First gardening this year

Went to the allotment this morning for the first time in nearly two months. I went there partly to check if things were okay shed and plant-wise (ie: no more vandalism) and partly to dig up some winter vegetables that were left, these being jerusalem artichokes and oca. I dug these up and dug the soil over where the plants had been while I was at it, although some of it was hard because of the frost.

I noticed that the gate on the community allotment compost enclosure had gone and the heavy planks of wood that we put on the carpet covering our heaps had been moved. Whether this was a minor act of vandalism I don't know. But there was nothing else missing or damaged as far as I could see and the remaining shed window and the board that I put up to replace the broken one are still intact. The shed roof seemed to be sagging though, so it is possible water is still getting through. Although I have heard of daffodils being in flower in some places because of the hitherto mild winter, there were none in flower on the allotment. I spent about an hour there and met no-one else there. A lovely, if cold, morning to be on the allotment.

I also did some work in my garden. I harvested the rest of the brussels sprouts from the single plant in the garden, but some of those I picked were not much good and had to be discarded (in the compost bin of course!) I took away the netting and pulled the plant up and dug the soil over where it had been. Some of the sprouts and oca will be used in a vegetable casserole this evening.