One Sunny Day

    Well I couldn't believe my eyes this morning when I woke up to find the sun shining through the window after yesterdays torrential downpour. It was just in time for my first day off work. I headed up to the plot to take advantage of the sudden sunshine. I did the usual weeding to try and stay on top of it. Then I started digging a bit more of one of the beds and raked it over ready for sowing some seeds direct. I also planted out my parsley plants that overwintered in my blow-away greenhouse. I hadn't really thought about growing parsley till I saw Monty with his healthy looking plants on 'Gardeners World'. Hopefully I'll have nice big plants ready for when my new potatoes are due to be dug up.

April Showers!

   Well this last week has been a right wash out! So much for the drought! The rain has stopped me from doing anything at the plot. Whenever i was about to venture up there the heavens opened. All I've managed to do is pot on my tomato plants and sow some more broad beans. My fingers are itching to get things planted out at the plot. Hopefully it'll stop raining long enough for me to get a bit done now that I've got three days off from work, fingers crossed!
    I have been enjoying my first rhubarb pickings, turning them into a good old fashioned crumble. I've managed to get some more today after the gale force winds have blown over the stems and broken some. Well we cant have them going to waste, so Im thinking i might try making a rhubarb fool tonight.

Tomato Time!

  
    All my tomato seeds that I sowed last week have emerged. I always wait till April to sow mine because they'll be grown outside which means they need to be ready for June.  I think tomatoes are the vegetable that I most enjoy to grow. I love to grow lots of different varieties. This year I've chosen to grow 'Ferline' (my good old faithful), 'Black Krim', and 'Amish Gold'. Then 'Black Cherry', 'Green Grape' and 'Gardener's Delight' for gorgeous cherry toms and I'll be trying to grow 'Rambling Gold Stripe' and 'Fountain' in a hanging basket. Ive grown tomatoes once before in a basket with great success but that was with shop brought Tumbling Tom plants.  The seedlings seem so tiny at the moment, but I'm looking forward to a late summer harvest of tasty juicy toms! What tomatoes are you growing this year? have you got a favourite tom?

Planting Potatoes

  

   After a long time chitting it was finally time to get my potatoes into the ground. I planted some in grow bags in the garden and also planted a row up at the plot. This way I can compare the yields of growing them in different ways. Im only growing salad potatoes as main crop take up too much space and are easily available in the shops. All my chitted potatoes had good strong shoots appearing which should help get a successful crop slightly earlier than non-chitted.

    I've also planted Jerusalem Artichokes for the first time this year. I planted them in two short rows at the plot. After seeing Alys Fowler harvest them and turn them into a tasty looking gratin, I've been intrigued to try them. She stated they were a crop that need little attention and provide a bumper crop for little effort. So I look forward to trying them this winter.

Shallots are in

    Ive never grown shallots before, so im very excited to see how they grow. Each bulb is meant to produce several others, i dont know if they split and divide or grow extras. I love shallots thrown whole into stews or finely sliced into salads. I will just need to keep these weed free as they dont like competition. It feels good to be starting to work the ground again and to be able to plant things. The growing season has finally started...

Spring is in the air...

    March 1st was a glorious day to spend at the plot. It really felt like spring had arrived. I was pleased to see that most of my garlic appears to have survived the winter. As it was my first winter on the plot i didnt know how wet the soiled stayed, so i made sure to add some grit to improve drainage. It seems to have payed off as there are loads of tiny green shoots poking up through the ground.

   My brassicas have also survived the winter. The nets put in place have withstood the gale force winds that we had. They have done the job and kept the hungry pigeons off. This is a photo of a white sprouting broccoli. Ive also got brussel sprouts and spring cabbages. I think they went in a bit late but hopefully now the weathers warming up they might take off and get growing.

Let the chitting begin

   My first veg job of the year! Now I dont normally start chitting potatoes till Feb but my delivery came early. Im not growing as many potatoes as i did last year on the plot as i never managed to eat them all. I dont grow main crop as it takes up too much space, so I'm sticking to new potatoes. I will still be growing some in my three grow bags in my garden and the extra potatoes i have left will make a small row on my plot. The varieties Ive chosen this year are Rocket, International Kidney and Belle De Fontenay. Ive had to use my trug to chit them in as ive not got enough egg boxes or windowsill space.

    As you can see I've also got shallots in there with them. These are 'Pesandor'. I've never grown shallots before but i thought I'd give them a go this year. I'm quite intrigued to see how they grow little groups of shallots from the original bulb. It said to store them in a light place so I've put them with my potatoes to separate the different varieties so they dont get muddled up.