Happy New Year!

I haven't posted in ages as I thought my blog was broken. It turns out it was just that one post that wouldn't work. This winter has been kind - there's been lots of sunlight and I've not got as down as I usually get. The mild weather has meant that I've also been able to catch up at the allotment and have done most of my digging. I haven't sown my broad beans yet and don't know whether to wait for spring or try doing them now. I'm gonna build a massive bonfire tomorrow as I need to get rid of piles of weeds I've been drying out.
In November I did some poetry with my daughter's class - I had six year olds explaining meanings that I'd missed in poems I'd read to them. Sunday I've got a poetry workshop in South London. I'm looking forward to it. In Feb I'm doing the Poetry from Art at Tate Modern and I'm really excited about that.
Saturday did some wild dancing at the Ukrainian club and spun my friend Rachel round. Her first taste of Ukrainian dancing. She managed not to fall over. We were the last ones on the dancefloor :)

Autumn planting

I don't mind digging in the rain but if the ground gets too wet then you damage it by trampling over it. Please let it stop raining for a while. I still have my onions, garlic and broad beans to put in. Japanese onions can be put in now as they can cope with winter, other onions can't.
Also I've decided not to grow runner beans next year as I really don't like them. That frees up some ground for other stuff. My strawberries didn't do so well - too little rain and I didn't water enough and too much competition from weeds. I may grow them in pots in trays next year or not bother. My carrots did well though some of them were dug up and eaten but at least they left me most of them. At the allotment we have deer, badgers, pheasants, moles and lots of squirrels. I've started some digging but I should really have tried to get more done before the weather gets worse. Crop rotation is doing my head in as some group of plants take up sore space than others or stay in the ground longer. Just need to suss out where carrots are going next year and make sure I don't manure it as they hate it and it makes them fork.
I have some broccolli (well it's calabrese really) coming and have had some nice bits. My butternut squashes are colouring nicely and my Ukrainian pumpkins are enormous- will have to wheelbarrow them home. First year for my Autumn Bliss raspberries- v nice but not loads- possibly because it's the first year.
Still have one row of potatoes to dig up. Had quite a bit of scab again this year- it does affect the flavour. Think it means the ground is too limey and needs to be more acidic.

More harvest and autumn planting

My carrots and parsnips have done pretty well this year. My first year my carrots were tiny - once you peeled them there was nothing left to eat! Parsnips take ages to germinate and I thought I'd keep the weeds down while waiting for them. Unfortunately I weeded the only two that germinated as I didn't know what their leaves would look like. My friend had told me they look nothing like carrots but not what they look like.

Autumn is not normally thought of as a time to plant but there are some things that can go in now. I've bought Japanese onions sets, broad beans and peas from the allotment shop. I haven't tried growing onions from seed yet - I just buy the sets(tiny onions that grow into big ones) but maybe next year. The onions that you plant in autumn have to be used pretty quickly as they don't store well-unlike the ones planted in spring which store well. The broad beans can go in up till beginning of November. Last year the birds had most of mine -very upsetting as I was looking forward to the boiled beans being fried with garlic and onion. A fellow allotmenteer recommended letting the weeds grow up round them once the pods start to form as the birds don't see the beans. Peas - now I don't really know a lot about them so will let you know how I get on with them.
Today I had a whole morning at the allotment- first time in ages. It was a perfect day for it -sunny and not too hot. Lots of bonfires - I love the smell of bonfires- makes me smile. I drew a plan of my plot as I need to rotate the types of veg to stop a build up of pests and diseases. Lucky for us the allotment gets free deliveries of houshold compost recycled by the council and manure from the local stables. I did a bit of hoeing -trying to cut down the weeds before they get big and cause more of a problem. Then I dug a trench lined it with compost then filled it with soil from the ground next to it making another trench then so on till whole row had compost added to it. I do a bit each time i go so I don't wear my joints out too much. I feel so much calmer for spending time working there working.

Echeveria

Haven't made it to the allotment for a while - hopefully go soon and dig up the rest of my potatoes and see how the leeks are getting on. I love the silvery green of the leeks' leaves - I also love eating them though they are still a bit small for that. My youngest starts school on Thursday and I feel a bit sad though she seems very happy.

Above are photos of my beloved Echeveria coming into flower. I keep it outside in the summer but bring it in when it gets cold as it cannot cope with frost.

I need to get to the allotment shop soon and stock up on Japanese onions, aquadulce broad beans and maybe peas as these can all go in the ground in Autumn for earlier crop in spring. I need to start digging horse manure into the ground soon - except where I'm putting carrots and parsnips next year as they hate fertile ground- it makes them fork.

let it grow

My friend and I left our kids to their own devices in the front room and this is what they got up to. It was so cute that they had made a bus for their 'mens' as they like to call them. They got round not being able to bend the red head to sit by giving her a side bed on the bus. Good improvisation.







Took new friend I met at poetry workshop to my allotment and she helped to hoe and said lots of nice things about my plot.

Onions and garlic are growing well as are the broad beans, strawberries and cabbages. It was so lovely to be at liberty to spend time outside in the sunshine in such a peaceful place.

one handed digging

Was feeling a bit sorry for myself yesterday as over did it using newly liberated hand. Also was suffering from sleep deprivation(poor daughter had temperature) so just could not motivate myself to do anything. Today kids were happy playing indoors so left them with hubby and went to allotment to have a look at plot and try and get my head round which plants were going where according to crop rotation scheme. I was quite reluctant to go as felt it would make me feel worse going there and not doing much. Slouched to my plot said hi to people on plot behind me then J called me over. Hadn't seen him in ages. He told be how he'd been doing up his shed at home and fallen into his pond- fortunately he managed to throw the electric drill he was holding onto solid ground before he reached the water. Then he showed me his new heater in his shed - all mod cons and asked what I was up to. Explained about my wrist and he said just say the word and i'll run the rotovator over your plot. What a lovely man! So with one hand and an extremely light fork I dug out the brussel sprouts and then cleared away bricks and bits of branches that had dropped off the magnificent oak next to my plot. I felt so much better after doing that - wished that I'd got there earlier and done more of it. Saw L on way out - he'd injured his leg so was good to see him up and about. I love chatting to him.


My broad beans (aquadulce)sown in November.

Daffodils on my recently acquired second plot. One of my predessors planted a thousand bulbs. It's going to look gorgeous -can't wait. The lovely shed isn't mine unfortunately. Mind you I already have a lovely shed on original plot so can't complain.

lets talk about............manure

Vegetables are divided into three groups - Roots, Brassicas and Others.

Usually manure is applied in Autumn but life sometimes gets in the way. Not all crops need manure, infact it badly affects the performance of some. Carrots for example don't like too much fertility, manure makes them fork and gives you multi legged vegetables that are impossible to peel. The best thing for carrots is a mix of sand and compost. I didn't have time to fill up the whole bed with sand and compost mix so I cheated last year and when it can to sowing time used a big dibber and made a hole the size my ideal carrot would be, filled it with compost/sand then sowed couple of seeds in each hole at recommended depth. It worked brilliantly - had decent sized carrots for once. The other way you can do it is to make a trench and fill it with compost sand mix then sow as recommended on packet. The other plants that don't need manure are beetroot, chicory, jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, salsify, scorzonera, marrow, peppers, tomato, cucumber, onion. These are all root vegetables or are grown with root vegetables.

For brassicas dig in well rotted compost or manure preferably in Autumn but if not early spring. By manure I mean well-rotted stable manure - to put it bluntly it nolonger looks like poo but is crumbly and doesn't stink. Brassicas include cabbages, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and kale. Lime before planting as helps prevent clubroot. They like firm soil so push the ground in firmly with the heel of your foot around seedlings when you plant them.

Others includes beans, peas , sweetcorn, celery, , lettuce, swiss chard, okra, spinach, globe artichokes.

For potatoes I just add the manure when I am planting them. not sure if that's what you are emant to do but works for me.

So plan what you are putting where and then make sure you have manured the bit for the brassicas and others.

I will endeavour to explain crop rotation tomorrow if I haven't put you off. I want to get a hacksaw to my plastercast but will not.

snow, prints and vegetables

So lovely to make it to the allotment yesterday. kids weren't keen to go but once we got in there they loved it. the snow on the pavements and roads near us had turned to grey slush so they (and us) were so excited to see the allotment still blanketed in white snow. round the trees the snow was pockmarked with zillions of dots and then the kids found some alien and animal footprints. Here are the pictures from the allotment:-

I've still got leeks (in foreground) they are brilliant coz the cold doesn't bother them at all and you can just harvest a couple as and when you need them through the winter to early spring. Behind them the dark green plants that look like they've got tens of mad waving hands are Black Tuscany kale. Unfortunately I have found out i prefer curly kale so will grow that next year instead. Fortunately my neighbours guinea pigs like it and again just break off some leaves as and when required.




This picture looked a lot better in my memory than it did when i downloaded it. Anyway it's one of my brussel sprout plants given to me as seedlings by another plot holder. With brussels you harvest them from the bottom up breaking off leaves as you go. As you can see we are near the top now so not many left but still nice to have some veg off plot.

I love brussels even the shop ones and these taste much better.





Some rosehips.








Think these are monkjack(?) deer prints but not sure. Drop me a line if you know what left these tracks.






Couldn't see how the broad beans were doing as they were buried and didn't want to damage them looking for them. Garlic stalks were sticking up on plot number two -forgot to take photo. Snow had left onion stalks buried.

If we don't get another load of snow I've got to go to the allotment tomorrow. I have been missing it but has been too treacherous and icy to risk with my broken wrist. My friend said it was really magical over there with snow everywhere. The allotment is surrounded by huge trees and is a really lovely peaceful place even without snow . Time always slows down when I go over there. I want to go and check on my broad beans that i sowed in November and the garlic and japaness onions i planted about the same time. They have all sprouted but i want to make sure my broad beans haven't been nibbled. My neighbours had his got at but he didn't know by what - nothing usually bothers the broad beans at this time he said. I'm not an old hand at growing vegetables so don't know. The japanese onions don't store well so will be using them as soon as they are ready(May?) and will plant some types that do store in Spring.