Gardening activity and harvest

Finished knitting the tunic jumper, finished it a week ago now! It needed an wash and a bit of blocking so that's where it has been. Now I just need to weave in the cast on/off threads which I left until it was washed so maybe a task for this evening so that I can - a) show you a picture and b) wear it. Just in time too as it's quite cold out there today. More on knitting and spinning in another post soon.

And yes I have now cast on a new project, and been spinning. But today I will write about the allotment.

 Weeding, clearing, path replenishing

Oca on the bottom right cut back awaiting harvest, broad beans in bed beyond

Field beans as green manure

Winter time is a good time to take stock of the garden and allotment, and get some of the groundwork and pruning done. So we have been doing some of this, often just Alex but a few weekends and over the festive period we all went to the allotment and we are feeling positive about the work we've done so far. More to do, there always is but even the wilderness areas that have taken a lot of work (mostly by Alex) are opening up and offering up more growing space. Green manure is doing it's job in other areas.

Broad beans Autumn planted bed

The Broad Beans planted in Autumn are looking pretty good, a few gaps we can fill in with some back up plants in Spring. I have some other seed for Spring planting so we will have some of both this year. We have planted Garlic, but later this year so they are not up yet. We also have a long bed to still dig up the majority of this years Oca harvest. We have already cleared other areas and been enjoying their delights as usual, and having lots of spare have shared some with friends.

Some of the Oca harvest so far

Another harvest has been the Yacon and we have now dug up the rhizomes of these to replant in the Spring - don't want to lose them to frosts or frozen ground if we get it.

Some of the Yacon harvest

We've already enjoyed much of these, but here are some harvested at the weekend. They are an interesting tuber, grow a bit like a potato, similar in looks to a sweet potato, but the texture and taste are very different. They are also known as Peruvian Ground Apple, or often described as similar to pear. They certainly are similar to apples/pears in texture and have a sweet taste to them. Absolutely lovely raw in salads.

 Kales and chards harvesting and Sprout posies below

Also harvesting various greens - various Kales, some Sprout Posies, Chard, and Sorrel are all still producing; as are the perennial onions. It's so nice to be able to go to the allotment in January and bring back something fresh for tea.

Some of the Kales for continued harvest

Perennial area - Perennial Onions, Welsh Onions, Wild Garlic and Sorrel

and weeded Asparagus beds beyond

Lots of other areas weeded, cleared, covered with mulch to feed the beds. The Asparagus beds are weeded and ready for a new layer of well rotted manure to nourish the soil and plants. Pruning and path replenishing, it's all good.

And then there's all the promise of things to come ...

Figs on a bright Sunny day