Vivi's Kitchen Garden

January has been a bit of a naughty month…..if it can go wrong, it has gone wrong! But……with the help of good friends I’m getting back on track. I owe a HUGE thank you to Wendy, Nancy, Richard & Paul……they have all been amazing and I can’t imagine what I would have done without them…… Onwards and upwards now. Thank you for bearing with me.

Our heavy rain days continue so there’s nothing for it but to get on with some tool maintenance. I have never cleaned or sharpened my secateurs (pruning shears) and it’s high time I learned how to do it. A huge part of living a self-reliant life is being prepared to have a go at anything and everything. Update: Sadly it seems my friend was ripped off by someone selling on-line and that my secateurs are not genuine Felcos. The genuine Felcos should not have a screw in the blade nor cross head screws. The link below is for genuine ones.

We’re not having much luck with the weather at the moment…..it’s beautifully mild but day after day of rain. I take my chance, between big black clouds, and race off to the garden to get on with a long overdue job – the lentils!

It feels great to be back in the garden……especially when the sun is shining and the first seeds get sown. I also tackle some long overdue jobs and feel so much better for getting them done.

I had a few errands to run in the centre of London so I decided to bring you along with me to show you some of my favourite places. (Note: this is a reissue of a video released last year but which had some music copyright issues so had to be removed and re-edited).

After an absence of a few weeks (apart from to harvest) it’s time to get back to the garden and see what jobs need doing and to start thinking ahead to the new growing season…

It’s another exciting moment in the year…….the first delve into the seed tin! I have so many odds and ends of seeds I need to have a thorough go through to see what I already have and to check if there are any ‘gaps’ that need plugging. It’s not a job to rush….but rather one to immerse myself in and begin to dream of the garden I hope to create this year…..

Wassailing is an old tradition of blessing the orchard trees to bring a good harvest. This year, on my site, a few of us gathered to wassail our communal fruit trees……..oh dear, we may not have known the words to the songs but we had a wonderful time trying. This is what I love about gardening on an allotment…..the community laughing and celebrating together.

It’s that wonderful time of year when I get to sit down with my seeds and scraps of paper and begin to plan the kitchen garden for the following 12 months. Space is at a premium so it’s worth my time to really think ahead and plan to use up every inch of space through as many months as possible.

As another year draws to a close I take a few moments to reflect on the highs and lows of it and look forward to a whole new year to play with. There won’t be any ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ made, as such, but I do consider ways to make small changes to make life even better….