Rooting about

Down the plot for the first time in three weeks, we removed roots and got blisters.
We also saw the fox - at 10am on a Sunday morning! I used to think that foxes were crepuscular, but not this one.

Harvested: parsnips and a few purple carrots which I didn't dig up in the autumn as they were attacked by carrot fly and I was just going to dig the patch over and remove all the manky carrots. A few seem edible though.

No broad beans have sprouted, but it has been cold and wet, so I expect they have rotted in the soil. I'll have to get my act together and get them going in autumn this year. Still, I can plant some spring sowing beans in a few weeks time.

In the garden, the hellebores are starting to look good, and the Sarcococca is smelling nice. we have the first yellow crocuses up, and the miniature irises in the rose tub are flowering their hearts out. It's just a shame that I leave for work in the dark and come home in the dark, so see little of these small daily changes towards spring. The blackbirds have started singing in the morning now - a real move towards the longer days of spring.

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom." ~Audra Foveo

New Year, New Tidiness

If this blog is to work as a means of reminding me what I've done and whether it works, I better write things a bit more frequently in 2008.

So, today, we went down the allotment and:

• dug 1 row and removed buckets of weed roots;
• SomeBeans dug up some more of the path sections and raked up stems and rubbish

I planted 3 rows of brad bean 'Aquadulce Claudia' - a bit late; I should have planted them in November but didn't. Most of two rows are covered by cloche - it will be interesting to see if they grow faster, or if any grow at all, rather than just rotting in the cold wet soil of January. It looks quite tidy!

We have a small head of Romanesco developing on the half plot. The black tuscan kale is still quite tiny but should be harvestable soon. The 'Bleu de Solaise' leeks are thickening up, and the shallots and elephant garlic are sprouting.