What's working and what's not

Clearly the garlic worked although truth be known I was disappointed. I had two beds and the later one out performed the early by a mile, and then there was so much rain that I just pulled it all and dried it in the shed.

Come Vege Club and it was garlic and shallots on the competition table, there were plaits, elephant garlic, beautiful shallots and much bigger garlic heads too, if a little grubby. 

 

I think what gave me the edge was peeling off the outer  layer so that it looked inviting to use. 

'People's choice prize' is all about what people would like to use themselves, not necessarily gardening best,  so there is my winning card and my selection from the prize pool which has already been put to good use weeding the carrots.

 

The lettuce have been my summer success story. Their origin and name have been lost, except to say the lettuce seeded last year and I composted it. This year, every application of compost has brought a succession of little seedlings. Some we eat straight from the garden, others that are in the wrong place, I move them under the cloche.

 

Rhubarb Custard Cake, I found the recipe on eat little bird and took the advice of the multitudes to add an extra layer of rhubarb under the custard. It disappeared swiftly. 

Another success, the rhubarb, but now I have to address the problems, one of which is that I can't rotate my photos today. Get ready for a bent neck if you will!

 

I got the digging team to put anything close to top soil up on the top lawn.

Now I am slowly seiving out the cooch (or is it couch) wireworm, rocks and stones, clay lumps, debris, and  layering it up with cardboard, pineneedles, soil and seed potatoes.

This lot here called 'Highlander', never heard of it before.

 

Second lot of potatoes in are  'Cliff's Kidney'. In current time this is all potato foliage up and growing.  I am mulching them all with grass clippings and whatever. 

The shredded hedge clippings sucked up the nitrogen I think and the tops began to turn yellow so won't do that again.  An application of chopped seaweed seems to have helped and nobody has complained yet... Manure would be good. 

And of course there is still plenty of soil, the pile is much higher than this photo.

I'm  expecting these potatoes  to be ready at Easter. Hopes running high.

A new wood shed, this is definitely working. I have waited 20 years for this. B had to build it to house the scrap wood that comes in off pallets and so on. There are 3 bays, one waiting to be filled. It clears the space for the new workshop so a silver lining for me for living in a work site. 

This is a final glory photo. A Chinese Artichoke, bit of a snatch to source this, and beside it, my new pair of Bahco pruning clips bought with the last of my birthday money and appreciated every day.