January and all's well

There's a break in the January rain, so just time to strim the grass on the paths and check that everything is in order. There's a few mangy parsnips under the blue hoops (right) and a bit of pigeon-chewed chard in the foreground.

The weeds are still on holiday and the black sheets are helping to keep them suppressed. The carrot box (left) is empty. Upper left I have just given the vine a good prune. Elsewhere we have a few small sprouts and the remains of some broccolli and cabbage which the birds have eaten off after the wind lifted the netting.

But it's not all doom and gloom. There was a couple of bottles of Sol Mexican beer in the shed left over from 2008, so I celebrated the start of a new Allotty year by pulling the cap off one and drinking it.

The main job now is done at home - ordering the seeds and plants for 2009. See what I can find which the slugs won't eat and the birds won't nibble. There must be something !