Garlic Planted, Alltoment visited & spring is on its way!

Garlic has now been planted; 2 bulbs split into 24 cloves and planted in 2 rows, in bed number 3 (the one next to the fruit).  The tips are just poking out of the ground & I've covered with a metal cage.

I should type in the variety, but I'm crap & I forgot to write it down :(

I do remember that the variety is good for British weather, and my soile (not as well drained as it could be).

The weather was mild, dry and nice.

I had a bit of a tidy up too, after the recent windy days I was worried that there might be a bit of damage.  Fortunately no, my greenhouse is still there!

 

I harvested a handful of spindly parsnips (a bit pathetic really, only as wide as a pritt-stick), I took a manky looking cabbage (which has probably 2 servings for 2 people), and a stalk of sprouts (which had about 18 good sized sprouts on).

The spring brassicas are a bit hit & miss, some have been nibbled, some didn't survive the hard winter, but others (kale) is looking pretty good and strong.

The strawberries look as chaotic as they did just after the harvest - must have sprung more runners since giving my dad over 100 in the autumn.

And to finish my day, I noticed this beautiful colourful thing, peeping out from the old rhubarb...A taste of spring to come :)

The best mashed potato

The best mashed potato (in my humble opinion) is made using Cara potatoes.  I think that different potatoes produce different flavour mash.  In 2009 I grew Rooster potatoes, which were nice, but not as nice as Cara.

I planted 30 seed potatoes last year, dug them out in October, and am still eating them.  Sizes ranged from bramley apple to big-fist sized.  They store well and seem to make the best mashed potato.

How to make the mash
I don't do anything fancy to them, peel, chop into chunks, boil in sightly salted water until tender, drain, chop up and mash with a masher or ricer.

I then season well with salt & pepper, add a good knob of butter, a splash of milk & mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.