Moving Slowly

I have moved over a couple of our purple sprouting broccoli plants. The lady in charge of the allotment told me not to because they were too big. I couldn't resist moving just a couple to see what happens. Shhhh don't tell her she will never know. It seems a shame to leave all of them for the next people who take over our old plot.

I needed to move our netting to the new plot so I imagine those that were left will be attacked by pigeons anyway. If they don't survive it makes the new plot seem more like our own now that we have got some of our own plants in there.

The last couple of times I have been to the allotment it has been really quiet. There is a reason for that. It is pretty dull, cold and rainy at the moment. I was the only person there today and it was really peaceful.

I moved over our stawberry plants to the new plot today. They did well for us last year even though they only cost a couple of pounds from the supermarket. Hopefully the move won't kill them off. The children enjoyed picking and eating them when they were ripe. Not many of them made it home.

Feed The Birds

It feels like winter now. There will be no digging on the new allotment for a while. Everywhere is looking quite spectacular.

Ducks ice skating.

We have been doing our bit to look after our feathered friends while the weather is bad. They need water as well as food so we have fashioned our own makeshift birdbath. It is getting frozen every day in this weather. The blackbird has been a regular visitor so we need to break to ice in the morning and top up the water.

We have bought a new bird feeder which is said to attract goldfinches as they are partial to nyger seed. So far we have had a blue tit and a great tit but not a goldfinch in sight. The robin comes quite a lot too. We will wait and see if the goldfinches arrive. We have put out a few old apples too and the birds just love it.

The coconut bird feeder has been popular with the great tits. The peanuts seem to get the most attention from lots of blue tits and some occasional long tail tits too. At the weekend I spied a woodpecker but he didn't come into our garden. Our star visitor so far has been the bullfinch whose bright orange feathers just look fabulous against the white snow.

Mmmmm lovely worms. It looks bad but the birds like it! It is important to feed the birds in your garden, especially in winter. But you need to keep doing it because they come to rely on the food that you put out for them. Ours have got plenty to keep them going at the moment.

New Year New Plot

Brrrrrr!

Happy new year! We have had a phone call to say that the plot is now ours. We went today to have a walk around. It's all very exciting. New year and new possibilities. A happy and healthy new year to all!

New Plot Soon

We got some good news this week. We have been offered a new plot (in the picture it goes up to the path behind the green storage bin). It is a half plot instead of a quarter so we will have more space. The previous owner is moving away, so luckily it isn't a site that has been neglected for a long time. It even comes with a shiny new water butt and is in a nice quiet position. We will have to maintain the hedge behind which is no problem. Hopefully we can take it over after December 31st. Now it is a case of deceiding how to lay it all out. It is quite tempting to get on and start digging and moving things but we aren't allowed yet. Hurrah for us!

Seed Potatoes

I received my seed potatoes in the post today. Thinking that it was something I ordered for Christmas it was a surprise to see a bag of potatoes. I have chosen Orla from the organic catalogue. Allegedly they have a high blight, scab and blackleg resistance. Not sure what blackleg is but happy to resist it. The potatoes last year didn't do very well so we will see how these fair. I have put them in egg boxes for chitting, with their little buds pointing upwards. They have to be put in the dark before sprouting. I will keep them there until they are ready for chitting and then take the lid off the box and give them some light.

Seeds and Mushroom Beginnings

These are the seeds that I was drying out from our bean plants. I should have saved more but the drying out seems to have worked. I'm sure Carol Klein would be proud of my efforts. We will see if they last the winter without rotting and then hopefully I will plant them in Spring.

There is also some mushroom action in the oyster mushroom bag. Not much, admittedly, But something. There are quite a few white mossy bits and there is a slight wiff of mushroom from the bag which should be a good sign. Although the straw looks a bit soggy at the bottom. The experiment continues...

Where is our snow?

The news said that we were to recieve an ample covering of snow during the night. We woke up to torrential rain. This was not the winter wonderland the weather lady promised us. Much disappointment all round. What happened to the blizzards? Who has my snow?