In Which the Rhubarb Makes a Somewhat Early Appearance

Look what I discovered peeping through the soil when I visited the allotment yesterday - rhubarb (when I zoomed into this pic I also noticed the presence of a pesky slug in the underside of the unfurling leaf, which has no doubt already my new rhubarb shoots). 

What's more, another plotholder at my site has rhubarb stalks that are already 4-5 inches long. Gosh! Is it just me or is this super-early? I admit that the prospect of making rhubarb crumble, or even better rhubarb vodka, in January is cheering me up a little!

As you can see, otherwise the plot is looking a little miserable and not much is going on, except...

...the garlic is busy growing, and...

...we have plenty of  Cavolo nero and green curly kale to keep us from getting hungry during the 'hungry gap'. I really like kale, plus it is one of the best things you can eat to keeps your eyes healthy. I often add it to soups. There are some interesting kale recipes at the Discover Kale website.

Garlic Harvest!

In between the rain showers we harvested this years winter-planted garlic. I haven't had to buy garlic for the last 2 years, and hopefully I won't have to this again this year! 

It looks like we'll get a bumper crop of blackcurrants this year. The branches are so heavy with fruit that some of them are touching the floor. When the currants on these branches are ripe (as you can see below, some of them are already) am I going to cut the branch off and harvest them that way.

The loganberries and raspberries are desperately in need of some sun. The fruits are there all waiting to ripen but nothing seems to be happening. The 10-day forecast is for showers and a high of 15C, so I am beginning to lose hope :(

We grow some borage (Borago officinalis) or starflower, each year and lo and behold some new plants have sprung up around the plot. The flowers are so pretty (open and unopened as below) and the bees love them. 

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