The story of the blues

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!