Allotment News

Tiles would have cracked under the weight of the enormous marrow I found yesterday - it was a tiny courgette when I last looked . It's now making rum in a corner of the kitchen

Surprising success of the summer = florence fennel...got some lovely bulbs with good foliage...never thought it would grow properly in the hills.

Anyway....winter crops - thinking about trying broad beans and peas as well as onions - anyone has success with these crops over winter?

I've done OK with the greenhouse stuff, salad, toms & cuecumbers. Strawbs gave a reasonable picking too.

Carrots aren't great, but I'll do a load of soup & it won;t matter that they're all a daft shape or split.

Spud question though. Again. Dug up the first 2 plants & there's something really magical about the soil comming up with these globes of yumminess in there.. About half of them have little holes, a few mm in diameter that go into the spud. nothing seems to be in the bottom of them, they're just there. what might it be &  how do I stop it for next year?

Not really allotment related, but I'll ask anyway.

Has anyone been out picking sloes ( for gin obv.) recently? I tried this afternoon at one of my favourite spots and found none at all - not one. I did find enough bullaces (similar but bigger) to make it worth making a brew.

I'm no later than I've been in recent years - was it jus a bad year?

So, it's finally Spring and after being so far behind I think I've managed to catch up this weekend.

Beds are all cleared and topped up with soil improver/top soil. 

Spuds, strawberries, spinach, carrots, beetroot, onions, parsnip, shallots, turnips, radish and salad are in.  Runner beans, chillis, tarragon, courgettes, cucumbers are in seed trays in the greenhouse. 

Gooseberries are flowering, Raspberries are starting to grow, currants are flowering and blueberries plus rhubarb are finally out of the greenhouse.

Phew

Happychap, did you have any time for a run this w/e!

 Rhubarb almost ready for its first picking.

Had to weed the strawberry plot last week, so don't expect any soon.

Lots of onions showing their heads above ground, no sign of the spuds tho.

Rhubarb took over several weeks ago. Not sure how much more rhubarb crumble I can take. 

Looked at my tom plants today and they are quite large already. need to sort them asap.

Been repotting my shrubs, weeding and top dressing today along with the annual patio clean.