Mother Nature 2 Allotment Holder 0

And looking at the forecast for the weekend, I think she's going for a hat-trick ;>(

The runner beans and French beans have all but given up trying to grow, the broad beans are just about hanging on in there as are the Jerusalem artichokes, but only after I straightened them up again.

I dug a new 'flood channel' in an attempt to divert the water away from the play area and old greenhouse that keep flooding. I had to relocate several onions, well they were hanging on in there not quite being washed away so thought I'd give them another chance. In an attempt to stop the water from coming onto the plot, I dug out the path leading to the plot to try and keep the water on the top side of the path hoping to keep it flowing past the allotment. In addition, I put some stones and bricks at the entrance to the plot to stop some of the water coming in.

However, given what parts of Sheffield have been through in the past few days all these problems don't really seem that important. The allotment site is on a steep hill overlooking Rivelin Valley that leads into the Sheffield, so the water runninf down the site ends up in the river in the valley that caused some of the flooding not far away from the site.

On the positive side...
We have had well over a dozen strawberries from the plants put in only a couple of months back. And I have to say they taste amazing! We went strawberry picking at Whirlow Farm at the weekend and the strawberries didn't even come close to the taste of ours - they did make good strawberry ice cream though!

We have 20+ garlic bulbs drying in the kitchen! Fortunately the house has stopped smelling quite so much, either that or we have become immune to it. I'm not sure how to break it to Mrs D that there's almost as many still in the ground... You might wonder quite what we're going to do so much garlic? Something I've just beginning to address now! I've bartered 6 bulbs for a book written by a friend - Pre-School Out and About. She probably got the better of the deal, but she did pay to publish the book herself!

We had a few potatoes too, many because the soil was being washed away from around them. Bit small but nice all the same.

Oh well, maybe better news next time.