by Philippa | Mar 8, 2014 | Allotment
The weather has really warmed up this week and so the windowsill sowings in the heated propagator had all sprouted swiftly and some were even ready to be taken to the greenhouse. I think we had our most successful germination, but maybe I had that thought too quickly as the chillis, aubergines and peppers which weren’t quite ready to go to the plot suddenly all died! They looked like they had burnt almost so I wonder if it was too hot for them. So we would have to sow them again. At least we have only lost a week or so.
The garlic and the onions have green tops over a couple of inches already which is great. The onions are in seed trays in the greenhouse and the white onions have definitely sprouted more and better than the red. We planted the shallots (Longor) that had been delivered during the week. We decided to put them on plot 118 so this will be the first year that they haven’t been grown in beds. I’m hoping that they are not going to be adversely affected, for example by slugs, so fingers crossed! The other planting we did was of some crocus and daffodil bulbs that have been in the shed for too many months! I suspect it is too late for them to do much this year, but it will be a nice surprise when they pop up next Spring.
We wanted to do some more clearing up so we are ready for the next few weeks when things will explode into action. We had some tubs of soil still in the greenhouse on plot 97 that we’d grown tomatoes and chillies in, so we got rid of the large root balls and spread the rest of it over one side of plot 118.
The herb beds had gone a bit crazy and were showing signs of growing again and so now was the time to do some pruning back or we would have missed our chance. It is always satisfying doing a before and after shot of a job like this! And it was a very pleasantly fragrant job too-certainly better smelling than digging the manure that we put on top!
Speaking of manure we put about another ten barrows of manure on plot 118, joining up all the gaps so now it has all had a thick layer. Neil also did some digging over, of which there will be a lot more to do before too long!
We harvested some cavolo nero, purple sprouting broccoli, horseradish and our first picking of the forced rhubarb. The rhubarb was a revelation, so pink and tender with a lovely delicate flavour with much less tartness. I just simply poached it and served it with some creme fraiche with some orange stirred through, delicious! Think we will be picking more next week…
by Philippa | Mar 7, 2014 | Allotment
Well, it isn’t long before you suddenly feel that Spring is upon you and that you don’t have much time left!
After some quiet weeks following the new year we visited the plots to see what needed doing. I pruned the currant bushes while Neil tackled the blackberry plants and the raspberry canes. Neil must have been feeling creative because after wondering why he had been so quiet for a while I found him by the shed with this little beauty! For growing peas up apparently!
All the seeds ordered for us from Kings by the society had arrived and so I sorted them into bundles of when they need to be planted, which seems like only a matter of weeks away! We also received the garlic bulbs ordered. After the best in show success of the summer we decided to just plant one variety this year, the Lautrec Wight. We did this about three weeks ago and no sign of life yet. In the following week we planted our onions (Sturon and Red Baron) in seed trays in the greenhouse to give them a good start as this really helped last year, particularly with the red onions.
The February storms brought chaos with them for the whole site. While other plot holders found sheds on the other side of fences and bits and pieces all over the place, we weren’t sure what to expect. We knew that we had a piece of glass missing from our greenhouse on plot 118 prior to the high winds and were dreading how vulnerable this would have made it. We were right to be anxious as the greenhouse had lifted up and shifted across the base considerably. Bob next door was lucky not to see it flying his way I think!
As a result of the wind most of the glass on one side was broken and all over the place and some of the frame is twisted and damaged. It prompted a big clear up in general really. It took two tip runs to clear all of the broken glass, buckets of debris dug out of the soil and other rubbish. We swept up all the small branches and leaves that had blown about and dug over most of the beds on plot 97, adding manure and organic chicken pellets to them.
We have moved a massive amount of manure onto both plots over the last few weeks but not really dug much over just yet as it has been so wet it becomes too much of a chore! That will be a job for the next few weeks as the weather picks up.
This last week we have bought our potatoes (Charlotte) and put them in trays to chit. We have also planted all of our tomato, chilli and aubergine varieties in the heated windowsill propagator at home and have already had most of them germinate after a couple of sunny days. We did some of our oddest planting yet. We have studiously followed the packet instructions for the bluebells which apparently need a forced 4-6 week period of cold and so we now have a bag of damp compost and bluebell seeds stashed at the back of the fridge! There is a reminder on the calendar to get them out in several weeks for the next step. That is, if they haven’t accidentally been eaten in the meantime!!!
by Philippa | Sep 1, 2013 | Allotment
Wowee! What a result! Last weekend was the annual allotment summer show. We hadn’t been sure what we would have to put in as entries in the produce competition. Some things were passed their best, some things were not quite ready enough! It’s always a bit of a gamble what will look good enough in the day or two before the show. You would think that we would be lovingly tending to each and every entry for weeks, ensuring that it is up to standard but it’s more like ‘hmmmm what looks passable and do we have enough of it?’.
This year we managed to enter our old favourites, garlic and beetroot, along with a cucumber, a single sunflower and a corker of an aubergine in the open category.
It was a good turn out for the show, with lots of items lined up in the judging tent. After the anxious wait for the RHS judge to do the rounds everyone crowds in to check out the results. We managed a respectable second place for our cucumber, beetroot and sunflower. Our poor aubergine didn’t place but the open category is always a tough one. However that was more than made up by our garlic not only being awarded a first place but also winning the best in show! According to the judge he had never seen any as good as ours! What a compliment! So as well as a certificate we have a trophy which is to be engraved! Seeing some of the previous winners on there we certainly feel like we are in esteemed company.
Massive congratulations are due to Bob who won a trophy for best plot over all three sites. This was also decided by the RHS judge who had done a thorough walk round in late July, so he definitely knows his stuff. Well done Bob!
With it being the bank holiday weekend there was plenty of time left for other allotment activities. Neil worked like a trooper as I was off on a cake course. He dug all of the onions up which despite an inauspicious start look amazing. The average size is probably the best we’ve ever had. We’ve left the drying upside down on the bench but will soon have to bring them in for storage.
He also collected a mammoth number of wheelbarrows of manure to cover the area where the onions had been.
The peas had served their time so he pulled them up for composting. Some of the broad beans were starting to flop over and no longer had any harvest worthy beans on them so he pulled up the row which had gone in first. The remainder are still ok for another week or two as they went in later and still have a good amount of pickings on them.
The raspberries have really come on in the last week. We’ve had one or two at a time up till now but this time we could take a full punnet home. The blueberries are still going strong, one plant in particular has flourished since we moved it into a large barrel planter. It’s so bushy with new growth you really have to search to find the hidden fruit.
And to prove I had a worthy excuse for not helping out with all the wheelbarrowing, here is my Gruffalo cake!
by Philippa | Aug 16, 2013 | Allotment
Slow cooked courgettes! Another great recipe for enjoying the piles and piles of courgettes at this time of year!
For a two person serving for a side dish slice about five courgettes into rounds. Melt a knob of butter in a pan with a glug of extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat. Once melted add a couple of crushed garlic cloves and the courgettes, some salt and pepper and give everything a good stir to coat with the oil and butter.
Leave them slowly cooking on a low-medium heat covered with a lid for about an hour. Give them a stir every ten minutes or so to ensure they aren’t sticking. They turn into a melting and rich sort of confit. Delicious!
by Philippa | Aug 11, 2013 | Allotment
I popped down for a few hours on Saturday while Neil was off playing cricket having been inspired by the Ashes. Apart from watering the greenhouses almost all of my time was spent harvesting goodies, which I can hardly complain about!
We got another massive punnet of blackcurrants. I just wish there was a quicker way of picking and getting rid of stems from them, it’s such slow going (and back breaking too!) but worth the bounty at the end of it.
I also took away a bulging carrier bag of broad beans, both trugs already full. I had thought it might be the last lot of broad beans but in fact there are still a lot on the second sowing of plants so we’ll have a few more bags to fill I bet! I came face to face with a large hairy caterpillar whilst picking the beans. Not sure what he will turn into but I bet it will be impressive given how fancy he looks now.
The plum tree has been stuffed with fruit for weeks now and this is the first time they have looked almost ripe. I gave a few a squeeze and found some almost fully ripe so I brought a handful home to ripen up in the fruit bowl. I will need lots of bags or buckets when the rest are ripe. And some tasty plum recipes!
As well as the first plums, I also brought home our first climbing French beans. Without doubt they are the best climbing beans we have ever grown. They are unblemished, a good size, straight. This is quite a surprise as we haven’t done anything different this year and when we planted them out they looked absolutely terrible for weeks and at one point looked like they had died! It was worth the wait and I’m looking forward to eating them and the rest we harvest.
I’m hoping that the same can be said for some of our brassicas as since last week something has given them a good going over. They are securely netted so it’s nothing larger than the small holes in that. Having spoken to Bob his look a bit worse for wear too and he thinks it might be caterpillars. Hopefully in a few weeks the caterpillars will have moved on and the plants will still have plenty of growing time, otherwise I don’t think a few of them will recover!
I took another trug full of courgettes home as they’ve really taken off. So while Neil had his cricket tea I made use of a couple of them cooking my own tea of courgette rarebit. A simple but tasty dish of gently fried courgettes, spring onions and garlic topped with a mixture of beaten egg, mustard and grated cheese with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs. A quick ten minutes in the oven and a lovely homegrown meal to enjoy!
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