Allotments 4 All

As any plot is likely to in December!

Its quite green though...

Are those globe artichokes still in full leaf?

Er - what globe artichokes? It's been so mild that unprotected brassicas haven't been touched by the pigeons. But it normally stays fairly green over winter.

Er - probably mistook your brassicas for artichokes, I was fooled by the bluey green :-[ ::)

Artichokes are a bit bigger than that!

Cant be that dismal just cos of winter. You still have food in the ground. As long as Though I do miss the spring, summer and autumn chores........... ::)

Acres of decaying, sodden mulch isn't exactly inspiring! But I'm already making progress breaking in some of the ground I hadn't been able to work; the mulch saves so much work I can cultivate far more and still keep on top. I'm getting rid of a large bed of Jerusalems, which are no longer needed for privacy, just keeping a few, and I'll be putting some of the rhubarb in where they were. There are actually very few Jerusalems in there; they did really badly in the drought. It's nice crumbly soil with a lot less weeds than I'd expected, and the rhubarb should do well in there.

My plot was a bit damp and dismal yesterday, so I sympathise. Although the rainbow chard was still quite colourful (and tasty!).

Cheers,
Rob ;)

A handful of hens would brighten it up ;D

My plot looks a bit drab until I let the feathered marauders out. Today though,the plot is wearing a coat of white frost, which I like to see.

Would love some chooks Heldi, but sadly their not allowed on the allotment and the garden at home is too small. Which is why I'm still working on my secret plan to move to the country and live on a small farm :D Now all I have to do is convince my wife... :-\

Cheers,
Rob ;)

Ooh good luck with your now not so secret plan !  Well,I guess in the meantime if you try to see a  bright side...you wouldn't have any rainbow chard left to look at if you had some hens!  :D

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on December 18, 2006, 09:56:26
.. There are actually very few Jerusalems in there; they did really badly in the drought. It's nice crumbly soil with a lot less weeds than I'd expected, and the rhubarb should do well in there.

Funny enough, I found that where I dug out a large clump of Jerusalem artichokes earlier in the year, that the heavy clay soil was more workable and crumbly, and I got a good crop of garlic in that place. Is this a new "cleaning" crop I wonder?  ;D

Quote from: jennym on December 18, 2006, 11:25:26
Is this a new "cleaning" crop I wonder?  ;D

I will watch my patch too, since it was relatively poor ground, not much use for anything else (knowing the artichokes would rise above any marestail, docks, thistles, or whatever).

Clearing, only for more JA's.... you haven't got them out yet!
::)

Quote from: jennym on December 18, 2006, 11:25:26
Is this a new "cleaning" crop I wonder?  ;D

Interesting thought Jen - JAs habit allows heavy mulching around the stems which kills the weeds, then force you to dig deep to get all the little chokes out, so the soil is very crumbly and weed free. So this year's JA beds will make ideal root beds for next year - don't want to waste all that digging ;)

When I dug up a JA root the other day, there was a visible 2 1/2" layer of crumbly composty stuff under the straw layer which got dug in, so the worms hadn't wasted their time under the mulch either :D

After harvest I peel and roast the big uns, and put all the little uns on to steam and squidge, even the tiniest which we won't be eating. The idea is to kill anything that's going into the compost from a JA ::)

I've composted JA's before, and they soon ran out of energy and died.

Quote from: supersprout on December 19, 2006, 07:46:47
I peel and roast the big uns

Funny this, I never thought of roasting them ...  :D must bung a couple in with the Christmas dinner ...