All in a good days work !

Oh what joy, after 10 days of feeling dreadful I think this horrid virus is finally on it's way. I didn't hardly cough today or blow my nose continuesly as I have for the last week, so I guess it's almost run it's course. I did see the practice nurse yesterday as I had a dull constant earache, she looked down my ears and they weren't infected but she said all my glands were up and putting pressure on the eardrum. I was told to give it 48 hours (tomorrow ) and if it's no better I will have antibiotics. But I hope that by tomorrow all will be gone.


Enough of my tale of woe, now for the real reason for posting. I did a few hours on the plot and have some photo's to share, it's quite amazing how everything is growing now that we have had some decent rain and a bit of sunshine. I got my french beans (Fasold) planted out, but as I haven't hardened them off I wrapped them in fleece and mulched them heavily with grass clippings which were very warm as they were rotting, so I'm convinced they will be fine. What a crazy year this has been, I can hardly believe that we are nearly at the end of May and some things are still not in the ground due to the weather. I still have all the squashes to go out.

Lots of flowers on the Broad Beans

I am expecting a good harvest of strawberries from this bed.


The Swedes are growing well

The, mangetout, radishes, spinach and beetroot are all through

Potatoes earthed up for the 3rd and last time


First real signs of the asparagus kindly given to me to trial from Victoriana Nursery Gardens these are ' Connovers Colossal' , sadly I can't harvest any this year.

Wheelbarrow planted with Pansies this year.

Flower bed freshly dug and dahlia 'Pink Giraffe' among other plants went in today.

I finally got some other colours apart from yellow in the wallflower bed. They were dissapointing this year as they were supposed to be mixed colours as last year.

Looking down the plot from the greenhouse

Tomatoes from' Victoriana Nursery' doing very well, these are 'Abraham Lincoln' and apparently are very large, yummy !!!!

Parsnips coming through, Yeah !! and I planted straight into the ground this year. Again from 'Victoriana Nursery' and are called 'Hollow Crown'

My first attempt to grow gooseberries this was a large 2 year old plant when I bought it last year, so I should have a decent harvest this year (I hope) it's a red variety, but they obviously start off green.

Can you believe that this photo was taken on 23rd March and see second cabbage photo below taken today, amazing !

Cabbages are now almost bursting through the netting.

Well that's it for todays work and planting. I hope in the next week to get the squashes out and the purple sprouting broccoli and the brussel sprout plants hardened off ready to put them into a bed as soon as it's prepared.

A hard days work

Well I finally got to do some hard graft on the plot, and I am so glad I made the effort as it's now raining really hard I can hear it as I am typing this post. I am having a nice glass of red wine to chill out after all the work I did today. I got so carried away with the joys of spring that I didn't even have any lunch ( I forgot to take anything with me !) so I enjoyed the lamb casserole I made this evening.

I planted the broad beans and as you can see the roots were amazing in the 'root trainer' planters. If you haven't already tried growing in these I can recommend them, they are brilliant for anything that has deep roots, like the broad beans, sweet peas, runner, and french beans etc. I bought them a year or so ago and they wash up a treat and should last a long time, so well worth the initial cost.

I also planted the cabbages that were overwintered in the greenhouse, they look better than the ones planted out in the autumn. I have probably planted them too close together, but I can always pull some when they are small and leave the others to grow on.

I dug over a few beds after clearing away the brussel sprout plants that never really came to much this year. I only had a small picking of Purple Sprouting Broccoli and that was out of 5 big plants. They were ruined by the severe winter. I found about 8 parsnips still growing well, which was a nice surprise.

I also dug up the perpetual spinach. It looked like it was going to give off more leaves, but a neighbouring plot holder said she always digs hers up each year and grows fresh plants, and as she is a very good veg grower I decided to take her lead, so up they come and as I removed them white fly billowed out in their hundreds, so much for the cold winter.

I did a good 4 hours non stop and felt much better for it. It wasn't hard digging or anything, more gentle planting and tidying, so I didn't come home too tired.

Broad beans in the 'root trainers' that they were planted in from seed.

All planted up in the raised bed.

Fabulous Hellebore given to me last year from another plot holder


Garlic and leeks doing well



Cabbages, on the left planted last autumn, on the right over wintered in the greenhouse

And that's the end of my update, tired but happy and enjoying my glass of wine.

Scarecrow Witch and other chitchat

It's been a funny sort of day, the kind where I have been on the go all day, but don't seem to have achieved much, but on reflection I have tidied bedrooms, done the laundry, did the food shopping, collected leaves (for leaf mould) and did an hour at the allotment, then came home and cooked a meal. So I guess I did achieve something after all.!!

I decided to get into the spirit of Halloween by dressing 'Rosie' the scarecrow up as a witch. She is seen from the road as my plot is at the front of the allotment site. Lot's of people notice her especially children, so I thought it would be fun to dress her up a bit. Next year I'll make more of an effort and get some glow in the dark stuff, that should cause a stir - spooky !!! at night.

These 'Art Shade' calendulas are still flowering on even after the couple of frosts we have had and look so cheerful on the plot, there are even a couple of sunflowers still going strong behind them, and together they look stunning.

At last I have a new lottie neighbour to take over the long neglected plot next to mine. The plot should really have been split into two smaller plots, even our warden mentioned this to the council official who came to look at it. All of us plot holders think this too as we have seen people struggle to maintain this very large plot.
But in their wisdom ??? they still gave it out to this poor man to work on his own. He has said it is too big for him, but didn't want to turn it down as he's been on the waiting list for a long time. I have to say he is amazing, he dug all you can see in this photo in a week and only a few hours here and there each time he came up.

I planted these cabbages ages ago, in fact just days away from the last planting time recommended on the packet. They don't seem to want to grow. I am going to let them take their chances out in the big world and plant them outside under cover and hopefully I will be eating them come next spring. They are 'April' and 'Wheelers Imperial' both tasty cabbages with good solid hearts.

HAVE A LOVELY WEEK-END.

It's that time of year again !

It's that time of year again when beds have to be cleared, the last of the harvesting done for vegetables that had run their course, and plants dug up or into the soil and weeding where it's been impossible to weed whilst some crops were growing.

Personally I look forward to this time. I love clearing the beds, weeding and raking them and covering them with black plastic to keep down the weeds over winter. There are beds that have to be left uncovered, for growing Brussel sprouts, Purple sprouting broccoli and cabbages to see us through the winter and Spring, not forgetting the garlic and leeks.

We spent 3 hours yesterday harvesting the remains of the sweetcorn. I then cleared the bed and dug it over and weeded it. I also dug up the last of my carrots and a very large and deformed parsnip. I blanched the sweetcorn ( 8 cobs) for 2 mins and then froze them. The carrots and parsnip I cut up and blanched and froze them in a bag together, ready to put into soups or casseroles. I bought back a small trug/bucket of runner beans. I have enough frozen to see us through the winter, so these are going to neighbours as we are sick of eating them now.

Sadly my favourite French beans are finished and I picked the last handful today and pulled up the plants. I also pulled up the last remaining cabbages. We managed to save three firm heads, the dark outer leaves were munched by slugs and caterpillars, so we stripped them back to the middle and composted the outer leaves.

The plot already looks tidier with the sweetcorn all gone.

Parsnip, carrots and the last remaining cabbage heads. A new batch has been sown.

Sweetcorn, blanched and ready for the freezer.

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PUMPKINS GALORE

This is the largest, I could just about lift it to put the wood underneath it. I can't wait to weigh it.

I found this one growing under a leaf.

This is going to be a whopper as well. Great, lovely pumpkin soup & pumpkin pie.



This one is beautiful

The 'Munchkin' squashes are scaling the wire perimeter fence. They are unstoppable.


This squash is amazing, I bought one to eat from the supermarket last year and saved the seeds. I cut off a large one and it's ripening, (the original was yellow when I bought it.) I found three more growing today.

These photo's are for KELLA, as she is keen to grow 'Munchkin' next year. I found that is I leave them to ripen and become a deep orangey yellow they aren't good to eat. They go green near the skin and as they are so small, if you cut that away there is hardly anything left to cook. So I am going back to what I did last year when I first grew them and that is to pick them when they are still a creamy yellow. I scoop the seeds out, cut them up with the skin still on and roast them in a small amount of olive oil and garlic until the flesh is soft. The skin then peels off easily with a knife and they can be eaten or made into soup with other veg added.

Just right

Too ripe

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Two photo's from the Garden.

Thunbergia 'Mango' I know I showed this on a previous post, but many flowers are opening now and it looks amazing, it's such a vibrant colour.

A friend gave me a rooted cutting of this Goji berry bush and it's doing so well and flowering.

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And finally (sorry about the long post) I have made some beetroot and apple chutney. I have so much beetroot I didn't know what to do with it. I even bought home a bucketful yesterday and there is still more on the plot. I Really have to get my planting amounts sorted, I grow too much of everything.

I have my oomph back ! but perhaps you never knew I lost it ?

Here I am back in action after a horrible stomach bug. Why is it that simple viruses can leave us (or me anyway) mentally down and lacking in oomph, so much so that when I did finally have the energy to go up to the allotment, I took one look at the weeds, masses of growth on the veg, everything looked huge ! giant cabbages, giant sweetcorn, (could that really have happened in 3 days ??) and I almost gave it all up. Thank goodness I don't act on the spur of the moment, ever the cautious Cancerian that's me ! and anyway the council offices were closed for the day.

I should be rejoicing as the council have actually kept their word for a change (without the extra phone call ) and have strimmed and cut down all the weeds on the three plots around my own plot. It looks so good and spacious too. They just need to get on and give out the vacant plots to someone on the bulging list they have.

I think I slept more in the two days I had the bug than I would usually sleep in half a week, consequently I woke at around 4am this morning and found it hard to get back to sleep, so I got out my allotment notebook and made notes on all the crops I have grown this year (what an exciting life I lead !!!) I do have other interests honest !! and made comments as to which ones were successful and which ones I wouldn't grow again.

I also made notes to myself as to how many plants I should grow next year, as I grew far too many this year. There is only so much two people can eat and now my daughter has her own plot she doesn't need anything from mine.

I love giving to the neighbours, and would always have some over for that, but it's the time involved in the raising and caring first for the seedlings then the plants. So next year I have to be strict with myself and compost any extra plant's that nobody else wants.

A harvest from last Friday, runner beans, french beans (Fasold) I will be definitely grow these again, they are delicious, a yummy yellow courgette and my first cucumber from the lottie greenhouse.

Last evening's harvest, 5 courgettes, the round ones are delicious roasted. Runner beans, french beans and Cabbage 'wheelers imperial' I would really recommend this variety the hearts are solid and very light green. We had to compost the darker outer leaves as they had been munched by caterpillars. Oh I feel better just looking at that photo, how could I have even thought for a fleeting second about giving up the lottie patch.

Cock a doodle doo

No I haven't got myself some hens and a rooster! that's me crowing as I am rather pleased with myself. Yes I know pride comes before a fall and don't count your chickens etc, BUT -- and this is the first time I have tried this - OK! I'm going to tell you ! I bought some very tasty tomatoes from M & S a couple of weeks ago, so tasty that I decided to scoop out the seeds from the one I was eating. I dried them on some kitchen paper for a few days.

And now look at them, I am so pleased with myself, I know it doesn't take much to amuse me.

Well that was a little experiment for me in what people have been doing for centuries, which is just as well or where would we be today without men and woman saving precious seeds for us to grow ?

Here's an update on other things growing.

Do you remember my post about chitting sweetcorn seeds ?

Here they are now (below) I potted them on when they looked like little tadpoles. It has been successful so far they need to grow a bit more then they can get planted out in a few weeks. I sowed 2 types : Lark F1 and Ovation F1

The Munchkin squashes and the courgette plants are growing well and if the weather stays this good I will be planting them all out soon.

The Cabbages have been planted, 2 types : Wheelers Imperial & Greyhound and the green curly kale. They have been netted against the pigeons using blue water piping for the tunnel and the pond netting was from "Wilko's" (best price)Two last photo's. The first is of the beautiful Cerinthe that I have been growing since planting the seeds way back in the autumn they are just beginning to flower. The other photo is of a tree Peony that I took a photo of in my local nursery and now i am lusting after it, I have to buy it ! if they still have it.

Cerinthe

Tree Peony

That's the end of this post, until the next one Happy sowing and growing to all.