March Begins

Really good weather today in spite of the storm we were forecast, so we made the most of it at the allotment by doing some weeding (me) and repairing some of the raised beds (Husband).

The walk across the field to the allotments is still like a marsh though! Thank goodness for Wellington boots – though of course the rhubarb is lapping up the rain. Definitely hoping for a better crop this year.

Meanwhile, the tulip shoots are growing and some of them are even in bud, well gosh. Have to admit that the ones in bud aren’t the ones we actually planted in November though!…

Anyway, here is a mini-harvest of daffodils:

And here they are in a vase at home:

Have a lovely start to March, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

Making the Most of Failure

As you may remember, our sprouts this year (for the second year running) have been a total failure (sob!…), so much so that they just look like tired cabbages:

So we’ve finally admitted defeat and taken them out to see what we could salvage, if anything. In fact, once home, I have salvaged some decent looking greens and a selection of very tiny sprouts that look SO cute, LOL!! We could probably eat them raw – they are that small! Here they are on our kitchen draining board:

So it just goes to show that there’s always something you can make of disaster …

Anyway, in other news, the daffodils are going strong:

And there is a rather nice display of tulips on their way in a bed where we did NOT plant them – I blame the squirrels though it’s more likely to be my total inability to find all the bulbs when digging them up, to be honest!

Here is the harvest:

And here is the vase at home:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

Daffodil Harvest

Managed to fit in an allotment visit first thing this morning before Storm Dennis hits us later on. Goodness, but the field we need to cross to get to the allotments was the wettest I’ve ever known it – like a marsh! We do appear to have some shed damage in preparation for the storm already …

K has slotted it back in but I’m not sure how long that will last!

Anyway, the daffodils are doing well – even the ones I abandoned near the compost bins are in flower:

And the single daffodil in amongst the leeks is happy too:

Meanwhile the tulip shoots are growing, which is brilliant news:

And the rhubarb is looking good too:

So today we have our first real harvest of some of the leeks and the daffodils. The leeks smell amazing – so much stronger than the ones in the shop!

Here are the daffodils at home:

Stay safe this weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

A First Small Harvest

We have our very first (and very small!) harvest for 2020 – one lone daffodil that’s growing in a bed that … um … doesn’t have any daffodils in it. Then again, what do we know? Nothing, obviously!

Meanwhile, the daffodils that are actually in the bed we allocated for them are on their way, hurrah!

We were chatting with a couple of our fellow allotmenteers as well (hello, Pauline & Helen!) and Helen mentioned how useful she finds the GrowVeg site as a way of planning out the allotment, getting crop rotation under control, and getting reminders as to when to plant and harvest crops etc etc – so we will definitely look into that as a bit of planning is always a good thing when growing veg and flowers etc. Thank you, Helen!

Whilst there, we noticed that the tulips are now on their way, which is great news – so we’ve removed the netting and sticks that were keeping the squirrels away – as once the tulip shoots are visible, the squirrels don’t bother with the bulbs any more:

The second of the two tulip pictures above shows them growing in another bed where they’re not supposed to be as well! So they must have taken a lesson from that lone daffodil, LOL!

Talking of which, here is said daffodil at home in the vase:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

Tulip Planting

We finally got round to planting the tulips at the allotment – though actually we’re not late at all, as they can’t be planted out till November at the earliest due to the possibility of tulip rot if you try to plant out any earlier.

Anyway, here they are about to be planted:

And here they are with the netting weighed down with sticks on them in order to put off the pesky thieving squirrels. Here’s hoping it works!

In order to free up the new tulip bed, I did take out the gladioli which we will store until next year:

At the same time, K pruned the currant bushes to give them a chance to get some air and light in them:

So, a  mini-harvest this week of the remains of the beetroot and the last good cabbage. We’ve really enjoyed the cabbages this year and will definitely do them again!

Have a great Sunday.

Anne Brooke Books

Asters and Tatties

It’s the turn of the asters to shine today on the autumn allotment – we really know summer is over now as they’re such an autumn flower! K has dug up the last of the potatoes (tatties), so we have an empty bed to do something with:

It’s been a hot week so the allotment is very dry and we’ve given it a good water today – the rubbish bin water butt is proving very useful indeed. Here are the beans looking very dry and definitely past their best:

And even the currant bushes and autumn raspberries are struggling in the heat:

Here is today’s harvest which consists of beans, potatoes, one beetroot, the asters, a few sad-looking gladioli, one or two sunflowers, the autumn raspberries and a scattering of sweet peas, pelargoniums and carnations.

We have also taken the tulip bulbs (in the round, green basket) so I can plant these at home in November (when the threat of tulip rot will have passed). We will get fresh ones for the allotment as usual.

Here are the vases:

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

In Praise of Green

The allotment is really getting a lot greener at the moment, which is lovely to see. Even the flowers that are over have amazing leaves – just look at the tulips:

I also think the carnation is just beautiful without flowers – why do mine never form a lovely mound like this at home?? It’s a mystery …

Plus just look at the lilies – a simply gorgeous green:

Meanwhile the gladioli are coming along, and I planted another row today. I have two more rows (ie 20 bulbs) still to plant but I may well get more:

And look! The first pom-pom dahlia is pushing its way through the earth:

The autumn raspberries and currants are enjoying the weather (though it is a bit nippy today!) …

Sadly, some of the currants have rust fungus on them so K gave them a good spray today. It’s not a serious disease for currants and won’t kill the plant – we just thought we should give them the best fruiting chance we can.

The mangetouts and shallots are coming along nicely:

And there’s enough rhubarb for another crumble, hurrah!

Here is the harvest of asparagus and rhubarb, alongside two tulips and some sweet williams:

And here is the vase at home:

Happy Bank Holiday, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books