Briefly warm.... Blink and you'll miss it!

After a brief spell of slightly less arctic weather, we're back to the chilly days and just above freezing nights again.

Of course with it being Friday it's just started chucking it down and the weather for the weekend isn't looking much better! So to cheer myself up here's a basket of goodies which I brought home from the allotment last weekend.

Crumble season is upon us

The first of many rhubarb crumbles .... This cheeky number is sporting a Demerara sugar crust and is just waiting to be drowned in custard.

Crumbly goodness!

Finally some warmer weather!

Managed to finally get the allotment today after a hiatus of about two months due to various issues and the prevailing terrible weather we have been having.

Got the first earlies in - swift and premier and harvested some leeks, rhubarb ( some of it had exploded) and also some daffodils which have cheered the house up. Also pruned the black currants and the blueberries and gave the strawberries a haircut and a feed.

Due to the amount of prep I had done before Christmas the place itself wasn't looking too bad at all, not too many weeds to be seen and the ground seems to be warming up nicely.

Allotment in April-starting to look a bit more lively!

More raspberries

Continued building the raspberry supports and the paths this week - nearly done, just one path to do now.

Thanks goodness for the free wood chip - this little lot would have cost a fortune.

Getting there with the raspberries

Another new path

I've also cut down the autumn fruiting raspberries and given them a good mulch of donkey manure to give them a head start this year.

I also managed to get a branch off one of the overhanging trees - nearly gave myself concussion into the bargain.

To do:

Finish the final path 

Weed the spring bulb section

Build a bench

Raspberries

I started on building better supports for the raspberries today - in the past they've leaned over the paths and over each other generally making it really hard to pick.

Well no more as I have now come up with a cunning plan which should keep the canes in order.

Before

After

The flood has receded from the majority of the plots which is good news for the owners but the soil looks pretty saturated.

Signs of spring are definately on the way as the rhubarb has just started peeking through .... not long till the first rhubarb crumble.

Floods

See I knew there was a reason why I picked the allotment under the trees - I may get the shade but I don't get this!

The poor owner of no. 28

The rain finally stopped today so I took the opportunity to finished edging some of the paths and use some of the freebie donkey manure to mulch the raspberries, blackcurrants and the beds where I will be growing this years broad beans. Lets hope donkeys and horses don't vary too much otherwise I may be getting suspect crops.

 The order to HSL has been posted today so next year I will be trying the following
Broad Bean - Cretian
Dwarf French Bean - Scotts
Runner Bean - Brooker Bean
Melon - Green Nutmeg
Lettuce - Stoke
Climbing Bean - San Antonio

For more info about the Heritage Seed Library - see www.gardenorganic.co.uk

Things still to do ( it never ends ) -
Finish off paths, build better supports for the raspberries started

Who pinched all the poo?

My goodness, the communal crap pile has been pillaged, it's a shadow of its former glory! As if by magic though a pile of wood chip the size of the EU butter mountain has appeared so I raided that as well. You have to be quick round here I can tell you.

Asparagus bed after mulching

A flying visit to area41 this weekend due to the freezing weather conditions. I cut down and mulched the asparagus to keep the weeds down and to boost next years' crop. There is still a lot to do and lots of manure still to shovel!

To do:
Prune black currants and mulch - mulched but not pruned!