First weeding of the year at the allotment

Nice day so ambled along to the allotment.Dug up the rest of my Gladiator parsnips,harvested some brussel sprouts and leeks and weeded the leek and garlic section.I also did a bit of digging.
For later on in the year I measured  my plot to see where everything is going to go.
In the garden I have hacked away a section of Hemerocallis that has gradually taken over since we moved in and cut down rudbeckias.all added to the compost heap.
Its still too cold to plant anything out so i have started a few batches of seeds on the windowsills.
So far Bunyatd Exhibition and Aquadulce broad beans that are now in the greenhouse,Stamme onions,Bedfordshire Champion onions,Leeks,Garlic Chives,Sweet Genovese Basil and Cheyenne chillis.
Of course the windowsill is already full.
From my Seed circle swap the Babbington leeks and Walking onions are both up and have been relocated to the conservatory.
I have been down to the allotment shop and come back with Pentland Javelin first earlies,Charlotte,Pink Fir Apple and Rumba onions.

Skip diving and compost.

A fruitful journey past a skip last night saw me liberate 15 assorted large pots which will be useful for my tomato plants.Today I concentrated  on my garden compost heaps.1 heap contained last years leaf mould which has been relocated,lots of worms so I expect some decent stuff later on in the year.1 heap was moved to a different compartment and will now be left until spring.I sieved the middle compartment and potted on some rogue daffodils that had started to sprout and got a decent bags worth of garden compost.I now have one empty compartment which will form the basis of this years efforts.The recent frosts have finally blackened the dahlias so they have been lifted and are currently dying in the conservatory.

Parsnips

 A nice day saw a trip to the allotment and a bit of digging resulting in a number of Gladiator parsnips.I also dug over a decent bit of soil which the recent rain has made very easy.Two bags of waste for the tip in a general tidy up and a bit of time retrieving a dalek and some plastic cloches that the weather had scattered about.

Hellebore Niger has flowered in the garden which adds a bit of colour.

First planting of the year

I got some Allium Purple Sensation for Christmas and planted them up in a big pot today.The nice weather encouraged me to empty out the greenhouse and tidy up.Feeling energetic I then cleaned up my vegetable patch and foolishly dug it all over.The neighbouring tree has grown some brutal roots and the final straw was a 9 inch lump of stone  which I finally managed to excavate.It will look nice in the rockery.
I dug up my Gladiator parsnips and they were far too small compared to the allotment,all I have left is some broccoli,a small cauliflower and some kohlrabi that I will leave for seed.
I also had a pot cleaning session.

Koralik tomatoes

 I bought some Koralik seeds from Pennard plants last year for my seed saving circle.It was my first attempt at seed saving.

I planted the seeds in late february in 3 inch pots and waited about two weeks for them to germinate.They were the slowest of all the tomato seeds that I started.I potted them on a couple of times and then placed them in a plastic greenhouse for isolation as I wanted to save the seed.
I started having fruit in the early part of July and my final crop was in late November,the indian summer helped.
They were sweet but not as good as Sungold which I grew for the first time last year as well.
I managed to save lots of seeds, so this year I will be trying them down the allotment to see if they have any blight resistant properties.
I am also going to try an early sowing for a test on the Grapevine forum to see how early i can get some fruit.

                                

Christmas Dinner

 While the weather was dry and bright I paid a visit to the allotment to get my Christmas parsnips which by now have had a decent frost.I was pleased with the result,the soil was easy to dig and i took out about 10

The Christmas brussel sprouts on the other hand were too small.I cut the top of one plant so we will have some.Unfortunately the Falstaff are a no show.
Other produce was a blue radish,a carrot,some chard and some salad leaves.
I also did a bit of digging but stopped when the couch grass became to grim.

The plot is looking a bit barren but a lot browner than last year.The weeds appear to be having a winter snooze.

Seed swaps

As I have no inclination to do anything at the allotment at the moment it was with great timing that I have received 2 envelopes from my seed swap friends.It seems unfair that I only produced 2 items when I received so much in return.There are just so many interesting seeds to go through and I will have no excuse not to fill every square meter of soil at the allotment and every pot in the garden.I will definitely be spending the next few weeks planning and reading up on the various goodies that I have.