After the Frost

There’s a lot of post-frost (and wind!) damage at the allotment this week – but no more than we expect for this time of year. The dahlias are definitely over:

And the yacon (on the left of the below shot) is done, though it doesn’t affect the harvest – in fact when the leaves are dead like this, you know the harvest is ready!

We have also taken down the runner beans which have been over for a couple of weeks at least:

Which means that the leeks below them have a chance of grabbing some more sunshine – should there be any!

I also took a picture of the asparagus ‘trees’ as they look so pretty right now:

And there are still some cabbages to enjoy, hurrah!

No flowers in this week’s harvest – just onions and beetroots, but we’re pretty pleased with that anyway.

Have a great weekend!

Anne Brooke Books

Rhubarb Season

At last – it’s rhubarb season on the allotment and we’ve eaten the first of the crop today, hurrah. That said, I suspect we’re the last to harvest our rhubarb in the village, probably due to the fact we’ve not mulched it for a couple of years, wicked us … Will try to remember to add mulch some time soon!

Meanwhile the mangetouts are hanging on in there, and we’ve put slug doom on them today to give them a fighting chance:

Today we’ve planted lettuces and onions to add to the range of crops we’re growing. K netted the onions to give them some protection as there appears to be a secret onion chewer at loose throughout the plots – possibly rabbits, grr!

Meanwhile the autumn raspberry area is coming on well, and I’m trying to keep the weeds seriously at bay as it saves so much angst later on when I just can’t get in.

There are still a few daffodils about:

But it’s the tulips who are queen of all they survey right now. I do so love the striped ones – they’re amazing.

And even the lilies are looking hopeful.

I’ve also planted another couple of rows of gladioli that we bought yesterday, and I have another thirty left to plant over the weeks ahead. If I run out, I’ll get more as it’s nice to have some later blooms. Plus one of the earlier gladioli is already on its way!

Here is the harvest of rhubarb, tulips and daffodils:

And here are the vases at home:

Anne Brooke Books