Slash and Hack; Slash and Hack.....

....and before long you'll have a pile like this. Just need some prolonged dry & windy weather to dry it out and I can have a MOAB (Mother of All Bonfires).

Elsewhere, rhubarb is back


But so are pigeons. This was once, last week, sprouting broccoli.

The one good thing in this is that it isn't mine! It's from the plot next to mine; close enough to share a loathing of pigeons.

Seed order in!!

I like to grow something new every year. This year it's:

• Limnanthes douglasii - the poached egg plant, introduced by David Douglas in 1827. Long-standing readers of this blog will understand my David Douglas obsession. For the rest of you, start in 2008. The David Douglas film documentary is almost ready for release; keep watching this space.
  

• Sorrel

• Parsnips - in truth, I've grown Parsnips before but they're a pain in the parsnip. Slow to germinate, seeds only last one year, prone to canker, don't like 'em that much. But there is an enthusiasm for hearty soups, containing.....you've guessed it.

• Celery (see parsnips)

• Chilli - anxious not to repeat the great Chilli Oil disaster I'm trying some chillies intended for drying

• Night-scented Stoics (very hardy)

Not so much Eton Mess, as.....

......Raspberry Mess. Look at the state of these; they were never tied in last summer, for reasons which elude me now but it was clearly a mistake.


Hey Ho, nothing half an hour with a pair of secateurs can't solve, plus a hefty dose of "must do better" for this year.

The rest of it looks reasonably tidy, providing you don't look too closely.

There's a reason the camera is pointing in that direction and it isn't only because the light was better!

Opening the account.....

.....for 2011, that is.

Happy New Year to you all. Here's looking forward to an energetic & productive year of allotmenting. Attaboy!!!!

Two years ago today I'd just been admitted to hospital with acute appendicitis, my first hospitalisation for half a century. Today, sans appendix, I've been much busier.

No pictures, because it's just been too murky and dull, but in a packed programme this afternoon I've:

• finished the end-panel of the "manure bay". Amazing what you can do with an old pallet and a couple of posts.
• pruned the Blackberries (Bedford Giant & Oregon Thornless) and tied them both in. If 2010 was productive, Blackberry-wise, 2011 looks set fair to match it, if the number of fruiting canes is anything to go by
• picked Leeks & Cavolo Nero to accompany tonight's roast chicken

It looks as though I'm going to have to do some more repairs on both my metal water butts. They both have a huge block of ice in them, comprising about a third of the volume, but are otherwise empty of water. They were both full before the cold weather. I suspect the entire contents have frozen and sprung a leak in the bottom seam.

It feels as though I've done something productive today, and it's now a full 12 days since the Winter Solstice - it must be starting to get light again soon? Please.