2025-02-15 Waking up

This is my first allotment blog post of 2025. There isn't a lot happening at this time of year, of course, but we are still getting produce even in the depths of winter.

There are still some leeks to harvest. We grew some in the ground and some in a raised bed. Unfortunately the ground wasn't in the best condition, there had been a 6 by 8 foot shed on it for 20-odd years. Last year we grew some potatoes then dug it over a bit, but the soil isn't the best, and the leeks are the size of large spring onions. There is a pile of nice well-rotted manure ready to be dug in as soon as the last few leeks come out.

The leeks in the raised bed have done a lot better, although it probably isn't making the best use of the bed, given the cost of filling it with decent compost.

We are also getting a bumper crop of kalettes. If you aren't aware, they are like brussels sprouts but in kale form. They are very nice, far better than I was expecting (I'm not a fan of brussels sprouts themselves). Each kalette is a short stalk with a bunch of tiny kale leaves. They only need simmering for a few minutes and they end up with a lovely soft texture and mild flavour, without the bitterness you sometimes get with kale. Definitely something I will grow again this year and I would recommend you give them a go.

We also took advantage of a couple of nice sunny days to prune our apple tree. After a few years of neglect it had got very congested in the middle, as well as being a bit too tall. This is the third year of pruning to try to get to back into shape. This time we took a few medium-sized branches out of the middle to open it up a bit.

We also got three bags of first early potatoes. We don't have room to grow a lot of potatoes, because our plot has a greenhouse, two fruit trees and quite a lot of fruit bushes. But we like to grow some early new potatoes, they are too good to miss and are out of the way in time for another crop to go in after them. They are chitting ready to be planted in a few weeks.