Potatoes Planted!

The potatoes are in the ground and raring to go (hopefully). We are currently running about 3 weeks behind previous years at the allotment, and I guess everyone else is in the same boat. The weather in the last week has been not too bad. It has been sufficiently warm enough to warm the soil enough to enable the weeds to make an appearance anyway! What is depressing is that the weather forecast says that we are still only going to be reaching a high of 10C or so for the next 2 weeks. Furthermore, it looks like we are set to see a couple of frosts next weekend :(

In an attempt to catch-up with things a little I did a lot of seed sowing this week. The leeks that I sowed back in February are doing well and need moving. My single dahlia seed is also slowly growing.

The broad beans I planted ages ago are doing well and are in the coldframe. They will hopefully be making their way into the ground this week. I have never grown them before so I am looking forward to seeing how they get on.

Digging Up the Last of My Winter Crops

I am being rather naughty, in that I am supposed to be working. But hey, it is 10 pm - I don't want to be doing that! Anyway, in between frantically working I have managed to squeeze in a couple of visits to the plot. The last of the curly kale and cavolo nero has been dug up to make way for planting the potatoes in a month or so.

Inspection of the kale revealed that the underside was home to lots of these cabbage whitefly (Aleyrodes brassicae). Although they hadn't done any damage they are definitely a pain, and are not something I want hanging around. According to this fantastically named blog post - Shoo (White) Fly Don't Bother Me - they don't like garlic. There is a recipe for a garlic foliar spray on the aforementioned post, which they supposedly hate. I think I might give it a try myself this year. If that doesn't work, maybe some guests will check-in to my insect hotel (now installed on the shadiest wall of the shed) and kindly eat them all for me :D

I also dug up the last of my leeks. These are destined for Winter leek soup and a leek, tomato, and 2-cheese tart (which I will hopefully get the time to post about soon). 

I would like to say thank you for all the lovely comments people have left recently - I am sorry that I haven't replied, I really have been super-busy with work and I will reply very soon (hopefully tomorrow). Back to work for me now :(

Winter Leek Soup

Unless you are exceptionally organised, there is little to harvest from the allotment in January. Unfortunately, the cabbages and purple sprouting broccoli I did plant in hope of eating throughout the 'hungry gap' got eaten by the slugs. Last year was a very good year for slugs, and as the weather was so mild until the last week or so, they were still on the rampage in January - I spotted one only the other week eating my newly sprouted rhubarb leaves. Anyway, one thing that most people do have to harvest at this time of year is leeks, and a great thing to make with leeks is leek soup. I make two different leek soups 'winter leek soup'  and 'summer leek soup'. As we are currently in the depths of winter I am making winter leek soup today.

 

When I first began making leek soup I used a recipe from Delia's Smith's Vegetarian Collection, however I have refined it over the years by adding extra ingredients - in the case of my winter version Cavolo nero, curly kale, and peas. The recipe below will make 6 large bowls of delicious soup. 

1. Trim and wash 6-8 leeks (depending on their size.) Cut the leeks into half lengthways, then chop finely and wash thoroughly. Cutting the leeks into half first will enable you to give them a really good wash.
2. Dice 1 large onion.
3. Wash and chop 4 green curly kale leaves and 4 Cavolo nero leaves (you can use kale only if you don't grow Cavolo nero).
4. Wash and dice 1 large potato or 2-3 small potatoes - I prefer to leave the skin on as they are a rich source of nutrients.
5. Gently melt 1 oz (25 g) butter in a large pan and add all the ingredients, stirring to ensure they are all coated with butter. 
6. Add one large cup of frozen peas to the pan and stir again.
7. Season with plenty of salt and black pepper, put the lid on, turn the heat down as low as it will go, and leave the ingredients to 'sweat' for 15 minutes or so.
8. Add 300 ml semi-skimmed milk, and 1 litre of vegetable stock to the pan. Add a little water if needed (there should be enough liquid to nearly cover all the vegetables). Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Blend and serve.
9. If you are a vegan simply swap the butter for 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, swap the milk for unsweetened soy milk.

It is often recommended to serve leek soup with a swirl of cream or crème fraîche, however I don't do that. Sometimes I add a little grated mature cheddar cheese, although it is delicious without!

Daffodils, Leeks, and a Frosty Morning Walk

I finally got around to digging up a few of my leeks. These are destined for my winter leek soup. I think I will probably dig up the remaining 20 or so this week also. It is strange, many of the leeks at other plots on the allotment threw up a flower long before Christmas, however ours haven't done that yet, which is good news.

Last Friday I spotted a bag of 30 mixed daffodils reduced in Asda to £1.25. As you can see some of them had already sprouted. I know its a bit of a gamble, but I really would like to see the plot looking a bit more cheery at this time of year. So, in the ground they have gone. Fingers crossed I will have some lovely yellow daffodils come early March.

The runner beans are moving to a new part of the plot this year. My Dad has been busy preparing the bean trench and uncovered 2 of these boulders, in total we have now discovered 3 huge stones. The one he discovered last year took 3 people to lift it!

It was such a gorgeous day today I went for a walk up a local hill called the Hoad. There was a dusting of snow on the top. The sheep seemed to be enjoying their breakfast!

There was a good covering of snow on Coniston Old Man and the Furness Fells...

I love Winter when it's like this! A month or so of bright blue skies, frost, and a little dusting of snow would cheer me up no end. I hope the weather stays like this until Spring. #pleasenomorerain!

Yet More Signs of Life

My plot seems a little ahead of itself this year. Last week I noticed that the rhubarb had made a surprise early-January appearance. Then I read that Colin at the recycled gardener had noticed that his rhubarb and his chives were showing signs of growth. It wasn't raining today so I decided to inspect my chives to find out if there were any signs of life...

...which indeed there were. However, what's more, my  loganberry and three blueberry bushes are also in bud.

Gosh, I think they are all going to be in for a big surprise this weekend! Anyway, before the supposed big chill sets in I am off to the allotment tomorrow afternoon (weather permitting) to harvest my leeks. A job that I should of done ages ago :)