Weeding and digging and weeding…

The last week has been the perfect storm of hot humid weather and downpours of rain so when we arrived at the plots this weekend it seemed the weeds were what had been doing the most growing! Despite the weather being a bit overcast and drizzly we had a good long visit on Sunday and by the end of the day both plots looked pretty tidy.

Neil was a digging demon, I think he set his mind to finishing the digging on plot 118 and just kept motoring on, even though he was dripping with sweat and had already done a tough round of circuits that morning!

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Meanwhile I did a lot of planting out from the items in the coldframe that were bursting to get out. The courgettes were planted out on both plots. The regular green zucchini variety hasn’t germinated is two sowings of several pots each time which is odd so we just have the one green variety in the dundoo organic. Neil is pioneering the crushed eggshell method of trying to stop the slugs, we’ll see if that has any success!

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The brassicas that had been in the coldframe for a couple of weeks were ready to go out. You can really see the difference between those that have spent longer in the greenhouse or coldframe compared to the ones that have had more time outside. The red cabbage (drumhead) look better than we have ever grown, at least at this early stage. The cauliflowers (snowball) were a bit small and flimsy looking but I’m hoping that being outside will mean they pick up and get a bit sturdier in a week or two. They were joined by the pointed red kalibos and candissa cabbage varieties as well as the Brussels (Evesham special and Hastings).

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We planted some more peas along the rustic pea frame Neil made with the sticks pruned from the raspberries and plums last year. The squash and the leeks from the greenhouse were put into the coldframe, the leeks particularly will be ready pretty soon if their current size is anything to go by. The rest of the brassicas that were in the coldframe but too small to plant out were transferred outside to hopefully firm up a bit before being planted out in the next week or two.

The zinnia and aster were planted on plot 118. They are apparently half hardy annuals, so a bit like the dahlias if we protect them over the winter they should survive for future flowerings next year. The poor acroclinium still didn’t get planted out, that’s two weeks where they have been passed over! Next week definitely!

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There were just a few sowings to make for June, the kale (dwarf green curled) and cavolo nero (cavolo di toscana) and wallflowers (fairlady mixed) and sweet Williams (auricula-eyed mixed). Incidentally, one plant from last years cavolo nero is still standing and still growing, the rest bolted in the early hot weather but somehow this one has lasted. I think it officially wins the prize for longest growing crop on the plots.

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At least after all the weeding we did across both plots we had the reward of a full punnet of strawberries! Pretty good considering there was only one or two reddening last week and we thought they would all be munched before this weekend. Very tasty indeed! With that and the first signs of fruit on some of the tomato plants this is the start of the excitement!

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Yet another three day weekend

We really are being spoiled with the run of three day weekends we have had since Easter, it’s a shame we have to wait until August now for the next one!

After coming back from Spain on Thursday we knew that while there had been some warm days, there had been mostly cooler temperatures and quite a bit of rain. This was to bode well for how things had got on in our absence! However, as predicted last week the tray of calabrese that had suffered in the heat had not had a miraculous recovery and so I had to sow some more calabrese green sprouting, purple sprouting and summer purple sprouting broccolis. But at least the old dried out tray did not go to waste, as we discovered the culprit in ‘cat bum gate’!

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We had a lovely lunch with friends today so we only got to the plot after 4pm. We had a long list of things we wanted to get done and managed to check off quite a few items despite the late hour. The tomatoes have come on well and suddenly looked tall and full of side shoots, so Neil removed them and tied them up.

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We potted on the aubergines (jackpot and long purple) and most of the courgettes. Although, oddly, the zucchini variety hadn’t germinated at all so I popped another few seeds while we potted on the rest. We also potted on the chillies (which I think we were on the third or fourth sowing of after a strange run of issues with them!) and as a result of all of these jobs, Neil had to take down one side of the staging to make extra room.

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On a slightly smaller scale I sowed some more Savoy cabbages as they had some patchy germination and I pricked out some leeks (almera) into larger pots to get them a bit stronger while also sowing a large pot of the jolant variety.

In the greenhouse on 118 Neil hacked back some of the grapevine, and I do mean hacked back. It grows with abandon and I’m convinced that the harsher you treat it, the more it likes it! We try and train a central line along the apex of the greenhouse roof so that it doesn’t get too much in the way of the other produce in there but it still persists in trying to, literally, branch out!

As for outside jobs, there was lots of re-jigging of the coldframe to be done to fit in the cauliflower (snowball), zinnia, aster (milady), chrysanthemum (mixed) and celeriac (prinz) that were ready for some cooler conditions. I also gave the shallots a water, as while they didn’t need the moisture after a lot of rain in the last day or so, they did need some organic feed as they had some yellowing tips and generally looked in need of a bit of a boost.

We dug up the spinach that had most definitely gone to seed! In fact I was joking that we had been keeping it in until it grew as tall (yes I said tall!) as me. Well it had exceeded that height, so it was most definitely time for it to come out. We’ll add some manure and feed to the bed once we dig it over to get it ready for whatever is next to come.

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There are still jobs left on the list for tomorrow’s bonus weekend day but we are hoping for drier conditions to get more done outside, fingers crossed.

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Always ‘things to do’

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Glorious sunshine on Saturday and given the forecast worsens for the rest of the bank holiday weekend and Neil has the minor distraction of another marathon to run on Monday we thought we would make the most of it today.

In a fit of giddiness of being ahead with our ‘things to do’ plan we did some more planting. The first of the seeds to be sown straight outside this year were parsnips (countess and imperial), spinach (medania and perpetual), chard (red and rainbow) and beetroot (boltardy, forono, golden and barbabietola di chioggia).

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More planting in the greenhouse of green and purple basil, melon (Blenheim orange), courgette (zucchini, jemmer, tondo chiaro di nizzi and dundoo) and cucumber (gherkin and burpless tasty green). Things that had not even germinated last week, such as the cucino cucumbers or Savoy cabbages, had grown pretty tall, all in six days. Some of the brassicas were growing so well that they needed thinning out, especially as we have no need for 50 plus red cabbages! Neil got busy snipping with the scissors-cruel but necessary! He also pricked out the pak choi and in a bit of an experiment put some in black growing bags and some in a seed tray to see which fares best.

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Due to the warmer weather the onions and garlic looked like they could do with some water so I watered them with some organic feed which should perk them up. I always worry about how much this feeds the weeds too as I’m sure things like mares tail must love it! We did some outside sowing of flowers too. Cornflowers were sewn in ‘deep masses’ and poppies were cast in ‘majestic drifts’ according to packet instructions. Otherwise known as fling ’em in and see what happens!

Neil, always one to be tempted by an internet purchase, had added a white marker to his order when getting some seeds online and now it had arrived was keen to try making some signs for our crops. So we used it on some slate pieces that we have previously written on with chino-graph pencil with only short term success. Apparently it is waterproof but can be easily removed with soapy water. Stand by for reviews of its progress in a few weeks time. Meanwhile Neil thinks any allotment judges will like the extra effort to make the place look nice!

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Having emptied the manure bay on plot 97 with recent loads to dig into the plots, Neil filled it back up again while there was spare manure in the communal bays. He also put about 6 barrows of it at the end of plot 118 which was only cleared of the kale a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure digging it all in will appear on the ‘things to do’ list for coming weeks! So much for being ahead, there are always jobs to be done!

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Another courgette recipe

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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!

Picking picking picking!

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!

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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.

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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!

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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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