Herefordshire Russett

Planted a Hereford bred Apple tree in Berkshire the other day. I think the russett is a great apple and look forward to the first crop in a few years time. It is a late cropper with the appearance of a Cox but much of the mouthfeel of a Russett apple. Should also prove to be a decent cider making fruit.

Baby jerusalem Artichokes

If you are a lazy gardener like me you might consider pulling up the Jerusalem artichokes early. I pulled half my crop at the weekend, to reveal very small, but smooth and delicious baby artichokes that don't need hours of cleaning before being cooked. They really are a taste sensation and serving tiny little fellows like they are now provides a talking point for any dinner party.

Courgettes go Crazy

A recent spell of rain has meant the courgettes have grown quicker than we can harvest and eat them. 3 plants will produce enough for a family of four. Alternatively plant one or two more and when the glut comes (as it will) start pickling!

Bindweed

Our friends let their plot go to pieces for a while due to other comittments this year and it go covered in bindweed. Potatoes have suffered, but onions seem to have pulled through despite being completely strangled by the weeds.

Wine

Two demijohns of wine still sitting in the under-stairs cupboard. Racked twice and it now looks clear. Time to try it.

Main crop potatoes

We planted 60 King Edwards seed potatoes. The patch had been rotavated, but the soil was stil clay heavy so we dug trenches one spadelength deep and planted the potatoes 10 rows of six , eyes up 15 inches apart. A light scattering of chicken manure pellets and some particularly rich loamy soil on top of the potatoes was all the extra help we gave them. the soil was wet enough that we didn't think it worth the bother of watering, a decisious we may regret. Not much evidence of pests in the soil, but also a little worryingly hardly any worms visible either.

Grapes

After visiting How to make cider we processed enough apples for 3 demijohns of the golden nectar. Then the grape harvest came in and now we have a cupboard full off fermenting white grape juice.

Still Harvesting

I went to the allottment yesterday and came home with a huge handful of spinach and Swiss Chard, both of which are still growing due to the mild winter so far. I chopped them up with garlic and ginger, wilted the stems and then added the lot to an omlette for a very tasty lunch.

Jerusalem Artichokes are amazing

We picked loads of them. With their smoky flavour these are the perfect winter vegetable. They grew well in our clay soil on a patch that had beans the previous year.

The Organic Garden

The Organic garden is a great new site

http://www.theorganicgarden.co.uk

if you like your veg an stuff to be as healthy and delicious as they can be.

Greens

The Chard is doing phenomenonally well. The wierd weather this season seems to have really helped the greens although everything else suffered in our allotment.

Tomorrow we will pull up the Jerusalem Artichokes and see if they ammounted to anything.