Cabbage Update

Spring Hero Cabbages

My spring heroes are looking healthy. they have grown a little but I suppose they'll put on more growth when the warmer Spring weather comes. The wire is doing its job and 

keeping the pigeons off the luscious leaves. 

This You Tube video  shows what I can expect if all goes well.

And this site will give me plenty of cooking ideas: Cabbage Recipes

Mustard - Still Growing

Mustard

When I went up to the allotment I expected the mustard (green manure) to have been killed by frost and to be lying on top of the soil waiting to be dug in. As you can see from the photo it was very healthy! It's obviously frost-hardy to a certain extent. The longer it grows, the more nutrients it'll contain to add to the soil, so - long may it thrive! - until I chop it down before flowering....

Some interesting forum comments on mustard as a green manure.

Allotment Chores

Spent a short time clearing away yellowed leaves from the cauliflowers and putting them into my compost bin - where I disturbed the resident mouse!

Purple Kale

Purple...

...Curly Kale.

I took these photos of my neighbour's allotment. The row of purple kale looks beautiful, especially in contrast with the bright green weeds. It's the first time I've ever seen it and I might grow some myself next year, if there is enough space on my plot.

Here's a recipe I'll try once I've grown the kale: Baked Purple Kale Chips from a lovely foodie blog I came across tonight.

Leaf Mould

The leaf sacks that I filled in the autumn are slowly rotting down in a corner of the allotment. I look forward to spreading the resultant leaf mould onto the soil.

Better Luck Next Year

First attempt at cauliflowers.

They have no flowers - so are they 'caulis'? The green is always our favourite part anyway - so we'll enjoy them. Hope for better luck next year.

A Second Bite at the Cherry

Mini Cabbages

When I harvested this summer cabbage I left the stem in the ground and cut a cross in it. Now extra greens are growing from the stem.

Reliving 2011

Just reliving...

...a few growing moments...

...from this last year...

...and wondering what successes and failures await in 2012. I've got soya bean seeds to try and I'm hoping that this year the carrot and parsnip seeds will hold their own against the weeds in the initial stages of growth. 

Sweet potatoes will go in earlier and we'll grow more sweet corn.

The broad beans in the bottom photo grew very well but I won't be planting any this next year. Instead I hope to grow many more peas including sugar snaps.

It's great to look forward....

Winter Jasmine

Winter Jasmine

This is one of my favourite plants. It's profuse, yellow flowers are a tonic during the short, dull, grey days of winter - and when the winter sun shines they almost glow. I love their cheerful vibrancy and when they first appear I find myself welcoming them aloud! 

Luckily I know I'm not alone in speaking to plants......which reminds me, I need to get up to the allotment and have a stiff word with the cauliflowers; when I last looked they were all 'cauli' and no 'flower'.

Unknown Abundant Apple

Neighbouring Apple Tree

This apple tree leans over the fence from our neighbour's garden and is covered in fruit every year. I don't know the apple variety but this old tree produces an abundant harvest. I pick those I can reach and the blackbirds are provided for well into the winter. The windfalls are enjoyed by our dog - part of her 5 a day??

I'll have a browse through these apple variety images and see if I can identify it.

Parsley and Bay

I've cleared the salad plot in the garden and discovered a lovely new parsley plant. I've taken away the weeds so now the parsley can grow without competition.

It's not a brilliant photo, I went into the garden a minute ago and snapped the parsley in the dark! Hurray for digital and flash.


Parsley recipes


I replenished my stock of bay leaves in the kitchen from the bay tree too. I read somewhere that bay leaves are best used after they have dried for 4 days because then the oils are more concentrated and the flavour will be good. This twig will hang on the cupboard door until it's been used up, when I will cut another one.

Our garden bay tree came from a Farmer's Market where I got it at a bargain price. It had been meant to be a standard with pretty, twisted stems but it had been forgotten and, as plants will, had carried on growing. So I snapped it up, put it in the garden and I can now supply family and friends with all the bay leaves they need. It was a couple of feet tall when I bought it and is now about 10 feet tall. So nice to wander down the garden for free bay leaves!

Bay leaf recipes

Decorative Gourds

I found a use for some of the gourds we accidentally grew this summer! They brighten up my Advent wreath and everything reflects in the old mirror that was gathering dust under a cupboard..... 

Planning for Next Year

It's cold and windy and wet.... time to plan for next year from the warmth of home! 


My jobs:

• draw plot on paper and decide on crops
• check dates on existing seed packets and replace where necessary
• clean plant pots ready for sowing next year
• clear the salad plot behind the house (don't want to trek to the allotment for a few salad leaves!)
• make some fleece tunnels
• make bird scarers - try and copy my neighbour's design using large plastic drink bottle - very effective as they whirl round and make a sound.
• find an effective bird-scarer to put in my cherry tree so the pesky pigeons leave next year's cherry crop alone!

Planting Strawberries

Potted Strawberry Runners

I had planned to plant out strawberry plants on the allotment today but it was cold and damp and I wondered whether this was the best time to make a new strawberry bed. 

Perhaps it would be better in the spring when the soil is warmer? Or can strawberry plants be planted out at any time?

There is some useful information on the garden organic website.

Spring Heroes are Growing

These Spring Heroes...

...are growing well.

I'm looking forward to eating them next Spring, when they'll be much bigger! I've read some good things about this variety and its overwintering capabilities.