Last week’s weather, for the most part, was awful. We had strong winds and rain that varied from light drizzly showers – the sort that wets you before you notice it is happening to more persistent lasting all day. Nostell was shut for one day and the garden at Temple Newsam was closed due to the danger posed by the greenhouse. Nostell has been closed several times this year. It seems places have become more risk evasive. We still managed to fit in Ruby’s walks. Despite lots of ears flapping she managed to keep all four paws on the ground. Parking charges have been introduced at Temple Newsam. I don’t know if it was the weather or the charges, but visitor numbers were down even though it was the school half-term.
There was a break in the awful weather on Saturday so we had an afternoon at the allotment – our first real visit of 2025.
Martyn wanted to repair the composting area – a casualty of all the windy weather.
It looks much neater now but will it have stood up to Sunday’s gales.
My first job was to trim the lavender.
I went over the bed with shears and cut back all the straggly bits. I have to say the before and after photos don’t look much different but you could see the difference in ‘real life’,
That job didn’t take long so my next task was to cut back the row of buddleias.
That was a much longer job that produced a huge pile of debris. The prunings would produce excellent pea sticks if it weren’t for the fact that most would root and quickly grow if they were pushed into the soil.
Before we set off for home we harvested a few leeks and parsnips.
There were signs that some parsnips were beginning to regrow so it is time to prepare some for the freezer to extend their useable life.
I’ll need to do the same for some of our stored onions. The frozen ones should see us through until the overwintered onions are ready.
Around the plot are signs that spring is beginning to nudge into the picture.
We had a delivery from Chilterns to supplement our main seed order. These are varieties that were unavailable from the other supplier.
Most are varieties of tomatoes but there are also some additional squashes. We haven’t grown a butternut type before. Pink Crown Prince has pinkish rather than the usual grey skin. We grew the Tromboncino type courgette and preferred it to the bush varieties. Midas is a very mild chilli pepper which is a cross between a sweet and a chill pepper. It’s another new one for us. The radish produces carrot-like roots.
Again I forgot to take pictures of meals but I made a turkey quinoa-type risotto using onion, red pepper, mushrooms and green beans.
I also used our red onion and squash in a vegetable tagine. I served with couscous rather than quinoa
That’s all for this week so as always until next time stay safe, stay well and stay dry.
