Pumpkin soup

and pumpkin bread to go with it. This was a bit dry and heavy though. It didn't rise properly, I think because the mix was a bit dry. It also contains polenta which is two years past its sell-by date. Not too bad nonetheless.

Went to the allotment this afternoon to squirt the p-s-b with Bio-Friend Plant Defence http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/plant_care_and_gardening_tools
/biofriend_plant_defence_no1 to see if it will help to fend off the whitefly and woolly aphids, but I fear it may already be too late. It was quite successful in the spring against greenfly and the little green caterpillars that attacked everything so badly last year in the garden. But on brassicas the leaves are so water repellant the stuff just beads and rolls off. I've run out of this BFPD now and don't know whether to get some more. It's not cheap. Next year I will cover all the winter brassicas with enviromesh or fleece before these insects get the chance to attack.

I have sown some lettuce seeds, which have now germinated, and some carrot seeds, in the greenhouse - just to see how they get on. I have never really grown food in the greenhouse over the winter before, so this is a bit of an experiment for me. I'm planning another good session at the allotment tomorrow afternoon.