Bonfire time on the Allotment

A sunny but chilly day on Thursday with a ground frost overnight and a welcome to the Allotment from the young pheasants of our local pair – all five of them now fully grown. So, it was a good time to have a bonfire to keep burning up the prunings and rotten wood and with the bonus of the potash-rich ash boosting the fertility round the fruit trees. And, of course, it helped to keep us warm.

Some of our Winter veg.

The Jerusalem artichoke stems were cut down to 30cm and quite a few dug up now they are a decent size and shared with the farmhouse cafe. The grass edges were taken back with the help of the edging tool, done not only for neatness but to keep the damp soil away from the wood of the raised beds.

We still managed a small picking of raspberries for ripening at home though that will be the end of them now, but this has been a very good year for them too, as with most of the fruit.

Jobs for next week

• Top up the paths with wood chip
• Tidy the sheds
• Weeding