New Challenges, Trying to Grow Different Things for Meals.

The Beetroot Novice. 

The first time you attempt to grow something that you have never tried before is always interesting and adds a bit to the 'drama' to the monitoring of how well is it doing.

This year must have been a good one for anyone growing beetroot in the area where my allotment is or I may have just had beginner's luck, because as a novice I have managed to raise enough to give some away. Not sure why I did not grow it before but it will be a regular now on the plot. This year's crop came about because a nearby plot holder gave me some beetroot seedlings that did not look very promising to begin with.

The Leeks have also done well and they will make a tasty addition to soups and other meals.

I am not so sure about the Brussel sprouts as these where firstly invaded by the Cabbage White butterfly who got in under the net and donated numerous eggs, which then grew into an army of caterpillars, though small in size they where large in numbers. I picked them off, shaking the sprout stems to dislodge as many as I could, also spraying water over the plants to disclose those in hiding.   Now the sprouts seem to be home to a number of baby snails hiding in the foliage, hopefully not yet in the tiny sprouts that are forming. I will try to pick the tiny culprits off , because chemical spraying etc. or slug pellets are  not things I am willing to use on or near my allotment crops or even in my flower garden.  I have no wish to harm the beneficial creatures just to rid my plot of pests. The balance seems to have worked so far, again on the win some lose some principal.