Kitchen Garden Forum

Well i have managed to crack on with the Winter digging over the allotment this week and have made really good progress. Just the section where the Wintergreens are and another smaller section where the Leeks are, that's left. So all in all, feel rather pleased with the situation.

A little bit hopeful to be getting too excited but, the birds were singing beautifully this morning at first light.

Everything froze solid here to cold for the birds to be singing the sun has just broken through the grey cloud if the sun wins it could be a nice morning

Soggy and cold here, not good digging conditions on my clay yet.
Past few weeks instead of loitering at the Allotment society shop I've kicked off a tidy up.

Started in November by tidying the compost and fertiliser in the big shed.
Then moved the shelving system from being hidden behind the counter in the little shed into the big shed and got all the stock on it sorted and visible.
This week we cleaned the counter and shelves in the little shed.

Next week?
Maybe move the bins of loose fertiliser into one of the other two small sheds.
Then we can redo the inside of little shed starting with the electrics.

Been raining all day here & i had a wee look at the weather on my phone and have rain clouds showing everyday up to Tuesday week! I have puddles everywhere on the lawn, but whiled away the day cleaning & re-arranging the kitchen cupboards. I'll be cursing for the next week or so, but felt pretty good getting rid of useless things I haven't used regularly.

We've got frost and a bit of snow, still have the brassica bed to add compost to and build my bunny free fence round it.

Beautiful day today with lots of sun, but I was spending it mostly in the kitchen, including another big batch of marmalade (Seville oranges, grapefruit and lemons this time) and cooking large pots of soup for the coming week, but we did pop to the allotment to check on it and all was well, though rather soggy underfoot.

Did the Birdwatch in the early afternoon and the little tweets did us proud - all the regulars appeared.

Nice to see the forum has another full page in the March issue of the Kitchen garden magazine.
I still think the KG Magazine is the best gardening magazine on sale at the moment. The team really have managed to get a very well balanced magazine indeed and long may it carry on.

I haven't seen the March issue yet, but I do agree with OH that KG is the best gardening magazine around, certainly for vegetable and fruit gardening. And the photos seem to be taken for the article rather than picked from a library.

Must go and get one

Yes it's a nice full magazine again with lots of interesting articles and not overwhelmed with adverts like some others. Some useful seeds too. I'll definitely grow the snap peas and the strawberries.

I got going on for 20 species with the RSPB Bird watch on Saturday Monika, but it wouldn't let me add Sparrowhawk or Lesser Redpoll on line. Their form seemed more biased towards getting people to join the RSPB than recording the birds.

Seed potatoes arrived last Friday, they range in size from bantam egg to almost spuds in the jacket size. I was just to lazy to drive six miles to a nursery that has some 40 varieties on a self select basis. The only reason I ordered online, they were doing a free week end free postage. Looking at them whilst typing this email, I am tempted to dump them and drive the six miles. Woe is me.

Sorry to hear your tale Shallot Man

A perfect example of why I have never ordered seed potatoes online, just never know what you might get.
I would phone and express dissatisfaction.

If that achieves nothing the Bantam Egg ones should crop ok.

Inspect the "jacket potato" size ones and cut into two parts so both parts have eyes. Allow the cut faces to dry, then chit and plant in the normal way.
It was common practice when potatoes were In short supply to carry out this practice so its nothing new or untried.

That's very frustrating Shallot Man....i have had bags like that too, in the distant past....i used them by planting two of the smallest in each hole and the big ones as normal.... had a shorter row, but the crop wasn't a lot less. But it is annoying when you have what they should be like set in your mind!!!

OH & Pa Snip. Does no-one look at the seed potatoes. Or is it a case of that will do. Bugger the customer. Still fuming.