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| Inspecting the fence |
A gorgeous Sunday today, so despite not really planning to do any great amount of work we headed down the plot to take compost own and check on the fence progress. Happily, Tom has been busy and it's nearly done. Looks great, just makes the rest of the plot look a bit shabby by comparison.
We planted a few daffodil bulbs that had been hanging around.
Digging just 10cms into the ground, it was noticeably waterlogged. This probably hasn't helped the overwintering onions I planted back at the end of October, none of which have sprouted yet. Some had popped out the ground, presumably due to the heavy frosts we've been having. I'm a bit dubious about whether anything is going to come of these, I'm pretty sure that the overwintering onions we planted at the back end of last year had already sprouted by this point. Ho Hum.
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| No action here yet |
We pulled up one of the last of our romanesco cauliflowers for dinner. These things have huge stems on them, which I've recently found out taste fantastic themselves, once you've stripped off the tough outer part.
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| Nearly all edible |
Although there is not a great deal of growth happening on the patch, there are still signs of the life ahead that spring will deliver, not least on our blackcurrant bushes.
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| Life springs eternal |
Sometimes the fast-lane allotment-based lifestyle gets a bit too much. Here's a cat's eye view of someone having a bit of a rest...
We've had a lot of rain and you've had more of that, with snow, than most. I fear that your onion sets should have sprouted by now. You say that they're popping up; birds love to pull them up in the hope of a meal which is laying underneath in the shape of a worm. We put down our sets along with our shallots at the same time and everything is away now. I dont think that it's too late for onion sets - at least if we can get some drier weather soon.
ReplyDeleteI was looking at our garlic and nothing has happened yet but it'll take a few good frosts I think (hope) - to get them going.
I'd love to convert you guys over to no-dig on beds that are raised just a few inches off the ground, not with wooden sides and all that sh** though and simply to get the roots out of the wet stuff a little - and no digging of course ;)
I don't think it's the birds that have been at them as they hadn't fully "popped out" but were just sitting on top of the soil. If they don't sprout I'll just replace them with more sets in the spring. We could really do with some dry weather now though. At least we don't have to hear about how reservoirs are running on empty and more...
DeleteRe no dig: I think we want to have one more season of doing things as we are, not least as we're not confident at all we've got all the Bindweed out of our plots, then we'll have a look at "alternative" methods. What would you suggest to read for some background on the no-dig approach?
I think our onions are just poking through but nothing like as far on as last year at this time.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand I'm sorry to hear your onions aren't up to much so far. On the other hand, I'm reassured that it's not just us! It did criss my mind that we night have purchased a whole bunch if duds, but I assume that the wet weather has got far more to do with them not sprouting?
DeleteSoil that is waterlogged over winter is a serious challenge. Hope all your bulbs and overwintering stuff makes it through spring. I like the pic of the currant leaves. I also tend to be a minute examiner of buds and other harbingers of the resumption of the growing season.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that our bulbs and alliums are going to struggle. At least our plot hasn't been completely submerged like some around these parts
DeleteI have never planted onions this time of year..I have sown my broad beans and garlic but I haven't checked to see if anything is happening with them yet though!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with those! I'm mentally preparing to write off all our autumn-plantings as a bad job!
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