by Philippa | Apr 21, 2014 | Allotment
We managed another few hours at the allotments again and this afternoon was a scorcher! Still quite gusty but a lovely warm wind and sunny enough to get a bit of colour.
Neil’s main task was to continue building the cold frame. After a visit to screwfix for some hardware and a full charge of the power saw he was able to start putting together the frame he built yesterday and cut the Perspex pieces. He didn’t quite finish putting the Perspex in and he wants to design someway of keeping the top propped open but it looks great! I think he is planning on a coat of woodstain once it is all constructed.
I pulled up the brassicas from under the netted tunnels. Most had gone to seed bar one little cavolo nero plant which I left in as we can probably get another crop or two from it before it’s done. Was a bit sad that it was the end of the sprouting broccoli as we have had bumper crops compared to previous years and it has been so tasty. We had the last of it with our roast this evening. I think the netting creates a good environment for weeds as I had to pull loads of them out and lots of grass seeds had sprouted from the manure that had been around them so it was a good couple of buckets of weeds to remove.
I think I had the clearing bug then as I cleared out the strawberry bed on plot 97. It was the last bit of plot 97 to need any work doing so it was satisfying to finish that job. We had such a good year with the strawberry bed on plot 118 last summer and we have extended that with the runners we grew, so another bed of inferior cropping plants was unnecessary. So they were all dug up ready to make space for another crop. I kept a handful to one side and planted them up in a container as mum might like to try some for her garden.
The digging up of the strawberries brought the robin back for grubs and there were other signs of wildlife enjoying the sun.
I finished off with some weeding on plot 118, which is finished aside from the area where we have some green manures that need digging in. Hopefully the weeds won’t all be back by next weekend!
by Philippa | Apr 20, 2014 | Allotment
This recipe served two but is easily scaled up or down and can use lots of things you might bring home from the plot. This weekend we came back with the last of our leeks which have been a great crop this year as well as a tray of purple sprouting broccoli which has been the most successful we have ever grown despite an inauspicious start. But there is no reason why you couldn’t use other veg, such as spinach, chard or peas as alternatives, depending on what you have available and what you like to eat.
Knob of butter
Splash of olive oil
2 large leeks, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
150g orzo
1 tin of cannellini beans, drained (or flageolet or butter beans)
Bunch of sprouting broccoli (or other veg as suggested above)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cream cheese
Handful of grated Parmesan cheese
Block of halloumi cheese, sliced.
Melt the butter with a splash of oil over a medium heat. Add the leeks, garlic and thyme and cook down for about 10 mins until tender. Meanwhile add the orzo and the beans to a pan of boiling water for about 8mins. Halfway through this cooking time add your broccoli or any other veg you are using to the boiling water. When done, drain and add to the leeks with the lemon zest and juice and a generous amount of seasoning.
Heat a frying pan to medium high and fry the halloumi in a splash of oil until golden on both sides. Stir the cream cheese and Parmesan through the leek, bean and orzo mix and serve with the halloumi on top. Enjoy!
adapted from a recipe appearing in April 2014 issue of Delicious magazine
by Philippa | Apr 20, 2014 | Allotment
The weather was much cooler today and it was very very windy so I took refuge in the greenhouse with a mammoth planting session. Neil loves sunflowers so there are several trays of them (Pacino, earthwalker and ring of fire). I also did cabbage (savoy vertus, pointed red kalibos and red drumhead), pak choi (joi choi and rubi), leek (almera), celeriac (prinz), cucumber (cucino), squash (honey bear), climbing French bean (cobra), peas (early onward, purple podded, sugarsnap and Oregon sugar pod) and watermelon (charleston grey). The staging is now heaving and it is pleasing to see all the trays in various stages of sprouting.
I also planted some flowers as well and discovered my new favourite seed! They are for the acroclinium and they are like little dots of cotton wool, all fluffy and white. Although I had to be a bit careful with it being so windy that they didn’t get blown away!
Along with the acroclinium (double mixed) we now have aster (milady), zinnia (Oklahoma), chrysanthemum (rainbow) and ipomoea (grandpa ott). The dahlia and marigolds we sowed a couple of weeks ago have all germinated really well and so we pricked out the marigolds to individual cells of the seed trays. We haven’t been great at doing this in the past with our flowers and so we are trying to do better this season. So we now have nearly 100 marigolds! Oh well, if there are spare we can put them in some planters and I’m sure they will be appreciated in the gardens of friends and family.
While I was in the greenhouse Neil was on to his second DIY job of the weekend, building a coldframe. It certainly kept him quiet for a good while as there were lots of angles to cut. In the end he had to move on to another job as he needs to buy some longer screws (in all the boxes of screws we have there aren’t any long enough, which seems unlikely but true!) so he cleared the couch grass from the rear of plot 118.
We both then tackled the digging over at the front that Neil started on Friday. It is so much quicker with two of you on the job and satisfying how much progress you can make. So much so we were able to plant the potatoes that we have chitted, only one variety this year, Charlotte, in three rows.
We think we have passed the milestone of digging over half of plot 118, woohoo!
Another exciting milestone, we spotted the first signs of the asparagus! I’m sure that it has usually arrived by this time of the year and so I had thought that maybe it had died so I’m pleased to see it again, fingers crossed we might get a crop of it this year (only about four years after we planted it ha!).
We took home the last of the leeks-I think it is a record as this year we have eaten every single leek we grew! Also a bundle of rhubarb and a tray of purple sprouting broccoli that would not look out of place in the supermarket! The leeks and most of the broccoli made a tasty tea for two. Recipe to follow…
by Philippa | Apr 20, 2014 | Allotment
The long weekend started off uncharacteristically sunny and Neil managed a full afternoon down at the plots on Friday. He had a plan to do some DIY and build a new gate for the back of plot 118, as our ‘temporary’ one has been in use for about two years! He finished the gate in record time but didn’t quite manage a full coat of woodstain as it takes longer than you think to do a good job of it.
We both returned on Saturday. Lots of signs of Spring, blossom open on all the fruit trees which looks beautiful. Also, the tulips at the front have opened and added some colour. The daffodils that we unceremoniously shoved in far too late after we found them starting to sprout in the shed have even made an attempt at flowering! Very full blooms but only about 3 inches tall!
However, it is that time of year where it seems all you need do is turn your back for a moment and the weeds are abound. It gives you itchy fingers to just get blitzing everywhere and so for the first hour or so that is what we did. I weeded all of plot 97 and down the outside of the fence by the path as there were a lot of flowering dandelions that will soon be sending their seed out so heavily it looks like it is snowing! Neil cleared all along the back of plot 118 and I then cleared in front of the greenhouse where the weeds were coming through the membrane. After a bit of hard work it looked much neater all round.
Neil completed painting the new gate which I am very impressed with! He then started to dig over the front left side of the plot ready for planting the chitted potatoes sometime later over the weekend. As soon as you start digging, the robin who hangs around our side of the site pays a visit. He is so tame it’s almost like having a pet, he will come right up to you while you work and you sometimes catch him with a worm in his mouth! It’s easy pickings when you’re turning up hundreds of them at a time!
While Neil was digging I did some planting as I had a bit of a panic when I realised it seemed like we were a bit behind with sowing. I’m sure it’s all in your head at this time of year, all it takes is a couple of sunny days and it suddenly feels like you are running out of time to get things done! So I planted cauliflower (snowball), cabbage (candissa), broad beans (masterpiece green longpod), Brussel sprouts (hastings and Evesham special) and Spring onions (white Lisbon and lillia). So we felt quite smug on leaving on Saturday with how much we had achieved and there looked to be quite a difference between when we arrived and when we left!
by Philippa | Apr 5, 2014 | Allotment
After Neil came back from a work trip on Thursday, we were both able to get down to the plots for a mid week visit. This was good timing as the red onions suddenly looked ready to plant out and by the weekend would probably have roots really poking out of the bottom! Our digging the other week meant they could go straight in. It seemed like a lot of onions but whenever we think that we realise how many we get through and they will never go to waste so we keep on planting! The red onions looked really healthy and had caught up with the white onions completely after a burst of warmer weather.
Inspired by our previous bout of digging we were tempted to keep working towards the front fence. As tiring as it was we just kept going and before long we had finished the whole of one side. Due to Neil’s difficulty in sticking with one job for too long, he broke up the digging by clearing the front of plot 118. We had some well rotted manure at the bottom of the manure bay and he put this across the front to neaten things up. With two pairs of hands at work it doesn’t take long to transform an area.
It was tempting to start on the next side but our stomachs were rumbling and it’s better to stop before you get sick of digging!
The blossom that only a few days ago was just in bud has opened up and the fruit trees look really cheerful. Let’s hope there isn’t a harsh frost or high winds to blow it all away!
by Philippa | Mar 30, 2014 | Allotment
The seeds that failed in the propagator were so frustrating after they started off so well. So this week I planted second attempts of the peppers and some of the chillies. Fingers crossed!
It was only a brief visit for me due to a busy weekend but as often happens, you keep seeing things to do and start little jobs that end up leading to other jobs! So the act of picking a parsnip for a recipe later in the week lead to the thought ‘I might as well dig the rest up and that is that bed clear’. There were only a few left but they were whoppers and so then I needed to chop them up with the shovel for the compost!
Then after watering the greenhouse seedlings I thought the aubergine seedlings were ready to pot on. As I knew it would be a week until we were back I thought I’d better do it now! So I potted them on to larger pots and before you know it a half hour visit was a couple of hours and there was still more to be done, but there is always another day!
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