Swinging in the rain.

Push me.

Thought I had lost my wallet at the allotment last weekend, so I went up on a cold, wet and windy Monday morning to see if I could find it. No luck. I decided to do a little bit of digging while I was there and on the way out I noticed the swing was blowing in the wind. A good photo opportunity I thought, but as I took out my camera the wind decided to die down. Standing there is the lashing rain, waiting for a gust, I decided to help nature along and gave it a little push! Immediately the wind rose up again and ushered me down to the car, where I was delighted to see my wallet poking out from under the driver’s seat. I did look there earlier… I swear!

The crows are watching.

New shoots.

A baby onion.

Little shallots.

On my last few visits to the plot I concentrated on digging up the weeds and grass, making space for more raised beds. I am hoping to clear all the weeds by Christmas which will give me time to prepare for spring planting. Another job that needs doing soon is the erection of a windbreak around the plot. I have been told by other plot holders that it can get very windy on the allotment and that some of their crops have suffered as a result. I also suspect that the wind contributes to drying out the soil. 

This morning I brought the camera to the plot and I was glad that I did. Little green shoots of onions, garlic and shallots have all started to peek through the soil. I find it hard to keep the camera from shaking on close-up shots, so the pics are not great and I have no useable pics of the garlic shoots. I’m wondering now will the birds be interested in these juicy morsels – I’ll do a bit of googling on the subject.

Finally, there’s a kind of ‘Wicker Man’ vibe going on in the last two pics below.

Expanding plot.

Scary scarecrow in another plot.

Tree parts.

Burger & Chips to relish.

On the pan.

Ready for the oven.

It’s been over a week since my last post when I blogged about making Shallot and Rioja Relish. So when I decided to make burgers and chips for dinner the other night I couldn’t resist opening a jar. I was pleasantly surprised, it tasted great – sweet and tangy with the shallots still holding a little crunch. And it topped off the burgers very nicely. Tangylicious!

Tangy topping.