Rhubarb Harvest

Just me at the allotment this morning (early to avoid the rain!), as K is studying for an exam next week, so I did a general hoe round, scattered some slug pellets and sprayed insect doom on the lilies. As you do.

Today’s big excitement was the first of the rhubarb harvest – so I’ll make a rhubarb & apple crumble tomorrow for lunch (hurrah!). Plus the first of the gladioli are starting to come up in the bed they’re supposed to be in (the one with the plastic bag markers at the end) and also in the bed they’re not supposed to be in – as no matter how thoroughly you dig them up, you just can’t keep a good gladioli down, LOL! The lupin and alliums are doing well too, but the sweet peas are struggling a bit. I hope they catch up soon.

Also pleased to see some more asparagus just starting to appear, and the soft fruit and autumn raspberries areas are doing fabulously well.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Anne Brooke Books

Allotment Spring Party

The allotment spring working party is suddenly here – that came quickly! So we spent a couple of hours this morning tidying up the allotment to get it ready for the summer, and then had a BBQ together which was great. Fantastic weather for it too!

On our own allotment, K planted some potatoes – second earlies – and I put another couple of rows of gladioli in for the succession planting. The rhubarb is coming on swiftly but not quite ready for harvesting yet – and we have our first two asparagus spears, hurrah! Which I have taken home – a small but perfectly formed meal, LOL.

We’ve also taken out the rest of the beetroot and have managed to glean one or two edibles ones – ie large enough to be worth eating – but the rest we will put in the garden waste bin at home.

The first alliums are on their way, and the autumn raspberries and soft fruit zone are also doing well. And the tulips are of course glorious!

Have a great Sunday, and good luck to all the London Marathon runners today, especially  Karen at work!

Anne Brooke

Spring at last!

A gorgeous morning at the allotment today – loads of people down there and the soil is finally (finally!) drying out. Phew. This week, K and I have planted onions, and we note the rhubarb is coming along nicely, hurrah. As are the lilies and soft fruit currant bushes.

We’re getting to the end of the daffodils, but there are now tulips to harvest, which is great. I fear this year will be the Year of the Slug, so have put more Slug Doom down across anything remotely attractive to the pesky beasts.

Oh, and K has trimmed the allotment borders, as I believe we have our annual allotment inspection on Tuesday, and we don’t want to be in the Naughty Corner!…

Have a great weekend

Anne Brooke

Rainy Allotment and Scented Daffodils

Very rainy at the allotment this morning – I suspect we’ve had the English summer and this is now the autumn, LOL. Anyway, this morning, K planted 2 more rhubarb plants, and the rest of them are really coming along – so much so that we’ve had to take out several flower stems from the middle of those already there, as per the great Monty Don’s advice.

Also I’ve started the succession gladioli planting this week – two rows of 20 and then I’ll plant them every fortnight until we’re done, so we get a nice range through the summer and into the autumn.

This week the scented daffodils have started to appear – and the smell is just AMAZING! Plus, as you can see from the photos, you can never ever be sure that you have all the tulips out, and the first three are now in bloom – not where we wanted them to be but hey I’m not complaining.

Have a lovely week.

Anne Brooke Books

Easter Allotment

A quick visit to the allotment after church this morning just to have a hoe round, a tidy up and to pick some Easter daffodils.

It’s nice to see the tulips now have buds on the way, so that’s encouraging. I just hope the promised snow doesn’t materialise tomorrow! Also the rhubarb is doing well and some of the early perennials are starting to show signs of life. Honestly, autumn used to be my favourite season, but it’s now definitely spring.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter, everyone!

Anne Brooke