Kitchen Garden Forum

Ahh-yes, I did manage to recover some tarragon that rooted though all of it left to it's own devices in clay pots outside failed.

The seedlings are little gem, some poached-egg plants and stocks. Sorrel and parsley are still in the warm shed and I'm getting more confident now I haven't had any 2014 failures.

I started picking cabbage whilst it's young, might be my imagination but it really did taste quite different in a lovely way. Even though I said I wouldn't I have planted red onion, whilst white cooking onion didn't impress me the red onion was fabulous and I didn't get any white-rot in that bed.

This year I'm to treat the affected bed with a garlic/onion slurry in water to hopefully kill-off the white-rot.

I was thinking, as I weeded the garlic this afternoon, we'll really find out this year how important a period of frost is to creating a good bunch of cloves. We have never had a really penetrating frost. Nice tops on them, only one missing out of 80 (usually get them all) and no doubles so I must have divided them properly for once.
Do the people who eat shepherd's purse eat it because it is a nice salad or out of revenge? I've never tried it but I have lots of it this year.

I feel a minor milestone coming on.

Hit 19 degrees today on lottie today! Slowly getting it in shape but doing quite a bit of moving & fixing rather than digging & weeding so a little bit frustrating as results not quite so obvious.

Found a dead chicken on the plot & I don't have any. Asked around & no one is missing any - maybe a fox brought it there from someone's back garden, but not even sure it was a fox as was pretty intact, head on only the breast missing.

Westi

Sixteen mile dog walk on Saturday gainedbme a collection of three foot blisters carefully dug two rod on the allotment today
Took the weed membrane off both last years squash patches and they've dried out enough to turn over, so one done, one to do.

And here it is...




I approve of Summer(time) so far! What a great few days to get things drying at last.

Congratulations Geoff, i couldn't work out what the milestone was, until your last post.

And we hope you make many more posts.

I see our dear Primrose has a double hit in the latest K.G.Magazine.

Oh my goodness. What have I been up to now? I haven't read it yet. Well, I wasn't Page 3 Girl, that's for sure!

What a difference a year makes. March is my most expensive month for electricity as I use the propagator with its lights and heat the greenhouse. I use between 280 and 300 units a month but March 2013 was a ridiculous 720 units (bitterly cold and misbehaving thermostat) but March 2014 has only been 407 (mild, new thermostat and new greenhouse insulation).

Dear Primrose, i have just noticed you are on page 35 too.

I'm on page 49....

Set nine rows of early potatoes,300 onion sets,100shallots,2rows of peas,carrots and two rows of beet root,in the last week,have been very busy.There has been a lot of activity on our Lottie,the last few days. O.H has been very busy two.

Dear OH, 14 pages between us , so near and yet so far.
Is the the May edition? I'm still waiting for mine. Are you photographed in your best gardening outfit? Mine wouldn't,t bear public inspection!

Dear Primrose, it is indeed the May issue!
Your picture is quite pleasing, and i do like your sunglasses.
As for mine, it has to rely on thoughtful words for my description.

Old Codger is going at it hammer and tong again today, might get my deck-chair out and watch.
I've had to return home to cool off, as there are two young ladies working on the plot next to mine. And unlike me, they are very well spoken.

Alas I cannot post.a comment on the Tiger Nuts thread as a whale seems to have gobbled up all the techie space on it and prevented me from Responding. I can only hope that what grows underneath is as healthy and productive as the foliage growing on top.
I recall them with some affection from my childhood classroom days although there was one occasion when one child substituted some anaenome corms for tiger nuts with rather unpleasant consequences for the child who was duped!