Our allotment is calling; says it wants more attention. Out of a bit of guilt I've joined C down there a few times over the past couple of months. It's more of C's project really. Much as I like the idea of it, my time is spread so thinly on everything already that I just haven't figured out how to get over there more. Ideally, I ought to make time for at least a couple of hours each weekend, I'll try to be better. While C has plans for all the veg he wants to grow this year and has collected seeds, planted things in the greenhouse, prepared and measured out the rows , labelled, watered and tended my role is far less complicated. I'm entirely more suited to weed control. The main digging over of the plot was probably more C than I, although I did spend a good few hours helping. The on-going attempts to keep the weeds at bay is pretty arduous (we actually have a plot and a half due to the fact that C wanted the extra space for the fruit trees and bushes and that the allotments haven't been in demand. The fruit plot actually looks bang tidy if you ask me, I think he's done a great job and I've been toiling to try to keep it looking good.

As you can see, the plot is still a country mile away from being weed free, it's our third year of allotment-keeping and it's much more of a time-drain than I expected (in a good-ish way) but still, we've not quite got to grips with the final layout and proper paths. The main and crucial element of fencing was done by C last year and that's held us in good stead against rabbits.

Our first crop of the year has been asparagus, which I had been looking forward to ever since C put them in last year. Asparagus is pretty special both in terms of eating and growing; it kind of looks like a single tentacle emerging from the ground in some kind of laboured, Jurassic way. I estimate we've had about 20 spears out so far and there might be a few yet to come, with which C made a fabulous asparagus soup and then a chicken and asparagus pie. Could there be any more exciting way to start the allotmenting year? I doubt it.

It's likely that the next crop will be the strawberries but considering the flowers are still on the plants, it's not going to be for a while yet! The large strawberry patch looks pretty healthy by my reckoning and I've got soft fruit on the mind.

We've got quite a few bits in the ground, growing so far; the usual suspects. This time though, we're not putting them all in at once, in the hope that we wont end up with a massive glut and not be able to harvest everything in time. We've not been cooking from scratch all that much lately and I want to be constantly using the vegetables we're growing once they're ready.

To be honest I do have mixed feelings over the allotment; I wish it was in a better location, more sheltered, as the wind is so brutal there and even a nice sunny day can feel cold and (being a most unsociable creature) I wish that it was a little more private so that some quiet time working down there was actually undisturbed. That's just me though, maybe I should stick to the back garden?!

I'd like to bring you more updates on what's growing through the year and how we used it.

Sophie