Clairesallotment's Blog

What a busy morning I had on the allotment today. I made 2 films, 1 about Jerusalem Artichokes and the other about Flowers Sprouts. I dug up the rest of the leeks which I’ll put in the greenhouse so the soil on them will dry out and then I can shake it off. I’ll do the same with the Artichokes, but may have some for dinner tonight. I’m starting to have a tidy so that everything’s ready for the Spring. I pulled up a load of finished broccoli and cauliflower plants and put them in the compost heap to rot down nicely and of course the obligatory weeding. There’s always weeding to do. It never ends, just gets a bit easier. I was a bit windy and the wind was chilly, so I took my flask of tea down to keep myself warm.

Went down the allotment today for the first time this year. It was a bit chilly, but that’s what you expect the weather to be like in January. There was 1 other brave soul on site, way over the other side. I had a great time harvesting several bits and pieces. Firstly I found the parsnips and I think I’ve managed to find them all. They were all very good sizes, with some a little harder to pull out than others. I also dug up a load of leeks, so I’ll use those instead of onions. I’ve still got more to dig up, but I ran out of room in the box. Also I pulled a few swede and turnips that hadn’t gone bad. I had a sneaky dig of 1 Jerusalem Artichoke plant and … wow!! I’ll film that tomorrow. I was very excited when I found some I think I may have squeaked. A very productive morning great to be back there after the snow but wellingtons are definitely needed as the ground was very, very muddy. I got the car washed last week and now the wheels are dirty.

Made chicken stock today and used the last of my carrots. I used up all the tiny ones that are really too small for anything apart from making stock with. We’ve eaten them all, even the odd shaped ones. They lasted much longer than I expected, so I’m very pleased. It won’t be long before I plant seeds for this years ones. Let’s hope they’re just as good this year. I did manage to grow some huge ones last year. We’ll have to make do with shop ones until this seasons ones are ready.

Happy New Year everyone, wishing you all a fabulous 2011. Well I spent this evening sorting out my seeds and writing down when to plant them. It’s only when you do this that you realise how many you’ve brought. I’m certainly going to have a very busy year. I’ll be starting to plant the first bits in about 2 weeks, so I’ll let you know what I’ve planted. March as usually is going to be very busy. The kids don’t go back to school until Thursday, so hopefully I’ll get down the allotment either Thursday or Friday. I’ve got parsnips to dig up.

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2010. That’s about 14 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 65 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 8 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 6mb.

The busiest day of the year was July 4th with 94 views. The most popular post that day was Friday 2nd July 2010.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were youtube.com, facebook.com, mail.live.com, urbangardengoddess.wordpress.com, and obama-scandal-exposed.co.cc.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for claire’s allotment, claires allotment blog, clairesallotment.wordpress.com, claire’s allotment wordpress.com, and clairesallotment.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Friday 2nd July 2010 July 2010
4 comments

About Claire’s Allotment May 2010
10 comments

Monday 27th September 2010 September 2010
10 comments

Sunday 17th October 2010 October 2010
6 comments

Thursday 30th September 2010 September 2010
5 comments

This is the last blog for 2010. Many more next year though, so you can’t get rid of me that easily. Have a great New Year whatever you’re doing. Personally I’m staying in with a bottle of champagne (not all to myself, I’m sharing it with my parents). Wishing you a fantastic 2011, good weather for plants and massive crops.

Just put in an order for this seasons garlic, potatoes and onions. The perfect thing to do on a Bank Holiday weekend. I’ve ordered Solent Wight garlic, hopefully I’ve ordered enough to keep us going for a year. Sturon and Hyred F1 onions and the following Main crop potatoes; Maris Piper, Rooster and Picasso. Hopefully they’ll all grow well and I’ll have enough to keep us going for a while at least. Hope you enjoy ordering your goodies for this coming season.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for 2011. Let’s hope next years growing season is a fab one, and we all grow enormous veg next season. Let’s hope for odd shaped carrots and parsnips, gigantic pumpkins and tomatoes with odd bits on them. Have a great time and don’t eat and drink too much (whether I’ll stick to that rule is anyone’s guess).

Well the garlics all gone from last year. I didn’t plant any this year as I had grown so much last year. I’m going to have to buy some garlic until next years is ready. I purchased all my seeds, but haven’t got onion, garlic and potatoes. I’ve got a catalogue on my bedside cabinet, so I’ll have to drool my way through and decide what I’ll grow next year. Nothing like a good bit of reading before you go to sleep eh. I’ve still got parsnips and jerusalem artichokes in, but the ground is frozen so they’ll have to stay in until I can dig them out.

Well I’ve just used my last onion! They didn’t last as long as I’d hoped, I’ll have to grow more next year. I suppose I’ll have to buy some now. Can’t go without my onions. My potatoes have nearly all gone as well. I’ve only got a few small ones left. I was going to go down the allotment and dig up the Jerusalem artichokes last week, but it decided to snow instead. I know I go down in most weathers, but 8 inches of snow is going a bit too far don’t you think? Anyway, it’s nearly all gone now, just some ice left, so hopefully I’ll be there this week. Must remember to wrap up warm though, it reached the dizzy heights of -1 today.