Planting and poetry

Crouching down low to use a trowel to make drills made me smile. Maybe because it felt like planting hope. My daughter helped me sow beetroot seeds or 'tiny stones' as she called them. I took my daughter home then went back to the allotment and dug a trench for Charlotte potatoes. Then I sowed kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli parthenon, iceberg lettuce, parsley and rocket. A guy who has an immaculate plot stopped by to give me a yellow courgette he'd grown from seed and told me how good my plot was looking and said to keep up the good work. It made me see how much I'd done instead of worrying about all the stuff I haven't done yet. My broad beans have germinated - so exciting! I usually plant them in November but planted them late so I was very glad to see they had germinated. Our local mayor staged an exhibition of portraits of poets by Peter Edwards in the council chamber and invited a few poets to read including me. I felt quite intimidated by the chamber as it looked like a court room but I loved performing. Got such an amazing buzz. We read surrounded by paintings of Carol Ann Duffy, Penelope Shuttle, Peter Redgrove, Wendy Cope to name a few. Happy planting everyone!

Payment

Yipee - looks like one of my poems will be on EverydayPoets http://www.everydaypoets.com/ next month. Complete strangers will get to comment on it. I'm up for it!

Saturday had a good evening at a fundraiser at my son's school. It was a karoake evening and yes I'm afraid I did sing and dance a little. Would have danced more but my son was mortified. I was far too self conscious at his age to care what my parents were doing.

Went to the allotment today and sowed my parsnips. I used a dibbler to make holes 6 inches apart and put a soil and peat mix into the hole to provide a easier medium for the parsnips to grow in - did the same for my carrots as we have clay soil which makes it hard work for root veg.

Here's my kale. In February my mother-in-law told me that if you snap off the tops then you get lots of flowering shoots. Before they open into flowers you can eat them like broccoli (delicious). Just don't let it flowere or it will stop producing new shoots.

Potatoes came up a couple of weeks ago -wasn't expecting them so fast. My father-in-law did a grand job.

Daughter's forgotten dresses

danced all day and night

quickly drying under

the bright blue sky

seeds

Very excited have got my seed order from Plants of Distinction. My friend introduced me to them as they do lots of different and some heirloom varieties. Got some brilliant broccoli from them last year - it's a variety called Parthenon F1 and the heads on them were a really decent size and very tasty. I love broccoli and this was almost perfumed it was so gorgeous. My friend grew Cucumber Passandra F1 last year and said it cropped really well and the fruits eren't ever bitter so that another one I'm doing this year. I will grow these as well as Cucumber crystal apples - these are round cucumbers and are delicious as long as you pick them when they are no bigger than duck eggs and while they are still yellow and not turned orange. They taste almost like melon - the kids love them and one friend who hates cucumbers loved them. Also got some purple dwarf french beans - first year doing these so will let you know how I get on.

The other seeds I've ordered are from Thompson and Morgan - get a discount if order via allotment. So I await more goodies. Can't wait to start sowing but bit early yet. Cast due to come off 4th March - can't wait for that as well.

It's great the days getting longer can't wait for evenings pottering, sowing and planting.