Eventually got to the allotment

We managed to get to the plot before the cold rain started today.
Not much happening, only a couple of other people were there.

Since our last visit the minimum temperature had been -5° I've had to scrape frost from the car a few times in the last week - brrr. Good for the sprouts though!

We picked enough to for two meals. They look really good; some are huge. The enviromesh did its job stopping most pests before they did too much damage.

Picked some lovely carrots too and pulled the last potatoes (Kestrels). They had started growing but look ok, although there weren't as many as we'd hoped - we ended up having to buy some from Tescos to have enough for the two days (which is always disappointing!).

The carrots split whilst being peeled/cut. This happens quite a lot - probably because they'd been left in the ground too long. They should have been Arctic King so shouldn't mind the cold weather... Anyway, they tasted lovely. As did the sprouts, even the biggest ones and no damage beyond the outer leaves - excellent! Now we know they'll be good for Christmas dinner.

Mmmm French Bean Chutney

Before going up to the Hungetford Victorian Extravaganza we needed a snack, so...
We started on the first of the chutney. It was the batch we made with our first harvest of French beans on 30th July this year.

Really sweet and delicious with cheese and crackers.

Marsh Lane Allotments

Wish Google maps would update so we could see the plots from the sky!
Marsh Ln, Hungerford, West Berkshire RG17 0, UK http://m.google.co.uk/u/m/QtUCbA

Tenerife

We've been sunning ourselves in Tenerife for the last 10 days.

Can't help thinking what it would be like growing veggies here! We've decided that carrots would appreciate the sandy soil; potatoes would be blight free; tomatoes and peppers would be abundant and there'd be lots of squashes and melons. Only trouble is the lack of water - really would need to get that sorted! Here in the North of the island they do get some rain so it is lovely and green, but still even drier than Marsh Lane.

The veggies in the shops are pretty weak looking, the spuds tend to look like seed potatoes. Haven't seen too many bugs apart from butterflies, so there must be some caterpillars about, though I'm surprised any get past the lizards!



Aah, back home tomorrow to see if we've had any frost....

Crazy weather for November

The weather is still really warm for November (2.5degC) was the lowest last week. There hasn't been any rain for a while but it's been misty/foggy so it was pretty wet on the allotment this morning, but the sun was shining.
The weather's causing a bit of confusion - our raspberry canes are flowering again! We're going to clear them late this year or in the new year and just keep a few canes where we want them to grow - it'll be a shame if they've got fruit on them!!

We only went to have a look at the broad beans - the 3 which hadn't grown last week are still pathetic so we've left the cloches on them, the rest look happy enough though something is nibbling the leaves.

Talking of nibbling.... we didn't eat many of our sweetcorn this year as they hadn't produced very good cobs, but something is happily clearing them up for us!