Just half an hour.....

peas in their new wigwam

leeks

I started the day intending to have a gentle morning in the garden, maybe half an hour or so, just plant out my purple podded peas and do a little weeding - but somewhere along the line got carried away. So, I planted out the peas, pricked out the kale, pricked out Elefant leeks (a full tray then about a dozen straight into the garden), potted on some Primo cabbages, set more cabbages (Golden Acre for summer, Langedijk, Winter Ling and Late Flat Dutch for autumn through winter), set a dozen Tendergreen French beans, moved some carnation cuttings into the flower beds, planted a couple of lettuce outside and some in a hanging basket (currently in the greenhouse but I may move it outside later, and hopefully the plants will be too high for slugs to reach).

hanging basket with lettuce

By the time I'd finished, I ended up with a very late lunch at quarter to 3!

This week - 8th February 2015

Some warmer days this week - often frosty in the morning but lovely and sunny by lunch time.

 We managed to get down to the allotment for the first time in quite a while -  there's not a lot  going on there, mainly dug beds turning slowly to mud but in the poly greenhouse there are seedlings growing..... cabbages (left) and radishes

 This rhubarb plant has tried its best to grow all winter, so hopefully it will put a real spurt on now with some warmer weather






I even found some bits and pieces to pick - my winter salad stand-bys spinach and american land cress

 kale

 and some opened brussel sprouts.They haven't done well at all this year going from tiny buttons to wide open without making proper sized sprouts.

Settling in to the New Year

After Christmas's snow and frost, the weather seems to have settled back to mild but windy - VERY windy at times! We had a quick trip to the allotment last week, mainly to check up on things but also to plant out the Christmas tree in its new spot, add some extra ties to the new found-on-freegle pear tree and sow some late garlic bulbs bought in a sale. There's not really anything to pick at the moment - a row of parsnips waiting till I need them, and some kale coming ready for maybe next month. I've given up hope for any brussels - none are forming proper sprouts at all!
At home, I can see the buds on the snowdrops so it shouldn't be long before they're in flower.

Autumn allotment

 We're now at the time of year when most crops are being lifted and the ground dug before frosts really start.
There are still several sorts of brassicas that will hopefully grow and crop over winter - cabbages in the foreground, floppy brussels sprouts behind and, to the right, kale. Elsewhere we have more brussels, red cabbage and some broccoli. If everything grows,we'll have plenty of winter veg.

Most of the 'orchard' fruit has been picked - just a few apples left - and the leaves are turning golden, especially on the cherries and the mystery tree in the background. We've still to discover what this is as although it was filled with blossom this spring, it's still to set any fruit.

Picked this week

It rained so many days last week that I thought that this might be all we could get to pick, but Friday was lovely and sunny so we managed to get a 'few' more things...

more raspberries, a couple of blackberries and strawberries







 mouldy peas

 Clearing the greenhouses so ... green tomatoes

 small peppers...

 red tomatoes....

 chillies and jalapeno






 baby-sized cucumber and courgette from the cold frame





 spinach and a few kale leaves







radishes

and a brief trip on Sunday, when this mixed batch of veg were found while digging up weeds



 and a couple of tiny cabbages were picked

and a few allotment 'weeds' - love in a mist and feverfew

Picked this week - 9th March 2014

 Radish in all sorts of colours and sizes

A couple of small beetroot that survived winter

and the usual mixed bag of spinach, kale and brussel bits

Picked this Week - 2nd March 2014

 I didn't get down to the allotment last week so I wasn't surprised to find lots of veg to pick this week - unfortunately I didn't take enough bags so everything got muddled together - spinach, broccoli, kale and brussels, though these are starting to burst a bit.

and some rather scratty radish - but not bad for the time of year.

Picked this week - 9th February 2014

There's a lot of brassicas in various guises this week.

 Two tiny cabbages that weren't going to grow any more. Barely enough for one person on either though.






A heap of brussels sprouts, some a bit too open but edible even so.

Lots of kale - probably more than we'll eat - and tiny broccoli spears

A bit more unusual - red kale which was grown last year as an early salad leaf in the poly greenhouse and just somehow got left there.
Spinach off course - a bit dirty and nibbled so careful picking through needed.

Another winter staple - leeks, again.

and various radishes - these are from a B+Q cheap packet labelled 'mixed radish' and they certainly are, but I'm still glad to have fresh radish at this time of year. As a general rule, the whiter they are, the hotter they taste.

and these rather fat and weird radish were found in the garden while I was weeding and clearing. I new there were lots of tops and leaves but never expected to find radish when I pulled them up.

February in the garden - veg

I don't have so many veg in the garden these days - most of it is grown down at the allotment but there are still some bits and pieces, mainly salad crops which at this time of year means spinach....


rocket....









and american land cress

As the veg patch is now supposed to be as decorative as useful, there are a few cabbages and kale around to keep the garden looking 'used' over winter instead of bare.

   

and of course it's the time of year to have summer's crops starting life in the greenhouse - cabbages

a couple of lettuce (the rest eaten by slugs and snails)










and broad beans under the holly which should keep the mice at bay.

Picked- and sown - this week - 26th January 2014

 A mixed bunch of brussels sprouts, kale and spinach

and three very small cabbages, only about 4 inches across at most.






Starting to get into the swing of sowing - broad beans in pots in the home greenhouse, and leeks and onions in a propagator. Still a bit worried about having too much growing while there's a possibility of frost and snow.