Festive Honours List

Hot news from last night's award ceremony at the Soil Baron's Ball.

1. Best vegetable - Pea
2. Most improved crop - Carrots, Special commendation: Coriander
3. Best transplant from an Oxford allotment - Rhubarb
4. Most underrated vegetable - Leeks
5. Overabundance with little clue as to what to do with it award - Chervil
6. Biggest disappointment apart from Dowson contribution to the blog - cabbages (root fly, pheasant interference, pigeon peck, deer chomp, hare cut)
7. Most unlikely achievement - harvesting artichokes from my 2010 sowing
8. Most unlikely achievement for 2011 given current temperatures - harvesting any more artichokes from my 2010 sowing
9. Special onion-related achievement award - was to be awarded to Al Lotment but withheld by the jury at the last minute
10. Thing to look forward to on Shallow Onions in 2011: too numerous to mention but probably something related to soft fruit or the newly planted orchard.

Hope you get lots of seedy gifts in your Christmas wellie and all the best in the new growing season.

Burn Baby Burn

Well, my prayers were answered and we are sweltering in a brief interglacial. Perhaps this would be a good time to introduce you to my river, technology permitting. Everyone should have one.

The Plot Thickens...

Sometimes there's nothing you can do but sit back and admire your handiwork. At least we've got off lightly so far though! I am now praying to the norse god Thaw for an off-white Christmas as I have 21 orchard trees impatiently waiting to get their feet dirty.