Springtime 2009 has got off to a rip-roaring kickoff here in the UK. Fine weather has meant I am living up to my self-promise to get an early start with the lottie jobs this year, so I‘ve been pretty busy for the last four weeks, sowing, potting, digging and weeding.

April sunshine in this green and pleasant land is not always a good omen…remember 2007? That year we had an April heatwave and that was it – the party was over and we had to suffer through four months of wet and blustery drudgery. Still, my hopes are high.

Without a doubt, the biggest thrill so far was the early appearance of the asparagus. On the first of April, my first fat, juicy purple spears started to rear their lovely heads – no foolin’! In the same week that the very first of the UK farmed asparagus appeared at Borough Market from the Isle of Wight, where they have the most hours of sunlight in the UK, I was cutting my first bunch.

These celebratory occasions were announced via my latest obsession with Twitter, as I microblogged “OMG! 2 asparagus tips emerging! That’s SO early.” And “Just going to cut my first bunch of allotment asparagus. Always a momentous occasion, but nearly a month early this year. Hurrah!” among many other allotment tales by tweet.

Seasonal food recipe finder: April

Spring is in the air bringing lamb and the first salad greens

• Good food in Belfast

• How to cook purple sprouting broccoli

Ten things to do now in the vegetable plot

Putting in the ground work this weekend in the vegetable garden will pay dividends come summertime says Times Online's Urban Farmer

• Trowels out everyone and dig for victory

• Urban Farmer’s review of the year

• How to start a vegetable garden

Related Links

• Why we forgot how to grow food

I am brand new to Twitter, but I’ve already built up a wonderful group of foodie Twitter friends. On seeing a tweet complaining about the price of rhubarb in the shops, I announced that my rhubarb plant seems to be on steroids and anyone is welcome to come and help themselves to as much as they can carry.

This precipitated a visit from Niamh, aka @eatlikeagirl, who writes a passionate food blog. I was delighted to share my rhubarb with her, as well as a clutch of delicious rocket flowers. I also sent her home with a bag full of some other vegetables which you’ll never see in the shops - the sprouting shoots of cavolo nero, Brussels, and kale. Who’d have thought they were the best thing since PSB? Also, some whole garlic bulbs which we failed to dig up in the autumn, sprouted into clusters of tall spring-onion like shoots which are tender and garlicky. I’m tempted to make this “mistake” deliberately from now on – we’ve been loving them in salads and omelets.

The other big news on the lottie is our “new” greenhouse. Back in March, we spotted some twin-walled plastic sheeting that had been discarded in the woods. This stuff costs a fortune to buy, and although the sheets were a bit mossy and spider nest-ridden, we decided to clean up the forest and recycle as well. Armed with a battery-powered circular saw borrowed from Lloyd in plot 4, my husband Dan and I (mostly Dan!) manufactured a decent size greenhouse in an afternoon, which will greatly enhance our gardening year. Credit-crunch-tastic!

www.celiabrooksbrown.com follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/celiabb

TIP OF THE WEEK: It’s most likely your brassicas will have now gone into flower, which means their life cycle is at its end. The flowers will attract bees, which is great, but you may need to pull them up to make room for other stuff. If you do, pull off as many of the remaining tender leaves as you can and cook or freeze them.

Seasonal Recipe: Rhubarb and Cardamom Fool

Serves 6

This recipe comes from the “Riverford Farm Cookbook” by Guy Watson and Jane Baxter (4th Estate, £16.99). The book is packed with outstanding recipes organized by ingredient, plus gardening advice and some gripping essays by Guy, whose family founded the farm; Guy initiated their organic box scheme. www.riverford.co.uk

450g rhubarb, coarsely chopped

150g caster sugar

Juice and grated zest of 1 orange

3 cardamom pods

100ml double cream

100ml yoghurt

Mix the rhubarb, sugar and orange juice and zest together and place in an ovenproof dish. Add the cardamom pods. Cover and bake in an oven preheated to 190C / Gas 5 for 30-45 minutes, until the rhubarb is completely soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely. Take out the cardamom pods and puree the fruit.

Whip the cream with the yoghurt until it just holds its shape. Carefully fold the puree into the cream so you have a ripple effect, then transfer the mixture to serving glasses. Chill before serving.

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies