The start of spring, and everything

There has been sowing.  There has been pruning.  There has even been repotting (I put my three small blueberry bushes into one very large container).  The sun has come out:  is it spring yet?  I think it just might be.

While I'm reminding myself not to go overboard like last year, I've been feeling the sunshine like a gentle push to action.  Time to go outside;  time to do something out there.  I'm also reminding myself that I want a more analog life--I need to get out and do stuff, not be attached to a screen like I have been for many of the dark days of winter.  

I am continuing the sheet mulch at the allotment (son has helped me a little), and I'm still happily pulling leeks.  I picked the last of the overwintered beets--surprised to find any worth picking actually--and possibly the last of the chard, as it looks like it's starting to go to seed.  I also sowed those last February seeds (cherry tomatoes and chilis, though I'm not confident about the latter);  and started sowing March seeds too:  Savoy cabbage, early leeks, spring onions.  No sign of the broad beans yet.  I've pricked out the plum toms and bulb onions, sown at the start of February;  the onions went outside in their tray, in the most sheltered spot on the patio--hope they don't get too cold after their indoor start.

March is the time though, the time it all kicks off for real.  Though I'm easing into it, there's a little sense of urgency:  let's get some stuff done before time runs out. 

Stalled...

After a prolonged rainy spell--the news had it at 40+ days--we've finally seen the sun again.  Unfortunately for my garden/allotment, I've had other commitments take precedence, and I haven't done much work in either for the past week, despite it being half term week and no school for the kids and no work for me (I work at a school).  We are undertaking a home improvement project, forecast to take several weeks.

In the small amount of time I've spent outside I've up laundry, let chickens out for free range, and picked a few cabbage leaves for dinner.  The kitchen garden is looking very sparse now, just a couple of very small cabbages of various types.  I'm hoping the sad looking spring cabbages will perk up and start to grow again, but I'm not very confident about the Savoys;  they've been there about six months and I feel they ought to have done something by now.  I guess the Savoy seed was pretty old though the spring seed was new when I sowed it last autumn.

At the allotment things are just a bit better, with a good amount of leeks still and maybe a bit of chard from two self sown plants.  However, I have to actually visit if I want to eat it;  I've not been for a full week.  I've been pulling about five leeks at a time, to tide me over till the next stop, but I ran out and haven't been back.  I'll stop by after work at least one day this week, maybe today.  

It's about time for me to start revving up the indoor seed sowing;  I've only done plum tomatoes and onions so far, both sprouted up now, and soon to be pricked out (I got my broad beans in the ground too).  I have a box of seed packets in my cupboard, organized by month of sowing, and the February slot has been calling my name;  better get into it before it slips by me.

Sheet mulching and mulching

I've begun sheet mulching again at the allotment.  Truly, I should have been doing it all winter, as my beds emptied.  But you know:  rain, dark, cold, etc.  I didn't.  Technically it's still all of the above, except possibly a little less dark;  however, I've begun at last.  

Actually, I'm experimenting with some wood chips for mulch this year.  The site has always had stables with a manure pile, my go to for mulch (soiled straw);  this has a tendency to sprout new weeds and harbor bugs and slugs.  I anticipate there will be no weed seed hiding in the wood chips, though I can't speak for the pests--possibly woodlice may be a problem.  Still, I'm trying it with the new (and hopefully continuing) supply of wood chips next to the manure pile.  Many people at the allotments have been using the wood chips for their paths.  If I see my next door neighbor there, I may ask her what she thinks about them on the path between us, too.

I don't really mulch at home in the kitchen garden, though every year I dig out some extra good compost from the chicken yard to spread on one bed, in rotation.  I also divvy out the less composted first layer to my fruit trees, as a top dressing.  Though before I start, I need to tidy up the beds:  weeding, clearing spent plants, and so on.  I already let the ducks have a week of slug hunting, but have locked them out again as they trampled a few of my emerging spring bulbs.  I may let them and the chickens in briefly once those flowers are done--if there's time;  I may start planting the beds first.

Let's start

I'm back in seed sowing mode, a small beginning to a very big job.  Here's where my whole food producing engine starts.  I think I was sowing seeds until around August last year, both in trays/pots and directly in the ground.  Because of all that work, I've had fresh veg for the whole year, even now in February (just picked the last pak choi and white radishes, and no end in sight for the leeks).

This past week I've sown two trays:  chili seeds in one and onion and plum tomato in the other--both wrapped in a plastic bag to act as a little green house, sitting on my kitchen window.  I had to move my spider plants to the north facing living room window with my aloes, as vegetables get priority over houseplants;  facing south, the kitchen gets the maximum of sun of anywhere in the house.

The plum tomatoes came from seed I saved, from a lineage I've been saving for a few years now.  I hope to get about 25 plants.  To save on space they're broadcast into half a tray with the onion seeds.  I sowed some of the same onion seed back in August, which are still growing in containers at the allotment (though I think slugs may have eaten a few).  I may grow the rest of them in the ground in the kitchen garden;  I'm out of containers and when I grew them in the ground at the allotment they didn't amount to much.  I've not had a lot of success growing chili and other hot climate plants from seed but giving it another go.  

And finally I sowed my broad beans at the allotment last week in a sleet shower--I got very wet and muddy.  It didn't matter though:  I had pre-sprouted them at home and needed to get them in the ground before they went bad, whatever the weather.  Luckily I had prepared the rows already, so when I got there it was just a case of placing the seeds, covering them back with soil, and then mulching with some wood chips on top to prevent weeds germinating on top.  I also covered the whole bed with some insect mesh, as a bird/mouse deterrent;  I'll take it off when the plants are a few inches tall.

Gratuitous chicken photo:  Rock's head, Speckly's bottom, Feb 2026

Preserves!

It's the time of year when there is very little fresh, but we are behaving as though we are still in the Vegetable Challenge (only eating what we have, not buying veg).  Currently fresh:  leeks, a little chard and pak choi (both will soon be gone), herbs.  This means most of our five a day comes from preserved veg.  So what's on the menu?

Dried veg  

A lot of my dried veg came from 2024 to early 2025, though I did dry a few jars worth of zuc and toms during the Challenge.  Carrots, parsnips, swede (all bought on special);  also some squash chunks and cabbage greens from the 2025 harvest.  There are still a lot of jars but I am using the oldest ones up gradually in stews/casseroles/etc a couple times a week.  

Stored veg

It's only squash and chilis left in the dry store;  I have six or so squashes left (most of them pretty big) and a chili plant still alive on my kitchen window.  The plant is only barely alive;  its compatriot already bit the dust and those chilis are in a little basket on my counter.  However, I expect them and the squashes to last a good while longer (even if the plant dies).

Frozen veg

My freezer was jam packed at the end of summer but there's a lot more room now.  Still remaining:  half a bag of broad beans, three months worth (I hope) of minced garlic, and three or four large bags of toms.  I'm still adding squash puree once in a while, as we cook our squashes--we can eat the smaller ones quickly enough but we have to freeze some of the excess from the big ones.

Pickled veg

I made two kinds of vinegar pickles in 2025:  cucumber and beetroot.  I still have a large jar of refrigerator cucumbers and several smaller jars of sealed beetroot in the cupboard.  We've eaten about half of these preserves so far.

Fermented veg

Now this may be my biggest form of preservation, or closely behind the dehydrated veg.  I made loads and we've eaten loads--and we still have loads.  My personal favorite is kimchi of course, and I've been making it regularly throughout last year.  

I also made a rather large batch of what I labeled "mixed veg salsa" as an end of season catch-all;  the major ingredient was green tomatoes but I also had cauliflower, leeks, zuc, green beans, fennel...I can't actually remember everything I put in it!  Whatever it was, I whizzed it all up in the food processor and added a few chilis so not too spicy.

I experimented with a mustard/turmeric mixed veg, aka chow chow, but I think it's a little too overpowering.  It's sour and mustardy, and we do like it, but it's more of a condiment:  use sparingly.  I might make a small batch next time, not a big one like last year.

The last main category of fermented veg was sauerkraut, in all its glory.  I made it with cabbage, I made it with shredded kohlrabi, I made it with turnip mixed with beetroot.  It all turned out so good.  I think the turnip/beetroot combination is the best and I managed to make several liters of it.  

All this fermented veg has lived happily in my cupboard until needed; once I open a jar I put it in the fridge, but unopened it seems to seal itself quite nicely--none of it has spoiled yet. 

Fruit

Ok, not veg, and not part of the Challenge, but I do have some frozen berries and cherries, and some dried figs and apples.  Also some jars of apples, plums and one of blackcurrant jam.  And a couple jugs of homemade currant wine.  Nowhere near the amount of fruit in my stores as veg--just enough for an occasional treat.

A few jobs, nothing too strenuous

To my surprise, there was a dry sunny-ish day at the weekend;  all week I've been getting rained on whenever I left the house.  Not only did I finally put my laundry out (it mostly dried), I did a couple small jobs in the garden.  

First off, the daughter helped me roll my small potted peach tree into the garage--it's on a little plant "skateboard."  I grew this peach (or possibly nectarine) from the seed of a supermarket fruit many years ago.  Unfortunately it gets bad leaf curl every year, first dying back and then putting out spindly new growth;  in fact I thought it had completely died two years ago.  But it held on, just.  Last winter I put it under cover and for the first time it didn't get leaf curl;  the idea is that if the tree stays dry as the leaves emerge, the fungus can't attack it.  Maybe it can grow and actually fruit this year.  Maybe.

While we were in the garage we did a little tidying (the garage is more like a big shed) and crushed our winter's collection of eggshells, in preparation for scattering around transplants later on in spring.  We save all our eggshells and let them dry on trays in the garage.  I also give some back to the chickens for extra calcium.  When he was small, the son used to enjoy crunching them up, and now at age five the daughter likes it too.

Then I got out my hand secateurs and nipped off the new water shoots growing straight up from the Sparta apple tree.  I prune this tree once a year to keep it within my reach, no taller than the 2 m fence it grows next to.  I also cut out any shoots growing perpendicular to the fence, to keep it somewhat espalier.  The Laxton Fortune tree needs less pruning as it doesn't seem to be such a vigorous grower, but it has a couple to be taken off the top too.

Lastly, and before the daughter started crying of cold hands (she started making mud pies while I was pruning), I split some little green logs using our small hatchet (I use it as a wedge and whack it with a mallet).  We'd coppiced a smallish ornamental pear tree for firewood during the Christmas break, with the husband using the reciprocal saw while the son and I wielded loppers.  The sticks and twigs were collected in one pile and the short trunk pieces stacked in another;  I worked a bit on this second pile, keeping myself warm with the exercise and enjoying the sunshine.

The Vegetable Challenge: victorious! (and more kimchi)

Although I'm posting this on the very last day of the Vegetable Challenge, I hereby declare it finished successfully (at 11.59 tonight).  No vegetables were bought (mushrooms were bought by another member of the household which was not against the rules, but it was agreed no more buying fungi until the end of the Challenge)--not even onions, which were allowed per the rules.  The Challenge was set for seven months, and the whole target period was achieved.

We almost exclusively ate vegetables that I grew at the allotment and in the kitchen garden.  A few vegetables were obtained for free (for example, other allotmenters' excess zuc), and we already had some from before the start date of the Challenge (for instance, vegetables I dehydrated in 2024).  But at 578# of veg in 2025, obviously we had plenty to eat.

What next?  I'm continuing with the spirit of the Challenge until Easter I think.  The husband wants onions badly!  So for now we buy onions and nothing else.  At Easter there is usually a cheap veg sale at the supermarkets (there was one at Christmas but I wasn't even tempted);  I may replenish my frozen and dehydrated veg stores at that time.  After this I will consider starting anew, with a target of eight months.

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I'm still making kimchi:  around 6 L at the beginning of January using turnips, white radishes, leek/garlic, and 7# of Chinese cabbages (I got them all picked before the start of a two week long frost);  last week I made another L of water kimchi with my rather small harvest of pink winter radishes along with garlic/leek and chili peppers from my nearly dead plants.  Right now I'm eating some fennel kimchi:  it originally started as fermented fennel with dill but was rather uninspiring so I poured in a cupful of leftover kimchi brine to make it magical.