We are back in Business

As some of you know we have spent the last 7 months travelling. Fortunately I did take a few measures to prevent the allotment getting completely over grown. Despite that, the poor weather and the council trying to allocate the allotment to someone else it looks like we are back in business.

The person who was given my allotment started to redesign my plot i.e. rip up some of the raised beds, big up rhubarb crowns and raspberry canes! So I have had a bit of work to do.
Still from the pictures it is amazing what you can do with a few hours.

Not a bad first year!

Even though I took the allotment in June 2006 last year (2007) was my first cropping year. I had some successes, a few failures and I learnt a lot of things.

Successes
Green Beans
Onions, Garlic and Shallots
Pumpkins & Courgettes
Parsnips – I thought they would only be ready Dec but I could have started eating them in October
Leeks
Made Jam, Chutney, pickled shallots, pickled beetroot and Piccalilli for the first time


Failures
Peas – use fresh seeds
Sweetcorn – pray for some sun!
Potatoes – dig bigger trenches
Dry my onions thoroughly some of them moldy

Things learnt
Use fresh seeds – if they are past the date don’t use them
Need bigger canes for runner beans
Need to have more veg ready in the Jan- April e.g. winter greens and spring broccoli

Here are a few pictures from the end of the year.