It’s the start of a brand-new year, 2016. I hope it will be a year free from farm accidents. If each and every one of us that work on farms make just one resolution, let it be to keep ourselves and everyone else safe. We must be vigilant at all times where cattle and high-tech machinery are involved. We just have to reduce the misery and heartbreak that farm accidents cause.

Of course, accidents are nothing new, especially during busy times. I remember some of our horses having a mind of their own and, when training young horses, accidents did happen. We owned a threshing set back in the 1960s and I often worried about the men working it, particularly the feeders, as it was a dangerous job.

The donkey and cart could even be a death trap, as donkeys were big, strong animals then. My father told me when he was a young fellow a farmer’s wife was going to tend her cattle in a field when the donkey was frightened and one wheel went up on a big bank, turning the cart over, leaving a young family without a mother. That bank is still there today.

Even the simple ladder can be a deathtrap if not secured safely. I know they are not in use as much now, but when the high hay sheds were popular they were a means of fetching the square bales from the very top. There were no round bales back then. So even then care had to be taken.

So it’s back to the garden and the wonder of the first little snowdrop that comes year after year in the same clump of green leaves. They grow all over the garden, some have even ramble into the vegetable plot. They carry us through the short, dark days until they are succeeded by the daffodils.

And with spring in mind, I will be sowing some seeds in trays indoors. Lettuce is first and ‘All Year Round’ is what I grow. Just a pinch is enough to have a supply for transplanting later.

Tomatoes will be sown near the end of the month. They will be kept under a radiator to help them germinate. ‘Money Maker’ is a good plant for the greenhouse, with ‘Naskstka’ a bushy dwarf variety producing lots of sweet cherry tomatoes. The plants are sown outside when all frost is gone. I also sow a few plants of the vine variety, as they really do produce fruit all year round.

Contact me at lilysgarden1@gmail.com