January

Well, January is supposed to be a time for new resolutions, and it looks as though one of Plot 129's should be to blog a bit more frequently! I seem to have missed the last nine months - I can only assume I was too busy planting, weeding and harvesting to write about it...

The 2014 growing year was mostly very good - kale, beetroot, potatoes, chillies, rhubarb and the soft fruit all did very well, as did the carrots and courgettes. We had one wonderfully large and tasty squash, but no others, and the onions and garlic weren't a success. Mostly the onions were spring planted after the floods, or left in from the year before, and they stayed very small. Sadly, the tent greenhouse suffered in the weather - once blowing entirely into my neighbour's garden, and many times being overwhelmed by the weight of collected rain. By the end of the season the metal supporting rods were buckled, and I don't think it will be usable again.

But 2015 is a new year! So far the ground hasn't flooded, and the onions and shallotts I planted in November are coming up well. The rhubarb looks great, and most of the herbs seem to be surviving, including a lovely parsley plant which had a rough start last summer. In December I planted about thirty cloves of garlic - Marco, Thermidorme and Germidour - and they are all showing signs of life. Today was my first day of proper work down on the plot, not just popping down to pick beetroot and kale, which I'm chuffed to say we can still do!

Here's  a shot showing the beds of garlic and onions in the distance, as well as, in estate-agent speak, areas with a lot of potential :)

Today's highlight was planting the broad beans - three rows of Aquadulce Claudia.

More resolutions for 2015:
1) Plant more squash!
2) Don't get seduced by new varieties of thyme - there's only so much you can eat...