Shallots

I pulled up all the shallots today and brought them home. I reckon about a tenth of the crop had the onion white rot (the pile in front....an optical illusion as the rotted pile are nearer the camera.) We will eat what we can of that pile and dispose of the rot and the tops in the bin rather than my compost.

A couple of other plotholders said they had the rot on theirs too.....but only at the eastern ends of the rows...like mine...! We reckon it is wetter at the eastern end...

They advised liming the soil before putting in shallots next year.
I dug up three more of the Kestrel potato plants. The tops were dying so I cut them all down and put the haulms on the compost. They haven't any blight so that is safe....

And the tops on the Charlotte (main salad potato crop) were yellow and floppy so I cut them down and dug up 3 of them too.

With both lots I shall dig them as I need them. There are rather too many for us so I'll be taking bags of them as presents when I go to Kent, and London in the next few weeks.

In the next few weeks I'll be piling grass cuttings on these spud beds to make sure the soil surface remains dark. I don't want the spuds going green.
The courgettes at the plot seem to have doubled in size in the last few days.

The leeks I planted the other day are still going. Not growing away yet but I bet it'll be soon.


Whilst there this afternoon I was musing about the whole allotment dream. It is Shed Week this week coming, and I was thinking about how my dream was to have an allotment and a shed and a little stove to boil water on or heat a can of soup. But it hasn't worked out like that. I snatch moments to go there and work hard the whole time. I never sit there and just chill because I always have to get back to feed DH or to walk the dogs.

I do really enjoy the time I spend there but wish it could be more....