trying to grow things

Earth room

2010-10-16T11:03:00.014+01:00

I took my first trip to New York last month. Although it has the tallest buildings I've ever set eyes on, it also has lots of pockets and snaking ribbons of green. From the great breathing spaces of central park and the botanic garden out in the Bronx through to the sympathetically planted overhead railway, offering a nature walk along the highline with views to match.

Perhaps more unexpected were the garden plots we chanced across when exploring Manhattan. La Guardia Corner Gardens is one such instance, located between Bleecker and Houston. The plot was developed by neighbourhood gardeners in 1981 on a piece of city property which was just barren land. It is a beautiful if unexpected intervention into the cityscape. Peering through the chainlink fence we watched sparrows hopping between plants while monarch butterflies and huge black bees took advantage of the buddlia bush.

Sadly, as with all city space there, land is money which makes this green space far from secure. NYU have plans to develop ‘superblock’ accommodation towers which would shade out the garden effectively killing it. A campaign has been launched to protect it but you have to wonder if planners will value the importance of this backyard wildlife habitat.

Late sun

2010-10-10T21:01:00.007+01:00

I was almost tricked into thinking that it was high summer today even though the evidence was against it. The sun has now sunk down in the sky casting a warm filtered light. Bees are outnumbered by yellow jackets busing themselves with investigations of each freshly dug heap of soil in a slow zig-zag meandering flight. Enjoying the unseasonably warm day I edged and weeded the beds - pulling out long stolens of the subterranian roots of couch grass as it wound its way through the beetroot and chard. Though growth is slowing the plot is still producing well and showing promise for the winter: the cabbages are hearting up, the sprouts are beginning to bud and the purple sprouting broccoli is starting to stand tall, although covered with those pesky whitefly. Does anyone know of an organic way to treat them?

jam today

2010-08-23T15:05:00.006+01:00

There is something rather yesteryear about having an allotment and the act of picking ripe blackberries from the bramble bushes on the perimeter certainly provoked a stab of nostalgia. Pulling away the fruit, some of it so ripe that it immediately gave way on first touch, felt like the definition of high summer. Fingertips stained ruby pink with juice we ended up with a bag full of berries. The undergardener even tried his hand at jam-making as well as cooking up a batch of chutney from homegrown onions and marrow.

Cooling off

2010-06-23T18:27:00.006+01:00

This visitor appeared when I was filling up the water butt. I've no idea how long he has been in there but the water level was so low that there was no possibility for escape. When the water neared the top I used a trowel to fish him out, fully expecting him to make a leap for freedom. Instead he sat happily on the trowel checking out the surroundings.

Red arrows

2010-06-17T16:13:00.011+01:00

I keep seeing brief flashes of red as I am walking about. It's not that I need to get to the optician but that there are rather a lot of cinnabar moths about this month. Their scarlet and black wings mean that you might easily mistake them for butterflies. On the wing during the day they are seeking out ragwort plants on which to lay their eggs. The lottie seems to be providing a good playground.

In the back of the net!

2010-06-13T17:43:00.006+01:00

The World cup is well and truly underway which means that the under-gardener is a little distracted from his tasks. Nevertheless I did manage to prise him away from the screen this morning for a little help around the plot. Everything was in rude health, the potatoes are flowering, the chard and lettuce are thriving and the kale I planted out (under protection) is going from strength to strength. Even the peas and red cabbage have made a surprise recovery now that they are tucked away from the pigeons under the safety of some sturdy nets.

Stop the pigeon

2010-05-19T21:34:00.005+01:00

Well someone is reaping the harvest of homegrown food. Unfortunately it isn't me. I'm blaming the wood pigeons as something of a feathered variety has scoffed the red cabbage, rocket and young pea plants. I have now netted the brassicas but I think this is a bit like bolting the proverbial stable door. The rocket will I'm sure grow back but I'm not confident about the peas making a recovery as they have been taken back to their stalks. I'll certainly be more careful when I plant out the next bed.

Bright spots

2010-05-05T14:27:00.007+01:00

Every year plants appear on the plot which I have not sown or planted. Often, as my blog posts will document, these unplanned visitors are weeds. However, wild flowers also make an appearance pushing their way through in the grassy paths and quiet corners. Right now there are wild primroses, forget-me-knots, and bluebells lighting up the grass with pools of delicate blue and yellow.

Flights of fancy

2010-04-19T21:35:00.004+01:00

Really enjoyed working on the allotment yesterday. With Iceland's volcano still erupting the only noisy traffic overhead was the honking of ducks flying to the nearby park. The recent good weather means everything is beginning to grow; the tulips were out, the rhubarb has shot up and the weeds are creeping in again... Dug over a bed and have sown some parsnips. I have never tried growing them before and understand that they can be slow to germinate so we'll have to see how this experiment goes.

Keep clear

2010-03-27T17:47:00.007Z

Not a lot to report at the lottie. The winter cold has kept the plants in check so we have only just got the first blooms of Narcissus. Thankfully all that cold weather has also kept the weeds at bay, allowing a bit of time for a clear up of the beds. They are inspecting the plots this weekend so time for a bit more digging...

Twelfth Night

2010-01-06T10:03:00.011Z

Time to take the Christmas decorations down. Our tree is looking pretty dessicated after weeks in a room with the heating cranked up high. Meanwhile the trees outside are a perfect seasonal picture.

red alert

2009-10-05T21:10:00.003+01:00

Two. That's the number of ripe tomatoes we have had from our plants. We ate them in a ceremonious salad tonight and they were very tasty. It's October but let's hope the frosts keep off until the others ripen up.

One potato, two potato...

2009-09-13T21:23:00.010+01:00

On a recent trip to Ireland we had a day out at Lissadell House and gardens. It’s a grand 19th century house overlooking Sligo Bay with two fantastically well stocked gardens – one for alpines and the other for crops. The house was completed in 1833 but had fallen into poor repair in recent years. New owners have carefully restored it and cultivated the gardens which were overgrown for over six decades.

To mark the UN ‘International Year of the Potato’ they planted 169 different varieties of spud along the circumference of the walled kitchen garden. Many of the potatoes were from the heritage collection of David Langford which was donated to Lissadell. Their most popular varieties are the Orla, an early, blight resistent potato bred in Carlow in 1999; the Arran Victory, a maincrop potato first bred in 1918 and the Pink Fir Apple, a salad potato bred in 1850.

Underneath the pavement

2009-08-01T14:13:00.011+01:00

So often I seem to be dashing out of the house and hurrying off to do something. Head down and scurrying along pavements you often don't spot the changes, a different type of city regeneration. There is lots going on unplanned within the built environment. Like the blogger of Organic Allotment I too have spotted a self sown tomato plant growing out from a crack between the pavement and the wall of a city college. Seeded no doubt from a discarded sandwich filling of a passing student.

This might go unobserved by most of us but nature is always on the look out for opportunities. In the neglected front yard of a terrace house a colony of cinnabar moth lavae are munching their way through a ragworth plant. These beautiful black and vermillion moths only lay their eggs on this plant. The warning stripes of orange and black a message to birds that they have ingested the toxins from this weed and won't be good to eat.
A buddleia bush growing down a crack in a nearby wall offers nectar for bumble and honeybees. They are so attracted to the flowers that there is a bit of jostling going on. It's crowded at this new nectar bar in town.

a barrow of marrow

2009-07-23T16:12:00.008+01:00

Things have been really busy with work meaning that trips to the plot have been put on hold. With the recent combination of rain and sunshine the courgettes which have been busy changing into marrows while our back was turned. We have given a few away to family and neighbours but there are plenty more to get through.

Jane Grigson's vegetable book if really handy for courgette recipes but also has advice for those of us who have left them too long on the plant:
'For a small family faced with a huge marrow, it is best to slice it down into rings about 2-3cm thick, allowing one or two per person. Do not peel the rings, but blanch them for five minutes only, after removing the seeds in the middle. Place the rings in a buttered dish and fill the centres with stuffing, allowing it to spread a little over the marrow in a domed shape. Allow 45-60 mins at 190C/375F.' Sounds like a plan.

Hello ladies!

2009-06-28T23:31:00.007+01:00

There are lots of ladybird lavae going walkabout on the lottie. This is good news as the lavae are voracious feeders and will munch their way though lots of aphids. I am reliably informed by wiki that they pupate after about three months depending on how much food there is about.

Spotted lots of lavae at the pupal stage as I was weeding. As I was peering at one of the pupae it began flicking up and down. I thought this might mean that a ladybird beatle was just about to hatch but have since learned that this was actually a demonstration of annoyance. I like the fact that it doesn't let a little thing like undergoing morphological change get in the way of telling me to keep my distance.

Running away

2009-06-11T20:56:00.011+01:00

It's the first time I have grown strawberries. The six plants potted up in grow bags are doing well and each are showing a promising branch of green fruits. Apparently plants are more productive in their second year so I'm not sure how much fruit I will have this summer. They have each sent out a set of runners which I could try to root by pinning the plantlets into a pot of soil. Geoff Hamilton's Organic Gardening book suggests this as a good method if you want to force strawberries in the greenhouse. However he warns against restocking beds with plants grown this way in case they spread virus disease. Not sure if the same applies when using grow bags but I think I'll try rooting a few of them.

Bolt thrower

2009-06-08T19:00:00.005+01:00

Everything is growing well at the moment but most of the veg is not yet ready for picking. The first set of broad bean plants have produced pencil thin pods which are slowly fattening up. The second set of beans, planted out a month later, are in flower. The peas are also in flower and are setting their first pods. Thankfully the salad leaves are ready. I picked a bag full of rainbow chard and handfuls of salad rocket. Rocket doesn’t like hot weather but I managed to catch it just as it was starting to produce flowers but before it had well and truly made a blot for it.

Plot summary

2009-06-01T16:21:00.008+01:00

The recent rain and long hot days have resulted in everything growing like fury. Sunday was the first visit to the lottie for a couple of weeks so the change was rather dramatic. The shallots and onions look like a real success story which is good news as last year the heavy rain practically drowned them. The chard and beets are coming along too, adding colour to the planting.

Our feathered friends have been feasting on the cabbages I planted out recently but neglected to net. Still, there are a couple of survivors which are doing well and I have planted out some red kale to keep them company. The broad beans have not yet been attacked by black fly so I must remember to pinch out their growing tips when I visit next. The Observer allotment blog is worth checking out for a useful list of jobs to do this month. There are certainly lots of tasks to do in June but it is rewarding when you see everything growing so well.

Turned out nice again

2009-04-26T12:11:00.002+01:00

Recently got back from a short trip to Nice. Noticed that the municipal planting often included edibles amongst the flower displays. From bold red stems of chard to frills of red kale and silvery spikes of cardoons. I could not resist a trip in to a garden centre to see what varieties might be on sale. I think I showed considerable restraint by only coming back with a couple of seed packets in the suitcase.

British summer time

2009-03-29T18:43:00.006+01:00

The clocks changed and the sun shone. It was a promising start to British summer time today and the allotment was busy with activity. Folks wandering past the gates were peering in. When the sun is out, growing veg and working in the fresh air is an enviable passion. I know, gardening doesn't quite work like that and you have to get out there when it's windy and cold too. But it's days like today which make it all worthwhile.

Dug over the potato bed as I'll soon be planting out the seed potatoes. The broad beans are growing well and just neeeded a little support.

Now you see it...

2009-03-16T22:31:00.004Z

Often we talk about seasons as if one rolls out fully formed every three months. Gardening makes you realise that within each season there are small changes and shifts in nature. Two weeks ago the crocuses were in flower on the plot. They had died away by the next week just as narcissus were beginning to bloom. This week a primrose had come into flower and nettles were showing their frills along the edges of the plot. Each new appearance telling a tale about temperature and time. Wonder what will have popped its head up next weekend.

Hatching

2009-03-08T17:54:00.005Z

Things are stirring on the allotment. Rhubarb leaves are cracking through their papery shells and narcissus are flowering in clumps amongst the grass borders. Planted out some broad bean plants and spent another Sunday morning digging over the beds. Trying to get a head start by pulling up the tangle of grass stolons lurking under the soil before they really pick up pace.

The good, the bad and the ugly

2008-11-17T18:29:00.006Z

Yesterday was a perfect day for a spot of gardening. The day was mild with a glint of winter sun. We spent a few hours digging over three of the beds and generally tidying the plot up a bit. A pair of robins kept us company, darting between the hedges excited by the prospect of the worms and grubs revealed by our efforts. I decided to use a soil conditioner before covering over the beds for the winter. It was only after I had liberally applied trowelfuls of bagged organic rotted manure, that I noticed that there were white lavae in the mix. A quick spot of research when I got home revealed that these are the lavae of the onion fly who often lay their eggs in fresh manure. Luckily I didn't spread them on the winter sown onions or the leeks but I have still unwittingly broadcast them quite widely. I hope that they don't make their way over to the onions....

Don't look now

2008-09-07T18:21:00.006+01:00

There seem to be a lot of spiders on the lottie at the moment. Groups of them were scurrying around the wood boards edging the beds and in-between the piles of dried hedge clippings.

September is breeding time for spiders so males are often spotted out on the prowl. However, you're unlikely to see one as big as 'La Princess' which stalked through Liverpool this weekend as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations. This 50 foot, 37 tonne creation by the company La Machine certainly had the wow factor. A surreal delight we watched as it walked though a main shopping area and battled with huge flame throwers whilst being followed by accompanying musicians hoisted in the air on cherry pickers.

No such thing as a free lunch?

2008-08-28T00:04:00.004+01:00

With the so-called ‘credit crunch’ upon us we might all be thinking of new ways to tighten our belts. Food prices have really increased of late and waiting lists for allotment plots have begun to lengthen proportionally. The possibility of growing your own organic veg has tempted many.

Walking across a field last week I was reminded that we don’t even have to get planting in order to have a meal from the soil. On the banks of a stream, fed by a spring, some healthy looking watercress plants were thriving. There is lots of free food available in hedgerows and fields for those who know where to look. A whole host of wild plants can be eaten from dandelion and nettle to hedgerow blackberries and wild garlic. I have to admit that so far I have stuck to eating what I have grown myself, a bit concerned about misidentifying a wild plant. What about you?

summer stripes

2008-08-06T18:46:00.004+01:00

The flowering herbs in the back yard have created quite a buzz. It still amazes me how you can so easily attract beneficial insects with just a few plants and flowers in a city yard. There seems to be around eight or so bumble bees on the herbs at any one time, collecting nectar. I'm reading 'A World Without Bees' at the moment which helps to explain some of the behaviour. Here's what I have learnt:
1. Bumble bees prefer purple flowers while honeybees have a preference for white blooms
2. Honeybees are great pollenators because they will keep making thousands of visits to one flower species at a time until they have used up all it's nectar.
3. The antennae on a bee's head allow it to smell in stereo.

Heavy plant crossing

2008-07-29T22:01:00.008+01:00

We had a grand day out on Sunday with a trip to the Tatton Park Flower Show. I must be showing my age as I haven't made it to a music festival this year but got really excited about going to the RHS event. The show gardens were top notch - I particularly liked the 'East meets West' garden design by Urban Vision for it's simplicity and calmness. Ness Botanic Gardens' back to back garden for bees also got my vote. It was designed to show the important contribution bees make to our gardens and was packed with climbing beans, wildflowers and an apiary hive.

Just as we were starting to flag with the heat and our fill of ice cream, they announced the beginning of the plant sale. Everyone's inner bargain hunter came out and there was a it of a frenzy at the plant stands. Came home laden down with vegetable plants and herbs.

Tea's up

2008-07-20T22:44:00.005+01:00

Dug up the first lot of new potatoes today. I was late planting them so they are rather small - but perfectly formed. Had our first allotment meal of the year: roast potatoes, fried courgettes, with spinach and chard in a parsley and sage sauce. Delish!

milk bar

2008-06-28T20:48:00.004+01:00

Some of the Nasturtiums are being attacked by blackfly with a little help from their friends. The ants are acting as guardians while also 'milking' the aphids for their sticky dew. Here's one caught in the act.

fresh fruit sundae

2008-06-22T16:04:00.006+01:00

The sky glowered and there were strong winds throwing the gulls off-track as they flew over the allotments today. Still, the rain kept off. I planted 30 slender leeks (not as thick as a pencil yet) and earthed up the potatoes. The potato plants of my surrounding plot holders are tall and in flower. I was late getting mine in the ground so they have a while to catch up but hopefully we will get a late harvest. The raspberry bushes were weighted down with ripe fruit and a couple of the onions were ready to pull. These are the rewards for a bit of effort on the weekend.

Life cycles

2008-06-15T19:24:00.005+01:00

After all that ladybird activity (ahem) last month there are now ladybird lavae crawling around the allotment and hatching out ready for the next cycle...

Re-cyling

2008-06-05T23:29:00.003+01:00

I was clearing up around the plants in the yard today and found this little snail had hidden inside an old snail shell in order to keep out of the sun's rays. Talk about re-cycling...

You're it!

2008-05-25T17:44:00.011+01:00

I've been tagged by Fresh as a Daisy. These are the rules for tagging:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post linking to their blog.
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six things about me:

1. I love the fact that gardening is all about choices and possibilities
2. I am not a morning person
3. I am scared of spiders
4. I have a perfectly worked out plan of how my garden will look but just never get the time to realise the ambition
5. I think that cucumber is the devil's food
6. I reckon that marigolds are under-rated

I'm going to tag:
Courgettes and Fennel
Fork it...
Greenforks

Who loves the sun

2008-05-03T16:09:00.005+01:00

Spring is definitely here. The weather is warming up, the grass is growing, the flowers are blooming and the ladybirds are getting frisky.

The story of the blues

2008-04-15T22:15:00.004+01:00

There is something magic about the appearance of bluebells each year. The allotment is rimmed with them; growing in shade and security on the perimeter of the plots. While I thought all bluebells were one and the same, it turns out that in the UK there are commonly three different types of flower.

There are two common species - the native bluebell and the Spanish bluebell as well as a hybrid bluebell (Hyacinthoides x massartiana) which seems to becoming more common. Some are worried that, with so many hybrid plants around, the native plant will go into decline. There is not enough research yet to prove whether this is happening. The Natural History Museum is asking people to help. By recording what type of bluebells are growing in your area they can build up a national picture of the different plant species.

Heads up

2008-04-09T20:51:00.004+01:00

Some of the squash seeds sown a week or so ago are starting to emerge as seedlings. Last year’s weather meant that none of my squash or courgettes made it through so we’ll have to see how this one does. This is a spaghetti squash, whose flesh when cooked resembles thin strands of spaghetti. It can be oven baked and then finished off with some olive oil, salt and pepper. It can also be used in sweet recipes. In Portugal the squash is often made into a jam which can be used to fill cakes. Here’s a recipe for the jam I found on the Food Network site:

2 pounds spaghetti squash
1 pound granulated sugar
2 cups water

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Break the squash on the ground (if you use a knife you will discolour the flesh). Wash the squash pieces and remove the seeds from the centre using your hands. Place the squash pieces in the boiling water and cook until the skin comes apart.

Remove from the water and place in an ice bath. Using your hands, separate the skin from the flesh and discard any seeds. Remove the flesh and place in shallow bowl. Again with your fingers, separate the flesh into threads. Rinse the threads under cool water and drain well.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is thick. Add the squash and continue to cook until the entire mixture is thick and most of liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl and cool completely.

Idle chit chat

2008-04-06T13:47:00.004+01:00

I've been a bit tardy in buying seed potatoes this year. Traditionally, first earlies are planted on Good Friday but I hadn't even got round to getting my order in. I'm trying Pentland Javelin this year and have just put a couple of dozen tubers out to chit. They are supposed to have a good level of resistance to eel worm which was a bit of a problem on the plot last year. Easter was early this year so perhaps the delay of a few weeks won't harm too much...

Clearing up

2008-03-02T18:26:00.005Z

There is nothing quite so satisfying as wrenching a bramble root out of the soil. One side of the plot was overtaken last summer with the hoops and swirls of wild blackberries. The blackbirds had a feast but it meant that two of the small beds were effectively cordoned off. Now is the time to gain ground again. The prickly stems have been cut and today I dug out three big roots. With runners branching out in different directions I don't think this will be the end of the story but I have got the beds back for now.

Bright Lights, Big City Launch

2008-01-13T15:38:00.000Z

This weekend saw the launch of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. I crowded down with the estimated 40,000 others to see the 'people's opening': dancing cranes, miming guitarists on the city roofs, acrobats, fireworks, a shipping container full of local celebrities, video projections, live music from The Wombats and an appearance from Ringo. The published programme of events looks great for the forthcoming year so lots to look forward to.

Taking the decorations down

2008-01-06T16:43:00.000Z

It's twelfth night so time to take down the Christmas decorations and re-cycle the tree. Time to make a few resolutions too. As always, working on the allotment is on the list. Hopefully this year will be more productive - weather and time permitting. Let's just see. Gardening is all about making plans and then being pleasantly surprised when they actually work out.

Keystone Cops

2007-11-21T22:37:00.001Z

I didn't really pay much attention to bees before I got the allotment. Well, apart from runnning away from them in a terribly girlish fashion if they got too close. Now, I've become really fascinated. There are a couple of hives on the lottie so the plants get visited by quite a few different types of honey and bumble bees. I still don't know one type from the next but I'm learning.

We are really dependent on bees for our food and yet tend to take their function for granted. Bees are what is known as a 'keystone species' as so many other organisms are dependent on them doing their job of pollination. Recent media stories about bees deserting their hives in the US have shown us just how much we rely on these critters for what we eat. The Horniman museum in London opened an exhibition this month called 'Every Third Mouthful' focussing on just this topic. I've pasted the blurb below and I hope to get down for a visit as it runs until May next year.

'This fascinating exhibition, which amalgamates science and art, from the assertion that ‘Every third mouthful of food we eat is dependent upon the unmanaged pollination services of bees’. Peter Chatwin and Pamela Martin have created a series of works that explore this internationally important subject, highlighting the importance of biodiversity upon our food supply, and the uncertain future as bee numbers diminish globally.'

And so to bed

2007-11-17T15:31:00.000Z

It has been an age since I last updated the blog. Work on the allotment seems to mostly consist of digging these days which is not the most inspiring work to write about. The beds are overgrown and weedy, so I'm trying to knock them into shape before everything starts growing quickly again. Planted some Solent Wight garlic today and cut back an invading mass of brambles and the tall stems of nettles which were growing between them. The autumn planted onions are just beginning to sprout and the phacelia sown as a green manure a few weeks ago is starting to give a bit of cover. Not sure if I need to protect the onions with fleece or if they are hardy enough to withstand dropping temperatures but I've left them to their own devices for now.

Caught between a rock...

2007-09-03T23:55:00.000+01:00

Like Melanie over at Beansprouts we decided to go for a 'lower impact' holiday this year and took the ferry over to Ireland instead of jetting off somewhere. But, once we were over there, we went on a bit of a road trip so I don't think we are going to win any green awards with all that diesel consumption.

Part of our trip took in The Burren in County Clare which is a remarkable piece of landscape with huge exposed 'pavements' of limestone. There is a great variety of plantlife growing in-between the cracks and fissures in the stone. They seem to respond well to the warm moist air that flows over them and the light and heat reflected from the rock.

As I was walking across I spotted this self-sown sea spinach, a relative of chard, growing healthily away. That's nature for you, I couldn't get the stuff to take root this year, but there it was thriving away without anyone to tend to it.

2007-08-19T13:43:00.000+01:00

Time to harvest some of the home grown goodies. The tomatoes are starting to ripen and looking promising. Tomatoes don't last long in our house so I've been looking forward to these. The yellow cherry Mirabel plants have been slow to come into flower so we will have to see how they get on over the next few weeks.
The Charlotte potatoes have been a great success - with no signs of damage - unlike the earlier Maris Bard tatties which were attacked by eel worms and wireworms. I'll definitely give these another go next year.

No Fun

2007-07-22T18:57:00.000+01:00

Can someone please have a word? All this rain has meant that I have hardly visited the plot. There are trays of plants in the cold frame waiting to be set out while plants on the allotment are going a bit haywire with precious little sun and only a daily shower to look forward to. Still, things aren't all that bad up north compared to the nightmare flood conditions in the rest of the country. Having spent 13 hours on the motorway on Friday because of the flooding of the M5 I have had a brief taster of what really heavy rain can do.

The forecast for the rest of the summer from the Met Office doesn't offer much hope for sunny days ahead: 'Indications for the remainder of summer favour average or drier than average conditions over central and southern Europe and wetter than average over parts of northern Europe. This suggests that in the UK a trend towards average rainfall is more likely for southern regions, while average or above average rainfall is more likely in the north.'

A walk on the wild side

2007-07-08T20:12:00.000+01:00

The rainiest June on record has meant that the lottie has been tending to itself of late. Yesterday, a brief break in the weather allowed a trip out to check what the garden has been up to. The onions seem to have responded to the wet weather pretty well and are looking a good size even though crowded by weeds. Last year I planted too closely, didn’t water them and they ended up as tiddlers. The shallots and courgettes are looking sorry for themselves but the broad beans and potatoes have lapped up the water and some of the tatties are whoppers.

Broad bean risotto

2007-06-24T18:12:00.000+01:00

Despite the attack of several thousand blackfly, the broad beans have developed well. I have only ever eaten frozen broad beans, which I thought were pretty good, but the taste of them fresh is quite sublime. They are really juicy and not at all meally as they can get when a little more mature. I used them in a risotto with some of the Feltham First peas. It tasted great so here is the recipe:

Vegetable stock

50g butter

olive oil
2 leeks

275g arborio rice

fresh broad beans

fresh peas

Clove of garlic

Handful of fresh mint

Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Put the stock in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Then turn down the heat and keep it on a very low simmer.

Heat the butter and a dash of oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sliced leeks and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the garlic and stir well.

Add the rice and sir, using a wooden spoon, until the grains are well coated and glistening (about a minute). Add some stock (you could add a glass of wine now if you wish) and stir until absorbed.

Add the stock a ladel at a time and stir 'til absorbed. After 10 mins add the broad beans and peas. Continue to add the stock at intervals as before until the rice is tender (aboat 18-20 mins).

Grate in some parmesan, season and add the chopped mint. Mix well and remove from heat. Let it rest for a couple of minutes then spoon into bowls and add some more Parmesan to finish.

Rust never sleeps

2007-06-24T18:00:00.000+01:00

The garlic has been severely affected by rust this year so I pulled it all up yesterday. The bulbs themselves seem unaffected but I understand that I will need to use the garlic 'wet' rather than allowing it to dry for storage. Luckily the onions and shallots growing nearby seem to be unaffected and are fattening up nicely with all the wet weather we are having.

Upside Down

2007-06-10T15:14:00.000+01:00

The ups...
Home grown peas are so sweet that I am trying to grow sucessional crops this year. The First Felham peas are producing well and the second sowing of Balmoral peas are now in flower. I've just sown some more so hopefully this will see us through the summer. The potato plants are looking healthy and some have come into flower. Now is the time to water them in order to help the tubers swell - especially as the weather is so hot.

And the downs...
The broad beans are starting to fatten up although the blackfly have really got hold and, even through the plants have attracted a good number of ladybirds, I think it is a losing battle. Things are also not looking so good with the brassicas - I planted out some kale and calebrese a couple of weeks ago but something has stripped all the leaves off them - I'm guessing it might be birds so have netted them and hope they might recover. Oh yeah and as I was striding about watering the potatoes I went and squashed my only courgette plant that was doing really well.

Restless Legs

2007-05-29T23:49:00.000+01:00

The comfrey is in bloom and the bees can't keep away. Chopped some down today as an activator for the compost heap which is full to the brim with the woody remains for the purple sprouting broccoli.

Pinky Blue

2007-05-20T21:35:00.000+01:00

After all the rain this week the plants have gone into overdrive. Sunshine today meant I spent a few hours on the lottie which is looking pretty unkempt - truth be told. Planted out some kale and calabrese and earthed up the potatoes which are growing really well. The purple sprouting broccoli has all gone into flower so will need to make room for the beetroots and spinach that are to follow. The flowers are rather beautiful in their own right and the bumble bees were all over them.

The early peas are developing and I ate my first ones straight from the pod today - sooo sweet. It will be a week or so though before there are enough to cook with.

The first pea flowers were pure white but those further up are a pink and burgundy shade. Wondered if this could this be cross pollination with the broad beans growing alongside?

Spotted these peacock butterfly caterpillars munching their way though the nettles in the borders.

Introducing the Liverpool Beetles

2007-05-09T21:05:00.001+01:00

I'm not sure what the collective term for ladybirds is but those of the seven spot variety have been hanging out and sunning themselves on the verges of the allotment.

Meanwhile, on the broadbeans, the ants have have been active for the past couple of weeks tending to the blackfly, carrying them to the tender recesses of the bean tips and using them as 'cattle' for their sticky productions. I'll have to try squirting them with water as all of this does not make for healthy plants. In the meantime I hope our spotted friends are hungry as dinner is ready.

The tree and the bee

2007-04-09T14:01:00.000+01:00

I love this time of year, the summer ahead of us and everything starting to grow again now that the weather has warmed. The trees in the local park are just plain pretty right now with clouds of pink and white blossom.

New order

2007-04-08T13:29:00.000+01:00

My friend Emma has just taken on a quarter plot so we pitched in to give a hand clearing the ground. Luckily the land wasn't too overgrown but just in need of a bit of weeding. Pulled out a barrow load of grass roots and mare's tail while plans were made for growing onions, potatoes, peas and beans. Happy gardening Emma!

Something nasty in the woodshed…

2007-03-25T22:06:00.000+01:00

Well not actually in the woodshed but lurking under the weed suppressant fabric to be exact. The spring sunshine coaxed me out yesterday to do a bit of digging. I dug over one of the beds and planted out the broad bean seedlings that have been growing fast and furious in the cold frame. In went some sweet peas too. Didn’t get a chance to harden them off first so hope they’ll do ok. Anyway, as I was turning over the soil I chanced upon not one but three New Zealand Flatworms. There have been warnings about these on the allotment notice-board for some months but it was a bit disheartening to see them thriving on the plot. Garden Organic explain these worms like to hide under things and so the fabric has been a boon. Trouble is they also like to chomp their way through earthworms which isn’t so good. As Head Burro argues sometimes garden pests are just evil and must be seen off – in the case of flatworms their recommended mode of dispatch seems to be by squashing, burning or submersion in salt water.

Now you see it, now you don't...

2007-03-20T18:16:00.000Z

Should you have the mind to you can send off for ‘a superb 32-page full colour booklet crammed with information on how to attract birds to your garden’ produced by the RSPB. Alternatively, you could just try growing purple sprouting broccoli. It takes a whole year, I’ll say that again for emphasis, a whole year to grow psb. The plants on the plot have been doing really well: tall stems, lots of leaves and shoots and then came the birds… At this rate I won’t get to eat any of it. I’ve wrapped and netted it as best I can but the wind keeps unwrapping it like a packed lunch for our feathered friends…

In the hope that you might have more luck with your crop here is a recipe for psb and pasta from the BBC:

Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 10 to 30 mins

Ingredients
1kg/2¼lb purple sprouting broccoli
1 medium sized fresh red chilli (not too hot)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small tin of anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
good quality olive oil
350g/12oz pasta fusilli, oriecchiette, penne rigate or conchiglie are the most suitable shapes
parmesan or hard pecorino cheese to grate
salt and pepper

Method
1. Put a large pan of water on to boil with a little salt.
2. Trim the outer leaves and woody stalks from the broccoli, you will lose at least half the vegetables by this process. Wash the good bits and chop into 1cm/½in sections. Cut the chilli in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds and the attached pith. Chop the chilli flesh, the garlic and the anchovies finely. In another large pan warm 4tbsp/60ml/2fl oz of olive oil over a medium flame and add the chilli, garlic and anchovies. Sweat these for a minute or so and add the broccoli, season with a little salt and pepper, then continue to cook gently whilst the pasta boils.
3. Drop the pasta in the boiling water and stir immediately. Cook until just tender with a little bit of resistance to the bite (al dente). This could take anything between 7 and 12 minutes depending on the type of pasta you choose (orecchiette is the slowest and incidentally the absolutely authentic type for this dish).
4. Grate 4tbsp of the cheese and reserve. After the pasta has been cooking for 5 minutes transfer a small ladle of the cooking water to the broccoli. Keeping over a high heat, add another 2 tbsp/30ml/1fl oz of oil and add the cheese. Toss and serve immediately.

Rhubarb Rhubarb

2007-03-12T21:58:00.000Z

The rhubarb beds are revealing themselves again with the first leaves unfolding in a concertina of crinkles. Can’t wait for the first pickings. I didn’t eat enough of this last year.

Getting diggy with it

2007-03-11T17:28:00.000Z

Back in October I sowed a few handfuls of Winter Tares as a green manure. Despite the late sowing, the plants sprouted well and have been growing away all winter. My jury was out on whether this would work as a weed suppressant as well as a soil conditioner – but it seems to have faired well on both counts. There were only a few clumps of grass in amongst the plants so I think I try this again this year. Dug it all in and then sat back with a nice cuppa. This is what Sundays should be about.

Legs Eleven

2007-02-18T18:11:00.001Z

In my enthusiasm to see something growing again I have filled up the window sills with seedlings. But, like MTP, I’ve found that warm rooms might make plants poke their leaves up in super quick time but they also encourage them to grow into leggy young things. While the lettuce seedlings have now flopped over completely, the peas and broad beans are fairing somewhat better. Still, I think it’s best to treat ‘em mean. In a kill or cure kind of fashion I’ve banished them all to the cold frame.

Just a sprinkle

2007-02-11T17:07:00.000Z

White light

2007-01-28T18:29:00.000Z

January is such a bare month that I can't wait until I am back to planting seeds. It has been weeks and weeks since I have done any real work on the plot. As Dan Pearson discussed today in The Observer, the sight of a clump of snowdrops is a welcome sight right now that life is beginning to stir again.

Old low light

2006-12-30T16:03:00.000Z

The days are starting to lengthen but it will be some time before there is more useable brightness for working the plot. The quality of the light in these short days is hazy and low but rather beautiful when filtering though the bare arterial branches of the trees in the local park.

We have been on some great walks this Christmas which has made me take in the beauty of the season. These photos were taken on the side of Blencathra in the Lake District. It's the simple things that make me happy; the rusty ferns, bright berries and mosses covering the dry stone walls.

Ho, Ho, Hoe... and a bottle of jerusalem artichoke soup!?!

2006-12-24T13:30:00.000Z

This is the first year that we have provided vegetables for the Christmas table. Admittedly the purple sprouts were not far off the size of peas but hey - it's a start. They are going to be stir fried with pine nuts and veggie bacon as a side dish. We did get a good harvest of jerusalem artichokes though which have been paired up with carrots and are on their way to becoming soup for tomorrow. Yum.

Here's the recipie for the soup which is from Delia's Veggie book -

Serves 6-8

1lb (450 g) Carrots
1lb 8 oz (700 g) Jerusalem artichokes
3 celery stalks
3 oz (75 g) butter
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2½ pints (1.5 litres) hot stock
salt and pepper

To garnish:
2-3 tablespoons crème fraîche
fresh flat-leaf parsley

You will also need a large saucepan with the capacity of about 6 pints

Start by peeling and de-knobbling the artichokes and, as you peel them, cut them into rough chunks and place them in a bowl of cold, salted water to prevent them from discolouring. Then scrape the carrots and slice them into largish chunks. Next, use the potato peeler to pare off any stringy bits from the celery and then roughly chop it.

Now melt the butter in the saucepan and soften the onion and celery in it for 5 minutes, keeping the heat fairly low. Then drain the artichokes and add them to the pan, along with the carrots. Add some salt and keep the heat very low, put a lid on and let the vegetables sweat for 10 minutes to release their juices. After that, pour in the stock, stir well, put the lid back on and simmer very gently for a further 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Now allow the soup to cool a little, then blend it in batches (a large bowl to put each batch in is helpful here). Taste to check the seasoning and re-heat the soup very gently until it just comes to simmering point.

Serve it in hot bowls, garnishing each one with a swirl of crème fraîche and a few parsley leaves.

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2007!!

A bit blowy

2006-12-03T21:12:00.000Z

At this time of year the Christmas catalogues are full of gift ideas for the greenfingered. Their suggestions give the impression that gardening is the twee and cosy pastime of gentle folk – watering cans in the shapes of ducks and snails, floral clogs, gently scented Lily of the Valley hand creams and tartan topped wellies. However, as anyone who was out and about this weekend can testify, gardening at this time of year is not for the faint-hearted. It was blowing a gale on the allotment; the shed door was flapping and the broccoli and sprouts were bent at right-angles. Only a couple of hardy souls were working their plots and when the rain started to pelt it down we all called it a day. There are, of course, rewards for the effort as I reflected when sat by the fire tucking into a vegetable bake with home-grown leeks, beetroot and chard.

Trying to see things

2006-11-26T20:58:00.000Z

Hands up – the allotment has been neglected of late. At least the grow rate of weeds has slowed so that the plot is not so much overgrown as shabby looking. While I meant to do some work there this weekend I ended up making a mad dash round different gallery spaces in Liverpool trying to see as much of the Biennial as I could before it closed. Caught some good shows both in the ‘official’ Biennial and the Independents including a video piece and map reflecting on allotmenteering in the city. To try and stick with the gardening theme (however tangential) pictured here are two works featuring things that you could indeed find on an allotment. The first is a forlorn looking sofa growing mushrooms by Richard Hughes and below is a scale model of the Three Gorges Dam in China by Weng Peijun made from blown eggshells.

Golden brown

2006-11-05T19:01:00.000Z

It is a beautiful time of year. The trees are shedding their autumn decorations and the streets are littered with heapings of browns and golds. The plot is in transition, moving from the high productivity of summer to the winter slow down. The last few days have ushered in the change. Frost has cut down the late producing courgettes and the nasturtiums are lying lifelessly in the borders. The chard has survived for now but I don’t fancy its chances. But even now the promise of Spring is in the soil: the onions are sprouting and the purple-sprouting broccoli is flourishing. Time to work on clearing some more space for planting next year…

Out and about

2006-10-29T19:27:00.000Z

Dark evenings and busy weekends have kept me away from gardening of late but today was bright and sunny which tempted me outside. Finally planted the radicchio (Rossa Di Teviso) which has been languishing in the cold frame. The slugs ate all of the young plants that I planted out weeks ago so I’m hoping that beer traps will keep them at bay this time. I had a pair of robins for company which were quick to spot the worms and chafer grubs unearthed before the garlic went in. Came home with a bag full of runner beans and a couple of courgettes. It’s amazing still to be harvesting courgettes in late October.

Ripening

2006-10-11T19:41:00.000+01:00

Going

Going

Gone...

Took these pictures a couple of weeks ago but forgot to upload them 'til now...

The Big Chill

2006-10-10T20:05:00.000+01:00

The evenings are shortening and the nights are getting colder. The frogs on the plot have taken to hiding under the black weed suppressant to keep warm. There was a warning of ground frost last night so I tucked the spinach and chard up in a layer of fleece. Last year the frost got there first and all the chard was killed off overnight. Things are slowing down on the plot but some plants are still producing well - picked a bag of runner beans, baby marrow, spinach and some remaining pumpkins. Nevertheless, it's clear the beds are starting to empty out for winter...

Many hands...

2006-10-01T23:17:00.000+01:00

Yay! We had help today as a couple of friends volunteered to have a ‘green gym’ day down on the allotment. The weather unfortunately was pretty terrible but we braved the downpours in a spirit of dogged enthusiasm. Buddleia was cut back, shrubs tamed (for now), weeds yanked out, Jerusalem Artichokes cut down to size and bare ground covered over. Broadcast a liberal handful of Winter Tares over the ground where the onions were grown this year. It is rather late to be attempting to sow a green manure but we’ll see how it goes…

Keep on running...

2006-09-25T21:55:00.000+01:00

The nights are shortening and you can begin to detect that cool stillness of autumn in the air now. Having said that we have had some beautifully warm days this September too.

We dug out our maincrop potatoes yesterday and harvested chard and a swelling yellow courgette which was a couple of days off marrow proportions. The plot needs some attention but a couple of our friends have volunteered (been strong-armed in) to help us next weekend which will make a difference.

This is the first time I have grown beans and am really impressed by how quickly they have climbed the bamboo canes and started producing. These are ‘Enorma’ runner beans.

Shall we dance?

2006-09-13T19:15:00.000+01:00

The back yard is busy with spiders. Fat female garden spiders have been squatting in the centre of their webs billowed by the wind while their male counterparts are spinning their yarns.

As The Guardian noted yesterday favourable weather conditions have meant that numbers of arachnids are up nationally. It’s enough to give you the heebee-jeebees.

September is spider mating season and these two were caught on camera as they shook their legs and webs in what looked like a rather complicated courtship dance.

Jack-be-Little

2006-09-11T18:09:00.000+01:00

Today’s weather seemed to give the lie to the onset of autumn but the deepening orange coats of these pumpkins signal otherwise. The skins have changed from a shiny lemon to a dull orange which means, I think, that they are ready for the pot. These are destined for a risotto. As you can see the courgette plants have finally gone into full production mode – a little late in the season but I’m not complaining…

Solitary

2006-09-09T18:01:00.000+01:00

My two passion flower plants have only managed to produce one flower between them this year. The petals on this unfurled themselves this morning. Not sure what the issue is - perhaps I should have pruned the plants back after flowering last year or potted them on to a larger pot? Anyway, here's a piccie of the flower today.

Day Tripper

2006-09-03T20:22:00.000+01:00

Took at trip to Ryton Organic Gardens in Coventry today. Lack of time meant we only managed to walk around half of the 30 gardens they have on the grounds. The range of flowers, fruits and vegetables has given us lots of inspiration for next year though I think it will be quite some time before our plot looks quite so organised.

Pictured here are the paper husks of chinese lanterns and the autumnal orange of the Uchiki Kuri.

As you can see the bees loved these garlic chives growing in the allotment garden. There were lots of weird and wonderful vegetable varieties growing including Red Elephant carrots and Red Russian kale which is sorely tempting me to join the Heritage Seed Library. Came away with yet more seed packets and lots of plans.

Reviewing the situation

2006-08-28T23:00:00.000+01:00

A busy holiday weekend has meant that the plot has been neglected. I took a quick walk around tonight to see how things are. There is lots of sorting out to be done – branches, brambles and weeds to tame as well as pruning and clipping of the hedges and shrubs. Must try harder… The dying evening light brought out the drama of this courgette flower. The recent heavy rain has filled the upturned plastic lid and so the frogs are back bathing again.

It's looking promising...

2006-08-27T22:12:00.000+01:00

The outdoor cherry tomatoes sown in February are starting to ripen. Turn your back for one day and the plants sprout about ten more branches and flowers rather than putting their effort into the fruit. But we now have some clusters of small green tomaotes and some of turning a nice shade of yellow.

Pumpkins

2006-08-22T21:44:00.000+01:00

The sky brightened and we had a lovely warm evening which meant there were quite a few people working on their plots tonight. Our neighbours had two newly hatched chicks to show us – so cute! The pumpkins are finally starting to swell. These are Jack-Be-Little fruits. The butternut squash plant still shows no sign of fruiting but is producing lots of male flowers. Most of the courgette plants – which were really productive last year – have also been slow to develop. I have given them some seaweed feed so fingers crossed they will start to produce more.

A fistful of onions

2006-08-20T23:05:00.000+01:00

All of the onions have now died down and are ready to lift. They have not swelled to a great size – partly because they were planted quite closely but also because I wasn’t very attentive in weeding around them. I also didn’t water them as I understand you are not supposed to water onions – but perhaps with all the dry weather we have had I should have ignored this. The taste anyhow is really good. Thanks goes to an allotment neighbour who generously gave us several flowerpots full of onion sets in the Spring after she ordered too many.

Stumped

2006-08-19T12:51:00.000+01:00

We have had heavy rain over the past few days which has meant that the slugs and snails have been on walkabout. This is all that remains of a patch where we had butterhead and romanian lettuce growing. Notice that they have left the weeds well alone. They had also gobbled all of the fristina, aruba and raddiccio elsewhere on the plot. One thing I have learned is that lollo rossa is not the first choice for a discerning slug.

Two-Tone

2006-08-12T22:59:00.000+01:00

I've been growing green and purple basil this year but one of the plants just can't make up its mind which it is.

Blackberry parade

2006-08-08T22:44:00.000+01:00

Despite choping up and wrenching out as many blackberry roots as we had strength for last year some of the wild brambles have recolonised corners of the plot. They have also been sneaking their tendrils under the cover of the potato plants and artichokes with the hope of gaining more ground. Honestly, give them an inch... Anyway, the bees have loved the flowers and now these jewelled berries are ripe for picking. Not enough for a pot of jam but they will certainly make a few apple and blackberry crumbles.

Salad Days

2006-07-30T22:28:00.000+01:00

Our first salad bowl of the year – a mixture of fristina, aruba and lollo rossa. Unlike the salad bags I often pick up from the supermarket, these leaves actually have taste. They haven’t been sprayed with anything and were on our plates within an hour from being cut so tasted really fresh. As these are all cut-and-come-again leaves I’m looking forward to more salads over the next few weeks.

Growing lettuce has made me give some real thought to the contents and cost of bagged salads. There have been a number of articles about this in recent years. Last year The Observer investigated the treatment and air miles of an average shopping bag. It discussed how ‘the insecticides acephate and cypermethrin, and the fungicides dicloran and iprodione are routinely used on salad crops’ which are also washed in chlorinated water before being packed and transported. There’s another good article about the contents of bagged salad by Felicity Lawrence on the Ecologist website. Amongst other things she discusses the lower nutritional value of salad leaves that have been picked a number of days before reaching the consumer but which appear ‘fresh’ due to refrigeration and gasses pumped into the plastic ‘pillows’ we buy.

Food for thought indeed…

Things I didn’t know…

2006-07-27T23:51:00.000+01:00

potatoes can grow fruit!

A spot of weeding revealed these two fruits growing on one of the potato stalks. The fruits look like unripened cherry tomatoes and have a similar structure and aroma of tomato when sliced in half. This is true potato seed though I understand that it is not often used for growing. It is much easier and reliable to grow from so-called ‘seed’ potatoes. However tempting they might look the high concentration of solanine in the fruits makes them poisonous. Not all potatoes produce such seed but these developed from an early maincrop variety named Valor.

Here comes the summer

2006-07-16T16:46:00.000+01:00

The heat was relentless today. Only managed about an hour and a half and then had to go for some shelter. The heat got a bit too much even for this bumble bee who decided to take the weight off this wings and have a bit of a kip after all that nectar foraging.

Picked our first courgette of the season and pulled up a bunch of beetroot that had been growing in a clump. One of the real rewards from the allotment is the sense of continuity and growth. Watching the cycle of plants as they emerge from seed, take strength and produce. At any point it seems something is poking up its first leaves, another is coming into flower while something else is going to seed. The trick is to work with these cycles and learn how to time sowing so that you don’t end up with a glut or a gap. Can’t say that I have cracked that one yet but I am beginning to get the idea.

Abundance

2006-07-08T17:11:00.000+01:00

Everything is cropping really well just now. Each trip to the plot results in something to take home which is a great motivator. This week we have returned with first earlies, shallots, onions, chard, beetroot, garlic and the last of the early peas. On Friday I picked a pot full of ripe raspberries which were pureed into raspberry water ice following a simple recipe in The Observer. The result was a zingy and refreshing desert – great with a few chopped strawberries and a dollop of cream. You can find the recipe at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1808665,00.html

Hot, Hot, Heat

2006-07-02T21:56:00.000+01:00

Phew, wot a scorcher! It was far too hot to do any gardening today. Just a quick trip down to the allotment this evening for a spot of watering. The chard and lettuces were looking somewhat tired and emotional with all the sunshine. Picked as many peas as I could find and then took them home to make a risotto with lots of parmesan and a good glug of wine.

A first

2006-07-01T14:19:00.000+01:00

I dug up my first potatoes today! These first earlies were planted at the beginning of April. Some of the plants started to yellow last week and I thought that this must be lack of water or pest attack. However my allotment neighbour explained that it probably indicated the potatoes were ready to harvest. He was, of course, right. The variety is Maris Bard.

Garlic!

2006-06-28T23:40:00.000+01:00

Lifted the garlic that was planted in November. The plants seem to have responded well to the cold winter we had combined with the sunny days over recent weeks. A few of the bulbs were affected by rot but most were sound. We roasted a couple of bulbs along with some aubergine, tomatoes, courgettes and crumbly cheese. Delicious.

The sunny weather meant that plot was buzzing with beneficial insects. The bees were attracted by all the poppies, comfrey and brambles that are in flower. The ladybirds were doing sterling work on the aphid population and a self-sown coriander plant which has come into flower was attracting lots of hover fly attention.

Allotment Shopping

2006-06-25T11:42:00.000+01:00

After a week away from the plot I squeezed in a quick trip to see how things are growing. The grass is long and the weeds are back to business but between all that the crops are flourishing. I picked my first Romanesco broccoli which had miraculously hearted up since my last visit to the plot. I planted the broccoli last autumn and the local slug population ate most of the plants then but a couple managed to make it into summer. I picked my first handful of peas which are doing really well (give or take a few nibbles from mice). I also couldn’t resist pulling up a bunch of shallots. I should really have left them longer but temptation got to me. There is a lot of work to be done but coming home with a bag full of allotment shopping is a really good incentive.

Rogue plants

2006-06-12T21:15:00.000+01:00

I have got to dispute that old adage that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place. This is far too neutral a statement about a group of plants that are resourceful, persistent, survivors. They are not really just like other plants, certainly not like plants that one usually tries to grow. Vegetables need some care and attention, watering and feeding, earthing up and thinning out. They don’t always grow and, if they do, they don’t always survive as slugs, snails and dry spells sometimes get the better of them. Weeds aren’t like that. Weeds multiply unbidden, self seed abundantly, regenerate from tiny root fragments. They are opportunists. I guess what I am saying is that I have a certain admiration for them. When you garden organically you get familiar with them. Having said all that this evening was spent strimming, digging and generally hacking the things back in the hope of reclaiming a bit of land for those delicate vegetables.

Pleasant surprise

2006-06-11T10:39:00.000+01:00

Went down to the plot this evening for a quick half hour of tidying up. Wandered past the peas which I planted last month and have kinda ignored since. I had heard that peas are difficult to grow organically and had mentally given up on them. As a result they were half-heartedly growing up the couple of short supports that were available but were generally lolling around on the ground. Any road up turns out they had actually made a go of it and I was delighted to find that there were several pods ripening. Ticked myself off for neglecting the poor buggers and they now have a hastily erected cane wigwam to climb up. I shall report back…

slugs and snails and lots of mare's tail

2006-06-10T22:02:00.000+01:00

Last year when I took over the entirely overgrown and weed infested plot I decided that, when the whole thing was under some sort of control, I would have a ‘wild’ section of long grass to encourage frogs to hang out. This was rather foolhardy as in essence the whole plot is still very much on the wild side with the exception of a few beds that have stuff growing in them. Anyway the local frogs have appreciated the idea and have colonised an upturned waterbutt lid. There were a couple of tiny frogs in there tonight along with a few adults. Let’s hope they’re hungry because there sure are a lot of slugs and snails around for them to eat.