Vinny's Allotment Plot

Interesting, do the local birds not pull some of them out when you plant them like that?

Yes they do now and again. The bed with glass over it next to most recently planted sets also has onion sets in it. The glass stops predation but also gievs a modicum of warmth which will hopefully help me to stagger maturity times.

My microwave blew up on me today so straight away I ordered a new one and picked it up frm my local Argos . My allotment site is on the route home with it inthe car so I thought I would call in and check on things.
I thought my main job would be replacing onion sets that had been pulled out by birds. This was not the case though and all was as I had left it as can be seen by the piccie.
I did a bit of hand weeding in another Jap onion bed I had planted earlier. These onions were a lot further on than the others but weeds had started to creep in. The soil was very 'claggy' though and my hands soon became loaded with claggy cold soil.
Some of the 'weeds' were self sown poached egg plants which were worth keeping. I spent some time digging these up and re-planting them in the border. Still a lot  more to dig up yet, but that will be at a laer date. It was too cold and claggy to work on today so I gave up and left it for another day!

Ist time at plot in 2023! Happy New Year everyone.  Had a bit of a natter with a couple of plot holders who had also been drawn out by the sunshine.

It was bright today but frosty so decided to do a bit of weeding. The diagonal paths looked the worst so I planned to weed one path, then call it a day. I finished up weeding two paths eventually.
I also cleared up some of the dead foliage on the parsnips and beetroot.
I like to kneel when i hand weed (easier on the back) and I had a plastic bag full of semi rotted grass cuttings which when folded made a comfortable kneeling platform with the sun on my back
I came away with some leeks and beetroot which were surprisingly firm. Leek & potato soup tomorrow! .

Called in at allotment on way home from gym. I only had my shortsand tee shirt so didn't stop long. One of the cold frames I had covered with a sheet of glass was now devoid of glass and the cold frame behind it was full of broken glass. I can only surmise that the strong winds last night had flipped the glass and broken it!  Greenhouse didn't appear to have any more battle scars I was pleased to note.

My PSB are starting to head up? I didn't expect this, this early in the season, but they are one of my favourite veg so will be a welcome addition at any time of year!

In the short time I was ther I decided to dig a few parsnips. Rather stumpy but once peeled and chopped into chunks they will also be a welcome addition.

Piccies of the parsnips I dug and PSB starting to head up below!

Called in at plot today because I was walking Kato in that vicinity,

 Nothig much to report other than I replaced quite a few japanese onion sets which were lying on the surface. The PSB is still not quite ready for harvesting but I am looking forward to when it is.
I was goinfg to grab a few leeks when I was there but didn't have a bag to put them in.Must come better prepared next time.

You need some pannier bags for Kato - then he can carry them home for you.

You need some pannier bags for Kato - then he can carry them home for you.

The weather we have had lately a sled would have been appropriate!

Took Kato for a walk with some flowers in a plastic bag for Helen's grave. As the allotment site is quite cose to the graveyard I always call in.I harvested some leeks from two different types,one has dark green leaves and the other light green. I used the bag I had for the flowers to hold the leeks.

One thing I noticed was that the onion sets I had planted in a bed covered with sheets of glass were a lot further on than the sets I had planted uncoveed at the same time. The ones under glass are showing greenery, whereas the others are not.

I think I will make some leek pudding and possibly some leek and potato soup with harvest?