Hail, Rain or Sunshine

We don’t fancy plotting today as the weather’s turned nasty with showers and such a cold wind. Last Sunday (Easter Day) we were lucky because we had a plot cream tea with Linda and Ivan, with English sparkling Rosé and raspberry jam from Ivan’s hamper. We needed a wind break and the chiminea but it was a lovely afternoon with plenty of sunshine.

And on Bank Holiday Monday the ice cream van visited site which was a most welcome treat on a hot sunny day! We usually hear it travelling around so it was great that he actually stopped.

We’ve been busy in between the snacks over the last week 🙂 We’ve planted our potatoes in manure-enriched trenches; one row of Desiree and another row with Orla, Baby Lou and Paris.

We’ve planted three shop-bought tomatoes in the polytunnel - Gardener’s Delight, Supersteak and Alicante. We’ve hung drip feed waterers up - it’s rather reminiscent of a dialysis ward 😱 and should help while we’re on holiday.

The little row of carrots have germinated in the front of the raised bed and the sweet peas can grow on a bit more before they are planted out along with the mangetout.

Plot-neighbour, Val, kindly gave us a rhubarb crown which was from the Avebury Manor kitchen garden, which I think we should visit in the Summer.

I’ve re-mulched round the fruit trees - the Apsley mulch did a good job of curtailing the spread of bindweed last year. The pear and cherry trees have white blossom and the leaves are appearing now; still waiting for the apple to flower but the leaves have budded so the flowers will follow. Most of the daffodils have been dead-headed but there are a few multi-headed ones still putting on a bit of a show. I’ll leave them to die back but may tie them as I’ve seen other people do.

Jamie weeded the shallots in the raised bed - the bindweed had reached the top of there already - and gave them a bit of onion fertiliser. We only have a few but they served us well last year. Each green stem should produce a bulb so the more stems the better.

I’ve started clearing the front quarter of plot7 and dug the (reasonably) neat edges, mostly to please Ivan and Neal - it does look better, but it’s hard work especially with all the grass and couch grass which has spread onto the plot - of course some would say that’s why I should keep the edges maintained …

I just need to dig/clear the rest now….

I’ve done some weeding in the flower bed so scattered the seeds that my cousin Jen sent. They’ll be lovely additions to fill gaps - I cleared some of the Nigella seedlings which take over each year - they are so pretty but I must be more conscientious and pull them before they set seed. Jamie’s sown a pumpkin in a pot at home - just one, I think he’s feeling positive because his pepper seeds germinated successfully whereas mine are a no-show at present…

I’ve updated my Wildlife Blog recently - the first update was a new addition - a tiny 24-spot ladybird. It’s not rare in Southern England but just not very visible due to being so tiny.

The other update was to an earlier post about the Ashy Mining Bee - there are so many of these around our plot at present and the evidence of the females’ ground nest building. The males wake from Winter first and wait for the females to emerge - I felt sorry for this female, with at least one too many suitors! The bundle was rolling about on the ground with lots of angry buzzing and it went on for ages 🤦‍♀️ 

As I write this, the Sun is on my back through our South-facing window. It’s so lovely and bright but the next April shower could be along any moment and at 10° plus a stiff breeze I'm inclined to sit here a while longer.

Oh, well we did drive up to the plot as it remained sunny, but as we arrived there was a huge hail shower - blowing horizontally across the site - so we waited in the car…

It stopped, hail covered the ground then the bright sunshine returned.

I fed the blueberry bush which has lots of flowers and picked some purple sprouting broccoli, which is now a tasty soup. I added garlic and some plant-based cream. Yum! So it was worth the quick plot visit in the end. At least we know we’re heading in the right direction for Summer; more butterflies are visiting the plot, the birds have paired up and are full of song and we saw our hedgehog amble by at home the other evening; so great to know he/she got through Winter.

The song is provided by The Script and very appropriate for the time of year. It’s a sing-along 😊

To the Moon and Back

The year is moving swiftly on. March has passed and the clocks have moved forward; the lighter evenings are welcome especially when we had sunshine on a couple of warm, dry days.

I was very excited to spot this morel (probably Common) mushroom in one of the communal flower beds! We’ve never found one in the wild before. They’re a highly prized fungus though this one looked passed its best so I wasn’t tempted to sample it - they always look like they’d be rather gritty but I’m assured that they are delicious. It would be great if we could get them to cultivate somewhere on site but they’re renowned for being tricksy; this spore/mycelia must have been imported with the compost or wood chips.

The daffodils and tulips are still looking good and our little pear tree has some lovely white blossom - I wonder if we’ll harvest our first pears this year…

We’ve visited the plots most days and made some progress. All the seeds, apart from carrots, have begun to germinate in the polytunnel and the California Wonder peppers have germinated at home. I dug a big hole for the pumpkin on Plot3. It doesn’t look that impressive but the earth was very compacted and full of tree roots so it was really hard work. I was ready to give up a couple of times but Jamie was directing and I’m glad it was completed in one visit. We filled it with well-rotted manure, some chicken manure pellets and the compost from last year’s cucumber pot before piling the original earth, minus the roots, back on top.

First stage when I wanted to give up!

Plot3 has provided us with another harvest of purple sprouting broccoli - this lovely lot was delicious in a cheese sauce with Arley’s plant-based pancetta.

We also enjoyed a few sticks from our rhubarb - the plant has flowered so I chopped the two flowerheads off to stop the plant being weakened.

I spent a bit of time splitting and potting on Rudbeckia plants. I know where one is going but the others will probably be saved for a HAHA plant sale. I’ve also done some Vinca Minor (Periwinkle) cuttings at home - they’re in water at the moment so I’ll pot them up when they grow roots.

Most of the perennial plug plants are ok in the polytunnel though some have died - unfortunately the Sharpie labels were less waterproof than I expected … 🙄 so it’s all guesswork now!

The wildflowers (I’ll call them that as they’re not all growing on our plots) are providing for the masses of bees and ladybirds (mostly 7-spots so far) and I was pleased to see a blue butterfly flitting along the hedgerow on the warmest day.

Speedwell, viola, daisy, ground ivy, dandelion and purple & white dead nettle

I did a bit of tidying around the garlic and onions - the onions are a bit weak, but hopefully they’ll produce something. I need to add a little Epsom Salts to the garlic as the leaves are yellowing - the addition of magnesium and sulphur aid photosynthesis. Storm Dave chased us away from site yesterday - it was extremely windy and we’re nowhere near getting the full force of it. I hope it blew itself out completely overnight as we’re meant to be having a picnic later.

Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of my kidney transplant - forever grateful to the donor family and the NHS 💜

The (beautiful) song is provided by Savage Garden. Thinking of the Artemis 2 crew on their mission around the Moon which will lead on to further space exploration, but also prospecting the Moon, which seems like a bad move especially with the wrong people in charge.

A Matter of Time

That dark sky threatening our sunny High Street has been rather a feature this week. The sunshine has been blighted with heavy hailstorms and wind. The chilly temperatures have brought frosts and we’ve fleeced up the tiny plants in the polytunnel. Our plot visits have been rather short but I managed to complete the digging in one area - it’s always satisfying to see - it’ll be worked again as that’s where the spuds will be planted in a few weeks.

I’ve hoed and weeded the ‘orchard’ and the raised bed - I’m probably going to put some more herbs in so it’s a full herb garden and I also need to think about using them a bit more… 

At the moment these are growing. I’ll need to keep them trimmed, especially the sage, but it’ll be good if they fill out more.

We’ve sown a small row of carrots (Nantes) and salad leaf in the polytunnel raised beds. The plan is to be harvesting them before the tomatoes/peppers are growing. I’m pleased to say there is room for Jamie and me to shelter in the polytunnel- we’ve needed it this week!

I dug up the row of parsnips from last year - they had regrowth so I wasn’t expecting them to be much good, though they made a pretty good spicy soup - a bit too salty but we have to blame the chef, rather than the veg for that! I’m clearly a bit out of practice.

On Friday we attended a ‘Quiz & Curry Night’ with some allotment buddies. Delicious veg and chick pea curry for the vegetarians. We did reasonably well in the quiz, which was very well attended - fundraising for the Wetland Reserve project, which now has planning permission, so that’s an exciting addition for Hungerford!

Thanks to Forbes for the photo

Can you see us in the photo? We’re the ones waving at Forbes, the photographer 😊. It was a fun evening and we won this marvellous raffle prize of “Greek treats”! And Ivan won the auction for a fabulous hamper of goodies - we’ll be sharing much of that one sunny day soon we hope!

That’s all for now, hoping to get a bit more plot-time over the coming week, which marks 2 months since I retired. I must admit, it doesn’t feel too different (yet), though I have forgotten everything about my job 🤭 The song title is provided by The Killers in acknowledgment of the clocks changing to ‘British Summer Time’ today.

Sunny

Some beautiful warm sunny weather encouraged us to have a cream tea on the plot and look who joined us 🙂 There were also brimstone butterflies, more peacock butterflies and lots of bumblebees - a proper feel of Spring.

We’ve had a productive week. We went shopping and bought lots of seeds for the year - some gifted seeds in there too. We have a few left-overs which we didn’t bother re-buying this year.

They’re all pretty basic, nothing very exciting but hopefully that means they’re easy growers… And we’ve started sowing! There are 3 pepper seeds in each section - two types of pepper which will stay at home at least till they germinate, which may be 3 weeks.

Bequinho Red and California Wonder Peppers

If successful some of these will grow in one of the new raised beds that are now in the polytunnel. It was a lot of work clearing and tidying the polytunnel then filling the beds with layers of rotted wood chip, chicken manure and Apsley mulch - they’ll be topped off with tomato bags when we’re ready to plant.

Good timing for another warm day yesterday - 60 perennial plug plants were delivered in the morning - on sale for £10 from Dobies - they’re so teeny weeny, each seedling + pot measures at most 6cm tall!

We both found it rather therapeutic potting them on sitting in the sunshine. I was careful to label them, but I think a couple of labels got mixed up 🙄 I’m sure it’ll be obvious once they’ve grown a bit…

I don’t expect we’ll keep them all, but I’d like a new flower bed where all those pots are being stored, so will see if that plan works out. 

These are the varieties (pasted from the Dobies site as I’ll need this info later):

• Achillea millefolium 'Cerise Queen' - Easy to grow, even on poor dry soils, and ideal for wildlife gardens where it attracts butterflies and other insects. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 60cm (24").
• Aquilegia caerulea ‘Mrs Scott Elliot Mixed' - Nodding spurred blooms, in a range of pretty colours are carried delicately on tall wiry stems. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Coreopsis 'Golden Joy' - Easy to grow, low maintenance and will grow in most soil types and environments. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Delphinium ‘Dark Blue & White Bee’ - Intense dark blue flowers, each with an unusual white "bee" shape at the centre! Height: 90cm (36"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Dianthus barbatus ‘Rockin Red’ - This new interspecific hybrid brings the strongest shade of red we’ve seen in a Sweet William. Height: 50cm (20"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Foxglove ‘Dalmatian Mixed’ - These short lived perennials will happily seed about to create dramatic drifts and attract wildlife to their nectar rich flowers. Height: 50cm (20"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Geum ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ - Well-loved and consistently popular, this variety bears flame-red, semi-double blooms on thin wiry stems. Height and spread: 60cm (24").
• Leucanthemum ‘Crazy Daisy’ - Wonderfully frilly, white, daisy-like blooms with soft buttery yellow centres that perch on upright stems. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 45cm (18").
• Lobelia cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’ - Tall spikes of deep maroon foliage topped by glowing scarlet blooms bring a welcome splash of late summer colour, when many flowers have already faded. Height: 90cm (36"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Verbena ‘Buenos Aires’ - The long lasting blooms of the stunning variety are guaranteed to attract clouds of bees and butterflies into your garden. Height: 120cm (48"). Spread: 60cm (24").

Feeling rejuvenated by the Sun (but slightly regretting it today!) I also did a bit of digging and a little sowing too; 3 pots of heirloom sweetpeas - taller pots to help with their long tap roots.

And a drainpipe of Snow Wind mangetout - a drainpipe for ease of planting without damaging the roots. These are meant to be self-supporting but I intend to grow them with the sweetpeas.

There was a touch of frost last night but all those should be okay in the polytunnel. We had a little walk this morning, but it’s not as nice as the last couple of days so we didn’t go to the plot. I potted on a couple of little house plants - they’re meant to be ‘very easily maintained’, both want to dry out completely between watering and like a warmer climate (like us).  The Ceropegia Woodii aka String of Hearts should fill out and can be a lovely looking plant. Hmm, I wonder …

That’s all for now. Enjoy the lovely song by Bobby Hebb - can’t believe I’ve not used this before!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Saturday’s warm sunshine encouraged us to have a few hours on the plot. The ladybirds and bumblebees were out in number along with this lone peacock butterfly which was sunbathing on the grape hyacinths.

The little flowers provide a nice patch of colour and spread like crazy so there are small bunches in various places around the site where I’ve re-planted bulbs over the years.  The nectar lovers are mainly seeking out blues and yellows at the moment. The yellows are provided by daffodils and dandelions on our plots and the paths.

These two tiny tête-à-tête narcissi sneaked onto the pile of wood chips which have been left in the communal area - they’re so sweet!

Look at that lovely blue sky over the blackthorn blossom - what a welcome sight!

Our little fruit trees have all budded - I wonder if this will be our first year for fruit … I think this is the pear, it needs a trim - I’ll leave it to late-Autumn now.

We managed a bit of clearing and even a bit of digging where the potatoes will be planted. There’s an area where I pulled the leeks, due to leek moth damage, where we’ll probably put a few more potatoes too. (As I write this, I remember that’s where the mangetout was going 🤔 I need a better plan) The onions look pretty awful but the garlic still seems to be growing ok so far.

But nothing is growing as fast as the grass, so I strimmed all the edges on Sunday as fellow plotholder Clint kindly mowed the paths for us.

Sunday morning arrived with a beautiful sunrise and from our window I could hear a Great spotted woodpecker tapping away somewhere nearby.

We bought a couple of raised beds for the polytunnel so put one of them together in the afternoon; need to do a bit more tidying before we can fit the other one plus chairs and seed racks (and all the other bits and bobs) in. The rain was torrential so I was getting a drenching due to leaky polytunnel seams, but Jamie was helping from the director’s chair - even after it split 🤭

No sign of frogs or spawn in the tiny pond which was also getting a hammering from the rain.

I also managed some meagre pickings of purple sprouting broccoli - mostly picked from second year plants which was a little bonus. Hardly a feast, but enough to cheer up a rather boring pizza!

It was so nice to get back to a bit of plotting, but my legs and back are feeling it today. A few more sunny days would be welcomed to progress a bit more - we have a lot to do over the next couple of months but feeling positive. I told Jamie that my retirement plan involves achieving one thing every day - don’t want to overdo it 😃 - turns out that’s an actual strategy; I thought I’d made it up! Also it seems I may actually receive some pension income this month, after my original form was ‘lost in the post’ hmmm…

Song title provided by Dinah Washington - an oldie, but sums up the weekend’s weather. Now try to get that song out of your head!