A new bird on the plot

Last week was a bit of a teaser. One minute it was bright and sunny and it felt as though spring was knocking on the door. Then, when you were ready to let it in, it backed off and hid behind the clouds.

Some of our top up seeds arrived so we are more than ready to make a start on the new growing season.

Not to be put off by the fickle weather patterns, plants in the garden are coming into bloom in ever increasing numbers.

The hellebores seem to be late to flower this year and are vying with the mini daffodils, shrubs and crocuses for attention.

Ruby's walks saw us back to trying to get her to dodge the mud, something that she is not good at. We paid a visit to Nostell Priory which is almost becoming a weekly event. I didn't take any photos as we were accompanied by drizzle which started to threaten to become heavier rain. Our visit was shorter than usual and Ruby ended up needing a date with the shampoo bottle.

Earlier in the year, I bought a couple of garlic bulbs which were advertised as suitable for spring planting. I didn't want to leave the planting until too late and the ground is still too soggy for planting out, so we decided to start the cloves off in pots.

Martyn also decided to sow a couple of salad leaves. These have been put in an upstairs room under a grow light. I guess this marks the real beginning of our growing season.

On the same day we did some tidying in the garden but there is still lots to do.

We managed an afternoon at the allotment which involved more tidying. Some of the beds are even ready to go when planting starts later this month.

As usual, we had a wander around the plot to take note of which plants are growing and which are struggling. It looks as though we may soon be able to enjoy our first rhubarb of the season.

The Early Timperley clumps have put on lots of new growth and just need a little more warmth to spur them into producing stems. The later varieties are just beginning to push fat leaf buds through the soil. They have all been given a top dressing of fish, blood and bone to give them  boost.

Cherry, blackcurrant and cobnut

Buds are swelling on the fruit trees and bushes and will also be bursting into leaf and flower as soon as they are certain that winter has been defeated.

Blueberry, pear and jostaberry

Despite having had lots of crops spoiled by the weather we managed to gather together a small harvest.

Mixed variety leeks, broccoli Rudolph and Sabrosa savoy

We harvested the first sprigs of our Rudolph broccoli, more leeks and a couple of small savoy cabbages. The savoys, although small, seem to have stood up to the weather better than the smooth leaved cabbages.

Back in the kitchen, I used some of our frozen tomato sauce with some bought in ravioli.

I'd ordered some Parmesan shavings but was disappointed that they came as small squares as I'd expected something shaped more like wood shavings.

Onions and carrot were used with French beans and peas from the freezer to make a vegetable paella.

Some of our leeks went into a chicken bean and leek bake which was accompanied  by hasselback potatoes

More leeks and carrot along with some freshly picked coriander were used in a vegetable and lentil casserole. This is the third harvest from a pot of coriander that has been kept all winter in the garden greenhouse. I can't find the link for this recipe but it was basically leeks, carrot, celery, courgette and garlic fried for a short time. Cumin seed, ground coriander, tumeric, black pepper and red lentils were added and then tinned chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and stock. This was cooked for about 30 minutes and chopped coriander was added before serving.

Finally, during most of the afternoon at the allotment a new bird joined in the chorus being provided by robins, blackbirds and tits. What the new chorister lacked in tune he made up for in enthusiasm. I wonder whether he will find himself a female.  I guess if he does we will have more than just wood pigeons to guard our crops against.

As always stay safe and well  - hopefully vaccination  our programmes will get us back to a near normal life soon.

I hope that my mini harvest qualifies me for joining Harvest Monday on Dave's Our Happy Acres blog so I have linked to him this week

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett