Things are looking up – I was able to spend some time in my greenhouse. I went to B&Q on Wednesday to buy a pot of paint to do some DIY in Mum’s bungalow and I ‘just happened’ to see some shallots. I already made the decision not to grow onions this year – they’re cheap enough to buy and I don’t want to use valuable land to grow them – but shallots are different. I actually prefer to use them in cooking. They’re just the right size, I don’t have half an onion just shrivelling in the fridge and the flavour is good too.

They are quite simply planted in small pots so that they can develop good root system and when the weather improves  in the early spring I’ll plant them out on the allotment, they will have a head start.

I always grow garlic, the same reasoning applies here – it is not very cheap to buy it and the quantities I use would cost quite a bit. Besides, you can’t beat the taste of a home-grown garlic. I have got quite a bit of it already growing on the allotment but as a back up I used some of the smallest cloves and planted them in the cell tray. They’re doing quite well there and again, the same will happen with them, they’ll go out in the early spring.

The weather was quite mild so far so my salad leaves are doing well in the greenhouse, even though it is not heated at all. It is just a simple salad leaf mix but very tasty and we can have it as we need it. Mum loves it and as she is trying to eat a healthy diet, this fits in very well.