are fallow but it's a good time to ponder the year ahead. More herbs in the largest bed? Broad beans or borlotti beans? Persist with the rhubarb or try something else?
 Over the next few days I'll re-define some of the beds, make them a bit larger and cart some muck to improve the soil- leaf mould, kitchen compost and dung. My father purchased sackfuls of alpaca poo from a lady on a market stall who keeps a herd of them. Send the reindeer where they're needed Santa we've got alpaca.

 It's winter but beneath the leaf litter something stirs. The stems of Snowdrops are pushing up through the soil. Roots are silently at work as fresh greenery starts to appear in anticipation of spring.

 We traversed the Winter Solstice in the early hours of the morning. It's not quite summer yet but we're getting there!
 At breakfast I drank a cup of coffee standing in bright winter sunshine in the garden. Unexpectedly a single red rose is coming into bloom. 

The Holly

and the Ivy.

 Bees, bees and more bees. This was one if not the first I saw this year back in February. There are not many on the wing that early but the Snowdrops (Galanthus) at the back of the garden attract the few there are.

 This big bumbler came out of hibernation when the Crocuses were out in spring. I remember it clambered around them half asleep to comical effect and became thoroughly dusted in pollen.

 London streets, parks and gardens are blessed with many species of Prunus -the flowering cherry trees- which is manna for the bees in springtime.

 White Deadnettle (Lamium maculatum) is a widespread weed/wildflower. As I always say: a list of UK weeds and a list of UK wildflowers is pretty much the same list.
 Looking at this photo I am reminded that an old Scottish colloquial name for bumblebee was "Red Arsie".

 Dame's Violet (Hesperies matronalis) is a plant that attracts butterflies and moths but this year the clump in the garden attracted numerous bees too.

 Geranium x oxonianum spreads vigorously, is smothered with flowers through the summer and attracts bees large and small.

 All the Comfreys (Symphytum) are great bee plants. By having several species in the garden it's possible to have at least one variety in flower from early spring to mid-summer.

 Flowering plants co-evolved with bees. For example Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) provides a convenient landing platform for bees to rummage around and do their work.

 Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare). Studies always name it as one of the top bee plants.

 The ladder of success. When bumblebees see a tower of flowers like Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicara) they start at the bottom and work their way to the top.

 We buy plants in pots these days. Before the advent of plastic it was common to sell plants "bare root" i.e. freshly lifted from the soil. As long as the roots don't dry out many species can survive a day or two of this treatment when they are dormant.
 I revived the tradition to transplant some Comfrey from Hertfordshire to London. I generally don't plant this late in the year but Comfrey is tough as old boots and the ground isn't frozen. This form has mauve/magenta flowers in May/June which will be a nice addition to the other Symphytums in the garden- it's probably one of the Russian Comfrey variations on our Common Comfrey.
 In fact the bare root method is still used in the horticultural trade by some nurseries specialising in roses, fruit trees and hedging to be purchased and planted between October and March. A few weeks ago I joined some volunteers in a local park to plant a native mixed hedge using such staples as Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Dogwood. These were the 'stockproof hedges' of pre-industrial farming though planted here for wildlife value.
 The plants were delivered as 'whips' several feet long including the roots. Not much to see as yet but I look forward to watching them grow in the years ahead...

 Here are few of the wildflowers I've enjoyed seeing in their natural habitats this year. Like these Cuckoo Flowers all along a sunny bank near Dartmoor.

 A thick carpet of Ramsons in Wiltshire aka Wild Garlic, the whole wood reeked of it!

 Our native Wood Spurge proliferating on the margins of ancient forest in Kent.

 A shimmering haze of Wood Anemones in Sussex. 

 A profusion of Orchids in flowery grasslands on the South Downs.

 A host of Dark Mullein on the byways of Surrey, approaching Box Hill.

 A swathe of Yarrow on the Wessex Ridgeway in Dorset.

 News from Nowhere. There are days (and today is one of them) when I think it's important to think of all the things that are very English and very wonderful. Allotments are one such that comes to mind and needless to say I think of this one that is "5 poles or thereabouts" (the Anglo-Saxon measurement still used to size allotments).
 For me it is a small parcel of Albion; the island of William Morris, William Blake, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, the suffragettes, the visions and visionaries rooted in this land yet able to see beyond it.

 Have tent, will travel. My previous post recollecting various walks of the past year also put me in mind of some of the spots where I've pitched my trusty tent.
 At High Heathercombe for example on the edge of Dartmoor, in Edale at the foot of the Pennines and alongside Dardenelles Lake in the Sierra Nevadas above Lake Tahoe. 

 Thinking back to some of the walks I've done this year. The first was way back in January on "Our blunt, bow-headed, whale backed Downs" (to quote Kipling) when I headed for Wolstonbury Hill on the South Downs.

 In February and again in May I enrolled on Forest Gardening courses at the High Heathercombe Centre on the edge of Dartmoor which gave me the opportunity to walk out upon the moor itself.
 

 In April I took a train out to Wiltshire and hiked up onto the rolling chalk hills overlooking the Vale of Pewsey.

 Another walk up on the Downs, this time in June to Devil's Dyke.

 Also in June- a few days in Edale, including a hike up and over Kinder Scout.

 The big one. Ten days trekking in July on the Pacific Crest Trail and the Tahoe Rim Trail setting out from Lake Tahoe, California. Must get some winter walks in and hatch a few plans for next year...

 Winter is here.

 Tahoe wildflowers. Over the past few months I've been posting regular entries concerning some of the wildflowers I saw on the Tahoe trails. I've pretty much worked through them now so I'll round that theme off with the above. In fact it's a species I've mentioned before but this was the first clump of wildflowers I saw.
 These are Woolly Mule's Ears (Wyethis mollis) in a sunny clearing in the pine forest on day two of my hike. W. mollis became more and more common as the hike progressed; indeed they carpeted some of the open hillsides towards Carson Pass. [See also my entry 8th. August for a particularly flowery spot where they combined en masse with innumerable Lupins and Scarlet Gilia]

 As the sun rose this morning a hard frost had settled on the allotment...

 I start feeding the birds as autumn heads towards winter. Sesame seeds seem to be enjoyed by just about every kind of bird but I have to put them in a caged feeder round here. Squirrels and parakeets empty an open feeder in a day or two and the squirrels and pigeons hoover up anything on the ground or on a bird table.
 The smaller birds like Tits and Goldfinches have no difficulties getting in and out. As they peck away a few nibbles fall to the floor which attract ground feeding birds like Robins who get in there quick ahead of pigeons and squirrels.

 [Correction- what I meant to say is sunflower seeds though I gather sesame seeds are also good for small birds]