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July 2007
The potatoes are Ratte, as grown in a bucket (with a hole in it) in our back yard. The 3 tubers have produced a large quantity of small potatoes of great flavour.
Shallots: when the foliage is dying back, keep checking for signs of rot at the base. If you do spot it, lift the whole lot and put them in a sunny airy space, or dry shed, or even windowsill. The same applies if you have early onions beginning to ripen.
[Shallots]
Shallots		 [Shallots]
Shallots
[Ratte Potatoes]
Ratte Potatoes

May 2007
Heritage pea and beans off to a good start using the 'toilet roll' method. This was especially good when planting out in a dry spring, as the roots immediately go down a full six inches.
[Blauhilde Climbing Beans]
Blauhilde Climbing Beans		 [Getting Started]
Getting Started
[Prince of Persia Peas]
Prince of Persia Peas
Parsnip are slow to germinate. One picture shows them hiding among the weeds, the others were marked by a row of radishes, most of which have been eaten. Any advice please?
[Look for parsnips]
Look for the parsnips		 [Parsnip seedlings at 3 months]
Parsnip seedlings at 3 months
The sweet peas were sown under glass in November, the onions (Red Florence) on New Year's day, also under glass. They have withstood the drought and are now zooming away. The other two pictures contrast November sown broad beans (ready to eat) and February sown (I am about to take out the tops as blackfly have appeared).
[November Sown]
November Sown		 [Spring Sown]
Spring Sown
[Winter Sown Onions and Sweet Peas]
Winter Sown Onions and Sweet Peas

April 2007 - Potatoes
Early potatoes are coming up, but we are still keeping some fleece handy in case of frost.
[Potatoes] [Potatoes]

March 2007 - Ramsons (Wild Garlic)
[Wild Garlic] [Wild Garlic]
[Wild Garlic] Ramsons (wild garlic) growing by the Mells river near Coleford. It made a tasty addition to a vegetable stir fry.

March 2007 - Rhubarb
[Rhubarb] The rhubarb in its black-lined polythene in the cellar. It was lifted, as surplus to the bed, at about the winter solstice, trimmed and planted in wine boxes.
[Rhubarb] The state of the sticks at St David's Day, when initially harvested.
[Rhubarb] The first crop, four person-meals, very tender.
The boxes remain, uncovered, in the cellar for at least one more picking. The rhubarb crowns will then be available to pass to others to plant out in spring 2007, for first outdoor harvest 2008.

January 2007
[Broad Beans] Autumn sown broad beans thriving in Frome - the main advantage is avoiding the black fly next summer.
[Prince of Prussia Peas] Prince of Prussia peas - just one of the star attractions at the Food Frome seed swap evening. Prince of Prussia peas are also available from the Garden Organic Heritage Seed Library.
[Chard and Spring Cabbage] Chard and spring cabbage - surviving the deluge - note the use of old floor-boards as treading boards to gain access to plot with minimal damage to soil.

December 2006

Rhubarb
[Rhubarb] Likes to hide under a nice warm winter coat of compost or well-rotted manure. The stick is so I don't forget where it is.

Rocket science
[Rocket science] Rocket is fashionable and expensive, but dead easy to grow. These plants are all from one plant, a self-seed from a neighbouring allotment. We allowed it to go to seed in an untidy corner. Rocket will grow and can be picked right through the winter.

Damage
[Damage] Caterpillar damage on purple sprouting broccoli, presumably because of the mild weather? The only sensible way with caterpillars is to pick them off by hand. We throw them to the hens, who love them, proving that even caterpillars have their uses.