It really felt like spring for the first time this weekend: I went
out without a jacket and didn't get cold and for the first time in
months I didn't wear my gloves.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Sorry, got a bit overexcited there. It's just that I really hate
winter and I'm delighted that it's almost over, and soon I'll be able
to leave the back door open all day and walk to work (well, the train
station) and home from work in the light, and fire up the barbecue in
the back garden, and lounge about on the grass drinking iced coffee and
reading a magazine.
The arrival of warmer seasons was also in evidence at the allotment: the soft fruits are all at that delightful just about to burst into leaf stage, the broad beans are poking themselves through the soil surface (see pic) and the perpetual spinach and chard suddenly look fresh again as they put out new leaves.
I dug over the strawberry patch again, removing loads of little strawberry plantlets that won't fruit but will compete with the bigger plants; I also dug over an area ready for the potatoes I plan to plant over Easter.
I made soup out of the third from last of my 2004 squash crop
tonight: they're the toughest of the lot, which is why they've lasted
the longest, so
cutting into it was almost impossible. But the soup
should taste ok: it's an old favourite adapted from something I ate at
the wonderful Andrew Edmunds restaurant in London - pumpkin with coconut milk, a bit of ginger and chilli.
From the look of the rhubarb (right), it won't be too long before I'll be able to try out this Nigel Slater recipe from today's Observer magazine.
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