Fruit section overhaul

Today at the allotment we mended another raised bed – so there’s just one more with real problems which we hope to tackle later on. We have also made the decision to remove the autumn raspberries as they’ve not given a good crop in the last couple of years, so we’ve done half of that today and will carry on with it next week:

We would have brought the discarded canes home for the garden waste bin but Waverley have stopped collecting garden waste temporarily due to staff shortages in this tricky year. Whilst we were removing them, we were surprised to see how deep some of the canes in the middle had actually rooted as autumn raspberries normally have quite shallow roots so they must have been there for years! Definitely time for something new, but if anyone out there has any ideas, please let us know – thank you!

In flower news, the daffodils are doing well and a couple of them now have actual buds on, yay!

Not much to harvest this week, though I did find a couple of spare sprouts which must have escaped me last week, LOL! So just those and some leeks today:

Have a good Sunday everyone.

Anne Brooke

Clearing the Beds

More raised bed maintenance on the allotment today and I think we’re getting there – thank goodness for husbands and electric drills is what I say!

I’ve also cleared the sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli beds ready for spring crops. Here are the sprouts:

And here is the bed with no sprouts:

A good job done, yay!

The tulips are also coming along nicely:

Here is a view of the raised beds area:

The light was amazing this morning though it was pretty nippy!

So, today’s harvest is the last of the sprouts and the purple sprouting broccoli – which in fact only has two small sprouts you can JUST ABOUT see on top, and is mostly leaves, LOL:

Anne Brooke Books

New Shoots

We’ve spent the last few weeks on the winter allotment mending our raised beds, most of which have needed attention – as they were there when we first took over the plot in 2014. Really they’ve lasted well, but it’s time to refresh! So we’ve got the bulk of them sorted out, and certainly the worst of them – but we just need to mend some minor issues now. Hard work, but it feels great to get it done at a time when nothing else is happening.

Mind you, nature has been working hard – the daffodils shoots are definitely on their way:

And we even have the first few tulips starting to appear! – so we’ve removed the netting which has been keeping the squirrels at bay – as they don’t bother with them so much at this growth stage.

We were also surprised to see some rhubarb on its way, goodness me:

And, as usual, I collected the sprouts for lunch and next week – there are still some left so will look forward to eating these for a couple of weeks or so to come:

Have a great Sunday and stay safe.

Anne Brooke Books

The Winter Allotment

I’ve not been here for a while as there’s not been much doing in winter – though we have managed to mend one of the raised beds which desperately needed it last week – only another 6 or so to go, LOL!

Plus we’ve been harvesting the sprouts which have done amazingly well this year – I’m SO happy about this as I just LOVE sprouts!

The only trouble is they are a bit of a fiddle to prepare for cooking, what with all that taking off of the outer leaves and then making a cross in the top to ensure they’re cooked all the way through – still, SO worth it!

So here are a couple of pictures of the winter allotment – not much seems to be happening, I know, but the daffodil shoots are already coming up and the rudbeckia are still flowering every now and again. I think I’ll take those up later and replant them at home as they’re not great in vases, though very pretty in the garden.

The picture above shows the autumn raspberry area – which we’re planning to dig up and plant with a better cropping fruit this spring.

Happy Sunday to all!

Anne Brooke Body Shop at Home Independent Consultant