Winter Preperations

This weekend saw the start of the flu season in our house. Which was a real shame because it was a beautiful weekend for getting out into the garden and i had veg which i wanted to get on the ground. I decided that fresh air would kill me or cure me and proceeded to cut down the grasses (they spring up in the spring), empty the hanging baskets and have a general tidy up. The general tidy up also led me to dig up the last of the Chantenoys for my sisters dinner party (7 guests including us = much potential for carrot eating), prop up the wonderful cornflowers so that they don't rot and get another large pot of Harlequin tomatos from the greenhouse. And compost all the old sweetcorn stands

After the carrots and two 'balls' of shallots had been dug up I thought about the green manure we bought and decided that as I was still standing I should plant up the winter veg. This took a bit of planning and eventually after reading the instructions properly and spacing things as they should be to reduce the risk of moulds I got the 10 Jermor shallots planted up. Along with the Aquadulche broad beans, garlic and winter peas the veg patch does look quite organised. I also put the cloche up to get the soil ready for some winter salad leaves and late carrots. If I find any which I haven't totally nissed the boat with! Will also be planting up some sweet peas to over winter next weekend.

And after that I felt really  ill!