Soilman's Allotment Blog

Most excellent, dude

Very flattered to be given a vote of confidence by Melinda at Elements in Time. I'd like to thank my wife, my agent and my pussycat.

Ashamed to say I'm ducking the challenge of naming 10 other excellent blogs. Seems invidious to pick out 'specials' from so many great bloggers. Suffice to say that every site in my 'Other Blogs' list has my implicit approval. I enjoy them all.

Seeing as it's still winter, and I still can't sow seed seriously (wow, get that alliteration), I'm reduced to posting more flower pix. Check out this gorgeous Paphiopedilum orchid:

PS I'm aware this is a vegetable gardening blog. Honest. Cut me some slack here.

Darkest before dawn

Here's a definite sign of Spring. When japonica camellias start to flower, daffodils aren't far behind.

It still feels bloody cold, though. The cat is my seasonal barometer. Before leaving the house, he gingerly extends a paw to test the temperature of the patio flagstones. If they're very cold he jumps as if scorched... then refuses to go out.

He hasn't been out much yet.

Light at the end of the tunnel

All is not lost. I took this photo at the plot just after 7.30am today. Even a week ago, this would have been impossible.

For me, Spring arrives the day I can shower in the morning without the bathroom light. Tried it today and wished I hadn't. Stubbed my toe, fell on my arse twice and found myself trying to work up a lather with the soap dish.

Foggy Crimbo

December 23rd at the allotment http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1351302976http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1213897953

Winter days: Short and sharp

I just love these icy mornings. It's grim getting up in total darkness, but seeing the first light of dawn on a foggy, frosty day almost makes it worthwhile.

Frosted brassicas are particularly photogenic. The ice forms in little beads, like water on a duck's back.

Mercifully, the shortest day is almost here. My spirits lift the moment the days start to lengthen. In only four weeks, I'll be sowing celeriac – the first seeds of the new gardening season. And by mid February, the alarm clock will go off after dawn.

Hurry up, 2008!

Look on my works... and despair

 

A day off work yesterday coincided with some reasonable weather, so I got digging again.

Couch grass is the spawn of Satan, isn't it? If I even go near the stuff, I smell sulphur. As I was hacking out those ghastly long, white roots, I mused on the purpose of couch.

Why's it here? Who benefits? What's it for?

Got no answers, of course. But as I dug, the last lines of Ozymandias kept playing on my internal jukebox:

Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away

Couldn't figure out why my unconscious had latched on to this. Then I realised what was bothering me. 

Shelley was writing bollocks. Desert or no desert... there must have been some couch.

Breakfast, with frost

Jack Frost did a great exterior paint job overnight. Everything looked gorgeous early this morning, and I went a bit mad with the camera.