Froggy in a growbag!

Steady harvests now.

Peas, broad beans, cabbage, courgettes, lettuce and other things still to be picked.

The shed smells nice!

There is life out here

It's been very wet for weeks as most people know, and as result there are many, many weeds and slugs. Everything seems out of control, and I may have blight on the potatoes.

Still, the flowers look good and the harvests are finally coming

Bertie

I cannot believe it has been so long since the last post.

What a contrast to last year when we had a very cold winter then a hot dry spring. This year we had a few very warm days in early March, then almost non stop rain, with cool temperatures. Everything is much later than expected, but at least the water butts are full and the ground is damp.

Here's a brief round up: most of the news is missing because I've forgotten it!

Say "hello" to Bertie. He is championing plot 54b in the allotment Jubilympics. 

Mind you, he has some stiff competition:

They are very much needed: over a few days the peskie pigeons flattened the mesh and ate all the over wintered cauliflowers:

Meanwhile, after two winters we were able to sample our first asparagus yesterday.

Yum Yum.

Edges Captain Custard would be proud of.

Result of a tidy-up!

Brassicas Butchered

Being too lazy to put the netting back after last week's tidy up, I arrived today to find the birds have had all the tasty purple sprouting broccoli heads and most of the leaves too.

Nets are back in place now!

Cold and Frosty Morning

Last night we had the first real frost of winter, down to -3 degrees in the garden and zero in the greenhouse, despite the bubble wrap and heater.

The ground on the allotment was too hard to dig, so I spent a couple of hours tidying the allotment shed - a task well over due.

Some frosted veg...

Chard

Lettuce

Shallots

A Good Day

A few hours were well used this morning. The plots certainly look a bit better for it.

The midweek gales had made a mess of all the netting, so all covers were removed, which made a general hoe much easier.

Non of the carrots were worth saving (root fly), so they were all removed.

The gales had knocked a timber into the water but tap, so emptying it. The tap may need replacing... we'll see.

A lot of general digging over now makes it look like a plot well cared for - well almost!

Sown today.

A few cells of seeds were sown today for germinating inside in the warmth:

• Tomato - Moneymaker
• Tomato - San Marzano
• Tomato - Gardeners Delight
• Tomato - Red Cherry (did well last year, but were a bit tasteless)
  
• Basil - Minette.

All of these have been free with magazines or the Kitchen Garden calendar!

New Year Audit

On Monday I took the opportunity to do and audit of the allotment in preparation for finalising the new year's rotations.

On Plot 53b Captain Custard is using part of the ground as a nursery bed. the bright orange Willow sticks show well:

There are still plenty of leeks on 53b too:

Back on 54b the last of the roots have been removed from bed 4, and the bean trench started:

More shots of 54b: