Ring out the old, ring in the new!

The last allotment post for 2016 and indeed the last day of 2016 – what a rollercoaster year it’s been, LOL.

On the allotment front, we’re pleased to see that the January daffodils are well on their way:

And the later (Feb) daffodils are also starting to sprout, hurrah!

We’ve also taken the opportunity to replace our old and rubbish  (green & purple) secateurs with shiny new red ones that actually cut – which should make things a heck of a lot easier …

Whilst there, K dug out the potato bed (see harvest pic!) and I weeded the beds and fruit area, as well as the areas of pathway. This was made a far easier job by the lack of frost this morning, phew …

Here is today’s harvest, which consists of the last of the winter lettuce, potatoes and sprouts, together with a couple of gladioli bulbs we missed and which we’re bringing home for storage.

Have a fabulous new year, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

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Daffodils and dianthus

A bit chilly on the allotment today, but the soil was warm enough – so I did a spot of hoeing here and there. Nothing serious though.

The daffodil shoots are really going for it now! Here there are in the early daffodil section:

And here are one or two coming up in one of the other beds too:

I also took a picture of the dianthus today as – though it’s not doing anything – I really LOVE the green cushion shape it makes. It’s just so comforting! I actually want to cuddle it, but I do appreciate that would look odd … Even for me.

So, not much of a harvest today – K dug up half the lettuce, and there are sprouts for tomorrow’s lunch – with more of these to come for Christmas, hurrah!

Have a fabulous weekend, all.

Anne Brooke

Mole City and Gladioli Galore

Not much may be happening with what you can see at the allotment, but there’s plenty of mole activity, as you can see! There’s a mole Christmas party going on under the earth, I can tell you! What are the little chappies up to?!?

Still, there’s good new on the early daffodils as there are now more shoots showing, so that’s hopeful for the January flower:

And the first of the currant bushes is already in bud too, though K remembers it was early last year as well:

Our main job this week though was taking the gladioli bulbs so we can dry them out and reuse them next year (hurrah!). They’re really easy to get out – much easier than tulips or dahlias are, though it helps that the allotment soil is just so brilliant and much better than at home. What I didn’t realise before we started to dig them up was that they produce lots of tiny ‘babies’ next to the main bulb which is just so cute. The trouble is that they all fall off very easily so next year we might have a veritable forest of really tiny gladioli, LOL!

Here they are uprooted:

And here they are in the shed, where we hope they’ll dry off. There were too many for the box we had so I just stuffed them on top!

The Brussels sprouts are still doing their thing:

And the harvest is small (sprouts and lettuce) but perfectly formed!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Anne Brooke Books

The Winter Allotment

In today’s gorgeous light, I really do think the allotment looks stunning, if bleak:

However, even in the midst of this, the first signs of the spring to come are here already (hurrah!) and the January daffodils we planted in October are beginning to sprout:

Honestly, it’s such a sign of hope that I really got quite emotional about these! Anyway, not much else to do around the allotment – especially as the hard frost this morning means no hoeing though all the weeds are probably dead, LOL – so we got on with composting stuff from our garden. Here is the compost before it – um – composts:

And here is the totally amazingly rich finished compost which we – yes, you guessed it! – did earlier!

Meanwhile, the Brussels sprouts are growing apace:

And we have even had our first sprouts harvest, alongside the winter lettuce and leeks, well gosh!

I love sprouts so much and am ridiculously excited about this too. What a day!

Have a fabulous Sunday

Anne Brooke Books