The new year has arrived and it is very cold. An icy mist is hanging in the air and the ground is rock solid and dusted over white, like someone came in the night with the icing sugar shaker. All the pets water is frozen solid and the ducks are ice skating instead of swimming. I enjoyed the morning jobs today and soon had them all cleaned, fed and watered with plenty of clean bedding for them to snuggle into.
We had a bit of a family get together last night at Adam and Kelly’s house and we were late to bed so we have had a quiet day today and I made an apple pie as a change from all the rich Christmas food we have eaten recently.
I have just come in from the garden. The duck pond is completely frozen over. Same goes for all the bunnies water bottles and the outside tap. Winter seems to have arrived suddenly with the rooves and the ground white with frost and ice. My fingers are still frozen. I think its time to dig out those gloves and scarves. On the bright side the sky is clear and blue this morning and the previously muddy lawn is frozen and easier to walk on. Yesterday was wet and windy with hail and snow showers which the ducks seemed to love as it makes it easier for them to dabble and find worms. I had a right game getting them to go to bed last night. The chickens however hate it and were on their perches before I went out to lock their shed.
We used Rob’s week off well and worked hard on both of the plots. All the onion sets are in and there are several beds cleared and dug ready for Spring. We made a gigantic contribution to the comunal compost heap as our bins are all full. The lean to is now empty and we are planning to get plenty of organic matter on the beds to rot down over Winter. There is a lot of mint in there and though we have pulled it up as best we can I think there are still lots of roots that may cause problems. This is a problem that we inherited with the lean to and at first we thought it was good to have a bit if mint in there but it is a very invasive plant and I think may have been the reason that the cucumber Carmen struggled to get going this season. I put the Rhubarb to bed by clearing out all old stalks and covering with a good layer of straw and a chicken wire cover to hold it in place. Next visit I shall have to give the same treatment to the Dahlia bed as we have had a couple of hard frosts this week that I would imagine will have finished them off.
Libbie will be here soon so I will have to stop but at least the typing has thawed my fingers.
After a wet morning this afternoon turned out bright and warm and we spent a few hours working on the plots. After the downpour we had during the night the site was wet and sticky but everywhere was looking green and lush again and there were plenty of blossoms on the trees. The bluebells which are scattered here and there were in full flower. We took six eggs for the young mom and her husband and we met the new young couple who have recently taken over the plot next to them. I planted the three Pumpkin Mammoth which were threatening to squeeze me out of the computer room and also eight Cucumber Delicaat in the lean to. The Red Currant bush bought last year has shot up and is covered in buds.
Trevor gave us a tray of Onion Red Baron which he had grown from seed and also eight Tomato Gardeners Delight so we dug over a couple of beds and put them in. Despite the blustery night and the heavy rain the fleece which we put round the runner bean trench was still in place. Tonight I have put some Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor into pots to start off.
Roy, Jan and Matt have been decorating and we think they are in competition with Mother Nature. A beautiful job folks.
We made a latish visit to the plots in rare January sunshine. The site was deserted as most of the plot holders would have made an early start and have been tucking into their Sunday lunch by the time we drove through the gates. We took most of the seed potatoes down and put them into the small greenhouse inside the lean to. The seed potatoes we hoped would be harvested and on our plates for Christmas are just about pushing through the compost but do look very healthy. I potted up the Blueberry bought from the pound shop. It looks a bit sorry for itself so I’m not expecting great things. It is in ericacious compost and sheltering in the lean to so should be happy enough. At home we sold two of our lavender Araucana hens today to a nice couple from Yorkshire who arrived with their little boy Elliot. One of the good things about keeping chickens is the lovely people you meet along the way.
We spent hours at the plots today in sweltering heat. Firstly we transplanted the brassicas from the nusery bed over to the new brassica cage on plot 18. We still have some small plants waiting to grow on a little more. Rob dug up a row of potatoes, British Queen, and we were very pleased with the harvest. I tidied and watered in the lean to and the greenhouse then weeded the runner bean trench and fed the beans. I was able to harvest enough beans for a dinner and pulled a few carrots, Autumn King, to go with them. Rob spent ages weeding in the fruit bed and it looked beautiful when it was finished.
I harvested a few decent beetroot for pickling and another couple of cougettes for who knows what. Finally we harvested some radishes, the last of the spring onions and a couple of butterhead lettuce. At home we have four cherries on the tree that are almost ripe. I keep checking them every day because I’m sure the ducks will pinch them as soon as they are ready.
We have had days of heavy rain and yesterday the weather excelled itself with horrendous storms. Judging by the state of the garden at home I would say there has been some damage at the plot. We shall probably go and check it out later today.
We spent two and a half hours at the plot tonight. In between sheltering from the rain under the hedge we dug up the rest of the Arran Pilot and a couple of International Kidney. I made a decision not to buy Arran Pilot next year as they didn’t scrape too well. The International Kidney however have been beautiful so more of those in my plans for next year. The weeds were growing well everywhere and we earthed up the potatoes while we got rid of the weeds over on plot 18. Rob weeded the sweet corn bed and most of the fruit cage. I started the brassica cage but gave up, well my back gave up. I shall have to have another go in there it is terrible. I watered everything in the lean to and it is all growing well. Two melon plants are now in the ground in there in front of the tomatoes. We got away with no damage at all after the storms this time so we were lucky. The houses and gardens in the surrounding area have had a lot of damage from awful thunder storms and even a tornado. We came home with loads of potatoes, onions, peas, lettuce, spring onions, carrots and strawberries.
Rain, rain and even more rain. Temperatures are very mild for January but there are bound to be frosts and low temperatures to come. Nothing much happening at the allotment so apart from delivering the poo for the compost all we have done is tie down fences etc which have been loosened by the high winds.
The seed potatoes arrived yesterday from Alan Romans with no substitutions. Everything exactly as we ordered. International Kidney, King Edwards, Cara, Pink Fir Apple, Lady Christl, British Queen, Charlotte, Picasso and Roseval.
All we have to do now is decide what to do with them while we wait for planting time. A lot of discussion going on on the forums about whether to chit or just plant but our first concern is how and where to store them. We have decided to put our little Wilko greenhouse inside the lean to and lay the potatoes on the shelving when we are ready to chit them. They are in very good condition at the moment so we want to keep them that way. We are planning to grow some in pots and bags and the rest in the ground. I have e-mailed Alan Romans for advice about storage and planting times so we will wait and see what he says. I will have to look up again which are earlies etc as I have forgotten now. Later this month we are planning to sow another row of broad beans and peas outside and sow cauliflower and leeks in pots undercover. Hope the rain slows down a bit though or we may have to wait until February.
We visited the plot yesterday to put the chicken poo in the compost. It was very windy and wet. We harvested our first sprouts and were amazed at the toughness of the stalk. First a gentle tug then a mighty pull followed by a hacking with a knife all to no avail. Feeling great empathy with the old lady and the giant turnip we gave one last heave and at last it came up and Rob fetched a spade to slice the root from the stalk. Today I had the much easier job of cooking them along with a couple of snowball turnips and we both agreed that they were very tasty and would pass muster for Christmas dinner.
Although we have made almost daily visits to the plot there has been nothing worth writing about until today. Our fruit plants finally arrived from Ken Muir on Monday. We had fitted netting over the top of the fruit cage on Sunday so typically the plants arrived the day after. Rob did a fine impression of Quasimodo this afternoon in order to plant the two minarettes, two gooseberry bushes and twelve free strawberry plants in the fruit cage. The two Rhubarb plants had to be put into a pot in the cold greenhouse ready to be planted out in the Spring. The weather was very wet and the wind was whistling accross the allotments but we managed to enjoy ourselves nevertheless. Exciting moment of the day – We spotted two little green seedling in the Sweet Pea pots in the greenhouse.
We visited the plot yesterday to put the chicken poo in the compost. It was very windy and wet. We harvested our first sprouts and were amazed at the toughness of the stalk. First a gentle tug then a mighty pull followed by a hacking with a knife all to no avail. Feeling great empathy with the old lady and the giant turnip we gave one last heave and at last it came up and Rob fetched a spade to slice the root from the stalk. Today I had the much easier job of cooking them along with a couple of snowball turnips and we both agreed that they were very tasty and would pass muster for Christmas dinner.