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 :)

Calabrese, Perpetual Spinach, Peppers, and Summer Berries

It's got to that great time of year when I can visit the allotment and pick a whole bunch of things for dinner. To go with my Sharpe's Express first early's that we harvested last weekend I got some calabrese...

...some perpetual spinach...

...some green sweet peppers...

...and last, but certainly not least, raspberries, loganberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, and gooseberries! There was only a handful of ripe loganberries, but in the last few days the raspberries have come out in force, which was surprising since it has done nothing but rain for weeks. 

This year I am absolutely determined not to let the vast majority of the gooseberries and currants go to waste and am going to attempt to make some jam. My first attempt at jam making will no doubt appear in a post sometime soon :)

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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