How many Jerusalem artichokes does a girl need?

Look at all the new space I have on the plot now the brambles have been cleared...



The gentleman responsible was raking over his plot today so I went over to say thank you. He asked me what I am going to plant there. I hadn't really thought about it. Perhaps this gives me proper space for flowers. Ooooo.

I went over to the plot today to harvest some veg for dinner and my fellow allotmenteer helped out. The last 2 Jerusalem artichoke plants proved to be astonishlingly prolific, resulting in an overly stuffed carrier bag to lug home. Some of the tubers were as big as jacket potatoes. I gave 8 tubers to my helper to plant on his plot.

I also harvested 6-7 baby leeks and some parsnips (see below for the haul)



It was roast pork belly tonight with boiled Pink Fir Apple potatoes, roasted parsnips, sauted baby leeks and apple sauce derived from allotment produce, and other stuff bought in. It seemed to go down well.

Broad beans for every week of the year?

Today was a fine day - sunny and warm on the allotment. I actually thought of buying an ice lolly.

Sure enough, the bottom half of the plot has been totally cleared in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera over but I'll take some piccies tomorrow if I can. Also, the garlic in Bed 5 (I think) which I planted a couple of months ago and which I assumed had rotted away, had sprouted and was clearly visible. Next to it, a small patch of chives (which I should probably divide up at some point) which looked quite dead when I last inspected it, looks like it has started to grow nicely.

My first job was to spread over some rotted down hedge clippings from my neighbour onto one of the beds. I chose Bed 9 was it seemed quite poor when I last dug it over. Then I "clawed" over Bed 1 and sowed 2 double rows of broad beans (Masterpiece Green Longpod since you ask). I am to chop off the tops of the plants once 4 clusters of bloom are showing. Apparently they are suitable for freezing - I thought they all were. There are 13 seeds in each row (not bad luck hopefully) so I have one plant for every week of the year. I have covered them over with wire sheets which have been pinned down to keep the mice out. I spoke to a couple of fellow allotmenters today and both said that they sowed broad beans back in December and have not seen them since. I don't think they covered them over though so the mice may have found them under the snow. I hope that they see some signs of them soon.

I came back home and got on with some more sowing. I sowed the four types of chilli that I had last year (listed in the post dated May 24th 2008), some sweet peppers (California Wonder), some aubergine (Black Beauty) and French marigold (Orange Winner). All of those are now on the windowsills vacated by the onions and sweet peas.

Now for a quick spot of housework before settling down with a nice glass of Viognier and a gardening mag...

Springing around the corner?

I worked at home today and could hear lawnmowing around the neighbourhood. Spring must be round the corner. Plus, the crocus are getting showy in the garden (see piccie below).



Apparently, biodynamically (if that is actually a word), it is a good time to sow flowering plants tomorrow like broad beans. I think I'll go for it tomorrow. I am thinking that you could count chillies and peppers in that category (they fruit, right?) so I might sow some tomorrow once I've put the onion seedlings in the cold frame in the garden.

So it'll be a day of sowing tomorrow. After the housework of course. I wonder how my 'lotment buddies have got on with my brambles...

More snow

I've been away this weekend but returned to sleet in Worcester. Half an hour later, it turned to snow with huge clumps of flakes falling (see below for a piccie of the garden).



I was planning on sowing some celeriac today (judging by the Gardeners Calendar, it is good time for it) on my return but it is now getting dark. In the dim light that remains, the clouds look heavy with snow. Tomorrow looks ok for planting celeriac so I'll do it then.

With a little help from my friends

I took a day off work today. I needed to catch up on a few things including a spot of gardening. The sky was quite clear though it was pretty chilly - about 3-4 degrees. We are due for snow tomorrow so it was just as well I had the chance to pop over today.

As I arrived, I met the allotmenteer who has transformed the plot right next to the gate I usually enter the site through. A year ago, it was covered in brambles reaching over head-height. Since then, he has constructed the foundations for a fruit cage to cover pretty much the whole plot. We had a nice chat and he offered to cut down my brambles. He said that he had the tools to do it and it would be a quick job for him. What a star!

I got to my plot and set to work planting six Jerusalem artichoke tubers in Bed 6 (see below). The garden claw tool I bought today (it was on offer in the local hardware store) made very light work of preparing the soil (I am not even on commission).



Just as I was about to plant the tubers, another allotmenteer popped by. He also offered to cut down my brambles and had brought along a tool to do the job. My brambles have obviously been a hot topic of discussion on the site in recent days. I feel guilty but this chap did say that he had some spare time and relished the challenge. He made a start then and there while I pottered around (adding lavender cuttings to the compost bin and weeding around the salad leaves in the cold frames). See the before and after pics below (demonstrating just one hour's work).





We had a bit of a chat too. I kinda hope that some rabbit holes are found behind the brambles as that would explain how the critters were able to get onto the site last year. I will repay these kind gentlemen with booze and chocolate. Maybe cake.

Meanwhile, at home, there are signs of a fourth sweet pea emerging...

Snow? What snow?

Well, I missed all the snow. I was in the Scottish Highlands where the weather was lovely.

Just a brief update on the January sowings. The onions are all now growing but out of the two types, the Rossa Di Toscana (red ones) germinated much faster than the Tonda Muscona (white ones). See the piccie below for the situation on Jan 30th (the pot in the middle contains the slower Tonda Muscona while the seedlings either side are Rossa Di Toscana.



It wasn't just down to the light conditions or temperature. The Tonda Muscona which were downstairs at facing East germinated at the same time as the Tonda Muscona upstairs facing West. All the Rossa Di Toscana were upstairs facing West. Our cat did try to encourage them though.



On my return today, the Tonda Muscona have made an appearance.

Out of the 8 sweet peas I sowed, only 3 have come through (see below). I'll sow some more soon.



I'll be able to go over to the plot tomorrow. I should plant up some Jerusalem artichoke tubers. Goodness knows where on the plot. I might even start on the brambles...