Gardening: because murder is wrong!

Happy New Year, everyone! I had a totally wonderful Christmas present from my lovely husband which is just so me! Here it is in pride of place on the allotment shed:

Whilst at the allotment today, we pruned the roses and added them to the compost heap, and I did do a quick hoe round though there weren’t many weeds. The sprout beds are looking okay:

And the daffodils are on their way for the upcoming spring now:

And we have a nice harvest of sprouts for the weekend:

So, I have decided that I won’t be carrying on with the allotment blog next year as I’ve written this for a good few years now, and I think it’s time for a break. We still have our allotment of course! It’s just the blog that is closing for now. I will continue to add the photos over at my Facebook page, as I usually do, however. So thank you very much to everyone who’s been reading about my time as the Allotment Wife(!) and here’s a last view of our allotment for you:

May I wish you all a very happy 2024 and indeed all the years ahead. Keep gardening!

Anne Brooke

Christmas Sprouts

Just a quick trip to the allotment today to do some weeding of the beds and to collect sprouts. Here is the allotment looking rather bleak, which is natural for the time of year of course.

The daffodil shoots are coming along nicely:

As indeed is one of the rhubarbs in the older rhubarb bed:

Here is a partial picture of the sprout bed:

And here are the sprouts we have liberated for our Christmas lunch!

Have a lovely Christmas, everyone!

Anne Brooke

Signs of spring and a sprout harvest

Definitely signs of spring at the allotment today with the daffodil shoots coming through:

And there is even an early rhubarb leaf in the first rhubarb bed:

Today we did some weeding across the allotment.

And we took a small harvest of sprouts from the older sprout bed for lunch:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Anne Brooke

The chilly allotment!

Goodness me, very chilly at the allotment this morning so not much of a surprise that nobody else was there when we turned up. What did surprise us was that it was so cold that the padlock on the main gate had frozen so we had to warm it up before we could get in!

Still, we managed it but didn’t spent too long there today. Here is a winter view:

And here is the smallest of the sprout beds:

I think it’s even cold enough that the larger sprout bed is looking sorry for itself!

Mind you, we managed to keep our fingers warm enough to harvest some sprouts for Sunday lunch – seen here with my boots!

We were also rather amused to realise that both the watering cans in the shed had frozen solid so I hope they thaw out before we actually need to water something …

Anyway, have a lovely weekend, everyone, and try to stay warm!!

Anne Brooke

A mini sprout harvest

Not much happening on the allotment this week though as a plus point we once again didn’t need to do any hoeing due to the frost earlier on. We did cut down the lily stems and add them to the compost bin, however. And we also brought some mulch from home and put this on the dahlias to see them through the winter:

And in exciting news, we have our first mini-harvest of sprouts! Just a handful to add to the beans at lunch but it’s a start. Sprouts of course are my favourite vegetable so my season has just begun!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone.

Anne Brooke

Tulip planting part two

Not much to do at the allotment this week – we didn’t even do any hoeing as the frost this week has thankfully killed the weeds. We did, however, buy more tulips and plant them out so that’s the rest of that tulip bed now filled up. As you can see, I’ve gone for the orange look – it’s my favourite flower colour so I can’t wait to see the display next Spring.

There’s also a freesia still managing to survive the onset of winter, which is very heartening:

Whilst there, we cut down and composted the asparagus bed and plan to mulch it at some point ready for next year. We also added the gerberas to the compost as well.

I hope you have a lovely Remembrance Sunday. Lest we forget …

Anne Brooke

Tulip planting

It’s November so time to plant out our tulips at the allotment. Here is the first tranche of them:

And here they are with their essential protection from the squirrels! We’ll keep them protected until the first shoots appear and then they’ll be safe:

Elsewhere, the daffodils shoots are still doing well:

And there’s even one lone freesia trying to bloom which we left for any late bees or insects to enjoy:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

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Allotment views and signs of spring

Not much happening at the allotment at the moment though we did do weeding across the plot and also caught up with the composting. I thought you might like to see some views of the allotment in autumn so here they are:

The fruit cage is also looking quite nice:

And the blueberry looks particularly stunning in its autumn colours:

The Brussels sprouts are also coming along and so nearly ready for a first harvest now:

The first Brussels sprout bed is certainly looking good on the whole:

Though the one we planted up later has a fair amount of catching up to do!

And in stunningly good news, we have the first of our daffodil shoots now! So wonderful to see these early signs of the spring to come:

In non-allotment news, I’m pleased to say I have a new 5 star review of my latest novel, An Unexpected Haunting, which you can read here:

An Unexpected Haunting at Goodreads

I rather like being described as “unusual, unconventional, alternative and singular” – that’s certainly made my day!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books at Amazon UK
Anne Brooke Books at Amazon US

Frost disasters

This week, we had a snap frost on Sunday night/Monday morning which has, sadly, resulted in a dahlia disaster at the allotment …

…. and a courgette crisis, sob! –

So we have had to cut down the dahlias and take out the courgettes and have added them to our composting bin. To cheer ourselves up, we have planted the rest of the daffodils for spring:

In better news, the asparagus forest is looking pretty with its berries, but we’re not cutting those down yet until they go brown:

So, due to the frost, we have the world’s smallest harvest consisting of three roses, three mangetouts and the rest of the beetroot:

At least the roses look pretty at home – though apologies for the poor quality here!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone.

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Anne Brooke Books at Amazon US

Adieu to the French climbing beans

What with the chillier weather over the last few days, our French climbing beans are now definitely over so we’ve harvested a handful and then put the rest into compost. They’ve had a brilliant year though and will see us through winter for sure. We still have a few mangetouts, however, so have left those plants in for now. And there are courgettes too:

The perennial flower bed is doing well which has surprised me. There are more alstroemerias in bloom:

And a plethora of pink dahlias as well!

So we have a harvest today of French climbing beans, mangetouts, courgettes, one beetroot, alstroemerias and dahlias:

And here are the vases at home:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

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Anne Brooke Books at Amazon US