The weather has been unremittingly awful since I last posted an entry - almost a month ago. We have been along to the allotment every weekend, just to do a couple of things. The ground has been far too wet to do any digging, but we have tidied up the area behind the shed and a couple of other small jobs. The tame photographer has been collecting manure from the communal heap and stacking it up in our third compost bin so that it can rot down for the coming year. Last year that worked quite well, so we thought we would try again. I have done a bit if weeding, and sown the broad bean seeds - two rows of aqua dulce. They haven't emerged yet, but maybe next week.

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I got a garden shredder, so I have been doing a bit of pruning at home, shredding it, and then adding it to the compost, which all means the compost heap is getting to be a good size.

The brussels sprouts are still being harvested, the original cabbages are finished, but I picked the first of the January Kings this week. The spinach is doing fine, still and we are eating delicious parsnips. The purple sprouting broccoli is just about ready to start harvesting, but the rudolph is not quite ready yet. All the winter onions look good as are the spring onions so there is still quite a lot going on. Oh yes, and there are still plenty of leeks.

As I went to the allotment last week in the wind, rain and freezing cold, it did dawn on me how lucky we were with the weather last year. For the first couple of months, the weekends at least were sunny and not too cold. If it had been weather like we are experiencing this year, I'm not sure our enthusiasm would have been as great. However, such a brilliant first year started us off on the right track and this year the dreadful weather doesn't seem to be deterring me one bit. And hopefully it is killing off any horrible pests that might be lurking.