Hungerford allotment blog - grow your own, harvesting and vegetarian cooking. Enjoying allotment wildlife, weather and other things that catch my attention.
Enjoying time on the Marsh Lane Allotment site in Hungerford, Berkshire.
A record of successes, failures and a handy reminder for me.
From 2017 each post title brings a song to add a little extra music to the world - enjoy!
I feel I need to write a post - February ends tomorrow and it's been such a wet, grey, windy month that even the allotment hasn't been very inspirational.
Thank goodness for the occasional morning walk to see some sunshine before the clouds gather. Sorry to be so whiney, especially after we had such a lovely Saturday - we had a HAHA Work Day.
You can see that a lot of plotholders turned up. We're all so desperate to do something out in the fresh air! We got to work on Ivan's fruit cage, which has now become a HAHA Communal Fruit Plot - look at us all in the cage 😀
Photo courtesy of Forbes Stephenson
The weedy plot in the foreground is one of Ivan's iris plots - the irises are being shared among the community. As you can see the weeds have taken over and the fruit plot looked like that at the start of the day. But a few hours later - voila!
And the grape vine is trimmed and tied back too so we hope to get a good harvest this year. A bit late for trimming really, but it needed to be done to stop it growing through the netting. We were pleased that Ivan came down to inspect and advise.
After working in that spikey fruity environment we enjoyed a gathering for snacks and chat around the bonfire. It was good to meet up with everyone again, including some newcomers and the Sun even shone for a bit.
A couple of weekends ago I did manage to finish clearing the area where our little fruit trees are going to be planted, but it's been too wet to get them in - hopefully this weekend...
At home I've been enjoying Rose harissa-flavoured everything at the moment after Jamie bought a pot of Rose Harissa pesto and it is so delicious, only a hint of heat and such lovely spicy flavour. I made a marvellous soup which included plot-parsnips and parsley along with some frozen veg. It provided me with a week of lunches and I've had two evening meals with rice and What the Cluck cooked on the hob with the remaining harissa.
I was inspired to write a poem this month, for the Hungerford Poetry Festival. If you like poetry you should go along to the Hungerford Hub to see what the actual poets have come up with - I'll share my offering on here next month.
In the meantime, sing-along to Primal Scream. What an excellent addition to the day!
We’ve had a huge amount of rain again, the rivers are fit to bust again but yesterday we had some extremely welcome sunshine. We were surprised there weren’t more plotholders on site, but the ground is a bit too wet to dig.
We’ve been clearing weeds, edging and pulling the carrots which had been left in the ground way too long. And there were some proper monsters in there, most had severe slug damage so have gone into the green bin at home - our 3 compost bins are already full.
This is Jamie’s extremely neat handiwork last weekend - making way for brassicas. He added lime and chicken manure pellets after clearing all the weeds; the heavy bags of compost will help to firm the soil before the plants go in (well, they aren’t sown yet!). We hope to have Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and Cavolo Nero.
Oh, and this is the area I’m prepping for our three mini fruit trees. Jamie and I have rather different clearing techniques as you can see! Well, my bit of ground is much more weedy and I’ve had to dig a new straight-ish edge. Jamie moved on to hand-weeding the potato plot yesterday. We’ve only bought a handful of spuds: Wilja, Rocket and Desiree. They’re chitting under a grow light at home now.
I saw one tiny crocus flower on our plot, but no other flowers yet. This is a macro photo of the hellebore flowers at home. They’re so pretty aren’t they and don’t mind the shade - perfect.
I found a perfect little frog yesterday whilst digging. It was only about 10cm long and golden. I didn’t get a photo because I had to move it out of harm’s way. I see people have started reporting UK spawn sightings - nothing at Marsh Lane yet. I did see a ladybird yesterday and a digger bee last weekend, but it’s too early for them to come out really, we’re still expecting a cold snap. I cleared the old growth from the perennials but have left them on an empty spot for the insects to stay cosy. It means I can now see the weeds on the flower plot and see a few bulbs are emerging, though the slugs have already spotted that fresh new growth 🙄
Talking of which, look at these clumps of growth along the grass path.
They’re wild onion and have really spread over the last couple of years. They have a lovely onion scent - a bit stronger than chives, and can be used in the same way. You can apparently eat the bulbs too, but they must be very tiny. I’ve never seen a flower on these plants, but I’ll try to remember to check this year.
It’s great to see the longer hours of daylight and some dramatic skies like this yesterday. There’s definitely been some overnight rain, but we’re hoping to get a bit of plot-time in later.
Enjoy the song provided by Squeeze. Look at the handsome cat! He’s such a friendly fellow, but the magpies are very unhappy when he’s around. The active hedgerow was keeping him entertained yesterday. What a life - he’s got the whole site to monitor 😺
It turned out that my Cornells Bush Delikata squash had survived being stored for nearly 4 months and have become part of this spicy parsnip, squash and leek soup.
All home-grown vegetables and plenty of spices. I have a couple of parsnips left over so I may try making parsnip crisps next time the oven is on - they sound tasty.
I cooked it in the slow cooker - on high, so it probably would have been cooked in 3hours. I left it in for 4hours whilst working this morning and it smelled so delicious. It doesn't look as pretty after (over-)cooking but it is very tasty - I decided to leave it chunky.
I'm trying to get used to using the slow cooker. Last week I cooked beans for 8hours on low before using them in several tomato-based meals. My borlotti and yin-yang beans didn't need soaking ahead of time because of the long slow cook.
We had a lovely day on the plot yesterday, enjoying the Winter sunshine - new word alert - APRICITY. I'd never heard that before but that's the kind of thing you learn when chatting with other plotholders.
Jamie weeded the broad bean plants, which have grown rather tall because of the mostly mild weather this Winter. We put the net cloches back over them as they look rather spindly and vulnerable outside of their little plastic cloches.
I spent some time digging out the remains of our enormous rhubarb plant - we should have moved/split it in recent year and it's has given its all. There was nothing living left in the woody hollowed out stems. Well, one thing - a little mouse (maybe a vole) that I disturbed went hopping over to the hedgerow.
So, that wasn't a lot of work but it did feel nice to be digging in the sunshine. And I spent an hour doing the RSPB bird count but started a bit late in the day so it was a very poor show: 2 great tits, 2 blue tits, 2 magpies, 1 dunnock, 1 robin and 2 woodpigeons - not very impressive! And the Sun started to sink so it got rather chilly.
The song is provided by Prince cos we've bought a new car - a lovely shiny red one but it's not a Corvette, that wouldn't be very good for allotment visits 😄
The temperature last week dipped to -9.2° in the polytunnel. Brrr certainly not gardening weather but bright enough to tempt me out for a brisk early morning walk to see the Sun.
As well as frosty walk weather it’s soup weather so I’m glad I pulled leeks and parsnips last weekend before the ground solidified!
I made this delicious curried leek & parsnip soup - flavoured with garam masala and a bit of curry powder. Hmmm, spicy but not hot - just how I like it and it served me for three lunches. That little bowl was just a taster.
Yesterday we went to the plot but it was far too cold to hang around. The leeks have taken a battering from the cold snap but we expect them to recover now that the temperature has - though Storm Isha is now blasting them with strong winds and more rain 😒 Lucky I puddled them in quite deep.
I did have to check the ice that had formed in the buckets, of course. I should have been more creative but my hands were too cold!
The robin didn’t appear at our visit yesterday, poor little chap out in the cold! The swans don’t seem to mind, but I did wish I’d taken some food for them when I saw them the other morning.
This photo was taken on one of the frostiest mornings last week; idyllic though it looks I think I’d only be good as a Summer boat dweller (and maybe not in Britain ðŸ¤)
And those canal photos have given me the opportunity to use this excellent song by Ocean Colour Scene from 1996 (28 years ago - whaaaat?!). Batten down the hatches everyone!
It can be difficult getting into the swing of things after Christmas and 2024 started with such rotten weather that it hasn’t been very motivating.
The rain, brought by Storm Henk, was so torrential that there has been serious flooding in nearby towns and Hungerford’s rivers and canal have all overflowed with some houses needing to be pumped out - not us I’m pleased to say. What a truly horrible way to start the new year 😞
Here's the River Dun by the war memorial, at least 1 metre higher than it should be, with water gushing through from flooded areas upstream. Thank goodness for the marshland around Hungerford to capture most of that excess water. Nearby Marlborough didn’t fair so well…
We’ve had a few visits to the plot, mostly just to plod around thinking how nasty it looks, but our leeks have survived the drenching and continue to grow. This photo shows that there has been some very welcome sunshine this year - makes a nice change to see it on a weekend!
And the broad beans have grown quite tall under their protection as the weather has been mostly mild so far this Winter. We’ll leave them protected for now as the weather has turned frosty and snow is threatening over the next week…
The spindly garlic is the only other sign of good things to come on the allotment.
At home I’m so pleased to see that our hellebore is coming back to life. It’s such a pretty and long-lived flower - perfect for these dull months.
Apart from soggy plot visits, I have regular morning walks up the High Street, just to move a bit! I really like to visit the fruit and veg stall at our market - when we don’t have our home-grown this is the next best thing I reckon.
I’ve bought a few seeds which look interesting including some flowers (Zinnia, penstemon (from one of my mum’s flower lists) and echinacea) and veg (purple dragon carrots,piccolo courgette and biquinho red pepper). We haven’t really started our planting plan yet, but will do soon.
I haven’t done any interesting cooking yet this year, but after Christmas I made this lovely chestnut & sprout puff pastry ‘thing’ and a delicious parsnip and chestnut soup. I probably should pull another parsnip for soup this weekend actually. I shouldn’t waste them as they’ve grown so well for a change!
Look at that horrible brown water which is usually calm, clean and has trout in. Aah well, it’ll soon be Spring 🫣 But it gave me an excuse to use this beautiful song, of course, provided by the great Simon & Garfunkel. Sit back, relax and sing along. Beautiful.
I hope you’ve had an enjoyable Christmas and that 2024 brings you plenty of good times as well as an extra day in February. I’m hoping that 2024 runs a bit slower than recent years, but we’ll see. Thankyou for dropping by occasionally and I hope you enjoy the music, here’s a brief look back over last year, with some fave photos and my book list at the end. Happy to receive any book or music suggestions of course!
January
The first planting of the year was some Egyptian walking onions. Unfortunately, along with all my spring onions, the slugs enjoyed them. I’ll try again though!
It was a wet start to 2023 (we couldn’t know how wet the year was going to continue!). We had at least one super frost, although no snow. The cold nights gave us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
The allotment was providing us with carrots, Cavolo Nero and parsnips.
February
Clearing and digging began in earnest as the ground dried up. We actually felt we were ahead of the game for a change.
And the Cavolo Nero kept providing - I think I’ll plant it again this year - and purple sprouting broccoli finally started producing the delicious flowerheads. A month later than 2022, but worth the wait.
March
Early March was when we got some snow. We had to get up in the wee hours to enjoy it; it (and we) didn’t hang around long.
Last year’s dried beans made for some tasty meals including these bean burgers, served with steamed purple sprouting broccoli - delish.
April
Finally time to start sowing most of the seeds that we’d ordered. Lots of different flowers for the flower plot were protected in the polytunnel. The chitted potatoes were also planted in the ground and a few in bags.
There was a mix of some warm weather among the wet and chillier days. April is a great allotment month, with lots of busy/chatty plotholders and plenty to catch up on, but thank goodness we have the polytunnel.
Along with the PSB, rhubarb and fresh chive flowers joined the meal plans.
May
Aah May! Still more to sow (including pre-germinated parsnips which were direct-sown) and so much growth with proper colour on the plots. The hedge full of flower and birds infuses a keen-ness to get tiny plants into the ground, but we hold off unless we have back-ups on hand.
It was a mostly sunny month so perfect for growing and working. OK, there was some rain but not altogether unwelcome.
We even started an early courgette in the polytunnel. It kept producing for months; we moved it outside in the Summer.
Delicious leeks were on the menu along with a few early strawberries.
June
It really was a flaming June - it was so sunny and beautiful, we thought it was a sign of a sweltering Summer, like last year, but that didn’t quite work out.
We saw bullfinches, a rosemary beetle and a previously unseen red and black froghopper, but even better were the plotholder gatherings!
And we enjoyed a sunny site Open Day.
Salads were getting more interesting with delicious broad beans, mangetout and radish.
July
Nia provided us with the sweetcorn plants as most of ours had failed to germinate and the watering regime was hard work …initially…
And then the rain came and everyone cheered, but the polytunnel still needed watering…
And the rain carried on for a bit too long, but we all agreed that the plants were certainly enjoying it.
And you can’t have lovely trugfuls and platefuls of veggies without some help with the watering!
August
There was more rain, more sun and more allotment events.
Sadly we said happy 95th birthday to my mum and later in the month said goodbye to her for the last time.
Remembering happy times on holiday and her love of gardening through our own flower patch now.
A bumper bed of leeks were planted as our seedlings had grown well this year.
Harvests continued to include asparagus pea, courgettes, salad, potatoes and beets.
September
Extreme temperatures arrived along with our late beans. We had to buy runner bean plants as ours refused to germinate, but the borlotti and French beans grew well on the tunnel frame.
Super-harvest month! Most of the borlotti beans and yin-Yang beans were left to dry on the plants and then finished their drying in the polytunnel. The weather was perfect for it.
The Scabiosa Stellata produced their pretty seedheads and other flowers were putting on a fine show of late Summer colour.
Apart from beans, potatoes, salad we had sweetcorn, aubergine and peppers on the menu.
October
A few sunny days encouraged the last of the flowers to bloom ahead of the first frosts and we even had a barbecue! And we managed to sow our broad beans as intended.
As well as frost there was a lot more rain as the first Winter storms arrived. We got off lightly compared to other areas, but still completely drenching.
Luckily our pumpkins were stored in the polytunnel by then and all the sweetcorn and beans had been harvested.
Sweetcorn, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, leeks and pumpkin were on the menu.
November
Yet another rainy month, so a very soggy plot for occasional visits and manure deliveries.
Surprisingly we’ grown good parsnips this year; all the rain hasn’t caused canker and although some are multi-legged ones they’re tasty and some are very big. Much better than our attempts in recent years.
Squash, beetroot, parsnips and carrots provided meal ingredients.
December
So here we are another year has flown by with happy and sad times to reflect on.
Plans are in progress, with fruit trees waiting in the polytunnel and seed catalogues on hand. The weather is wet but warm so weeds are taking over, but we’ll get to them one dry day quite soon…
The nights are shortening and there are signs of Spring bulbs to look forward to. In the meantime we’ll continue enjoying our Christmas and new year celebrations.
I have two new ‘My Favourite Books’ as a result of this year’s reading list:
I realise I’m late to reading ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, after all it’s 85 years old, but it is amazing and sadly poignant in today’s world. Definitely worth a re-read in my opinion.
And the ‘The Murmur of Bees’ is so beautifully translated from the original Spanish. With a touch of magic I found it totally absorbing and delightful.
