From Welly to Belly

And about time too...

2009-10-19T08:12:00.002+01:00

...that I updated this blog. Not that everything has stopped on the plot in the last 6 months - far from it. It just seems I lost the desire to keep it updated. Well there's an imminent arrival that's distracted me rather slightly. Yes a tiny pair of wellies has been growing in my belly and should make an appearance in the next 2 weeks or so. So until then I'm going to catch up with some blogging now that I'm a lady of leisure.

April so far

2009-04-10T20:50:00.007+01:00

Last weekend (4th/5th) was a busy one - two full days on the plots.
I planted out the broad beans...And transplanted the peas into the same bed. I love the way they almost instantly know where and what to curl their tendrils around.

I also planted out the yellow mange tout up against the hazel and chicken wire frame I'd put together.

And on Sunday we put in most of the potatoes - Nadine & Charlotte, with only the Pink Fir Apples to go.
I also sowed lots of flowers - poached egg plant, love-in-a-mist, cornflowers and two kinds of poppies.

Patience is...

2009-04-08T20:51:00.002+01:00

...having to wait another 2 years before I can harvest any of these.

There will be fruit

2009-04-08T20:34:00.005+01:00

Over the last 2 weeks or so the fruit bushes have been showing their minute flowers to the outside world and I noticed this evening that the bumble bees were doing the rounds.

The gooseberries are covered in tiny, delicate blooms and if the frosts hold off then it looks like we should get a decent crop (dare I say it maybe even a glut? I hope so).

The reliable blackcurrants are putting on a good show too.

The redcurrant that I moved out from underneath the Bramley apple is thriving and has lots of tiny trusses of flowers.

And the most exciting of them all is that the cordon apples have hints of blossom.

March

2009-04-08T17:25:00.007+01:00

Seeing as we're almost half way through April I'd best write down what we managed to get done on the plot last month. All the weekends were spent at the plot (apart from the last week where we skived off for a week's snowboarding!!).

We finished the asparagus bed and planted the crowns....hopefully we've done it right.We set up the wires and posts for the cordon apples and planted them.
Decided on where the plum, gage, damson and crab apple should go - top of Plot 85 and planted them. The soil on that section hasn't been dug (as far as I know) for at least 3 years and it's solid clay. So we weeded where we were going to plant the trees as best as possible, filled the holes with compost and then have covered the whole area in weed suppressant fabric and wood chips to stop the docks and other nasties in reappearing.

Sowed an early sowing of carrots (under fleece), beetroot (white & red) and some fast growing turnips (for something new) and when we visited last weekend there are signs of seedlings.

April so far is proving just as busy....

Gourmet Lunch

2009-02-26T21:58:00.004Z

The lovely thing about being able to go home for lunch is that some days you can treat yourself to something like this.

Steamed new season purple sprouting broccoli with a poached egg on homemade toast....it was really yummy! This is definitely our asparagus stand-in until we start producing our own...

Signs of Spring

2009-02-26T21:44:00.006Z

With this latest bout of milder weather things have been stirring.

The garlic has shot up from these tiny shoots back a few weeks ago to this.

The rhubarb seems to be getting bigger every time you glance at it. The ramsoms have made an early return (so they must like our soil)... mmm wild garlic...

And there's buds on just about everything...

Appearances are deceiving

2009-02-26T20:58:00.007Z

This blog for me is mainly an online diary to track the plots' progress. However there are a couple of people out there that pop in, read my posts and leave lovely comments and I bet they've been thinking is she still hibernating? or given it up totally?

Nope I haven't, in fact MJC and I have been busy building more raised beds and generally trying to get as much preparation done before the growing season in earnest... So here's a few photos to prove that I'm not lying...honest!

So we've cleared the weeds around the remaining gooseberry bushes, cut down the raspberry canes and given the whole area a good mulch to get one step ahead of the evil couch grass and other nasty weeds. I also rescued a redcurrant and another gooseberry plant that were being slowly smothered by the rasps. MJC also had the very good idea of putting bricks around one of the rhubarb patches to stop us accidentally stomping all over it.
I've dug and weeded a planting hole ready for one of the pear trees (Doyenne de Comice) I got cheap from Lidl's (£11.97 for 2 pear trees and a crab apple...bargain!!). We've both read Ken Fern's book 'Gardening for a Future' from cover to cover which sets out the principles of forest gardening so we're trying to create our own little productive area on Plot 85 next to the Bramley. I've also ordered (today) some more fruit trees today from Deacons Nursery. It was soo hard trying to limit myself on which apple varieties to choose so in the end I plumped for the following:

apples - King of the Pippins and Reinette Rouge Etoille (these both flower at the same time)
apples - James Grieve and Pitmaston Pineapple (same with these two)
damson - Merriweather
gage - Cambridge
and of course the classic Victoria plum (which my Mum requested)

The apples I'm going to attempt to train on wires as cordons at a 45 degree angle and the others I think I'm going to plant at the top of Plot 86 so they don't shade out the neighbouring plots too much. I'm going to start preparing the area where they'll go this weekend - so I'll post more more pics of how it's looking.

Here's what we've spent most of January working on. Some of these have been dug over now and are ready for spring sowing and I have a grand plan ready on paper (well spreadsheet).

And we've ordered 20 asparagus crowns (Ginjlim and Backlim) so we've painstakingly prepared a special raised bed for them when they get delivered in March.

Onions and Shallots

2008-12-14T22:49:00.005Z

Although we still have 2 more of the raised beds to finish off, we decided it was about time to plant the onions and shallots. Planted up 2 of the smaller beds and half the big L-shape bed with about 30 (2 rows) of 'Eschallotes Grise' - a new variety we're trying this year, several rows of 'Yellow Moon' shallots and 'Red Cross' onions. Oh and there was also a variety of white onion that I've forgotten the name of just now. To finish it off and make sure the birds don't pull them up - MJC covered the planted up beds with netting.

However that's only about 3/4 of the onions that we ordered and I've still to plant out the garlic (4 heads). I've decided though to plant the garlic in small pots first, so that they don't get too waterlogged over winter and then transplant them into the new beds in early spring. Just hope I've got enough pots!!

Chilly & frosty

2008-12-14T22:07:00.005Z

The last few weekends we've been up at the allotment it's been really frosty. It makes the usually soggy looking vegetation magical with their sparkling jewel-like, frosted droplets frozen to the leaves. The brassicas are looking especially bling...

The Globe artichokes... And the fennel too...

Been a Long Time

2008-12-13T19:23:00.008Z

Now that it's dark by 4pm the only time we manage to make it to the allotment is at the weekend but recently i.e. the last month we've been a whirl of activity building new raised beds in Plot 86. This was where the potatoes and courgettes were this "summer" just gone.

So this was how we started out about 2 months ago by measuring and digging out paths. It was a particularly spectacular autumn day as there was showers followed by amazing double and even triple rainbows.

Then finally 3 weeks ago we went to the timber mill to buy all the planks which we got cut to size. The first completed bed was honoured with its own photo.

And this was the end result after the first day constructing the beds. I measured and cut some weed suppressant fabric on the second day to cover the paths - well got to do these things properly! Then last weekend we had to bail out one of the paths for about an hour before we could started on putting down wood chips to cover the fabric.

The (almost) finished beds have an Escher like quality when you look at them. Although that's a nice way of saying they're not the straightest, parallel, right-angled constructions. However the sides are all completely level with one another...at least we got that accurate. I just think that no one will notice when they full to bursting with tasty veg.

One thing in common...

2008-10-20T09:19:00.004+01:00

...in these 3 potted delights are the Bramley apples from my tree (still a whole treeful to deal with!!).
From left to right - bramble & apple jelly, spiced apple jelly and green tomato chutney. The chutney is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall River Cottage recipe and the jellies are from this great little book (very retro!) that my sister found in amongst my mum's cookbooks and thought I'd like it - cheers M!! I adapted the apple jelly recipe with the addition of a few spices and making up the sugar content with muscovado (hence the dark colour) but it tastes delish! Will be making lots more of this to keep me in toast accompaniments over winter...
(Note: will post the recipe soon)

Needs more work!

2008-10-20T08:47:00.011+01:00

Was the official verdict of Plot 86 from the 2nd inspection of the colony's plots this year. Fortunately Plot 85a passed even with very weedy paths. Just hope I don't get another snotty letter from the council...

And more work was just what this plot will be getting over the next few weeks. I started on it last weekend by clearing away all the sweetcorn and squash plants. This weekend I finally decided to uproot the courgettes, as it's unlikely that I'll get any more fruit and started setting out the new raised beds and planning what will go where.

Most of this part of the plot was where the potatoes were. It's a good crop to break up the soil as it had been left to go feral for a couple of years before we took it on last year. From right to left - apple tree just peeping into the shot, weedy area where some of the squashes were and now is a heap of stuff waiting to be burned, ex-sweetcorn and courgette area, main ex-potato beds, some leeks planted this year and then a carpeted area (of the same size again) which we've yet to touch (possibly next year's potato patch or chicken area??).
Looking from the top of this area down the plot, this new bed is going to be devoted to growing flowers - with sweet peas providing a seasonal windbreak as the colony is not that sheltered. There will be a similar sized bed on the other side where I want to grow some vine type courgettes and maybe try and train some winter squash to grow upwards rather than along the ground...

The rest of the area will be this year's onion, garlic and shallot beds as they will benefit from all the goodness the manure has left in the soil after the potatoes.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

2008-10-05T23:09:00.008+01:00

Once I'm used to the change in season I love Autumn. Although it takes longer to get used to the shortening days. After all the clearing, digging and weeding, I stood back to admire my handiwork and noticed that the setting sun was giving everything a lovely golden hue. It was one of those moments where you feel completely contented for a few minutes.....

Squash harvest

2008-10-05T23:09:00.005+01:00

This is our total harvest (plus one other eaten before this photo) of squashes from 7 plants. Sadly the other 5 plants perished in the hands of the dratted slugs (slugs don't have hands do they?).

Particularly pleased with the Thelma Saunders Sweet Potato Squash as it was really prolific. We had 2 of the smaller ones in a roasted squash risotto.

Goodbye summer, hello autumn

2008-10-05T23:07:00.002+01:00

Spent a thoroughly productive afternoon on Sunday clearing away the finished summer veg plants and planning what was going to go where for next year.

So I started out with this....

Loooked a bit better with all the sweetcorn and squash plants gone....

Then weeded, raked and sowed some more Phacealia, as I think this is where the peas may go next year.

Green manure

2008-09-28T21:24:00.001+01:00

In the glorious warm sunshine on Saturday I weeded one of the ex-onion beds that hadn't been re-planted with anything and sowed a green manure - Phaeceila 'something'.

It has really cool shaped seeds (if you can see in the photo above). Shame my camera can't take a better close up.

Post holiday bellies and leftovers

2008-09-28T20:51:00.012+01:00

It's all very nice being on holiday and going out for dinner every night and eating lovely food but the great thing about being home is cooking in your own kitchen.

The 'ripe' tomatoes (or un-blighted parts of) were simmered with garlic, onions, anchovies and a few glugs of olive oil to become a pasta sauce base for a future quick dinner.

I thinned out the fennel and used the tender 'micro' ?!? plants in a creamy, mustardy, left-over-roast-chicken and almond bake creation with rice.

Some more of the ripe tomatoes, leftover roast chook with various other home grown veggies went into a curry (sadly the chickpeas are tinned).And then this wee beautie today went into a pork pot roast with some rescued windfallen bramleys...yum yum!

I think they look like trees when cut in half.

The Verdict

2008-09-19T15:20:00.008+01:00

Whilst not a total disaster the plots haven't quite escaped the blight and the slugs whilst we've been away but then given what we heard about the continuous, torrential rain, that can only be expected.

Rescued the tomatoes off the bedraggled looking plants and sorted into 2 piles - blighted and not-yet-blighted. Looks like a bumper year for green tomato chutney! The tomato plants at home are still blight-free still so I'm hopeful of some proper ripe tomatoes to eat.

Although very mildewed the winter squash have been very productive and there are a lot of fruits of almost harvestable size. I'm particularly impressed with the 'Thelma Saunders' Sweet Potato squash from http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ as it's been prolific! And in the photo above you can see that there is new fresh growth on the courgettes but I think this might be their last encore of the season.The slugs have been quite well behaved for slugs...but they've removed any trace of what should have been my get-them-in-quick late sowing of dwarf french beans (you can just see a couple of seedlings hanging on in the bottom left), desecrated the pak choi seedlings again... and they've started attacking the red cabbage although they're of a decent size to withstand a fair amount of munching.

And the best homecoming 'present' was eating these 2 lovely specimens...

At least the dismal weather stopped them from ripening too fast whilst we were away and means we can eat all the rest (another 10) yeay!!

Whilst I've been mostly...

2008-09-18T15:45:00.005+01:00

...doing this for the last 2 weeks on a very small Greek island, the plots have been left to their own devices with the occasional visit from our friends T&I and S&A.

We got back yesterday evening and as it was dark by the time we unpacked I'm having to wait until after work today to see what the verdict is.

Will the dreaded blight have decimated all the plentiful green tomatoes and left a soggy mush instead?

Will I have to lug home several huge 'marrows'?

Will I be rewarded with lots of ripe sweetcorn to harvest?

Will I have been spared a slug onslaught in my absence?

Let's hope the answers to the above are no, no, yes and yes (in that order).

2nd Chance

2008-08-27T08:49:00.002+01:00

After a bit of a lull in production the courgettes have perked up and have started setting fruit again.

Which is a relief as I hadn't got fed up with courgettes yet. I've also given them a bit of assistance and did some fertilisation as there seems to be an absence of bees around at the moment. Let's hope they're still going strong after we get back from our hoilday...

Last of the Broad Beans

2008-08-27T08:48:00.002+01:00

...went into a very delicious risotto.

On the Turn?

2008-08-27T08:47:00.003+01:00

Finally not one but TWO tomatoes are turning red.....yeay!

Trouble is the plants look like they're showing the first signs of the dreaded blight....booooo! Will have to keep a close eye on them.

The Odd Squad

2008-08-27T08:43:00.005+01:00

Whilst digging up the Pink Fir Apples we uncovered quite a few strangely shaped specimens.
Funny looking aren't they?!?

Early Morning Dig

2008-08-27T08:07:00.007+01:00

I was up with the birds this morning to gather the potatoes we dug up on Monday. What a great way to start the day!!

We've dug up most of the potatoes except the last row of Pink Fir Apples that went in a couple of weeks later than the others.

This barrowfull is large and medium sized Cara potatoes plus we've also got a large yellow trug of assorted sizes. There are still a lot of the pink-skinned potatoes left to eat (can't figure out what variety it is...as yes I've lost the label for them) and we dug up a small bucket of earlier-planted PFA.

Beautiful Borlotti

2008-08-26T11:54:00.006+01:00

I love the fact that vegetables can be pleasing to the eye as well as tasty.

These beauties (from a much larger haul) were picked the other night as I'm hoping to get another few out of the plants before the weather turns. I love the bright pink and cream splodged pods and the beans inside are just as pretty if a little more subtle.

Once I have enough - 2 handfuls so far - I'm going to make Pasta e Fagioli, a rather hearty bean and pasta soup, which my Nonna made with fresh borlotti in the height of summer. She always gave my sister and I the job of shelling the beans.

I've been mostly...weeding

2008-08-22T15:55:00.009+01:00

and weeding and weeding...but beginning to see the results of our hard work.

The brassicas so far have survived any cabbage white butterfly/catepillar attacks because they were netted right after they were planted out. However in the meantime weeds have grown up around them and with that extra cover the slugs have advanced to attack them on the lengthening soggy nights....So on Wednesday night we took the netting off the PSB, Romanescu cauliflowers and the red cabbages in order to have a good weed around them and put down a warning dose of slug pellets.

Last night I gave the French beans and Borlotti the same treatment as they've been a bit slug battered too and I started on weeding around the courgettes as they're looking a bit powdery mildewy and could do with a bit more airflow around them.

But it's not just the weeds that are putting in late summer growth spurts. The winter squash are bulking up nicely (you can see how they've dwarfed the bricks I'd placed them on) and with lots more fruit setting I'm looking forward to a bountiful harvest.

Plan B

2008-08-20T11:06:00.009+01:00

When growing your own veggies and fruit you've always got to have a Plan B if things don't go as planned. For example the onions that didn't grow were the perfect size for pickling.
So with the several marrows that we came back to after being away for a couple of weeks I made chocolate and courgette cake (no pics as it was eaten very quickly...yum yum!) and Marrow, Ginger and Cardamon preserve (from Jane Grigson's Vegetables cook book).
Makes the common ol' marrow quite an exotic preserve to spread on your toast...

A different viewpoint

2008-08-11T13:05:00.006+01:00

As you can see I've finally changed the blog's banner photo. But I've taken a couple of other panoramics from different sides of the plots.This is looking from the 'west-side' of Plot85a and you can see the forest of fennel in the foreground on the left and the cabbages and celeriac on the right. It was a really windy day on Sunday so we're going to have to stake the Jerusalem artichokes as at times they were almost horizontal.
This is taken from the shed on Plot 85a looking up both plots (Plot 86 is to the left of the path). The PSB (in the middle of the pic) is doing really well but the horsetail is slowly taking over again. So I think August will be mostly spent weeding....

It's a jungle out there!!

2008-08-11T11:56:00.022+01:00

You turn your back for 2 weeks and things go crazy.
In fact you can hardly see the two pepper plants behind the tomatoes. Unless you delve a little deeper behind all that lush greenery and see these...And there's one more the same size (about 4/5cm long) on the other plant and lots more just beginning to show. So a difficult decision to make. Do I remove these green peppers to allow the others to develop quicker or let them ripen on the plant??
As yet the tomato plants in the back yard have only got a few fruit on them but they're producing lots more flowers now.
The tomatoes on the plot however are different beasts.
They are dripping with green tomatoes and my only worry is that we're not getting any hot 'summer' weather to get them ripening. I suppose green tomato chutney is always a tasty Plan B.The sweetcorn is looking lush and healthy.
I'm really excited at the prospect of harvesting super-fresh cobs, as the plants I grew last year didn't come to anything.
And as you can see from the photo above the plants are showing their telltale greeny-yellow tufts of cobs in the making. Knowing my luck though they'll be ready whilst we're away on holiday next month....come on sun!!
The squashes planted at the end of the sweetcorn bed are definitely on a mission of jungle greenery and I found some volunteer dwarf beans (don't know where they came from) at the other end so I've got an accidental 3 Sisters happening.

I remember reading somewhere that in August weed growth is supposed to slow down but that hasn't happened yet! Although the greenery on the right are the Pink Fir Apple potatoes (no signs of any blight yet).

So I think you can just make out the courgette plants, which are still churning out fruit but I'm afraid our lovely neighbours, who we asked to keep an eye on things whilst we were away, didn't pick any so we've ended up with these monsters.....ooops!!The smallest ones are 'normal' courgette size with the heaviest being a whopping 1.3kg.

Catch up

2008-07-28T20:32:00.014+01:00

What with a couple of summer weddings, a few days holiday and jetting off to Romania with work for a week (where I am now) we've only had fleeting trips to the plot to pick up dinner and do some watering and quick tending/weeding. But here is a quick progress report on how we're fairing...

This delicious lot (almost a kilo) was promptly made into jam and the remaining 2nd harvest (not quite so much) topped a gorgeous cheesecake. Not as prolific this year but possibly due to my pruning the bushes last year.The winter squashes and pumpkins have settled in and despite a couple of casualties (darn ants farming blackfly!!) they're starting to produce baby fruits. This pic was taken about 10 days ago and since the hot weather has kicked in they've become positively triffid-like in their bid to take over the plots.

The borlottis are coming along nicely and the purple climbing french beans have finally started to flower and produce mini-beans (about time too!!)
We've been just about self-sufficient in veg for about a month and half now (bar the odd punnet of tomatoes and bulb of fennel as ours is not ready yet). It makes such a pretty arrangement, all freshly picked and washed that it almost seems a shame to eat it. Pink and green definitely goes together.

The peas are now finished but gave us a few good meals (note to self: must sow much more next year) and the poor apple tree is visibly sagging with the weight of the ripening apples.

I picked the last of the mixed salad, sowed back at the end of May, but unfortunately the subsequent sowing hasn't appeared. Luckily the land cress, rocket and pak choi are just about ready. The tomatoes are thriving and by looks of the next couple of photos we're in for a bumper crop.
Most of the tomato plants have lost their labels so I'll have to wait until the fruit have ripened to find out which variety they are but I reckon I can guess that the ones above are the San Marzano plum just by the funny shape.

And finally on the purely decorative front the sweet peas at home in pots have been producing regular small posies to scent the house. On the plot the blue echium (bit of an oxymoron as the flowers were white, pink, purple...) has been flowering for the last 2 months and the 'Love-in-a-mist' has started to bloom in the last week or so...lovely! Definitely got the thumbs up from the bees.

Being away with work means I won't be able to get to the plot for another 10 days so I look forward to seeing huge leaps in growth.

Totally addicted to...

2008-07-28T20:25:00.004+01:00

... grilled courgettes, sprinkled with basil, sliced garlic, drizzled in olive oil and eaten whilst still warm, mmmm so yummy! No foreseeable shortage for awhile yet...

Pickled!

2008-07-28T20:20:00.005+01:00

All was not lost with the under developed onions as I tried my hand at pickling them. Made up the quanity required in the recipe by chucking in a few small shallots.

They look rather pretty don't they? But the proof is in the eating...

Comparison

2008-07-06T23:20:00.006+01:00

It's amazing how a bit of horse poo the year before can make your onions grow into decent sized specimens (and shallots and garlic). The picture above are the ones planted where the potatoes were last year and the picture below are those unfortunate not to be... however the fennel and oriental greens seem to be thriving.Not sure whether the pictures shows the comparison well enough...

The silly season starts here...

2008-07-06T23:18:00.005+01:00

The courgette plants are poised on the brink of churning out fruit after fruit... I cut 3 small courgettes for my dinner, they're tastier and you get the added bonus of the flower too, and I've decided I'm going to keep a tally this year...(there are at least another 10 baby fruit on the 5 plants).

Its harvest time

2008-06-29T22:56:00.003+01:00

We decided that the garlic and shallots were ready to pull up... and my what a bountiful harvest. I think we've definately enough to last us all year (and we've still got a bed of onions to harvest later too!!).
I'm glad our nextdoor neighbours are garlic fans like us as the smell that wafted from our backyard would have seen off lurking vampires within at least a 10 mile radius.

2009 Year of the Brassica?

2008-06-29T22:50:00.003+01:00

(picture to follow soon)
We took the decision to pull up the shallots and garlic yesterday as we didn't want them rotting in the soil (its been quite wet of late). So in their absence we planted the volunteer PSB (I found more so they've now increased to 7), 5 PSB plants, 5 Romanesco cauliflower plants and the other 5 red cabbage plants (although they went in next to the 15 other red cabbage) we bought off t'internet.

Almost there...

2008-06-26T14:21:00.008+01:00

Took a quick peek at things on my way home from work as I've not been up since Sunday and it is lookin good. The recent rains have helped and some things (the lettuce) have doubled in size.So grabbed a couple of big handfuls to take round to friends (along with some potatoes and garlic) to say thanks for looking after the kittens the other weekend. The courgettes are starting to flower so not long to wait until the fruit start swelling. I'll give it a week until we pick our first one. The shallots have all flopped over so I don't think they're far off harvesting.

And the blackcurrants ave turned a lovely shade of purply black so I'll do a first pick at the weekend. Ooh will have to peruse some cookbooks...

Batten down the hatches

2008-06-22T22:41:00.003+01:00

We went to the allotment today for a couple hours weeding and tending as it was dry, and made sure everything was securely tied down (especially the tomato shelter) and wouldn't blow away in the gale force winds that are battering us at the moment. Not very mid-summer like is it?!? Hmmmm....

Disappointment to elation

2008-06-20T13:50:00.004+01:00

Some of the garlic plants got lightly damaged by MJC's strimming the other night so to satisfy my overwhelming curiosity at whether they were ready yet, I dug a couple of them up..... Oh! Initial negative thoughts were " it hasn't worked" and "all that money for nothing!" (Note: Decided this year to get cloves from the Garlic Farm as last year's supermarket ones went mouldy due to all the rain).

However when I decided to dig up just one more to check (from the other side of the bed, different variety) I got this little beauty...obviously the one on the left, but the other one was very tasty in the salsa verde we made to accompany the fish for dinner.

Now I'm going to be patient and wait just a wee bit longer to harvest all the other 89 and even if I only get a couple more like the one on the left I'll be a happy girl indeed.

June view

2008-06-09T22:56:00.002+01:00

Don't want to replace the title photo just yet as its so pretty with the blossom and bluebells. So here is the almost mid-June view of Plot 86a.

Not long now...

2008-06-09T22:25:00.009+01:00

Until we'll be reaping some of the rewards of all our hard slog over the last few months.

The first early potatoes are starting to flower and this is supposed to be a sign that they're ready. Although when I dug one up I only found 3 tubers...boo! I'll probably have to step up the watering and wait until more flowers have opened.

The peas have started to flower, can't wait for my first pod eaten, there and then! The broad bean flowers are now giving way to tiny little beans, so they'll need more watering too...sigh!

At the weekend we planted 20 replacements for the celeriac seedlings that got munched (an Ebay purchase) and 12 red cabbage plants that I couldn't resist buying at the garden centre the other day. The cabbage plants have been netted against the pigeons and butterflies and plenty of slug pellets put round all of them.

The Tomato Shelter

2008-06-04T11:03:00.005+01:00

As all the varieties of tomatoes I'm growing this year are vine, then I need to rig up some proper support and the ones I grew outside last year took ages to produce fruit and ripen. So I've 'designed' a combined support and shelter arrangement to try to give them the best growing conditions without resorting to having to get a greenhouse/poly tunnel and especially if this summer turns out like last year's.... and here it is, TAA-DAA!!!!!

Yes it's a hybrid polytunnnel/bike shelter arrangement, customised from the original Tunnel de Forcage components and only time (and high winds) will tell if it works.....I'll cram as many of the other tomato plants in gro-bags at home, some more on the plots and give away the leftovers.

Casualties

2008-06-02T07:44:00.006+01:00

So far this year I've had a few undocumented casualties and thought I'd best come clean about my not 100% successful record.

Some have been mysterious failures - a few squash, bean, sweetcorn, pea and cucumber seeds failing to germinate. Then there's been the unlucky, such as the other cucumber, a few tomatoes and all the kohl rabi seedlings caught out by damping off (even though I was very careful about not overwatering). Others have been due to my laziness/late timing, the poor beetroot seedlings grew as much as they could in their tiny pots....

And then there's the massacre of the slug army....grr! Checked on the plots at the weekend and realised that out of the 36 celeriac seedlings we planted out only 7 remain intact. Plus they've had a right go at the promising carrot seedlings. So out came the slug pellets and liberally dowsed all small defenceless seedlings.

More planting out

2008-05-27T08:42:00.006+01:00

Finished digging a bed next to the courgettes on Plot 86 and put the sweetcorn in it. Figured that since they're only a couple of inches high then they shouldn't get too battered by the really windy conditions we had yesterday and not too big that their growth gets checked by transplanting (as I think that's what happened last year). Just in case they get attacked by the slugs I put some pellets (organic ones) down around them.
We also attacked the weeds that have taken over the paved area around the shed and now have quite a nice 'patio' where we can put the deckchairs and maybe the barbeque if the weather picks up (I'm writing this whilst the rain's throwing itself against the window).

Feeling gravity's pull

2008-05-25T23:00:00.002+01:00

MJC came up with another brilliant idea for our water supply logistics. Get a syphon pump to fill up our water butt without trekking to and fro with watering cans from the water tank, which is a couple of plots away. Trouble is his attempts last weekend came to nothing and we decided that it was a good for nothing, cheap piece of .... However after a another bit of tinkering he did get it to work, hurray!

Sucessional sowing

2008-05-25T14:21:00.003+01:00

As we're now starting to eat small quantities of the lettuce mixes I sowed a few weeks ago thought it was about time to sow some more. So MJC broadcast sowed some in the pea bed and we'll just have to remeber to keep doing this at frequent intervals.

I used up the free space at the end of one of the onion beds to put in some fennel, perpetual spinach and rainbow chard.

Food for Free

2008-05-25T14:13:00.003+01:00

These 5 pathetic little things I found growing in amonst the potatoes. They must have sprouted from the PSB (purple sprouting broccoli) that was leftover from the last tennant and only dug up by us back in January. I'm sure with lashings of TLC they'll grow up strong and we'll be eating free PSB next spring...yeay!

Le Tunnel du Forsage

2008-05-25T13:59:00.003+01:00

To give it its correct (if probably wrongly spelt) French name. Another brilliant 'donation' from MJC's parents - merci beaucoup! We thought it would be the perfect solution to keeping the wee celeriac seedlings just comfy enough until they can properly fend for themselves.
(photo to come later)
I also covered the courgette seedlings with the corrugated plastic to get them going too as I think my failure last year was because it was too wet and cold.

Pink Furry Apples

2008-05-25T13:56:00.003+01:00

No, not the funny, knobbly looking but delicious potato but the result of all that blowsy blossom a few weeks ago.

Planting Out

2008-05-25T13:35:00.006+01:00

Last weekend was a very productive time on the plots. We dug and weeded the big bed on Plot 85a and I decided to plant the celeriac seedlings (all 36 of them) out into the bed rather than potting them on.
We constructed a sturdy bean frame and planted out the purple climbing french beans and the borlotti beans, which I've forgotten whether they're climbers or dwarf.

Then yesterday we weeded an area on Plot 86 for the courgette plants and introduced them to the real world...

Everything outside

2008-05-13T09:42:00.004+01:00

With all this lovely warm weather I've decided to move all the seedings (except for the pumpkin's that haven't germinated yet) outside, either into the small plastic greenhouse or the cold frame. But with space now at a premium in these it won't be long before I'll have to decide what's next to plant out on the plots...

Planting out

2008-05-12T22:31:00.005+01:00

The peas grown in the guttering were planted out at the weekend and they seem to be (so far) immune from any pigeon or slug attacks. I knew the blackcurrant and apple tree prunings would come in handy as pea sticks. Got another 40 emerging in plugs in the cold frame.

Appearances

2008-05-12T22:15:00.008+01:00

The Jerusalem Artichokes have made their entrance into the above-ground world and although starting off slow I'm sure they will speed up and soon be towering over everything else... The potatoes have also emerged, but not only where they were intentionally planted but bl***y well in amongst the garlic, shallots, onions, carrot and beetroot bed etc.etc. I'm sure I dug every last one up last year... This little beauty was dispatched into a roast tomato pasta sauce...yum! There are others on their way and hopefully by doing this they'll grow on quickly.
And back at the house most of the winter squash sown last week have appeared.

Blooming Lovely

2008-05-11T16:48:00.004+01:00

It must be perfect conditions this year for apple trees, as all the trees on the allotment colony have been showing off their finery for the last week or so.

The Bramley on Plot 86 took just the length of the bank holiday weekend to burst out into full bloom, which I'm taking as a futurre sign of 'armfuls of apples' instead of the 10 it produced last year.

Proper looking plot now...

2008-05-06T10:13:00.006+01:00

Since I first got Plot 86a back in Feb 2006 its come a long way. From looking like this...

Covered in head height brambles and other nasties lurking underneath. To now looking like this...

Its not quite all done though. There's a couple of areas left to de-weed and I still battle with the couch, marestail, docks and dandelions but it's got such a different feel to it now. Just got to manage the same feat with Plot 85.

Not just a pretty face...

2008-05-06T09:30:00.009+01:00

As well as being the brains behind the professional looking paths MJC has also come up with some other ingenious (if novel) ideas.
We have quite a few willow logs courtesy of his folks, and as they've started to sprout he decided to line one side of Plot 86a with them hoping that eventually we can have our own willow fence.

Plan is to get some more and put the rest down one side of Plot 85. We found out there's quite a lot of willow sculpting going on in the colony when we took a tour around the 'new' end on Friday night on our way home.
Pretty impressive huh?!

I was skeptical about this funny looking arrangement but it seems to be working, although we don't have a 'control' version to measure it against. I've named it the MJC Enhanced Rainwater Capture and Collection Device...

Rain stopped play...

2008-05-06T09:05:00.007+01:00

..but still managed to have a very productive bank holiday weekend. We went up to the plot on Friday night after work but sod's law the heavens opened just as we were getting the tools out of the shed.....!

However Saturday dawned fine and sunny so we managd a full day's pottering and got the following done (long boring list I'm afraid).

planted the reamining broad bean plants
dug and weeeded another small bed
sowed 3 types of carrots - Giant Red, Large ????, Large 1/2 Long into the small bed
sowed 2 types of beetroot - White and Bolthardy in to the small bed
MJC started digging another large bed and put woodchips on the paths - very professional looking!!
planted the horseradish next to the artichokes
weeded what was the strawberry bed and rescued another 3 plants from the clutches of the couch grass
cleared around the artichokes and one of the blackcurrant bushes
mulched the new red gooseberry plant and the cleared blackcurrant bushes
installed the 'Greencone'

On Sunday it was too wet to do any digging so instead I did some sowing at home and managed to finally sow some other beans - 12 borlotti (Lingua di Fuoco), 12 purple climbing french (name?) and once I find the rest of my supply of toilet rolls, 12 yellow dwarf french. Also sowed 18 sweetcorn (Golden Nugget) and most of the winter squash varieties - 3 each of Thelma Saunders Sweet Potato Squash, Buttercup XXX, XXX Acorn Squash but still got Baby Bear Pumpkin to do.

Monday we went up for a visit with our next door neighbours to show them our vegetable 'kingdom' but we didn't really have time for any serious digging.

Just wish I had the rest of the week off as the weather's supposed to be lovely....sigh!

Hiatus...

2008-05-02T17:06:00.003+01:00

Been off on a watervole hunt...but best get back into the seed sowing as Spring has sprung. Also don't want to get too far behind Dr Greenfingers...www.gardenofdoug.blogspot.com

Lettuce eat salad

2008-04-23T17:27:00.003+01:00

Well in about 6 weeks we should have a fresh supply.

I sowed the 12 leftover soaked peas, rocket, little gem, American land cress, spicy mixed leaves and 'Quattro Stagioni' mixed leaves into a long plastic 'window-box' type of container. Plan is to eat the pea shoots and start picking the salad as young leaves, eventually leaving a few to mature.

In other seed sowing news I've sown about 40 peas in the module tray, as I don't have enough guttering for another large batch. I also soaked them overnight to see if that makes them germinate quicker than the first batch.

I've decided on growing three of the normal shaped but stripey courgettes 'Striato d'Italia' and two of the round 'Tondo di Piacenza'. I might also make a second later sowing, depending on how well the summer shapes up. I sow the seeds on their sides (see photo) as its supposed to make it easier for them to germinate and stops them rotting in the soil.

The Growing Season starts here...

2008-04-23T17:07:00.004+01:00

At last the weather's warming up and it feels like Spring.

Did a solo digging session last night and managed to clear an area about 6 metres squared of weeds ready to plant out the broad beans when I get back next week. Found some very large but chewed-by-slugs potatoes that I missed when digging last year's crop up. Oh well at least the soil is nice and crumbly.

On Sunday we managed to plant the rest of the potatoes - the maincrops, Pink Fir Apple and Cara (2 rows each of 20 tubers). MJC planted the last of the onions (hope they're not too late in!).

Monday, I transplanted the rest of the tomato seedlings and tranferred them upstairs out of the way of the kitties.

Start of the marathon potato planting...

2008-04-20T09:34:00.005+01:00

We spent a few hours yesterday evening planting the first early potatoes - Nicola and ? (forgot to write the name down!)

At least I hope the unknowns are earlies...then today we're hopefully going to plant the maincrop - Pink Fir Apples and Cara. Each row takes 22 of the early pots and we've planted 1 and a third rows of Nicola and the rest in ??. I need to count the remaining potatoes and work out how many more rows we need to weed and dig.

Peas and Beans

2008-04-15T23:18:00.003+01:00

Peas have finally emerged and I've put the broad beans out into the mini-greenhouse to start to acclimatise to the great outdoors.

Must sow some more of both and start thinking about sowing some french and borlotti...maybe when things warm up a wee bit more.

And in other news...

2008-04-15T23:05:00.005+01:00

We harvested some more forced rhubarb.

MJC planted 2 beds worth of onions - Red Baron and White Prince (sound like characters out of a fairy tale) - and we still need another bed for the New Fen Globe. We'll definately be self-sufficient in onions next year.

I started weeding the area where the potatos will be planted and after I left to go the the allotment committee meeting, MJC dug two trenches ready for some of the potatoes.

If the weather's nice tomorrow evening then I think it's another solo visit for me.

A sign of things to come?

2008-04-15T22:38:00.010+01:00

A trip to the plots tonight revealed new growth despite the cold weather.The blackcurrants are already flowering and there are lots of clusters of them on the plants so maybe another bumper crop? Mmmm blackcurrant jam!

The gooseberries are also blooming. Gooseberry fool or crumble? Tough choice!
The ramsons also seem to thriving where we've planted them by producing some pretty but smelly flowers.

The garlic is looking lush and healthy. I wonder if it's had enough cold to split properly into cloves? Well I'll have to be patient and wait until summer... The shallots have sprung into life.

And finally just had to take a picture of one of the artichoke plants from above because it makes a perfect star shape.

Little and Large

2008-04-06T12:35:00.005+01:00

The littlest seeds - Celeriac - have emerged at about the same time as the biggest - Broad Beans - despite being planted a week or so later. I suppose the Broad Beans have a big energy store that they can burst into life as soon as they're given the right conditions.

(You can see the tomato seelings in the background). But that doesn't quite hold true for all legumes as the sweet peas and the edible peas (only just emerging now) took quite a long time to germinate.

No potato planting today

2008-04-06T12:23:00.004+01:00

When you wake up to the street looking like this...

then its definitely not the ideal conditions to be planting potatoes. So scuppered by the weather its transplanting time for the seedlings and maybe some more sowing. But I'll have to go and buy more pots as I'm already running out of them...

The kitchen windowsills were becoming full up with trays so I've moved the seedlings that I've already transplanted upstairs to the back bedroom on the folding camp table.

'Chokes are go

2008-04-02T19:30:00.004+01:00

Spent a couple of hours with MJC yesterday evening finishing off weeding (lots of couch grass roots, grrr!) the Jerusalem Artichoke beds and tucking them up with a cosy blanket of well rotted horse poo! There's a farm/riding stables a couple of miles down the road that lets you shovel as much of the brown gold as you can transport, for free. So we filled the back of the family stationwagon with a few barrow loads.

As we were putting the last artichokes in I noticed that the sky was really pretty (not sure the photo does it justice though).

You go away for 2 days....

2008-04-01T16:11:00.003+01:00

...and this happens! The beetroot and kohl rabi seedlings try to make a run for it.
No sign of the celeriac but then they are very small seeds which means they take longer to germinate. There is the merest hint that the physalis are about to break through and the Love in a Mist are finally out aswell. Meanwhile the other flower seedlings look like they need transplanting as they're producing their 1st set of adult leaves already.

Going to try and plant the Jerusalem Artichokes one night this week if the weather behaves as they're sprouting. Also going to start preparing the early potato bed and maybe get them in too. I think we got a variety called Nicola, but I can't remember and I've lost the label...hmmm.

First Welly to Belly

2008-03-28T15:06:00.003Z

Before leaving the plots last night I decided to 'harvest' some wild garlic (ramsons) and pull the forced rhubarb for dinner. Although the ramsons are establishing themselves ok I only took enough for a wee taster. I'll wait until the weather warms up and they've grown more before cutting anymore.
I sauteed the ramsonsin butter together with some peas, mmm yum! and the rhubarb was baked in the oven with muscovado sugar (forgot to take pics of the end results).

After School Allotment

2008-03-28T14:57:00.003Z

Left the office a wee bit earlier than usual because the sun was shining and I wanted to spend some quality weeding time as we're away all this weekend.

And it was lovely! (yes even weeding, sad aren't I) Such a de-stress from the banalities of work. Got rid of another patch of docks and couch grass. I should be able to plant some of the jerusalem artichokes out one night next week.

Decided to head home about 7pm as the light was fading fast but with the clocks going forward this weekend I'll be able to stay there even later.

More sowing...

2008-03-26T23:05:00.005Z

Finally got round to sowing the 24 broad beans (.......) that have been soaking since Sunday night into the cardboard tubes... oh ok, loo roll inners...
Planted 6 of the Gladioli bulbs in one of the big terracotta pots and the others are to be planted somewhere on the plots. Will plant up the other two big pots with the Dahlias. Sowed 3 artichokes as I'd like to give the plantlings as presents, and sowed 6 small pots of leeks.

Other Seed News - Almost all the tomatos are up. In last place are the Golden Sunrise which are still just loops of stem above the soil. The sweet peas are hinting at an imminent emergence and still no sign whatsoever of the physalis or sweet peppers.... hmmph!

MJC has put together the plastic greenhouse and this morning I put the peas and chitting potatoes in there (to free up some space in the outhouse).

We got given 4 raspberry canes from MJC's mum (thank you very much, most kind) but they'll have to wait in their pot awhile before we can plant them out. But seeing as the evenings will be much lighter after the clocks go forward at the weekend then I think we can start spending some plot quality time on school nights!

More Sowing

2008-03-23T20:28:00.010Z

Had a bit of a flurry on the sowing front, sowed peas (33 x Hurst Green Shaft) a bit later than last year, Beetroot (Boltardy), Celeriac (Alabaster) and Kohl Rabi (XXX).

I sow peas in short lengths of guttering as discovered in the brilliant blog http://www.mytinyplot.co.uk/ last year and the method seems to work quite well. It goes a little something like this:

Fill the guttering almost to the top with compost Place the peas (you can pre-soak but I didn't want to wait any longer) at a spacing of approx. 2cm apart in two staggered rows

Cover with compost (like the ones on the right) and mound it slightly

When the seedlings are big enough to plant out (and the weather warm enough) then its just a case of sliding them into a ready made shallow trench. More when that time comes...

The weather this weekend is too cold to plant out the seed potatoes, that are chitting nicely in the outhouse, and so we've been doing other 'house & flat' stuff and will wait until things warm up. Plan is to plant them on the 5/6th April.

I also transplanted (finally!!) the basil seedlings that have been waiting patiently on the kitchen window sill. They were quite leggy so I've put them in deeper so that they thicken up and develop a better rootball.

Sprouting seeds!!

2008-03-23T19:20:00.008Z

Came back after a day and half walking in Snowdonia and noticed that the flower and tomato seeds I sowed on Sunday have emerged.

In the lead, in joint first place, are the Blue Echium and the San Marzano tomatoes...closely followed by the Gardener's Delight, Black Peony poppies, sunflowers and the merest hint of the Costoluto Fiorentino and Tigerellas. But no sign (yet) of the sweet peas, Golden Sunrise, physalis or sweet peppers.

Jerusalem Fartichokes

2008-03-17T10:00:00.004Z

The artichokes have arived!! These are my new favourite vegetable of 2008 and I can't wait until the autumn when we'll finally have our own "wind" farm....

Seed Sowing & Saving Strawbs

2008-03-17T09:49:00.010Z

Finally got round to sowing some seeds.

Sowed 25 sweet peas, and then 5 modules each of Black Peony poppies, Love-in-a-mist, Blue Echium and 5 sunflowers. And sowed 9 each of the following tomato varieties - Costoluto Fiorentino, Red Pear, Gardener's Delight, Golde Sunrise, Tigerella and San Marzano, and 7 Physalis ('cos they look pretty and are edible!) and 7 Sweet Pepper "Corno di Torro".

The toms and peppers are in the new propagator that I got from MJC's mum for Christmas.

I also transplanted the strawberry plants that were on the allotment, hidden in amongst the weeds. They're now in pots outside and I'll probably put them into the clay strawberry growing pots once they have a chance to recuperate.

We had a couple of hours on the plot yesterday. MJC dug another raised bed and I started weeding out all the docks and couch grass where the Jerusalem artichokes are going to be.

First March Digging Weekend

2008-03-12T09:46:00.000Z

It was good to be able to devote a whole two days to digging and tending the plots. Now that other DIY related tasks can be sidelined for awhile the plots and all things vegetable-growing can take precedence.

MJC starting to dig last year's now weed infested broad bean bed on Plot 85a.

We finally dug the trench for the french beans in Plot 86.

Dug down two spades deep and pile the earth onto one side.
Added a layer of shredded paper along the bottom, watered it down and covered with a thin layer of soil to stop it blowing all over the place.
Then started filling it at one end (on the right of the pic) with the contents of our compost caddy and covered that with soil too.

We'll continue filling the trench with our green kitchen waste and then hopefully when it comes to planting out the beans it'll be all rotted down and provide them with plenty of water retaining mulchy goodness. Might try something similar for the celeriac...

A view of the 3 finished 'raised' beds in Plot 85a. The nearset one is planted up with garlic, then there is the shallot bed and the end one (which looks like a really comfy bed!) is covered to warm it up for an early sowing of carrots.

We also lifetd all the remaining strawberry plants to pot up for the summer and planted a red goosberry bush in their place.

February Digging Weekend

2008-03-11T17:17:00.002Z

Bed 1 - garlic and Bed 2 - shallots on Plot 85a.

The ramsons seem to taking well to the clayey soil. Fingers crossed that they'll survive and multiply!

Progress so far in 2008

2008-03-11T16:52:00.001Z

MJC digging the top half of Plot 86. Luckily under the carpet that we put down in the autumn and the weeds was another layer of old carpet so the only weeds we have to deal with are some very tough, gnarly dandelions and docks.

This area will be for the potatoes and a big courgette, squash and pumpkin bed at the top.

In the foreground on the right is one of the gooseberry bushes (which needs clearing of grass) and the transplanted offshoot of Bramhope rhubarb.

View from the other side of the apple tree. We've cleared (hacked down) all the raspberrys that were under the tree and I'd found another currant (don't know what flavour yet!) in amongst them, so left that intact. We also gave the tree a haircut.

Going to rellocate some ramsons from Stone and plant them under the tree to develop our own source of the tasty greens.

(The timber posts are for swinging a hammock between in summer.)

Panoramic of both plots - 85a on the right with freshly dug beds, and the long view of 86.