Wednesday, 31 January 2007
The new 3x3m plot is up and ready to go! The
soil is a wonderful mixture of compost from the garden's own heap,
spent mushroom compost, and loam from work going on elsewhere in the
garden. It's a lovely friable mix and should grow great veg. For this year's 3 x 3m plot, we will pretty much follow the same plan as last year, with a few tweakings here and there.
We'll
get some garlic and shallots planted asap, although whether the garlic
will get enough of a cold period to form proper cloves is by no means
certain. It needs a couple of months of temperatures below 10oC, and time to get some roots down for a good start in spring. Ideally
bulbs are best planted in the autumn here, usually late October/early
November, and we sit the bulbs on sharp sand in their planting holes,
to prevent rotting off in our heavy soil.
Friday, 2 February 2007
Lifted some Jerusalem Artichokes this morning - they will dry off well in the unseasonal warm sunshine! There are two varieties in the kitchen garden - Garnet and Gerrard (see photo) - and they are quite different, Garnet being longer and smoother, Gerrard rounder and a bit more knobbly. Used just as you would potatoes, they have a lovely nutty flavour - expecially good roasted. We usually save some good healthy tubers from the crop each year to replant.