Rain .... and laid low

A hectic time at work and poor weather meant that I didn't get back to the Plot until Weds 25th, when I managed to spend a couple of hours digging until the rain returned. Unfortunately a nasty virus that I've been incubating then conspired to fell me - I say it's flu, my wife says it's a cold or "man flu." Whichever, there'll be no plotting this weekend - and they say this is supposed to keep you fit! On the other hand, I could blame the 25+ years I've been smoking (to my shame) - which, no doubt, exacerbates things .....

New Acquisition

Kept looking at folding wheelbarrows. Saw one in B&Q but thought it wasn't very sturdy. Thought about adapting it to carry my trug - got to thinking that would be a great innovation / invention. As usual, someone has beaten me to it - now (despite me saying it would be an ideal Christmas present) my parents have bought me a Rhino Runna. A great piece of kit - it's sturdy, has a foldable frame and pneumatic tyre and comes complete with trug. £35 incl. delivery from one of Amazon's partners (but available from other outlets). It has a bigger brother - the Bull Runna.

Spent part of Friday and today (with parents) on the plot. Am kicking myself because I forgot to bid on some (10) cloches on Ebay, not far from where I live - which went for about £27 ...

Onion sets ...

... sown yesterday with the help of my mother - 55 went in, 15 were thrown away due to rot / mould. Too early for the garlic, which will have to wait for another day. Have cleared some more ground and ordered some seaweed meal from OGC together with asparagus crowns, which won't be delivered for a long time yet ...

Onions & Garlic

My onion sets and garlic have both now arrived, the garlic perhaps being delivered a little bit early. The organic Radar has been substituted with non-organic - apparently OGC's entire crop failed due to the weather! I'm going to try to get the onions in tomorrow, despite Dig My Plot's view that over-wintering them may be an invitation to white rot.

Incidentally, times certainly seem to have changed. My edition of The Vegetable Expert by Dr. Hessayon says in respect of garlic:
"Garlic has an important role in Continental but not in British cookery ..... If you are a beginner with garlic, you must use it very sparingly or you will be put off for ever ... You can try dropping a whole unskinned clove into a casserole or stew, removing it before serving. If by then you have lost a little of your garlic fear, you can try using crushed (not chopped) garlic in meat etc. as the Continentals do."
The date of publication? 1993!