Come rain or shine!

I was told by friends earlier in the year that we were supposed to be having a proper summer this year, I'm not qute sure what's happened. I know it's not been cold but my God the rain!! It seems to have been beautiful sunshine one minute and then we get a torrential downpour the next,. I'm getting very worried about the risk of blight as this warm and wet weather is perfect breeding conditions for fungal disease. I'm not so worried about the potatoes as we had fab earlies and I can rescue some main crops now if blight comes. What does drive me mad is trying to get my tomatoes to ripen in time. I grow all my toms outside so the chance of blight is higher, I am determined to have a greenhouse before next spring though.

The browny/rusty coloured plant in the picture above is a parsnip from last year which I have left on purpose to get the seeds, I'm amazed at how tall they grow!! It must be at least 5 foot tall. I'm not sure if the seed will be much good but they always say that parsnip seed must be as fresh as possible so I thought I'd have a go at saving my own.

We've started to harvest some of our onions, I think because of the weather being hot one moment then raining the next that they are confused and some have started going to seed. The ones that have started to do that must be used up first as they wont keep but the rest have been set out to dry and then will be tied into strings.
We've also harvested our garlic which is the first time we've been succesful with garlic, I bought the garlic to plant from an ethnic supermarket down the road from us and it's worked really well.

I've also just harvested my first ever cauliflower!! Just the one!! But boy he was a whopper, almost the size of a football. I decided to use some for tea the first night we harvested it and then I blanched and froze the rest, I'm never sure about freezing things as they always seem to loose something in the taste and texture.We've also planted loads of pumpkins and squash this year, if you've never had roasted squash then you haven't lived! I love butternut squash as you get a really nice sweet and nutty taste when roasting it. This pumkin looks like it's going to be a big 'un, it's early days but it's going for it, I've just lifted it up and put some wood under it to stop it from just sitting on the damp ground and rotting.

And finally our 'cutting garden' side of the plot is starting to blossom like mad, the sunflowers were such a success last year that we decided to try some more, I think this lot are 'little leo'. 3 in a vase on their own look great, such a smiley flower!!

Summer time! (...and it's hot, hot, hot!)

'D' strimming the plot

So ... lots has happened since my last posting on here about the plot. Sadly we suffered more vandelism, I once again stomped my feet and said 'stuff the allotment' and was ready to jack it in for all of 5 minutes! I suppose it is part of having an open garden but it still hurts to find things trashed.

Anyway, we've bounced back and despite the heatwave that is making us wilt lots is growing well at the plot. Watering has been increased to try and help the plants cope with the incredible heat, most days it has reached 32 degrees this week!!

We're just about at the end of the broad bean season which has been great. I never used to like them but we tend to double pod them mostly now, it makes such a difference and removes any bitter taste. The new potatoes have been great, a really nice flavour from both the Belle de Fontenay and Carlingford varieties.

'Globe Artichokes'

A veg I have never eaten despite having a HUGE plant on the plot is Globe Artichoke, we planted it more for the look of the structural leaves than to eat! However it has produced loads of 'Globes' this year so it felt criminal not to have a go at cooking some. I never knew how to cook Globe artichokes but like most things a quick internet search gave instructions. Basically you just cut the stem off the base to make a flat base, snip the points of the scales with scissors, slice the top off (like a boiled egg) and then sit it in boiling water to half way up the globe and simmer for 20-40 mins depending on size of globe. When ready one of the scales should come away easily when pulled.

To eat it, pull each scale off one at a time and dip in butter or sauce and scrape the end with your teeth to eat the flesh, once all the scales are eaten then you eat the artichoke heart, firstly you remove the furry inner bit to expose the heart flesh at the base of the inner part of the globe this is a saucer shaped bit at the bottom, eat in the same way dipped in butter or sauce. Very simple to do and delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of the rest of the plot is doing well, most things are bigger than previous years and crops are generally producing well, we put lots of effort into digging in manure and preparing all the beds this year so it looks like our hard work is paying off, here's to a good summer!!

Long time no see!!

I have been told off for not updating the blog by friends so this is a quick post to say hi to all!! The allotment is blooming away and feeding us well, I've been so busy with work that I haven't had the chance to update the blog. At the moment we're harvesting new potatoes, broad beans, red onions, peas, strawberries, raspberries, rocket, courgette and artichokes.

I don't have any pics at the moment so here are a couple of the garden at home!
After a marathon 5 hour session in the garden yesterday it is looking great, the pics don't do it justice as I ran out a few minutes ago to take the pics and its getting dark now.The tomatoes are doing well, I've suffered from blight for the past couple of summers and not actually managed to harvest ripe tomatoes. This year I'm trying out the ring culture method of tom growing, it apparently gives more root structure and a stronger plant which can hopefully withstand disease more.

The other edibles that I'm growing at home are chilli plants (in window boxes), figs and tumbling tomatoes (in hanging baskets). These are all at the front of the house as it gets more sun then the back garden and the brick walls of the house radiate the suns heat. Tomorrow is an allotment day for us so I will take pictures and try to get back to my regular updates!

Spring!

First Asparagus spear

Believe it or not these are the hands of someone in their late thirties although you would be forgiven for thinking I am at least seventy by this picture!! Anyway, this (I am VERY proud to say!) is our first ever Asparagus. Sadly as this is the first year of planting we won't be able to eat it as it needs to build strength for the first couple of seasons. I'm chuffed though that it has come through as we planted it in the middle of all the VERY cold weather when it went down to -10c some nights, so I wasn't sure it had survived. I must plug 'Victoriana Nursery Gardens' again for their excellent mail order/internet order service.

With Easter being at a more normal time this year ( very early last year) I decided to jump ahead for planting the first early potatoes. I've tried to stick to planting on the traditional day of 'Good Friday' in previous years but we will be travelling this year during Easter so I decided to do them now as it's been such good weather. I've chosen Belle de Fontenay again for my 'firsts' as they were very good for us last year, good result and taste.

This year I have only put muck in the trenches, last year I also put shredded paper with the idea that it would help conserve water, I'm not sure if it made much difference so I'm only doing muck ... LOTS of muck!

Potato trench

After a good week of weather we've been able to get to the plot quite a few times to start the season off and whilst it's still early in the season it's starting to look ok. We've got loads of parsnips still from last year and the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is bloomin' GORGEOUS almost as nice as fresh asparagus tips.

I've also managed to get the first of the peas in which I started off in toilet roll tubes last Autumn at home. I've got several more lots just sown for successional sowing as this year I'm hoping for bumper crops of fresh peas!!! You can't beat the taste of peas eaten straight from the pod.

Peas against Hazel sticks

Asparagus planting

'D' examining the new Asparagus bed and harvested carrots in foreground

Well, after a very long break in the blog I'm back! Sorry to anyone who has been waiting for a post (especially the Suffolk contingency!!)

So, when we first took on the plot I didn't think we knew that it would last for as long as it has. Part of me wondered if it would be a flash in the pan but no, here we are in our 3rd year. One of the veg that I LOVE is asparagus but one downside of growing your own is the time needed for the plant to mature to the point of being harvestable (is that a word?) I've taken the plunge now and decided that if we're now in our 3rd year that we may well still have the plot in a couple of years so I went and bought some asparagus plants.

I'm really excited at the prospect of cutting our own fresh asparagus, steamed and smothered in butter and grated parmesan....yuuuummmmmmmm!!!!!!

I say I went and bought some plants when in reality I sat by our roaring log fire and perused a brilliant website for a nursery in Kent and ordered them. The nursery is called ''Victoriana Nursery Gardens" and is owned by the Shirley family. I first used the nursery a couple of years ago when I was on the search for a 'Brown Turkey' Fig tree, I was so impressed by their service then that when deciding to buy the asparagus, a crop that will be in the ground for many years, I decided they would be the place to get them from.

I have to say that once again I'm really pleased by the service I received, a cardboard box arrived with my plants well packaged and masses of literature to read about them and other things. I couldn't resist buying some cauliflower plants from them at the same time as I'm normally rubbish at growing them so I thought I'd start off with some good plants.

Planting the Asparagus 'plugs'

We went up to our rather soggy plot and dug over a spare bed and then 'D' planted the asparagus plants (well big plugs with roots!) whilst I put the cauliflowers in. Fingers crossed, I can smell the melted butter and parmesan now!!!!

Save the environment .... compost your kitchen waste!

My 'compost cake' showing rotted and half rotted compost

Believe it or not but part of the fight against Global warming is home composting. We throw away an amazing amount of uncooked food waste in our kitchens which when put into landfill tips releases harmful greenhouse gasses as it tries to decompose buried under tonnes of rubbish. The answer is to save it and put it into a home composter to prevent that and also to provide beautifully rich compost to either pot up plants with or enrich flower/veg beds.

The secret to successful composting is to make sure that you have a good mix of different types of waste. Things fall into different groups ...

BROWNS ... Woody garden cuttings twigs and sawdust, cardboard, egg boxes, toilet rolls, newspaper, shredded paper.

GREENS ... Old flowers and bedding plants, uncooked kitchen scraps, peelings, t-bags, grass cuttings, annual weeds.

NEVER PUT IN ... cooked food, meat, perennial weeds with roots, dairy products, diseased plants, cat/dog muck.

The way to compost well is to make sure you have an ample mix of the above ingredients, keep it damp and just keep feeding the bin.

It takes about 9-12 months for the ingredients to rot down properly. I find that the best way to access the usable compost is to remove the bin by lifting it up and revealing the bin contents as a 'compost cake', you will find that the usable stuff is in the bottom 1/2 section and as you move up the layers become less rotted. I did this the other afternoon with the 2 bins at home, I took the top layers off and put them back into the bin to carry on rotting and then I sieved the usable stuff to produce the most fantastic compost for FREE!!!! About 6 big plastic sacks full! Go on, do your bit for the environment AND your garden!

Compost cake (courtesy of wrap website)

All is well

Well, after having not been up to the plot for weeks due to the weather/vandalism/lack of oomph and stuff, we finally got there to do a bit of tidying up. What with the vandalism and other issues it has been difficult to feel like going and sorting things out but once we got there and got going it reminded us both just how therapeutic it can be.

The weather has now taken a big turn for the worse and we've had several frosts now which has knocked back all tender plants, it is amazing how one day it can be all green and lush with things still in flower and then the next day it's all brown mush. The next couple of pics were taken a few days before the frosts arrived so we still have chrysanthemums, marigolds and sunflowers in flower.

Calabrese in the foreground with nasturtiums and the remainder of the borlotti beans drying on the canes behind

'D' mowing the grass on plot 2 where all the Chrysanths and Sunflowers are

Rocket (gone to seed) producing the most beautiful flowers

The plot is still producing masses of produce, Parsnips, courgette (marrow sized!), Curly Kale, Cabbage, Calabrese, Summer sprouting broccoli, Carrots, Swede, Squash and pumpkins. I actually like autumn and winter crops a bit more than spring ones I think, nothing can beat oven roasted root veg with a beef casserole and dumplings! The parsnips really have been amazing this year, I chitted the seeds at the beginning of the year (see here) and can only think that is why they germinated so well and have produced such HUGE sized roots. Sadly the carrots haven't been too great due to slug and carrot fly damage. The fly damage has been really bad this year and I am going to have to put up some sort of barrier next year to prevent it. Apparently they can only fly to 30 cm or so height so if you put a barrier of fleece around the outside of the bed at that height they won't get to them, sounds a bit far fetched but maybe worth having a go.

We also harvested the last of the Borlotti beans which I'm drying off to store so that they can be used in stews and soups later on. 'D' surprised me with an early birthday present before we went up to the plot, a pair of Felco secateurs which I had been after since I saw them at Chelsea flower show. They're not cheap and boy can you tell when you use them, they actually work well and cut things properly unlike the £10 ones we normally make do with and they should last a lifetime! The model is number 7 which has a rotating handle to eliminate stress on the hands when using them, the handle swiveling as you squeeze them together feels odd at first but it really does make them feel so easy to use. I can't believe I'm getting excited about secateurs ... I think I'm getting old!!!!!!

What a washout!

I have now officially given up on summer!! Why can't we have a proper summer!!?

I haven't put an update on here for a while as I've been mad busy with starting a new job, I've gone into lecturing which is complete change from standing up cutting hair all day and means as I learn the new ropes I haven't had as much time to update the blog ... sorry!!



The onions dried nicely in the plastic greenhouses and I have trawled dozens of websites for plans and tips on how to tie them into strings. I feel really happy with the end result and I've hung them from the beams in the garden room next to the kitchen.





When I planted the seed potatoes I put loads of shredded paper, manure and rotted compost into the bottom of the trenches to help conserve moisture and give some food etc for the developing tubers. What I never expected was a gift wrapped spud to appear. Amongst the shredded paper I put in lots of xmas wrapping paper and obviously amongst it I accidentally put in some of the ribbon that the parcels had been decorated with. When I dug up some of the potatoes last week this one, perfectly wrapped with ribbon, came out. It had grown through the ribbon so it looks like I have actually tied ribbon around it!

On a sad note I received a phone call from our plot neighbour to tell me that the plots had been vandalised, I went up yesterday to have a look for myself.

Our shed has had the front kicked in to gain access and loads of stuff taken out and thrown around the plot. The pics below show the damage, the metal tin area on the right is the door still securely locked, the smashed in bit to the left was the front wall of the shed.They also smashed the brassica cage and tore all of it's netting (the pic doesn't show the damage properly) And all of this was done by children who were apparently about 8 or 9 years old!!! One of the plot holders came in when it was happening and apprehended them. I'm so shocked that this amount of damage can be done by such young children! But the people that really should hold there heads in shame are Gloucester city council, we have been on this site for nearly 2 years now and we have had constant reassurance that the site would be made more secure. We were told at the beginning of the year that £1000 was available to do works and we all agreed that a new gate with locks would help the site. Not only have we not had that but the lock on the current gate went walk abouts about 2 months ago and despite them saying it would be replaced the council and contractors have done nothing ... so now we suffer.

They have also promised since we arrived that the trackways onto the plot ,that look as if they are breaking health and safety rules, would be dealt with. The next picture shows what the track looks like now. It has rained a lot but this happens after the slightest downpour, as you can see by the mud on the car we are constantly getting stuck in the track and often risk damaging cars and other people. The cul de sac we drive through as we come and go is also getting covered in mud and debris as we come and go, small kids beware!!! Sorry for the rant on here but it has got to the point of being ridiculous now despite an allotment officer having been appointed earlier in the year. A plot gives lots of pleasure and I'm not too down about things but the constant lack of sun and too much rain plus this damage and lack of support from Gloucester City Council has left us all feeling low!! Next update will be positive, I promise!

Summer progress

Things are moving on quite nicely at the plot, I spent about 4 hours there today mowing and pottering about.
The beans are producing MASSES, I planted half the amount of runner beans this year and we still seem to be inundated with them. The french beans are also going mad but I prefer them anyway so I'm happy to have lots of those and please don't anyone mention courgettes!
I transplanted the different brassicas into the bed that the broad beans had been in and covered them with the cage. The ones you can see in the picture are Calabrese, Wok broc (summer sprouting stir fry broccoli) and Romanesco.

I decided to harvest one bed of onions as they had all had foliage die back and looked ready. They aren't the biggest onions you'll ever see but they will keep us going for a while. I have stacked them inside one of the plastic greenhouses at home to finish drying off.



One of the things we were keen to do this year was to grow our own flowers for cutting. We always spend loads of money buying flowers for the house or to take when going to friends that we really wanted to give this a go.
'D' planted loads of flowering plants on plot 2, the pics below show the sunflower bed, sweetpea tripod with cosmos and in the foreground you can just see the chrysanthemums starting to bloom. As plot no.2 has been work in progress this year we only have a small selection of flowers but still it provides us with enough for the house. Next year will be even better as we will have finished digging the new beds and borders.

The sunflowers have been fantastic, we've got several different varieties but I think the 'Velvet Queen' has got to be our favourite and mingled with the rust coloured chrysanths they look amazing!

I am still alive!

I wish I could say that due to the endless hours of sunshine we have spent hours at the allotment which has prevented me from posting on the blog, sadly we haven't had any sun at all!! We seem to have been really busy with stuff, we were expecting a royal visit from my father which sent us into a flurry of activity sprucing up the house and garden (so much so our neighbours thought we were preparing to sell and move!!) anyway he didn't manage his visit due to family problems, maybe another time (He lives in Sheffield and hasn't seen this house hence my mild panic!)

The plot has been turning out some fab produce, I'm such a sad git but I was so impressed by all that we got one night that I had to set up my own little harvest festival type display to show how much we got in one sessions picking!

The new pots have been quite good, not a huge amount but we've done much better than last year. I reckon the best were 'Belle de fontenay' and 'Winston' but I didn't really rate much the 'international Kidney' (Or Jersey Royal)

I've now dug up the remainder of the new potatoes so that the bed was available for the leeks that I had been growing on at home in tiny pots. This is an idea that Monty Don had on Gardener's World before he left. Three to five leeks are sown in small pots and grown on and then planted out as they are when the time comes, normally you dibber a hole for each individual leek but Monty reckoned if you just transplanted each pot as it is then you will get smaller more baby type leek. I've already got leeks planted at the plot in the traditional way so I thought this was worth a try, I'll keep you posted!

I also got rid of the Broad Bean plants as they had stopped producing and I have a nursery bed full of brassicas waiting for a more permanent home. Brassicas LOVE to follow on after legumes in the rotational plan as Legumes enrich the soil with nitrogen which will feed the brassicas well hopefully producing healthy and huge greens! I haven't transplanted them yet but I have Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Wok Broc (a summer sprouting Broccoli ideal for stir frying) Calabrese (what most people think of as broccoli) , Romanesco (weird spirally type cauliflower) and good old Savoy cabbage. How's that for your five a day!!!

Reclaimed pergola

I've been wanting to do this for ages and we finally managed it. Our neighbour at home gave us a load of old wood for use on the allotment and we have constructed a pergola to sit under and admire all our hard work. When I say 'we' built it I of course mean 'D' built it with good advice and foreman skills from me!!!

I have said this before, and sometimes I sound like a broken record, but I do love allotment architecture that is made from old reclaimed and recycled materials, it is supposed to look a bit wonky and home-made, to me that is part of the charm and apart from a handful of nails it didn't cost a penny.

I still need to tidy up bits around it but we have already started the beds alongside it, on the left hand side is a 'Golden Hop' (Humulus lupulus Aureus) which is a prolific climber. On the right hand side I have planted a climbing rose that I produced from a cutting at home. It's a rose called Veilchenblau which I found rambling through our hedge at home when we first moved in , I have tweeked it out and trained it over an arch and I have taken this cutting from it. It produces the most beautiful small violet blue roses and it really is a beautiful rose. The other plants are Origano, Lavender and a couple of 'Gentle Hermione' rose cuttings.

The other rose cutting of 'Gentle Hermione' that I put up at the plot last year is blooming fantastically at the moment, much better than the parent plant that it came from at home.

I love taking rose cuttings because of all the plants I feel it is the one that feels like you are getting a lot for free by creating a new plant. They are so easy to do and I have done ll of mine by taking a stem approx. 18" long and literally just pushing it into a pot of compost and watering in. I don't use hormone powder or any other fancy tricks but I do quite a few so you cover for failures.

Our broad beans have been great this year, we've had masses and we've had some really imaginative meals using them like Brod bean pesto and pasta and broad bean,lemon and feta linguine (sublime!) They are tarting to slow down a bit now but still loads to go and if anyone is wondering about double podding then the answer is yes, do it, it does make a big difference to the taste.

The next crop to come through for us I think will be the new potatoes which I'm disappointed with so far as everyone else seems to have been having theirs for weeks. I think I plant them incorrectly to be honest. I put them into trenches and the put the soil back over them in a ridge so they were earthed up from day 1 and I haven't really earthed them up since. So in effect I have planted them too deep so they have taken longer to grow and flower. Oh well, you learn something new every day I suppose!

The days are drawing out more and more as we head to the peak of the hill tomorrow, I wish this time of year would last for ever.