Darkness falls on allotment
The boys and I headed up to the allotment this week with high hopes of getting a few hours work in before tea.
But 45 minutes later middle son says: "Mum, why is it dark?"
Between the pumpkin removal, some chopping up of enormous tough old sunflower stems and a spot of blackberry scrumping, it was already dark.
The ground might still be good for working, as the temperatures haven't dropped far at all considering the time of year.
But I can't get digging (or rather, make the men of the house dig) if it's dark by four o'clock!
In our limited time, we still managed to get some clearing done, and realised how much produce we'd actually allowed to go to seed.
Lettuces had bolted, but we quite liked how they looked and let them keep growing, while beetroot and carrots which hadn't really been thinned properly back in June, had stayed small and tough due to overcrowding each other.
Jed's prized spring onions are well past their best, while the weeds have taken over their 'trench,' meaning twisted ankles for anyone who falls in not realising the grave-sized hole they dug is there.
A few weeks ago I mentioned how our sweetcorn, planted out rather too late during the wet summer, hadn't ripened, and how I was going to leave them a little longer to see if they matured.
Well, half of them – and I mean half the cob rather than half the crop – did make it to the yellow stage, while the top kernels stayed tiny and white.
A bigger problem was that an animal or bird of some kind, I'm guessing pigeons, had shredded some of the cobs trying to get at the insides.
No matter, we salvaged about five and chopped the unripe bits off before cooking. They still tasted sublime. And while the older two won't touch corn on the cob, little Billy will tell you sweetcorn is his favourite food (after chocolate, ice cream and cake).
While the nights may be drawing in, our work is by no means done.
Over the next few weeks I'd like to try and get the remaining exposed, weedy areas turned over before the ground gets too hard to work.
And we've been discussing planting a couple of fruit trees at the allotment as we are short of space at home.
The boys want some apples and Bloke would like plums or cherries.
I've been advised by one of my gardening elders to get a dual rootstock for self-pollination.
I'd like a local recommendation about where to buy fruit trees, as my last mail order attempt at a fruit tree ended up with a dead stick poking out of a large pot.
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Weather for Northampton
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -6 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -5 C to -0 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South east
