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and winter roasts when there's been nothing else available.But now the mornings are getting lighter and brighter, the raspberries are starting to leaf up on the plot. I must confess I'm getting a tad bored of my usual selection of vegetables.So you might

Making good compost has become something of an obsession for me lately. At idle moments, I've found myself contemplating the two heaps on my allotment. Affectionately called 'hedge heap' and 'new heap', I've been considering what else I could add

.But the downside of the cold weather is that my compost heap has stopped decomposing. The pile of fruit and vegetable peelings and garden waste has shown little sign of decay in the last few weeks. The banana skins turn black very quickly, and the local badgers

next year. So here are my allotment New Year resolutions for 2009:I must grow crops that don't require regular picking as I don't live close enough to the plot to get there more than a couple of times a week. That's just not enough to harvest runner

themselves, and some salads and lovely rocket which seems to have sprouted virtually overnight. So I'm well set up for the barbecue season (and the autumnal stew season, too).My next big job — particular important with root vegetables — will be thinning

One of the greatest pleasures of allotment life is getting to know my neighbours. Ron, Beryl, Vic and Tony are a lovely bunch, although we disagree on quite a few things. Vic doesn't like my raised beds, which he regards as a waste of space and a

I always worry about the allotment when I go on holiday. Will it all dry out or get a thorough soaking? Luckily the plot was well watered when I slipped away for a wet and windy week in Cornwall.I may not have appreciated the weather very much

There’s something wonderfully irrational about clearing snow in order to dig up vegetables. One of our Christmas rituals is to leave the wrapping paper behind and take a walk to the allotment on Christmas day to harvest some parsnips. I don’t know

of the treasured crops of the allotmenteer and vegetable gardener.Potatoes are generally grown from seed potatoes, which are small versions of the potatoes you'll harvest. I grow a few varieties each of first early, second early and maincrop potatoes. First early

down, completely rearranged the layout and changed all the lighting. It will be lovely when it's done. Anyway, all this activity has disturbed my routine, and the allotment is decidedly on the backburner.Having said that, the calm and serene quiet