Decisions, Decisions...

The weather has not been allotment-friendly of late. We had a lot of snow on Friday, which had turned to slush by Saturday, and now we have the delights of heavy rain and gales. Anyway, I thought it was best to start thinking about what to grow this year. Potatoes first....last year we grew, Sharpe's Express, Pentland Javelin, Pink Fir Apple, Kestrel, and Désirée.

The Sharpe's Express (above) and Pentland Javelin did well. Then disaster struck and we got blight (Potato Woes), so we had to move fast and dig everything up. The Désirée (above) did OK, but not fantastic as the potatoes were all on the small side. However, as you can see below the Kestrel and Pink Fir Apple crops were pretty disastrous.

So, what should I grow this year? After much umming and arring I plumped for Belana (first early), Shetland Black (second early), and Sarpo Mira (maincrop). I chose the Belana as I fancied growing a first early that I hadn't grown before, the Shetland Black because I like attempting to grow something unusual (and I thought the kids might be a little intrigued by their appearance), and the Sarpo Mira purely because of the fact that they are resistant to the evils of blight (as you may guess I am not feeling too optimistic about the weather this year!). 

I will probably end up growing some other varieties also. Despite an extrememly disappointing harvest in 2012, my Pink Fir Apple's gave me a really good crop in 2011 and I love their odd shape and their nutty flavour. On the recommendation of Flighty over at Flighty's Plot I may also have a go at growing Vales Emerald as I have never grown them before.

Summer Sunshine at Last...

...unfortunately I had to travel 2500 miles to find some. Anyway, I'm back from my holidays and was looking forward to visiting the allotment to see how much everything had grown in my 2 week absence. Unfortunately, it hadn't really (except for the weeds) as the weather has been so dismal. Today is too wet to even venture up there, never mind do anything. So, I thought I would add my holiday pictures instead.

Our camp for the evening in the Sinai desert.

The View from our Bedouin tent.

Red Sea coral reef.

My transport for our evening stay in the desert!

The intrepid explorers set off on their hot and dusty trek!

Ethan enjoyed the trip on the Red Sea.

Lots of pretty flowers in the hotel grounds, this little pink flower was my favourite.

The Bedouins demonstrated how they make bread - it was very nice!

The Sinai Mountains.

I have a thing for taking pictures of textures and repeating patterns - therefore I loved this palm-tree trunk!

The Red Sea with Tiran Island in the background, the water was shallow enough to walk out among the reefs for a good 45 minutes, it was also toasty warm.

Ethan setting off to explore the reefs.

Colourful rag rugs in the Bedouin tent.

Dusk in the Sinai Desert.

This was the view from the door of our hotel room, it was lovely watching the sunset over the mountains each evening. The view from our balcony (which I neglected to take) was over the pool and down to the Red Sea, with Tiran Island and Saudi Arabia in the distance.

Shadows at sunset.

There were a couple of trees at the Bedouin camp. The colours and shadows at sunset were fantastic.