Out with the old and in with the new.
2023 is history and 2024 will soon pick up speed in that accelerating way that time does so alarmingly as one gets older. Once you reach a certain age the days of bored youth that seemed to stretch out endlessly till teatime, let alone the weeks that contained a whole world of experience, seem like a golden memory. No matter. This is it. We are where we are and with a new year it is time to roll up sleeves, gird loins and make whatever other adjustments to your dress that are needed to get stuck in.
Here at Longmeadow we have quite a bit of sticking in to do in order to be ready for the arrival of the Gardeners’ World television crew in what feels like a few short weeks’ time. It is a strange thing. Up until Christmas, filming – indeed most gardening – feels remote and dislocated; something that happened a while ago and might happen in some distant future but not now in this dark and muddy time. Move forward just a week or so and it all changes. We actually have a couple of months’ grace, but factor in flood, snow, frost and rain and there is a real sense of urgency, like preparing a show for the opening night – albeit hopefully you all remain blissfully unaware of all the paddling beneath the surface and it looks as though the camera is just eavesdropping on whatever goes on naturally.