Spring, Spring, Spring

Spring is here, the clocks have changed, we're on our way out of lockdown and we found this bowl of a clay pipe on the allotment. We haven't found anything for 'the allotment museum' for ages (in fact, I need to re-find the museum!). It's probably late 19th/early 20th century so not that old but still interesting.

And here's a classic Spring sight on our plot. Lovely grape hyacinths.

Jamie and I started a new project last week. I had Thursday off work, so we started work on the HAHA Wildlife Plot

In normal times it would have been a fun job for a work party. There's still a lot more to be cleared but not bad for two long days of work. We wouldn't have wanted the sun out but it may have been less exhausting if it wasn't blowing a gale on both days - oh, and if I hadn't been mainly sitting on my butt for the last year!!

Much as we'd like the site to have a pond, it's better for individual plots to have small ponds at the moment due to the ever-present lease which doesn't allow us to have a pond plot. There was also the concern of accidents and covering it with a strong enough grill detracts from the appeal somewhat.

So we decided to convert the pond into a bog garden and the rest of that plot will be a wildlife plot - with wildflowers and other wildlife-friendly plants. It already has the bug hotel, which needs to be refurbished and now it has a compost bin and stone piles for solitary bees.

We've re-planted a few plants that were already there, like this Jacobs Ladder, cowslips,  forget-me-nots and a couple of iris. 

Plus one of the buddleja that I grew from a cutting ("a cutting from my sister" I was going to say, that doesn't sound right!!) and some Snakes Head Fritillary that were reduced in the Garden Centre. We also have some bog plants on order from Bakker.

Now, I hope you'll agree that the empty plot, which is prone to horsetail, looks better though rather empty at the moment. However, what we didn't bank on was the number of frogs in that pond. There must have been 50 or more quite small frogs. There was no frogspawn so we thought we had timed it ok but we're not so sure now. Anyway, the 4 little ponds around the site now have new residents but we hope the bog garden works and the frogs should appreciate that damp area to at least visit...

Our own plots are just waiting a little longer before we get down to some proper planting. But we're happy to see the shallots on Plot3 have sprouted. And the celeriac at home have germinated - though they are the weakest little things at the moment; too small even for my macro camera to focus on.

So, this week we're expecting two hot days - yay! I've booked two 2-hour lunches :-) And then, over Easter, the weather is going to turn Wintry again :-( Well, that's disappointing but not so surprising, it's what British weather does after all... But the hedgerow is coming to life and the path nearest the hedge is covered in wild white violets (they may well be Common Dog Violets as there is no scent at all) which look very pretty.

And the wallflowers are in full colour on our plot - so glad I stuck them in the ground a couple of years ago, rather than disposing of them.

The song title is from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - what a wholly inappropriate film for the 21st Century! Well, I guess it was acceptable in the '50s..!

Hold On

Such a windy few days! I’ve been busy all week with work, but have enjoyed looking out at sunshine, rather than needing to brave the wind. I have a decoupage project that I’m working on so have been cutting pictures out of the seed catalogues but it has been making me want to buy more. I’m sure you know what it’s like!

We had a few hours on the plot this afternoon but it was still horribly windy and rather cold. Our plots gained some pots and compost bins but luckily the only damage was to a table; the glass tabletop landed in the manure pile so didn’t smash 😆. I was pleased to see that our polytunnel is still intact and most of my mangetout have germinated as have the marigolds.

We’ve set up an old fire guard as shelving for more seeds in the polytunnel. And have sown the celeriac seeds at home. I was amazed to see how tiny the seeds are!

I sowed all 40, as they can be tricky to germinate. I could have sowed them in a tray but I was keen to use these cut-off milk bottles. They’re under a cover in Jamie’s foil-coated windowsill germinators. And we have some more marigolds germinating at home too. They make such a great display and bees like them.

Meanwhile more buds are appearing everywhere you look and the birds are pairing up. It seems so Spring-like, until the wind cuts you in half! I wouldn’t want to be a seedling out there right now... just need to hang on a bit longer...

We left the site just as it started to rain, having achieved little, but at least it was a bit of time spent outside. Look at it, just waiting...

To be honest, I would have sowed something outside if it had been a bright sunny weekend. Instead, I’ll hold on.. What a great song, provided by KT Tunstall.

Someday Soon

Oh, I do love a close-up of a chitting potato at this time of year :-) Here's another for your enjoyment (or at least, for mine) 

Look at those tiny emerging leaves, so cute. Talking of er.. cute... here are some more <ahem> 'babies'.

Lots of teeny tiny snails waiting to emerge from hibernation just in time to breakfast on our seedlings. Pesky things! I hope now they've been revealed that a thrush will find them - over the hedge, where I moved them to!

 

HAHA arranged a manure delivery in the week so lots of people were working on the site at the weekend, even though it was cold. I wheel-barrowed 5 loads to Plot3 - it couldn't be further away from the manure pile, so that was a workout that my lockdown-body isn't used to!

We had a lovely few hours on the plot yesterday. By the time we got there, the sun was just strong enough to burn off the clouds and coats and jumpers were soon removed. Especially as we were digging. I dug a trench where I'm going to try again to grow celeriac.

 

The shredded bills and well-rotted manure will hopefully provide enough water retention to help these thirsty plants to bulb up. We'll see... I know they need A LOT of water. Anyway, first I need to get the seeds to germinate, which I'll do at home as they like to be warm.

 

And Jamie dug the carrot trench. He got the raw deal. There were so many roots in that part of the plot - well, there certainly aren't any roots of stones left in there when he'd finished.

Last week I was eating this really tasty Chestnut and Fennel soup - I topped it with some Seaweed (Kelp) Flavour Boost with either chives or chilli to add a bit of interest.

 

The song title is provided by KT Tunstall. Because, someday soon I'll be making soup with home-grown veg again and sitting on the plot watching things grow... And we'll be out of lockdown (my fingers are crossed).

Reasons to be Cheerful Pt3

England is in lockdown for a month and the weather is gloomy but ... on Tuesday, a little bit of Christmas cheer visited the site. Forbes hasn’t gone completely mad, there is a reason behind this photo, but I’m not revealing today! 😀

I used the last of the focaccia mix. It was supposed to represent the classic Day of the Dead skull, but it didn’t quite turn out as intended 😂 

Oh well, it still tasted ok, dipped in celeriac and squash (thanks Jim & Martine) soup. The squash was really delicious roasted. (I’m missing all our usual home-grown squashes). Jamie bought the celeriac and some braised fennel so I also made a soup with them - my favourite soup. It will be nice to grow our own ingredients again next year.

Anyway, no whinging, this is a cheerful post! Our garlic seedlings are growing well in this mostly-mild Autumn.

Though we did get a frost (-2.5°) which has seen off the runner bean plants and begonias.

Luckily Jamie picked the remaining Gigantes beans on Tuesday, so they’re drying in the polytunnel.

And the broad beans have avoided becoming mouse food in their little cloches.

Yesterday afternoon we visited the plot to just sit awhile in the last of the sunshine and Min gave us a couple of her interesting harvest of Yakon. I hadn’t heard of it before. It grows like Jerusalem artichoke but the flavour sounds quite different. We’re drying them out as that should apparently sweeten them up. It’s always good to get to try something new, don’t you agree?

And the main reason for using Ian Dury’s great song title is the US election Result. How relieved must the non-Trump supporters feel?! Just need to move the big orange baby on now...

Taste it

Another visit to the plot this afternoon where we didn't achieve anything - it's just too grey to want to stay outside, although it wasn't too cold or wet.

I spoke to Roger, a fellow plotholder, and he's decided to take on another two plots - he and his family are excellent growers and are happy to take on a couple of plots which have horsetail growing on them. Our plot 3 has this stubborn, but interesting, pre-historic weed, but it can be contained with regular digging - we've found.

Not my photo

We have less empty plots than people on the waiting list now (although we're just at renewal month, so that may change). It's great for us to have a waiting list, as we sadly still live with the threat of a short lease hanging over us.

Jamie and I picked a few vegetables for a couple of meals and I'm making soup for lunches. Jamie's going to make one of our favourites: leek and quorn (chicken-style) in a cheese sauce with mashed potato topping. He's also intending to make bubble and squeak (potato and sprout) patties. We were very pleased to see how long the leeks have grown - it seems I must have puddled them in pretty deep as there is a lovely long bit of blanching on them.

My soup is celeriac and leek. Mmmm, I so love the smell of celeriac.

I've used half a stock cube, lots of pepper and some of this seaweed (Kelp) seasoning from Ebb Tides - a Christmas gift from my sister who lives in Devon. Lucky we're just about to have dinner otherwise there may not be much soup left for my lunches next week!

The allotment site had a delivery this weekend - that should be encouragement enough for us to actually do some digging next weekend... hmm, we'll see what the weather is doing at that point...

£1 per wheelbarrow-load to plotholders - what a bargain!

So to the song title...a little bit of INXS - nice. Well I couldn't resist a taste of the soup. The kale has been revitalised, from dry, and has given an extra dimension to the soup - a little bit of chew to each spoonful! Delicious!

Hazy Shade of Winter

Look how colourful my dinner is! That's carrot, beetroot, onion and chestnuts to stuff a Honey Boat squash. It's in the oven now...

We had a couple of hours on the allotment this afternoon - it wasn't too cold, it wasn't raining or windy but it was such a grey day. What a mess Plot46A looks - we're going to take the structures apart for next year and have it as a straightforward plot for growing - it's our only plot which isn't near the hedge, so it will be novel for us to dig somewhere which isn't invaded by tree roots!

I cleared some of the awful weed from around the kohl rabi - this chickweed (I think) is a pain, it's all over the plot. I'm hoping it'll die off if there's a frost, but I'm not so sure that it will. In the meantime I cleared enough so that I could put some covering over the kohl rabi to keep the pigeons off.

We did what we needed to do, which was to clear all the remains of tomato, pepper and aubergine plants from the greenhouse. There are still squashes stored in there and a few more onions hanging in the roof netting - still bumping our heads on them every time we move! While Jamie finished off in the greenhouse I did a little bit of weeding around our leeks. Really wish we had more leeks! We were too slow to sow them this year.

We were pleased to see that our garlic has sprouted - just a few tips poking through the soil at the moment, but it gives us hope!

Then back home to cook with the ingredients I picked - one of our two celeriacs, carrots, beetroot and a few more onions and shallots.

I've never grown a giant celeriac like they sell in supermarkets, but this is plenty to make a soup with.

Celeriac and chestnut soup - mmm, the celeriac has such a lovely pungent smell and the chestnuts make it a nice creamy soup, but it's not very attractive is it?! But then, the prettiest soup I've ever made was borscht and that tasted nasty.

While that was simmering I was cooking the stuffing for the squash - it looks like a dessert doesn't it! This is the first Honey Boat squash I've eaten. It seems to be very similar to a Cornell's Bush Delicata, so I'm hoping it'll be delicious...

And of course today's song is by the lovely Simon & Garfunkel - aaah.