Sunday, February 24th, 2002

The wettest February for years.   No news from the allotment this month, bar a couple of swift visits between the rains.

The last of the parsnips made a few pots of soup, extra warming with ginger!   The last of the scorzonera has gone woody and not very pleasant, and the salsify roots have disappeared as they burst into new growth.   I've limed the brassica beds.   My seed potatoes arrived - they are set out chitting.

It may have been wet this February, but it has also been warm most of the time.   The snowdrops don't seem to be early, but it's not the same if you don't see the first snowdrop peeping through snow cover.   However the birds are very active, with blackbirds, chaffinches, and blue tits singing their hearts out at two o'clock in the morning.

Chaffinches?   I haven't seen one for a couple of years - it's good to see a couple in the back garden, but I remember times when the chaffinch was supposed to be the commonest bird in the UK!   Not any more.

Wet and warm - bad news for my stored vegetables.   The potatoes are frantically sprouting and going soft a month early; the onions are not storing well, and may well run out within a few weeks.   Roll on spring - and some dry weather, I hope!