So to continue... Spring Onions... As I said in the part 1 we love our onions.  As well as the normal onions I also have a small bed of multiplying onions - like a spring onion but a bit smaller. I originally planted a few bunches of two or three onions and they soon turned into huge bunches of tall tasty onions which are ideal in stews and soups. They have a totally different taste to normal onions. I dig up a portion of a bunch when required by driving a spade through the bunch and replacing some soil to fill the void!! When the whole bunch has been used I replant a small bunch of 2-5 and in not time they will be ready for eating as well. This way one only needs a square meter or so in the garden for theses.  They over-winter without any problem and jump back into growing mode i

Wow - I was quite astounded when I added the quantities of veg that I grew on my allotment last season.. I grew 588 kg. on 165 sq. mt.   My Harvest 2013 After seeing the price of runner beans in town I decided to do a harvest record just to see how much I have grown and priced at supermarket prices.. Some estimates are on the lower side!! Strawberries 40kg = 88punnet @ £2.50 = £225 Broadbeans 6kg @ £1.80 per kg = £11 Peas 6kg @ £2 = £12 Potatoes 90kg @ £1 = £90 Gemsquash 130 @ 50p = £65 Runner beans 31kg @ 6.67 = £207 Courgettes 20kg @ £1.60 = £32 Squashes loads +/- 12 @ £1 = £12 Hubbard squash 4 large @ £4 = £16 Acorn squash 21 @ £1 + £21 Pumpkin 1 @ 2kg @ £2 = £2 Beetroot +/- 25 kg @ £3.3 = £83 Garlic 80 large bulbs @ 50p = £40 Onions 450 @ 2

Its very cold today, snow is coming and I can see from my window that the first light snowflakes are falling. Yet it is suprising what is growing in the frozen ground. While filling up the bird feeders, I had a quick walk round the garden. Snowdrops are starting to flower in ernest now, I have lots of the common snowdrop [ Galanthus nivalis ] and it's double form Flora Pleno. I also have some of the larger flowered snowdrops, Galanthus elwesii and the broad leaved Galanthus plicatus. I love my snowdrops but not as much as some. Such is the popularity of snowdrops that for some it borders on obsession. These folks are know as 'Galanthophiles' and spend much of their time searching for or breeding new varieties. With some of the rarer choice bulbs selling for more than £150 per bulb. I

Well the sunshine has arrived but for my outside tomatoes a bit too late. As you can see in my previous post they have all sort of sickness. The fungi spores have definitely arrived with the wind as the outer leaves and the top of the plants are affected first and now it is spreading slowly to the lower leaves and fruits too. I suspect it is a combination of fuzarium and blight so not much hope for a harvest but I leave the plants in for one more week and see what happens. I have done the same last year and had no luck but if this sunshine will last then I might get lucky and have a few ripe tomatoes. Ohh the good old days, about 3 years ago when I had an amazing crop of tomatoes; I had about 120 plants cropping each to the full. But it is not all lost; look at the tomatoes in the green

If you have a small greenhouse or polytunnel in your garden or allotment plot and you find that your plants, especially tomatoes, have curly leaves don't be afraid. The curling is almost entirely down to the fact that the night temperature is much lower than the daytime temperature. In the greenhouse in direct sunshine at around 2pm the highest I have measured was 45 Celsius with vents and door open; there was no wind whatsoever at that time and after midday is the hottest time of the day. And during the night the greenhouse does get nearly as cold as the outdoor temperatures believe me, which still can be around 10 Celsius. The plants in your greenhouse make a surplus of food during the warm daytime and the cold nights slow down their biological activities therefore they cannot abs

Today finally I had a little bit of time and the weather was okay too so did a bit of gardening. When you have to travel to get to your allotment it is not always easy to manage your plot. Going to work, get back home and then make dinner and spend some time with the kids hmm  when to garden?! How do you manage your time in the allotment? If you garden at home of course it is much easier, I think anyway I have never tried that way. First time this year I am planning to have some herbs in the small garden that is all. I am a very bad time manager, and too busy with hmm I don't really know what with but definitely not sitting around watching  footy and drinking beer lol...  So believe it or not my greenhouse looked like this today Last years cape gooseberry debris and some w