Happy New Year

The last few months of 2010 went a little mental so sorry for the lack of posts. I did manage to get my sister through a wedding, and of course give her a proper send off with a rather boozy hen night, and then there was some craziness at work which doesn't look like it will be fully sorted until February.

All of that and the terrible weather has meant considerably less time was spent at the allotment. As a result the allotment is looking very weedy, even with all the snow and ice there are lots of things growing and it's just a shame they're not things I can eat. I have managed a couple of recent visits so the digging has at least begun but once your feet have doubled in size and the spade is twice as heavy with wet mud I start to wish for a cup of tea and a warm sofa.

Late in November I found time to plant 'Sicilian Red' and 'Lautrec Wight' garlic in the raised beds at home, where they will hopefully avoid the rust I have had trouble with at the allotment. Since then I have been given some garlic bulbs by a kind neighbour so I will be putting in a couple of rows on the allotment too.

I still have kale, cabbages, brocolli, celeriac, parnips and leeks growing but annoyingly now that my rabbit proofing has stopped the rabbits eating everything it has given the pigeons a good chance. It looks like next year will see the purchase of some proper netting for the brassicas.

Now I just need to get my seed order placed before the VAT rise.

Happy New Year!

Rain, weeds and the first frost

I spent Saturday battling the cold and the rain to try and get some of the weeds cleared. Luckily at this time of year most things are dying down and weeding becomes more of a simple digging task, the wet soil helping the long tap roots to slide out satisfyingly. I managed to dodge the first few rain showers and enjoyed a cup of tea huddled inside my shed but after a while I decided to face up to the fact that real gardeners just get on with things (well I have seen it raining during Gardener's world and during River cottage...). A few hours later I had made some progress and had also succeeded in completely coating myself, and all my clothes in a thick layer of mud. In fact I think I might have caused some alarm for my neighbours as I trudged back!

We had out first frost last week and more are expected in the coming days so it was time to pull up all the remaining carrots, mostly small but hopefully still tasty. I also pulled the first of many celeriac and we enjoyed eating it alongside some stored potatoes. Annoyingly I haven't managed to get all the potatoes up yet but a wet weekend isn't the right time to try and do this so I'll have to wait for drier conditions.

Most of the allotments on my site are already being put to sleep for the winter, everyone seems to live at the allotments for 6 months of the year and then vanish completely during the winter months. I think this is a missed opportunity and will still be there nurturing my cabbages, perpetual spinach, parsnips, celeriac, Brussels sprouts, leeks and of course the sprouting broccoli. Hopefully I'll have plenty to keep me going until spring.

Finally don't forget to buy your garlic, I have ordered Lautrec Wight and Sicilian Red, both are Autumn planting and should store well. I love knowing that even on the coldest and darkest days there is something slowly growing beneath the soil.

Sun, Spring and Sheds

This weekend has been all about the letter S!

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for an allotment visit. Spring seems to have finally arrived so I was keen to finish digging the plot before the ground dries out any more. Several hours later and I could no longer stand up straight but at least the last of the plot was dug and ready for the potatoes. Obviously you are now wondering how there can be so many weeds in the photo of an apparently dug over allotmnet so let me explain; by dug over I mean that the soil has actually seen a spade in the last 5 years. The area I have been clearing this weekend had some impressively big weeds but now that the soil has at least been turned I should be able to focus on preparing the ground for some planting.

By some rare force of nature I was joined by OH (this is a very unusual event) and he put himself to good use pianting the shed. Yes it is blue and Yes I did choose the colour. One of the books which encouraged me to take on an allotment was "The Allotment Book" by Andi Clevely and the picture at the start of The Perfect Allotment chapter is my idea of a dream shed so the blue paint is just the beginning. Hopefully I'll have some pot of flowers growing around and even up it this summer.

Back in reality the garlic is growing well, including the bulbs in storage so I used a few of the sprouting cloves to plug the gaps in the garlic rows and I also put in another row to bring the total number of garlic rows up to 4. I'm really trying not to grow as much garlic this year but it does seem a shame to waste them. The forced rhubarb is ready and has just been baked in orange juice with star anise, I'll be eating it for breakfast this week.

In the cold frame the leeks and beetroot have germinated and the aubergines and celeriac are growing well. I have sown some more sweet peas and also 3 pots of tomaotoes; Minibel, Red Cherry and Latah. I still think I'll need to buy some Sungold or Gardener's Delight seed before I feel the tomato side is done. Next week I really need to get the potatoes planted but with the sun set to shine all week I don't think that'll be too much of a chore. Enjoy it.

The start of Spring?

The last 2 weekends have been warm, and sunny, and the days in between mild if overcast so does that mean Spring is finally here? I have seen snowdrops and crocuses but not yet a daffodil so things are certainly running late this year.

On the plus side the long harsh winter has really helped me to clear the allotment, as you can see in the picture I have been working my way down the right hand side of the plot. Previously there was a horrific nettle patch which had become so well established it was impossible to even get a fork into the ground but by covering it for about 6 months and then leaving it to suffer the snow and the frost the roots were finally weakened enough to be cleared. I had the left hand side of the allotment fully cleared and planted last year so it just needs a going over before the planting begins but I am feeling very satisfied to finally, for the first time, have a full allotment available for growing.

The rhubarb has started to show so I have selected the strongest crown for forcing under my as yet un-occupied water butt, so far the longest stem is about 3 inches so I think I am free to start dreaming of rhubarb crumble, rhubarb creme brulee, rhubarb flapjacks...ahem.


The overwintered onions and garlic are growing well, this is my own garlic saved from last year so I am hoping everything goes smoothly. So far I have almost 100% germination rate and relatively little damage from birds and rabbits, I think I'll have a couple more rows of garlic to plant out due to some of my stored garlic shooting but I'm going to try not to end up with quite as much as I did last year!


The sight of the first leaves on the blackcurrant bush have allowed me to think that things might finally be warming up so I have sowed my Celeriac (which is actually several weeks late this year) and also my aubergine and chilli seeds. I think there might be something slightly ironic about Celeriac needing a cool wet summer and Aubergine and Chilli needing a long hot summer. Maybe I'll just say I'm hedging my bets or something.

Garlic time

Garlic should be planted before the end of November which has been something of a challenge this year but finally with 1 day to go the weather was dry enough, and actually even a little sunny. Luckily I had dug and raked the garlic bed a few weeks ago when I was planting the onions so all I had to do was break apart the bulbs and push the individual cloves into the soggy soil.

Last year I bought the Garlic Lovers pack from T&M and ended up with rather a lot of garlic so this year I have replanted some of my own cloves, but just 4 bulbs instead of 8 this time. The garlic did suffer from a little rust this year so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will grow up and swell as they're meant to.

Obviously I could have just played it safe and bought some new bulbs this year but the problem is I read somewhere that if you keep replanting your own cloves after 3 years you will have effectively cultivated your own variety of garlic which is completly suited to your allotment or garden. I think I have a romantic attachment to this idea so I'm risking the complete garlic failure of next year to give it a try. Who knows you could all be clamouring to try "Souper garlic" in just a few years time. Or maybe not.

Sorry about the lack of photos there wasn't much to see on the garlic front (well you know what a clove looks like and they just went into mud right?).

A short gap

So it has been almost, but not quite, a month since my last post. July really was a very busy month, OH turned 30 so we had lots of birthday celebrations and somehow I just didn't manage to fit much allotment time in.

There is plenty to be eating at the moment, the onions are good and the garlic is very tasty. We have almost finished the Charlotte potatoes but hopefully some of the maincrops will be ready soon. There is plenty of spinach and at the moment the courgettes are supplying just the right amount for us to get through, no doubt that will all change soon.

Hopefully tomorrow will be dry enough for me to have a go at reclaiming my allotment, yep you guessed it the weeds have taken over.

Snow and garlic

Waking up to snow on the ground and a lovely combo of sleet, rain and more snow coming from the sky I though that a positive post might be in order to cheer me, and hopefully some of you, up.

Yesterday I finally succeeded in planting the 5 rows (8 bulbs) of garlic, I hadn't anticipated needing to dig quite so much earth but I really do love planting garlic, I love the fact that the bulbs look exactly the same as the ones you eat, and in fact last year they were the same bulbs. I love cracking them open and removing the cloves from the papery wrapping, and the fact that each clove will hopefully turn itself into a whole new bulb, but most of all it just feels great to be planting something at this time of year when everything else is dying back for winter.

We have had a couple of frosts already which are finally killing the nettles, yesterday's digging removed some major nettle roots, this is the only time of year you can make such progress, the nettles are weakened and for once not growing, and the ground it still dry enough to dig. Roughly dig over the area and the frosts will break the clods down into lovely crumbly soil for you.

At this time of year, with the months before spring stretching ahead of you, I am always hopeful that I will manage to get on top of the weeds and next spring will be all about planting new seedlings into clear fertile soil.

To Do

Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny but cold, after weeks of rain and the rapid approach of Christmas I am determined to make the most of the sun and actually plant my garlic. I ordered the bulbs way back in September and they have been sitting in the shed ever since, somehow there has always been something else at the top of the to do list.

Tonight was also the night of the first celeriac and it was fantastic! Despite having been sat in the fridge for a few days it was wonderfully tender and with a little homegrown garlic and some herbs turned into a perfect accompaniment to the fish. Just as well since there are about 30 more waiting to be pulled and eaten.

Spring is coming

Last November I found that one of my garlic bulbs had sprouted in the cupboard so I quickly stuck the cloves into one of the empty veg patches in the garden. The birds helpfully pulled them up again but I stuck them back in the holes and kept my fingers crossed, today after a particularly heavy frost I was thrilled to see the little shoots poking out of the ground, if you look carefully you can almost see them in the photo. I have never grown garlic before but by all reports the shoots turn to leaves and then around July the leaves turn yellow and you pull up lovely garlic bulbs for drying. After months of nothing but dead leaves in the garden and nettles on the allotment it is great to have some veg growing again; Spring feels so close you can almost smell it...