Croftless Crofter: Nic Goddard - The most wonderful time of the year - to be outdoors
This time of year is more often spent tucked up indoors than outside and if you do need to venture out it is tempting to whizz round any outdoor tasks as quickly as possible.
January is the start of lengthening days though and depending on the weather can still offer plenty of rewarding outside time if you wrap up warm and can stay dry.
On our croft, which for much of the year felt like eight acres of muddy hillside, the best winter days were the cold, bright frosty ones, where the mud was hardened, the animals were out soaking up the weak winter sunshine and the promise of spring felt almost within our grasp.
A burst of productive New Year energy would see us tidying up things which had been blown around by the wind, preparing the ground for future crops and getting on with winter tasks like pruning fruit bushes or tree planting.
Here on our far smaller plot, the ground is still buried beneath a layer of winter mulch -
cardboard, seaweed and rotting down leaves.
The messier corners of the garden are being left deliberately messy in the hope of providing habitat for friendly garden wildlife.
I have yet to see a hedgehog but remain optimistic and I am certain of frogs, toads and slow worms, all of whom are welcome for their pest control contribution and their general wildlife presence.
I will be pruning our productive raspberry canes in the hope of an equally good crop later this year, along with giving the brambles a chop back too.
I also have a plan for putting willow cuttings in the wetter areas of the garden. They should thrive there and be useful for future basket making, festive wreaths or using for frames for beans and peas. They may also help to make the areas a little less wet.
If we get a colder snap of weather, along with enjoying the chance to play in the snow - which never gets boring, even if it is with rather shorter time spent throwing snowballs and building snowmen and more reluctance to risk life and limb sledding down steep hills - there are also tasks to keep our chickens and garden wildlife friends looked after.
Our tiny wildlife pond contains a micro biosphere of life which is tolerant of the cold but still needs oxygen so if the pond freezes solid it will need some attention.
The wild birds who visit our garden frequently for food also need access to water, particularly if the small burn alongside our house freezes.
The chickens will need extra layers of bedding and maybe extra food later in the day to keep their body temperatures up overnight.
The world outside our window brings us so much all year round and it is important to keep visiting it and paying attention to it even in the shorter days and less inviting weather conditions.
The fresh air, exercise, investment in the future and connection to the natural world continue to offer rewards - I just need to wear a few extra layers to do so.
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