Wednesday 20 January 2016

Frost at the allotment


















I wandered down to the allotments on my way back from the school run this morning. Well, it was more of a march really to try and keep warm. They were pale and frostily beautiful. It was just me and a few hungry birds.

The water troughs were frozen solid. A small boy would probably have tried standing on them to see if they would bear his weight. As I didn't have one handy I made do with giving the ice a good shove. Solid. 

There's not much on the plot to harvest. A few leeks and roots. I'll dig some out after the thaw, which is due tomorrow I think. 

It's hard to imagine how different it will all be in six months' time. This is the season of rest, but soon it will be time to get the shoebox full of seeds down from the shelf. The wheelbarrows are all lined up waiting to ferry loads of manure down to the plots. For the time being though I'm enjoying the break and happily working my way through last season's harvest from the freezer. Gooseberry crumble, borlotti bean hotpot, roasted beetroot and a Nigel Slater damson cheesecake. I do so love this time of year.

35 comments:

  1. It's very interesting to see the allotment in the "off season" this way. I especially like the wheelbarrows all lined up. What a great thing to have this space to use. I would enjoy sitting on a bench with you and watching things grow all summer.

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  2. It does looks very cold in your corner of the world. It is however beautiful to see how the frost looks like sugar. Beautiful photos and many thanks to you for sharing!

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  3. It does looks very cold in your corner of the world. It is however beautiful to see how the frost looks like sugar. Beautiful photos and many thanks to you for sharing!

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  4. The frost sure makes for some fun photos. You seem to have better frost than we do. I wonder why?
    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  5. So pretty. The frost wasn't as heavy here this morning but the twinkles on the ground matched the stars in the sky as I took Rocky for his morning walk x

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  6. Your photos capture perfectly the stillness of an icy cold day at the allotments as everything lies sleeping. xx

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  7. Frost is ever so pretty, isn't it? I like walking over a frosty meadow and look back at my foot prints. Enjoy your summer memory meals. x

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  8. A most enjoyable post and lovely pictures. Frost certainly adds a touch of magic to everything. That last picture makes me smile as it conjures up an image of a wheelbarrow race. Flighty xx

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  9. All the enjoyment without the hard slog eh? It all looks beautiful and as you say hard to imagine it later in the year when it will all be burgeoning.

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  10. I love getting 'the taste of summer' out of the freezer sadly there is not a lot left. Your photos once again are beautiful, the frost really does add a magical dimension. The wheelbarrows all lined up made me smile too.

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  11. Frosty but beautiful. The damson cheesecake sounds delicious. xx

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  12. I love it when it all looks frosty and sugar coated. Keep warmx

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  13. Lovely how frost can transform even the mundane in to something beautiful. I love the sound of summer's harvest stashed away in your freezer. Nigel Slater's damson cheesecake-delicious!

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  14. Some cracking photos there my friend. I love January too and can't understand why people speak so gloomily about it. Things are starting to bud and grow, the light is streaming back and Spring is ahead. What's not to like. November though, now that is a different question :o) xx

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  15. Gorgeous frosty photos - I especially love the beautiful wooden benches and the pile of wheelbarrows! Your borlotti bean hotpot sounds yummy. xx

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  16. Wonderful frosty pictures CJ. The things you make from your freezer stash sound yummy. I'm loving winter this year too.
    Jacquie x

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  17. A crisp, frosty morning is one of my favourite types of morning. Gorgeous photos, CJ. Your freezer contents sound delicious :-) Sam x

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  18. Thanks for taking me to your allotment - your photos are just wonderful. I love the colour of frost in the countryside and the cleansing effect it has on even the most wild scrubby areas. I haven't had time to go to my allotment since Christmas, I don't think I've ever left it so long. I love producing winter meals from stored produce - I call it free food!

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  19. Hey CJ,
    Oh the allotment looks so beautiful with a layer of frost and that golden hued winter sunshine. I am thinking about seeds and veggies and all things soil based too. I love this bit of the gardening year very much.
    Leanne xx

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  20. Thanks for sharing your beautiful frosty photos and your musings about this time of year, CJ. We are due to have another wave of rain here in Boring, Oregon. However I am musing about my primroses that are blooming yet again. I don't know how they have survived on my front porch through all the frosts that we have had...Teresa thinks they have convinced themselves they have enough protection to live. The leaves look very tragic, but the flowers are pretty. The contents of your freezer sound yummy...a well deserved reward for your hard work during the growing season! I wonder if we have any blackberries left in our freezer.... xx

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  21. Everything looks so beautiful coated in the frost doesn't it. Also it somehow seems to be such an English scene to me! Hope that you enjoy eating your way through the freezer to make space for what is to come in summer! xx

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  22. Oooh your allotment looks lovely in the frost! We've been cracking the ice on the chickens water these past few mornings. I get terribly worried it will freeze up again during the day or that they will just drop down dead from the cold. Newbie chicken owner concerns, I'm sure, ha ha. They seem perfectly happy.

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  23. What stunning photos, just beautiful! I love the colours and textures, and all those lovely little sheds. It sounds like you have a delicious home-grown feast ahead - yum!
    Cathy x

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  24. These are lovely photos, CJ, and I can imagine that it's serene walking around when everyone and everything else is burrowed in for the winter. I'm watching the snow fall out my window as I type this and think that I'll stay burrowed indoors for a while, too:) I bought a calendar with 12 months of beaches on it to get me through until the warmer weather returns. Hope you're having a great day!

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  25. i wouldn't want to sit on those seats

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  26. Lovely photos, I like the idea of resting in winter, I don't think Aussies quite get that, even though we do have quite a severe winter, in our area. I'm going to do it next winter!

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  27. I love frosty mornings like that - thanks for sharing with us. We're just very cold right now without the pretty frost, though snow is supposed to be on the way! Sounds like good food at your place - have a good weekend.

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  28. We had frost a few mornings ago, it was so pretty the few hours it lasted.
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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  29. The allotment does look so beautiful and so peaceful compared with those summer months. I love the line of wheelbarrows waiting for the work to come! Sarah x

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  30. oh, what gorgeous photos - it's like time standing still. *sigh* xo

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  31. The allotments look enchanting covered in frost. And very very peaceful. Do you walk to school every day? We used to in Leeds and I loved that daily breath of fresh air and the contact with the seasons. We have to drive now. Well, we could walk, but it would take about 40 mins..

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  32. I love that first photo especially! Lovely pictures

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  33. Gorgeous frosty photos, I like the first and the last, all those barrows just waiting for the busy season. Its just very wet and windy here, which is not very pretty to look at or photograph :)

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