Earlier this year, I thought I would be spending February 14th in Central Park, New York, praising the skill of the park planners, waxing lyrical of their use of form, balance and colour to create an oasis in the metropolis of the Big Apple etc. Instead, we spent the day at home awaiting the delivery of out replacement dishwasher but believe me, after a month of washing dishes by hand, this is the best Valentine’s present I could wish for.
The weather wasn’t too good today, dry but overcast, however I’ve been preparing the vegetable patch over the past two days and I wanted to finish the last quarter. Although I was keen to avoid a complete ‘digging over’ I was concerned that there was still a fair amount of stones in the soil which contributed to some of the stunted roots I had observed in last season’s crop. So I used a golden claw which, as well as aerating the soil and exposing the clods to overnight frost, brought up hard matter to the surface. I’ve painstakingly removed every stone and sticks, accompanied of course by the dogs who tried equally hard to put them back from whence they came, and then raked the beds to as fine a tilth as I could. I now ache in places I didn’t know I had!
As part of the veg patch prep, I finally gave in and dug up the remaining leeks. After almost a year in the ground they still only resembled spring onions - at best – but sautéed in butter they tasted fine with new potatoes (sadly, shop bought) and home-made quiche lorraine.
