A way to go

I didn't get much time at the plot last weekend but I am hoping to get a few hours there during this one. I nipped over yesterday for a quick weeding session and bumped into one of my next door neighbours. We had a lovely chat. She had been digging up all her spuds and comparing the yield from the varieties she had grown. One outperformed the others significantly but I can't remember which one. I'll find out for next year. We were chatting and I mentioned that there was a small weed in my onion bed which I was hoping would turn out to be comfrey. She took a look and confidently said it wasn't but that if I wanted to have some comfrey, she has some potted up I could have. What a star! Out came a tall pot full of lovely comfrey. With gratitude, I transplanted it immediately.

 The weeds are prolific on my plot. Mares tail keeps coming up everywhere. A weed that looks like lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album - judging by the results of an Internet search, not an encyclopedic knowledge of common weeds on my part) is giving it a run for its money. I'm ashamed to be putting it on the compost heap when it is reportedly an important food crop in India and a close relative of quinoa. Incidentally, I am considering growing quinoa next year (it is for sale through the Real Seed Catalogue.

 This evening, I nipped over very quickly to move one of the bits of carpet so that the local wildlife could find new hiding places before I start digging over that patch tomorrow. There was a toad, a slow worm, some very fat slugs and an ants' nest. Hopefully, they will all be out of the way in the morning.

I was about to leave when one of the allotment representatives came over for a chat. A bit of banter but it turned out that he really came over to remind me that it was actually my responsibility to upkeep the path to the right of my plot. I hadn't realised so will get to it tomorrow with the strimmer. However, the chap with the plot on the other side of the path is storing some of his tools on it (and his wheelbarrow) so I'll need to have a word with him. Further on down the path, there are Jerusalem artichokes growing proudly. It would be a shame to have to remove those before their season.

 Before going over to the plot today, I had an optimistic feeling about getting it all dug over by New Year. After moving the next bit of carpet, that feeling dissipated. There is a way to go...

Must start blogging reg-u-lar

I've been finding time here and there to potter on my plot but none for updating my blog. No good for my record keeping for future years.

Things are looking pretty good in these early days. I'll put some piccies up soon if the predicted rain holds off long enough this weekend. Currently, the following crops are growing:

• broad beans (and I have had a few handfuls of those for my tummy and even my husband who doesn't tend to eat greens ate some)
• leeks
• onions
• potatoes
• mange tout
• parsnips
• celeriac
• horseradish
• dwarf beans (only just germinated - from old seeds so poor success rate but not surprising)
• cabbage
• calabrese
• brussel sprouts
• strawberries
• tomatoes
• dwarf sunflowers
• courgettes
• sweetcorn 

I sowed parsnips in early June and the germination was very good. However, just after thinking that I really should put some slug pellets down on that patch at the weekend, they got munched. Grrrr. Serves me right for procrastinating. I sowed more and they pretty much all came up so a lot of thinning was required. And organic slug pellets. Lots of them. Only 2 celeriac survived the onslaught too.

(For my records:) The heatwave we have had for the past 3-4 weeks is set to end with rain tomorrow. During that time I've generally been watering the plot every two days and all looks good. I've fed the beds with chicken pellets a couple of times.

I have a new friend - a small toad who has taken up residence in my potato patch. I think it likes the pools of water left in the trenches after I've drenched the haulms. It jumps out when I start watering that patch so I guess it doesn't want to get its head wet. Just its feet. I saw another toad near the broad beans yesterday evening. There are lots of butterflies around and friendly birds who have no qualms standing right next to me while I dig.

I've not done much digging in recent weeks because it has been too hot. Several days with midday temperatures of 28-32 degrees centigrade. Too much.

I don't think I'll get much opportunity to dig for a couple of weeks but when I do get some time, I'll remove the next bit of carpet and keep going. In the meantime, I'll write a long list of everything I want to grow next year.

I have a new enemy

I'm back! Long time no post. Since July 2010, a lot has changed. We have a toddler now and we've moved to Hampshire. I assumed the plotting would have to take a long break while the little one grow up and I had more spare time. I was going to focus on the small flower bed in our front garden and redesign our small back garden to give me some more growing space (for next year as other jobs need to be done first). Friends told me to put my name on the waiting list for an allotment so that in 5-10 years time, I could start one up again. I finally got round to it about 4 weeks ago. 2 weeks later, I got an email telling me that some plots were available. I chose one and started work last weekend. Plot35 is back!

I've not measured the plot but it is more-or-less the same size as Plot35 in Worcestershire was (not counting the bit at the bottom of the slope which was overgrown and often flooded). The new plot has two major differences from Plot35 that will make gardening on it much easier:

1. The soil is light and sandy rather than heavy and clay. It will of course need lots of organic matter added to maintain fertility.
2. It is flat rather than sloped and prone to flooding. It also catches the sun well compared to other plots on the site. 

According to the fellow plotters I've met so far (all a friendly bunch), the plot was well-tended up to a couple of years ago when it was then left to its own devices until quite recently. It is now overgrown with thick couch grass. Someone took it on and dug over a couple of small patches but then decided to take another plot instead. Those patches (plus a few more which were not dug over) have been covered so on my arrival there were 3 patches of about 3x1.75m which just need light forking over. I've done about half of that already on two previous visits. I'll need to take a bit at a time, covering over some of the grass for 2 months (which I've read is the amount of time it takes to kill it off), before removing the dead remains. It'll take 1-2 years to clear completely I think given the time limitations I have as a working mum of one.

My new enemy is Mare's tail. I've never come across it before having had to deal with bindweed and couch grass on Plot35. Mare's tail is all over the site, even on plots that have been neatly tended for 20 years or so. Apparently it just doesn't budge due to the depths to which its roots grow. It looks to me just like brown asparagus poking through the soil. It doesn't seem to cause any problems though, unlike bindweed which strangles its prey if left for too long.

I am keen to differentiate my plot a little from all the others on site which are very neat and tidy. All grow rhubarb as if it is law. My aim is to grow cut flowers as well as veg which doesn't seem like the norm there.

Ok, well, I've got a few hours to myself this afternoon for a good session of light gardening. I've got some digging and raking to do to prepare the clear patches for planting. To go in, I've got some broad beans, leeks, celeriac and potatoes (from Charlotte), lavender, hyssop, horseradish. Plus, I've got parsnip, purple sprouting and calendula seeds to sow. Yesterday, I had 15 mins there and I planted the first things in - two peonies. They were bought as dried up roots from the garden centre yesterday (buy one get one free) and I'm not convinced they've gone in the right way round. If they come up next year, it'll be a bonus.

And this weekend, it's Jerusalem artichokes

3 hours over at the plot today after trimming the garlic I harvested a couple of weeks ago. The most successful type based on the number and size of the bulbs that emerged seemed to be the Germidour. Don't know about the taste yet. Overall, there were maybe a few more larger bulbs that I have managed in previous years but still too many small ones for my liking.

While at the plot I planted out 4 courgette (One Ball), 3 pumpkin, 20 sugarsnap pea and 20 sweetcorn plants. Better late than never. The cucurbits have gone into the ground vacated by the first early spuds.

I saw some nice fellow plotters over at the site today and I managed to give away 8 artichokes. Result! I was thinking about the dozen sitting in the fridge at home waiting to be deal with. Well, while writing this, they are trimmed and being boiled. I am trying a different trimming method than last year. Last year, I pulled off most of the petals, cut up the heart and removed the choke before cooking. This year, I am trying the, hopefully less wasteful, method of trimming the spiky petal ends with scissors and boiling the hearts whole. I'll cool them and remove the petals and chokes later (having a nibble of the petals while I go). I am a bit sceptical but I'll report back. There are lots of different instructions around. After cutting the 20 chokes so far, there are probably at least another dozen to harvest.

Back to the kitchen...

I have mostly been eating Elephant Garlic

Not like me to get writing a blog post this early on a Sunday morning but I am in that kind of mood. I am a bit hungover but can't sleep in cos I am too excited about the plot today. I have purchased a cordless grass strimmer and cannot wait to take it over and to chop down the tall grass and nettles so I can actually see the beds. And possibly where the rabbits are getting through the fence at the bottom. I have been trying to keep on top of the couch grass immediately surrounding the beds with shears but I just can't.

A couple of weeks ago I sowed loads of seeds and pretty much all of them are up and about. These include (from memory): basil, yardlong beans, sugarsnap peas, courgettes, pumpkin, sweetcorn, squash, chervil (from saved seed), hyssop, borage, Swiss chard, pak choi and cucumber. I am late with all of these but perhaps if I get them planted out this week there may be a chance of a good harvest. I thinned out the seedlings a few days ago.

Thursday was all about Elephant Garlic. I worked at home and didn't know what to have for a quick lunch. In the end, I roasted up the garlic I harvested last weekend and mixed half of it with soft cheese and plenty of seasoning. I spread this on crackers and had it with soup. It was brilliant. I had the other half with spagetti and tomatoes in the evening. That was good too. I will definitely grow that again. Out of the 5 bulbs I planted, 4 came good. I guess the other one rotted off. A couple of them had some very small bulbs around the outside of the main cloves. I set them aside in case they were useful. A brief spot of Internet research suggests that these can be planted up. Apparently, in the first year these will form a single bulb, like a single large clove, and in the second year that bulb will divide up into cloves. I wonder if that is how the farms propagate them. I guess it might be because they are sold as large single cloves. Not sure when to plant them up though: now or in the Autumn.

Right. Enough typing. Time to get strimming.

Garlic, anyone?

Quick note to mention that I harvested the garlic this evening. I have tied the stems up in different sets according to variety so I may do a taste test at some point. At the very least, I'll compare them for size and quantity for future reference.

I also did some weeding, a drop in the ocean, and watered the parsnip bed. It might have been my imagination but I thought I saw a single seedling in one of the stations.

An awful thing happened on Plot 35 earlier in the week. I went over there earlier in the week just to do a quick check and I saw that a snake had got caught up in some of netting and died in the heat. I feel awful about it. I untangled it and then buried it. I mentioned it to one of my fellow plotters and he said that at least it showed that there are those nice snakes around and that our plots provide a habitat of some kind. Not sure what can be done to prevent the same thing happening again though - netting is necessary to keep the rabbits and pigeons of the brassicas.

I did also manage to harvest a single cauliflower (no improvement on last year), 4 globe artichokes, a handful of blackcurrants and some second early spuds.

And I am currently considering the purchase of a cordless strimmer. Ummm...

Where to start?

Gosh, it has been a while since my last post, hasn't it? Sorry about that. I hope everyone is well. Lots have happened in my life since then: my fiance returned from his posting "down South" in mid-April and then he became my husband at the start of June. Wedding planning got in the way of anything else but it was well worth it as it turned out. We've just returned from our honeymoon (2 lovely weeks in Scotland). I was thinking of the plot while away and we even managed a visit to Inverewe Gardens on the West coast.

Not sure where to start really though it is worth noting how behind I am with everything. Not a surprise. Currently on the plot/jungle, there are globe artichokes producing, Jerusalen artichokes getting taller by the day, broad beans that are short but thinking about podding, fruit ripening (red and blackcurrants, damsons and gooseberries), garlic and onions growing merrily, potatoes flowering, and a couple of tomato plants. The sage has flowered in a stunning blue/purple.

I spent some time in the garden Sunday to reign back the jungle that had grown in our absence. I cannot believe how much it had grown. The fennel plant by the patio door was way over our heads and was starting to put our house in the shade. The best thing was finding some sweet peas that had flowered. They are red though, not the orange I was expecting. They smell amazing.

In the afternoon, I spent 3 hours at the plot. I moved the compost bin up to the top of the plot where it'll get more attention and filled in with material taken from the garden this morning (mainly fennel), paper shreddings and comfrey (which was putting the 2 tomato plants in the shade). After some hoeing and raking, I then planted out 12 tomato plants (6 Legend and 6 Ferline) and sowed some parsnips. Then I planted out some poached egg plants in a row next to the broad beans in an effort to give the invading black fly something else to think about. I finished off by hosing everything down including the black fly on both the broad beans and globe artichokes. After losing the battle of wits with the midges recently, I am in no mood to leave these wee beasties alone.

Photos to come soon when I can find the right lead...