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Tea from the allotment

It really has been rather warm the last couple of days. The sun has been shining, there are more dandelions out than Christopher Nibble and all of his guinea pig friends could ever eat and everything is growing. I 've had my deckchair out and watered the garden. It is glorious.

I hadn't been to the allotment for a while so it was with a mixture of fear and excitement that I ventured up there on my bike this afternoon. The patch I dug ready for the onion sets needed weeding and digging.There were of course weeds galore and plenty of work to do, but all was not doom and gloom. The leeks are practically prize winners by my standards, there are flowers on the broad beans and there was plenty of purple sprouting despite the pigeons living off it throughout the winter. The highlight of my visit however was the asparagus. Weeding the asparagus bed is one of the more exciting of allotment jobs. As I careful dug out the grass and dandelions, I saw the whitish purple shoots just below the ground and above the ground there were enough spears for tea. So along with the leeks, purple sprouting broccoli, chard, kale and baby spinach  (self sewn from allow spinach to go to seed at the end of each season), I was able to make a stir fry spring vegetable dish for tea with new season stewed rhubarb for pudding. A whole meal from my allotment at the beginning of April. I think I might be getting the hang of growing your own.







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