It's raining!!

And pouring! I have just popped down for an hours weeding in the rain - I am trying really hard to do little and often to try and keep on top of things this year - and so far it's not looking too bad. Planted out on the allotment we have potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mange-tout, sweet peas, beetroot, spinach, lettuce, carrots, parsnips (2 so far!!!!), purple sprouting brocolli, calabrese, cauliflower, kale, brussel sprouts, turnips - wow! quite a list! and still courgettes, squash, pumpkins, runner beans, french beans, peas and sweetcorn waiting to go in.

One job I must do soon is to get the fruit netted - we have loads of blueberries, blackcurrants, goosesberries etc and I don't want to share with the birds!!

At last I'm getting somewhere!

Well this is how it looked yesterday. I have put two wigwams up so far, and planted mange-tout and sweet peas. The rhubarb behind is doing well and I've made some scrummy rhubarb crumble cake with it!

In the front of the picture are my broad beans - there are more in another bed as well - about 40 plants altogether so we should get a decent crop. They are not flowering yet but I forgot to do them in the autumn so they are a bit further behind than other peoples.

The potatoes are all showing through now and I earthed them up yesterday.

Here are my baby purple sprouting brocolli plants! I have been really pleased with what I grew last year that I am doing the same again. I also sowed a row of turnips in front of the PSB.

Behind the 'brassica cage' you might be able to see my 3 blueberry bushes - they were only planted late last summer so I don't know whether I'll get many blueberries or not this year but they are flowering well. The canes are there to put net over when I get around to it!

Under the small tunnel are a dozen spinach plants and in the other side of the bed I have sown some beetroot.

The carrots that I sowed under fleece in March are coming on really well - but the dreaded marestail is loving the cosy fleece as well and is sprouting up all over the place - got to keep on top of it this year!

Today we have rain so staying at home sowing seeds and potting on !!!

Hello 2008!

Happy New Year!

Note to self - must do better with updating this blog! Think Rebecca's lost interest so it's down to me (Vicki -Rebecca's mum!)

I popped down to the plot at the weekend just to collect parsnips, leeks and sprouts for tea (yum!). Too wet to dig much at the moment but plenty of tidying up to be done when I next go. I have found 4 self-seeded broad bean plants happily growing away so fingers crossed we might get a few early ones. Rebeccas mini daffs are starting to peep through.
There are buds starting to form on the blueberry bushes.
The onions and garlic that I planted in the Autumn all seem to be doing well.

I have received my seed order (wahey!) so very excitedly drawing up my plan for 2008!

Bumper harvest!

After the huge amount of rain and local flooding, the plot has actually come out of it ok - but the weeds! They've thrived on it! Mind you, so have the beans and the courgettes - loads of beans to pick, and every courgette recipe I can think of! - plenty of courgette soup in the freezer and even tried the chocolate courgette cake recipe! YUM!

The childrens' pumpkins are coming on well -this is James with his!

And the sweetcorn - WOW - delicious! The kids keep begging me to bring more home every time I go up to the allotment!

Unfortunately one of my butternut squash snapped off the vine today , so will have to see how it tastes as it isn't really ready yet - I was really upset! It was my prize one as well !

We pulled up a parsnip today to see if they were going ok - it was a bit like the enormous turnip - I pulled a muscle in my shoulder trying to get it up!

It was huge! and very tasty ! WE had it with roast potatoes, carrots, french beans, tomatoes, courgettes all home grown, and roast beef - scrummy!

Anyway, all in all, despite the weeds, we've had loads of things to eat! All the old boys keep telling us its the worst year ever but I'm ecstatic every time we have something home-grown to eat, so I'm very happy!

Forgot to mention the very lovely carrotty carrots and the NINE huge courgettes we picked today to make into soup!

The potatoes have been fab but only a few plants left to dig up, the broad beans and peas have produced loads but are just about finished.

The parsnips are looking huge but obviously a bit early yet, and the baby butternuts are soooo cute!

Here are a few things we harvested for tea the other night....yum!

22nd July 07

Everything on our plot is MASSIVE!!!We went down to do some weeding but no watering after the floods,it was all muddy!Here are some quick updates of some plants on our plot!

Sweet-Peas..........Excellent,Very big

Corn..........Starting to grow the corn!

Broad beans..........Nearly Finished

Peas..........Finished

Raspberries..........Have a few that are ripe!

Strawberries..........Not producing any. :(

Pumpkins..........Growing very well

Squash..........Growing well

June 07

All our veggies are growing well and we've eaten quite a lot of them!
We have Millions of Sweet-peas,I have loads of Nasturtiums !