Tuesday 27th February
After a week enjoying to warmth of the Canary Islands I struggled home having spent a day stuck in the airport waiting for a plane delayed by storms. Still recovering from lack of sleep I paid the plot a quick visit to check despite the cold. Once again I had to scramble the number of the gate padlock on my way in!
On the way in I bumped into our president, Hugh Merrett, and discussed how to cope with the cold weather while he sorted bundles of labels ready for sale in the Trading Hut.
I went on to my plot and, having reassured myself that nothing was out of place, harvested a couple of leeks and a nice fat parsnip. I also picked a dozen or so Brussels sprouts. I finally checked under the cover over the rhubarb and was able to pull half a dozen sticks that were beautifully pink and promise to be lovely and sweet.
​No photo! It was too cold and even colder weather is forecast! Not sure when I shall get down next!

Monday 5th February
I arrived on site with my trailer full of garden waste, some of it mine but most from a couple of neighbours. It was cold but I had my boiler suit on over my winter gardening clothes and warm hat and gloves.
I checked everything through as I tipped it into the bin and found a couple of bags of leaves and various other things that wouldn't compost such as palm leaves and rose prunings. It was not a problem as I also had a couple of bags of plastic rubbish to take to the tip so I used the bags from the compost to clear my rubbish collection of wood and plastic I keep by my gate. One bin I had collected was full of wisteria vines which went straight to the tip But when I returned the empty bin the lady was very apologetic and explained another 'helpful' neighbour had pulled it out for the CBC garden waste collection (that she didn't subscribe to) but I had collected it instead!
I then harvested some Brussel Sprouts and a couple of lovely fat leeks. There are plenty of Sprouts to come but the rest of the leeks are a bit thin so I hope they will fatten up as the weather warms a bit. I also found that there were some small carrots that I had sown late and were just about surviving so lifted a handfull to see if they are any good. I also dug up a large parsnip suffering from some canker on the shoulder but hopefull usable. (The huge one I took home last time proved to have a void running right down the middle making it useless!) A very clean small parsnip came out with the big one and would just about give a meal if necessary. I also lifted a few smallish Mooli which I hope to try cooking instead of slicing or grating for salad.
In the little time I had left I set up some slug traps using out-of-date beer from cans I found at home, then set about hoeing the worst of the weeds off the patch next to the compost bins which I don't want to dig as it will be the Brassica patch. Brassicas need firm soil and my sandy loam is not ideal, especially if dug and loosened. The weeds went into the new compost bin with a fair bit of soil on their roots to 'inoculate' the stack with the organisms necessary for breaking down the material into compost. Cheaper than accelerator!