Bob Flowerdew at the recording in Bradford

What a contrast! For Gardeners' Question Time (recorded early to bridge Christmas and which you can hear on January 7th) I trained to Bradford. Here in East Anglia the scant snow had mostly melted away save for scummy looking drifts in the shade. As I passed through the Midlands the snow became deeper, laying thicker all about. But the freezing cold temperatures remained much the same.

From fellow passengers to taxi drivers the question was always the same “Is all this snow going to kill off such and such; it had a hard time last winter…” Well oddly enough snow is seldom a problem. It’s a very good insulator so plants covered with snow simply do not get anywhere near as cold as those in bare soil. Then secondly the snow covering keeps cold searing winds off.

The east coast is hard on plants because of these winds. They suck moisture out of evergreen leaves leaving them parched and dried. The milder moister west coast is far gentler even if actually windier. This is why I find lush foliage plants so difficult; it’s not the cold but those desiccating winds. I do not like the best cure which is wrapping vulnerable plants with fleece as effective as this may be. I’ll put up with the drab appearance in the vegetable plot; I leave fleece over my carrots and cabbages to keep off both cold and pigeons. But I do not like staring at woolly ‘cocoons’ sticking out of the ‘ornamental’ garden. I say ornamental though currently in front of my desk window is anything but…. I grassed down most of my herbaceous beds to give the twins room to play; sadly their turf has turned to sludgy mud. Then the whole area is decorated with a generous sprinkling of plastic toys, colourful but hardly pretty. And it doesn’t matter how often I tidy up; half an hour later and they’ve re-distributed the lot, bless their disobedient untidy little ways. Mind you they’re not messing up the place on their own.

I’ve let my hens run loose everywhere except onto the vegetable plot. There is little for them to scratch in their run at this time of year so with the ground frozen they’re on much reduced rations. I compensate with huge quantities of mixed grain (organic of course) but they need bugs and greens if they’re going to start giving me superb eggs again. And it’s not long now. They’ve been off-lay this last month but as soon as we pass the winter equinox and days start to lengthen the youngest pullets will commence laying. Generally those hatched before Easter come in the soonest. Then later as they run out the older birds pick up the production. Which reminds me - time to change the straw in their nest boxes, with a pest defeating dusting of wood ashes underneath first. Then they’re all nice and cosy to entice them to lay there instead of those daft awkward spots they otherwise choose.

Bob Flowerdew, Pippa Greenwood and the allotment ladies of the Bradford Community Environment Project

You can hear the Bradford edition of Gardeners' Question Time at 15:00 on Friday 7th January 2011 on BBC Radio 4.