I think that we may have been lulled into thinking that we can discard some layers of clothing as the weather last week was warm and sunny. I have the feeling, however, that we could soon be reaching again for our fleeces as the warm spell is forecast to end this week. We enjoyed it while it lasted and managed to get quite a lot done outdoors both on the allotment and in the garden.
On our first afternoon on the plot, Martyn strimmed the rest of the grass paths whilst I continued doing some tidying.
Once our soil dries on the surface, after being pounded by heavy rain, it develops a crust and so one of my jobs was to hoe between the autumn planted onions and garlic.
Then I moved on to the strawberry bed and cut off all the old leaves. The photo above, on the left, was taken half way through the task. Two rows of plants had been tidied and two hadn’t. I hope that you can tell which is which. I hoed between the plant to loosen the soil and added some fertiliser. I found some baby plantlets that had managed to root, in spite of me trying to keep on top of cutting off any runners, As we had some space at one end of the bed I planted the babies. You may be able to spot them in the photo above on the right.
Our second visit to the plot was short but not at all sweet. When we arrived we found that a nearby industrial unit had a fire and noxious smoke was drifting across the site exactly where we had planned to work. It males a mockery of our site ruling that fires can only be lit an hour before dusk. Needless to say we left and decided instead to work in the garden.
Earlier in the week I had been busy tidying up the greenhouse The pots on the right are planted up with summer flowering plants, that have over wintered in the greenhouse. I’ve cut them back and now we must wait to see how many have survived.
The recently sown broad beans are growing well and will soon need to be planted out. The new brassica plants have also perked up.
Whist I was busy in the greenhouse, Martyn was mulching and fertilising the perennial beds.
We planted more Casablanca potatoes, this time in four crates.
We also did a lot of general tidying especially in our cold frame area.
We returned to the allotment on the following day. There was no smoke but the after smell from the fire wasn’t pleasant but we needed to plant our first two rows of Casablanca potatoes.
I also cut all last year’s growth from our autumn fruiting All Gold raspberries.
Before we came home, I gathered a small harvest of leeks and daffodils. All very Welsh.
Once the outer leaves were removed, the leeks brushed up nicely. These showed no sign of pest damage.
Back in the house our hippeastrum/amaryllis buds have burst open .
We made our usual visit to Nostell. The spell of dry weather means that the winter ponds are quickly disappearing. I wonder – will they soon come back?
Last week, we actually managed to walk our complete route. This takes us along the cycle track where we were treated to our first sighting, this season, of celandines.
The birds are now pairing up. A couple of Canada geese have arrived and the ducks are swimming around in pairs. Mrs. Swan appears to be sitting on a nest. Apologies for the blurry photo but she was at the far side of the lake and partly hidden amongst the reeds.
The male pheasants were calling to advertise their availability.
It was pleasant enough to sit outside in the courtyard and enjoy a cappuchino and flapjack for us and a dog biscuit and dish of water for Ruby, She was kept busy watching everything that was going on.
Last week’s meals included a vegetable tagine into which went our Crown Prince squash, onion and garlic. I used ras el hanout rather than the separate spices.
I made a turkey stew and used some of our leeks, potato and onion. It was very loosely based on this recipe but cooked in one pan and not arranged as prettily. I cooked pieces of turkey in the stew rather than cooking in separately and serving sliced.
I used one of the freshly harvested leeks in a chicken, leek and mushroom risotto, along with our garlic and frozen peas . I used the same ingredients as in the recipe but used my own method of cooking.
As always stay safe and well
This week, I am linking to Dave’s Harvest Monday post over at Our Happy Acres.
Yes the fool’s spring came to a rather abrupt end on Wednesday evening here Sue with torrential rain and then the temperature has plummeted since. Still it was most pleasant whilst it lasted. Good to see you both back in full throttle at the allotment and in the garden. I like the look of your risotto – have never thought of that particular combination and will have to bear it in mind 😀
Snow here, Anna so the foot is off the throttle for now
Lovely to see all that progress, the warmer weather was lovely for sure. That fire sounds awful! Your leeks are so much bigger than mine. Lovely meals as always.xxx
The fires from that site are a regular problem, Dina, Usually at the weekend when you can’t complain to the council. Not sure whether that is a ploy.
It was lovely to be out working in warmer weather and not as many layers of clothing, but as you say colder weather is on its way, starting today in our area. We are starting to get busier on the allotment, but trying not to overdo things as we both have problems with arthritis. We also have problems with nearby industrial units, either very noisy or with fires.
Goodness know what they burn, Margaret. It’s either rubber or plastics. I’m not good with fires at the best if times but these are sickly. Yes the lovely weather had definitely gone.
Your beds look so “tidy” at the allotment. Don’t we all feel so much better when the garden is cleaned up? Your new website platform is very nice and easy to read and use.
Glad you like the new platform, Sue. The good weather has waved goodbye.
It looks like you have been getting a lot done! The weather here has been changeable too, but more disagreeable of late. I am afraid it will go straight from winter to summer, as it sometimes does.
We’re back to disagreeable, Dave
It was a glorious week weather-wise wasn’t it. I planted out half of my new strawberry plants at the weekend. I bought bare-root plants a few weeks ago and I was busy when they arrived so I just put them in pots. They started growing immediately. I’ve gone for Cambridge Favourite and Rhapsody. The latter is new to me, so I shall look forward to seeing how they do. It’s been a good week for snaffling free stuff around here – my middle son came across a free bird table and this morning I found a free hedgehog house. It needs some work to weather-proof it, including a base and feet to lift it off of the ground, but I’m very happy! Nostell looks lovely as ever, what a great spot to be able to go for a dog walk.