Chop Chop!

Sometimes it helps to be slow. We had a lazy morning and didn't make it to the plot till 2:30 but then the sun was finally managing to break through. We had a pleasant 2½ hours with a temperature of about 9° listening to the red kite calling overhead and the terns (Oops! See comment below) screeching over the canal.
A less welcome sound was of shooting in the distance, but some people do seem to hate deer and pheasants :( It upsets me, but perhaps they were clay pigeon shooting ...

We had our plans for what to do today; Jamie potted on the raspberry bush ('Ruby Beauty' from Thompson & Morgan). It claims to produce lots of fruit even in its first year and we intend to net it so we get to eat more than the birds!
My aim was to clear the two raised beds. The big salad bed was full of weeds and grass so at least now there is an area of clear earth showing! We should cover that until it's time to start sowing otherwise the weeds will take over again quite quickly.

The smaller raised bed still had beets in it... It seems wasteful, but at least the uneaten veggies are perfectly recycled as compost.

Lessons learned: don't grow Cylindra beets in a raised bed and don't leave them to get too big... Look at those prize-winning funny-shaped vegetables! I'm sticking to Boltardy beets this year.

I got chopped out of the photo...but chopping the beets up in a bucket was pleasing and warmed me up so even I took my coat off.

The resulting purple mess was layered in the compost bin with dry waste, like the the dried-out tops of the wildflowers. That should rot down nicely and fairly quickly - though may also prove irresistible to mice!

Another vegetable destined for the compost bin - the swedes. We didn't get to eat any of them - they all bolted :-( Shop-bought neeps and tatties for the Burns Night meal on Monday I'm afraid!

Frozen Sprouts and Skittles

The weather has gone really cold over the last few nights with some proper frost which stays put all day in the shade. The temperature has been down to at least -5°. The skies have remained clear with beautiful blue skies during the day and fabulous starry nights with a bright waxing (e.g. newish) moon. Jamie visited the plot yesterday to feed our ever-present robin and pick some (frozen) Brussels sprouts for our evening meal.

We had a lovely cheesy, sprouts and Quorn lardons bake - delicious, but wish we'd had some mixed chopped nuts to add to the top to make it extra crunchy. It was a very tasty way to eat the sprouts.

I think the frost had done its job of making the sprouts a bit more flavoursome.

Last Saturday night we had our HAHA skittles evening at the Royal British Legion in Hungerford. It was a great night, really good fun. There were at least 24 people on each side (HAHA versus RBL) which was such a brilliant turnout we're sure to hold another event later in the year I'm sure. Anyway, the RBL need another chance to beat us ;-)

As Cold As Ice

Finally we've had some frosty nights this winter, so we went to see the plot this afternoon but not to do any work - too frozen. I mostly played with the ice while Jamie fed and watched the birds.

I think this looks rather galactic, but actually it's just our rain gauge...

 

This looks like a PhotoShop effect...

But it's the real world though the ice from a bucket...

And the birds were very lively. Starting with a beautiful male bullfinch, but he didn't hang round for long enough to get a photo with my small camera. So, it's mostly robin photos but I did also manage to snap this long-tailed tit - such pretty little bids.

Now, bring on the robins...

There were 3 trying to get at the food Jamie put out at one point. These two had an argument and flew off across the site.

Leaving just one to eat the worms!

Last Sunday a few of us from the HAHA committee enjoyed a lovely New Year's lunch with the Curridge Horticultural Society - very pleasant at the Newbury & Crookham Golf Club.

Then on Monday we had the HAHA general meeting. Lots of plotholders turned up to hear what the committee are trying to achieve and what possibilities may be available for us. The District Councillor, Mayor and Newbury Weekly News journalist were also in attendance.

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/hungerford/17015/Allotment-holders--resent-being-.html

And tonight we have a HAHA versus Royal British Legion skittles evening! What fun!

Nice Weather for...

...Ducks!

It wasn't raining when we walked up to the allotment today. We knew it would be soggy after so much rain over the last week though. We did have one night of frost, but it's mostly been about rain.

At the Town Council meeting on Monday we heard that the housing developer is granting us a one year extension on the site lease - with the 'possibility' of a permanent lease if planning is granted on an entirely separate piece of land in the town. We have the HAHA General Meeting this Monday so it'll be good to hear how the other plotholders feel. 

So, it's great that we can start preparing for April now, but will likely have to look forward to this again in a year's time. 

Newbury Weekly News

Some things are still growing (not just the grass). This is one of the beetroots which Jamie sowed in late July (or possibly later than that)! Wonder if it'll actually ever bulb up?

We have started ordering. Jamie's ordered some tomato plants and I've ordered some stuff, including loofah seeds! We also have plans for spuds but more on all this when things actually get delivered!

I bet mine won't look as perfect as these ones!

We hadn't been on site long when it started pouring and the wind blew up. This year's robin hid rather than eating the food we took up for him and I hid too, thank goodness for the greenhouse! (It's the sound that's better than the video on this...)

 

I hope it's not like this for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of the month!

 

Happy New Year!

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