February 2008
Our visits to the plot this month have been irregular but in our visits we have managed to get quite a lot done and see omens of spring all around which is a very welcome sight indeed. As usual we are welcomed into the lottie by some of our lovely flowering spring bulbs who always manage to brighten up even the gloomiest of days.
Other things finding thier feet at the moment seem to be the Garlic which we planted before christmas and has now pushed its head through the soil to bring us the first true "new green" on the site so far this year.
Our resident rhubarb crowns are also making thier presence felt (slightly earlier then its emergence in 2007) and bodes well for the puddings and jams we hope to have of it throughout the year. This season however, it and our other fruits are going to get more of our undivided attention then ever before! Because our soil clearly so loves fruit plants and bushes - we have come up with a new scheme to try and help encourage people to think about doing more allotment and home gardening:
Lottieblogs Fruit Challenge 2008
In 2008 we at lottieblogs will log and weigh each of the fruit crops we take home off the allotment, calculate total weights and relative retail values according to supermarket prices, just to show you how much you get for your yearly rent and how worth it is growing some yourself!
By doing this we hope to show people how worthwhile, low maintenance and good for you growing a few items of fruit yourself can be, especially as eating significant volumes of fruit is now seen to be so "trendy" and health conscious.
If anyone fancies guessing what the total weight (in kilo's) and relative price (in pounds) of fruit harvested from our plot will be at the end of the season 2008 the please drop us an email via the Contact Us page with your name and where you come from we would be delighted to hear from you. We will keep a running total up until October and then publish the results for all our fruit harvests as well as the totals and the closest guess. Good luck!
Still on the subject of fruit we have staked back our goosberry bushes into a more upright position this month, in order to help us control the bushes and accommodate the fruit cage we hope to be erecting in March.
Some repairs to the Monolith were also made, the soil was dug over and Limed to try and irradicate any disease whcih may still be lurking, then had rotted down muck from 2006 added and a top dressing of rotted leaves to get it ready for use in early summer. We hope to replace the ripped plastic before any planting is done to help create a hygenic atmosphere, however the old cover will be left on for as long as possible until this is done to keep the soil warm.
Finally we were able to harvest some Leeks, Swedes, beautiful Purple sprouting Broccoli and Parsnips, all which were in reasonable condition for overwintering crops and very welcome additions to our cooking pots throughout the month.
