As summer came to an end there were a few things left in the ground. At the plot, I had some beautiful purple kale which seemed to be perfectly happy despite being abandoned.
Curly Kale
Back at the garden, I had a whole range of tomatoes which seemed revitalised now there was sun, rain and someone to give them the TLC that they needed. I had salvaged a couple of Moneymakers, a couple of Indigo apples and a plum. I was so excited to see the fruit forming and beginning to ripen. However, this all happened too slowly because there was also another trip on the horizon. I had until 18th September to get some of these tomatoes.
I managed to taste some of the Moneymakers and one of the Indigo apples, which I force-ripened by letting it cosy up with a banana for a few days. There were also a few peppers that matured, a handful of Padrons and one or two Corno di Torro Rosso. I managed to cook quite a few meals with contributions from the plot so I was happy.
Parsnips! As I rushed around getting ready to leave on my summer trip, I shoved a couple of parsnip seedlings into the flower bed in the back yard. I proudly pulled up two parsnips last week, and we had them with our Sunday dinner. Very nice indeed.
Here is a gallery of my harvests for 2023
Then I was off again, this time three months in South America!
I leave you with a collage of the last pickings of 2023 hopeful for the next year.
I tried two types of cucumbers; gherkin and crystal lemon. None of the gherkins made it but one of my crystal lemon plants managed to survive somehow. I found it nestled in amongst the weeds at the edge of my plot.
This straggler delivered 6 perfect golf ball-shaped fruits, which looked like tiny melons.
It was such a lovely surprise to find I had managed to harvest some cucumbers and these little miracles were a treat to eat as well. We had them with a delicious plate of charcuterie.
They had a very fresh cucumber flavour with good texture. The skins are quite thick and waxy so I peeled the subsequent cues.
I was so pleased with these cucumbers, everything we got from the allotment this year will be a bonus and I will definitely be trying more cucumbers in the future. I will try saving some seeds and see if I can try again next year.
Little victories should always be embraced. A win is a win as they say.
I do experience extreme optimism at times, it can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it pays off – some of the best things I’ve done in life were the result of taking an optimistic risk. This time it was a bit of a crash-and-burn scenario.
Things like the squash and brassicas will be okay because they won’t be harvested until well into the autumn. If I can get those seedlings to a size where I can plant them before I go, those will be fine and depending on reasonable weather over the summer and help from my plot neighbours with watering, they should be able to more or less do the rest themselves.
Elaine – To the roots of it
Yes, this was me a few months earlier. Of all the seeds I sowed and nurtured and entertained lofty dreams of their greatness, these were the results.
Purple cauliflower)
Peas – Maincrop
Cucumbers: Gherkin Bohemia
Crystal Lemon – 1 rogue plant nestled in the weeds at the side of the plot
Peppers: Corno di Toro Rosso – one plant on kitchen windowsill Orange bell pepper Hot Zimbabwe black Cayenne California Wonder Padron * at the time of writing there are some peppers struggling in the cold frame, no labels, just hoping
Tomatoes: plum Roma – garden Indigo apple – 2 in garden Minibel – I salvaged one tomato from the plot bush before it was blighted Money Maker – 1 in the garden * The plot tomatoes did survive my absence but succumbed to blight in August
Carrots: standard Flyaway rainbow mix
Courgette: Black beauty Yellow golden – * I saw one yellow fruit but it was eaten by beasties before I picked it
Spinach
Sweet Basil – this survived on the kitchen windowsill
pak choi
leeks
onions
Squash: Butternut Mashed potato (winter squash) Sweet dumpling Spaghetti – not getting a single squash was really gutting
Potatoes: Anya – to be confirmed
Beetroot – no sign
Purple Kale – a triumph, tall vigorous and abundant
White Cauliflower – chewed but still standing
Sweetcorn – they are still trying to do something
Lettuce – bolted
Parsnips – 2 rapidly thrown into the ground in the garden before I left are still alive
Shallots – 1 shallot stands proud on the plot
Apart from me being away for so long, we had an abysmal summer weather-wise. May remained cold apparently then we had a relentless heatwave in June. I was told there was no rain for six weeks. Then July turned rainy, and when I returned home it was the start of the wettest August on record. and there were six rainy weeks. Everything that wasn’t killed off was stunted, hence me having tomatoes ripening in August.
Last year I grew “Mashed Potato” Squash aka Acorn Squash for the first time and it resulted in a delicious surprise. These green ones that I grew actually tasted more like a sweet potato which I definitely wasn’t mad about.
A tasty light squash recipe, ideal as a starter for an autumn feast.
Ingredients
2 Acorn Squash
300g plain flour with a little extra for dusting
2 eggs plus 2 yolks
30 ml olive oil seasoned with salt pepper and a little cinnamon
50 ml water or milk for sealing
A knob of butter
Directions
To make the pasta, put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and egg yolks and mix with a fork, bringing more of the flour in from the sides as you mix. Once the mixture comes together into a ball, tip it out onto a work surface and knead for 10-15 mins until firm and smooth. Wrap and leave to rest for 30 mins.
Meanwhile to make the filling. Cut the squash in two and coat it with the seasoned olive oil. Line a baking tray with a sheet of foil and place the squash pieces cut side down on the foil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 175C. When done remove from the oven and leave to cool.
While the squash is cooling, cut the pasta dough into four pieces so it’s easier to work with. Roll the pasta until it is about 2 to 3 mm thick.Then using a cake cutter or the lid of a jar, cut out circles of pasta.
Using a fork, scoop the squash out of its skin, into a large bowl. Mash the squash with the fork and season with salt and pepper and any other herbs and spices to your taste. Then using a teaspoon, place the filling into the centre of the pasta circles, leaving enough space (about 1cm) around the edges to seal the ravioli. Cover the squash mixture with a second pasta disc and pinch the sides to seal. You can wet the edges with water or milk to ensure it seals.
To cook, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and gently lower in the ravioli using a slotted spoon. Boil for 2-3 mins until the pasta is cooked through, then remove to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
Serve with a drizzle of melted butter.
I’m gutted that after the hard work of preparing this meal, I forgot to take a picture of the finished article – Doh! This scrumptious dish could be served as a side dish to any meat dish or as the star in its own right along with some courgettes, broccoli or other vegetables (homegrown of course).
Like so many, my route to starting an allotment was driven by the Pandemic. Restrictions due to the health crisis have, pretty much, all been lifted. However, the changes to our status in Europe have meant that we do have some limits on where and when we can go to the mainland. As a 3rd nation, we are limited to 90 days in any 180 days in the Schengen area i.e. 3 months in any 6 months. This kind of created limitations which morphed into a challenge.
Since we both retired, we have wanted to travel further and for longer each year, so the idea of three months away has been tickling our imagination for quite a few years. This summer, we decided we wanted to do a trip around northern Europe, combining some travel in our own vehicle and a month in a hired motorhome. However, this means three months away from home.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, because it will have a huge impact on my allotment exploits. I caught the seed-sowing bug in a big way this year. I’m trying not to be a spendthrift and not to get seduced into buying all the allotment-related things and I thought growing things from seed was the way to go to save a bit of money. I know, I know, everyone falls into that trap! I was also mindful of last year when I had many successes but they were minor l because I had Gone Small. There were so many things I’d told myself to Go Hard on next year. I wanted more than a single bowl full of peas and beans, I wanted more than just the one butternut squash. In addition, I had fallen down the Instagram rabbit hole, all but abandoning my other hobbies of dressmaking and craft in order to devote myself to Growing All The Things. Instagram had me convinced I was a farmer. If someone can grow tomatoes and melons – yes melons – in Yorkshire without a greenhouse, why can’t I?
To add to what I’d bought last year I got another seed compendium and gathered seeds from far and wide. I wish I’d thought this through a bit more carefully beforehand because it’s possible to plant many things that will be ready after we come back. Things like the squash and brassicas will be okay because they won’t be harvested until well into the autumn. If I can get those seedlings to a size where I can plant them before I go, those will be fine and depending on reasonable weather over the summer and help from my plot neighbours with watering, they should be able to more or less do the rest themselves.
So I spent March and April potting things up all around the house. There are little trays, pots and tin foil packets full of seedlings. Soon every available window sill and shelf in our small house was full of seed trays. I did make a small number of purchases, one of which was a heating mat, although it’s only 25 cm long so it only accommodates a couple of trays.
The problem arises in that I have chosen to attempt to grow quite a lot of items that will mature in the period that we are away.
I chose to try growing some tomatoes and peppers this year. What I didn’t think about beforehand was the gestation period of these plants, most of them take between 70 and 120 days which sounds like a lot but seeing as I’m going to be away for about 78 or so days it means that some things like the tomatoes, for example, which were sown late February, will be ripening right in the middle of our long trip. Add to that the fact that they can’t be stored that long, and it means I’m going to be donating a lot of tomatoes to my friends and I won’t have the benefit of eating them myself.
I have a lot of peppers and tomatoes, as well as a couple of varieties of cucumbers and squash that could do with a bit of warmth to urge them along. Fortunately, my upstairs study/studio enjoys a bit of a greenhouse effect due to double aspect windows, so it’s a nice place for the seedlings.
Here’s what I’ve sown:
Purple cauliflower
Peas – Maincrop
Cucumbers: Gherkin Bohemia Crystal Lemon
Peppers: Corno di Toro Rosso Orange bell pepper Hot Zimbabwe black Cayenne California Wonder Padron
Tomatoes: plum Roma Indigo apple Minibel Money Maker
Most things have germinated nicely although a few of the seeds had quite a poor rate: only 3 out of 10 orange bell pepper seeds for example and 4 out of 10 crystal lemon cucumbers.
I’m going to just enjoy the sweet delight of seeing my seedlings grow and think about the potential harvests later.
I’m back and miraculously my little plot is still alive! It seems that the drought broke not long after we left and there has been a fair bit of rainfall. I was fully expecting most of my crops to have perished through neglect but it seems Nature had other ideas.
I couldn’t quite believe how much I had to harvest. As well as the peas and beans I gathered earlier and the many courgettes and onions, I had lettuce, tomatoes, squash – only one butternut this time but eight “Mashed Potato” squash. I had savoy and red cabbages as well as beetroot. Such a lovely surprise after all my absence.
22nd of September 2022
It was a bit of a dull day but I hadn’t been up for a few days, so I needed to check what’s going on. Everything seemed pretty much the same as last week the red cabbages look like at least one of them might be ready for chopping. I pulled up a beetroot last week there are a few smaller plants in the green bag so I made sure to keep it watered to see if I got any more of those before the end of the season.
My miraculous green cabbages were looking great they are still coming along nicely. This just shows what a bit of perseverance can do. I’ve learned a lot from the cabbages this year. They have such a long growing season. When I thought they had been mauled by the ‘slimeys’ they showed that they are quite resilient and bounced back. There’s another nice big one that looks ready to harvest but I decided to stick with the red one this week. It always surprises me how far a cabbage can go.
The aubergine seems to have decided to come alive at long last it put out some buds and we’ve got a beautiful purple flower on it now I’m just going to take the net off it because I don’t want that ripping the flower off like it did with the first one.
My four-headed mutant cabbage is still growing so I’ll just see how that goes.
There are a couple of tiny courgettes on the yellow plant I gave him a feed last week but that doesn’t seem to have come on much since then. I’ll still persevere hopefully I’ll get 1 or 2 more before they finish.
Towards the end of October, the squash were ready so I picked those and took them home to cure. The final lesson for the year was that I can leave my cabbages in the ground until I need them. We were going away in November and I decided to pull them up for fear that there might be a frost but I was advised that they are so hardy they will ride out the storm.
I was so happy with my yield for 2022. My only regret was not to have planted more of some items. My 3-metre square patch was so productive and it just made me excited to try more in 2023.
I just visited the plot for the last time before we were about to go to Italy for 5 weeks, leaving the allotment in the hands of my plot partner. I still managed to plant a last few things before I went as there were some things in the little grow house that I wanted to put out. It seems like the last few days of overcast weather have allowed the seed to germinate, so I had a few things like carrots and those peas and beetroot shoots had finally come up, so I planted those in various places.
The last thing was some lettuce from the box that I bought at Christmas. They’d put out some sprouts. I’ve put them into the big tub in the hope that I’ll have some when we return.
I pulled out one more cabbage as it looked ready. I also picked up the giant courgette as I don’t think it can wait until come back. Like the previous year, I asked Pam to just take anything that looks like it’s ripe or mature that she wants rather than it going to waste.
I’ve also pulled out a few more onions as the boxes were getting really crowded. Wherever there was a clump it was looking really squashed. I thought it was a good idea to give the others room hopefully those will be OK. I’ll leave them to dry out for when we come back.
One negative thing is that it looked like one of my precious red cabbages had succumbed to some kind of mould. I’ve no idea what it is but I didn’t like the look of it, so I excised the afflicted cabbage so that whatever it was would not spread to the other five. Also, some of the leaves look a bit chewed and I did find a couple of little snails had finally infiltrated the umbrella.
Following my plant and hope strategy, I’m hoping to have something to harvest when I return. The squash should be ready there should be more carrots and onions as well. I’m hoping for more peas and beans too so I took a handful out today of the French bean and hopefully there will be more later even if they are dry by then, maybe I can save them for stews.
Everything looked so healthy, I’m almost sad to be leaving it all. Now hoping the heatwave abates and doesn’t fry everything while I’m away.
The first lesson I learned about container planting is that watering can be so deceptive. I’ve been happily watering my containers thinking I’m doing well. then I began to wonder why my 2nd set of carrots wasn’t appearing. Even though I thought I’d really saturated it, I tucked my finger into the soil and just beneath the top layer these tubs are dry as the proverbial bone. OK, I have to make absolutely sure that I really saturate them until the water’s coming out the bottom before I finish soaking them.
19.7 22
Despite getting up at 8:30 it took me until nearly midday to get up to the plot. It’s so hot today as was predicted but I decided to brave it. I put my legionnaire’s hat on to try and protect myself a bit. I’ve spent 3 hours watering just trying to make sure that everything was saturated. I’m just going to do a summary of what’s in here now.
It really pleases me to see I got a couple of good courgettes to pick, Plot 101 is finally starting to yield some good crops, although I’m still getting lots that are dying off. Anyway, I’ve got one whopper in here that I’m going to pick today. I later discovered blossom end rot, I think that’s what the problem has been. From what I’ve read this is caused by inconsistent watering. I think the combination of the drought conditions and my regular absences means that the watering has been erratic. I snaffled a few little courgettes before they spoiled and cooked them with some early onions. They are just like spring onions.
My Savoy cabbages are still trying really hard although the outer leaves are still being nibbled, they look like they might actually come to something. My yellow courgettes still look a bit puny but they’re still putting forth fruit so hopefully, they’ll come good like the green ones.
I’ve got tomatoes! This cherry tomato bush seems to thrive since I transferred it into a pot. I’ve now got about 10 little green tomatoes and hopefully, I’ll get something off them before we depart.
I’ve transplanted a few of the cucumber seedlings that I’d had upon the bench as something I got in and chewed a few of them so I thought I’d better put them in the ground and see what they do I’m hoping as they were last year’s heroes I’m hoping to get some good cucumbers this year and hope I’m not too late
The squash still looks like it’s thriving, it’s beautiful and green and putting out loads of female fruit but I’m still not sure if they are getting pollinated and still getting a lot of shrivelled fruit after a few days so I’ve taken the cover off the squash now hopefully that will mean that things can have access to them to pollinate them
I think I’m going to take another handful of peas today cause I seem like I’ve got another bunch of really fat juicy pods ready to burst
The onions are still looking great, I thought I had overcrowded them but having read a little bit of the allotment book, it talks about planting onions in clumps just as I did and it doesn’t seem to be a problem, so I’m just going to leave them to their own devices and see what happens. I reckon I’m gonna have about a dozen of each white and red onions
The carrots in my original tub are still looking good, however, very few of the succession seedlings are coming through and can just see a couple in there. I realised last week that my watering wasn’t very efficient. When I just scraped back about a millimetre of Earth I could see that the soil was just dry as anything so we’re making sure I really saturated these bags these grow bags.
I’ve got at least 2 decent beetroots in my green bag although again nothing much came through all my 2nd sowings well after saturating the whole space I now see that I’ve got 2 little seedlings so I’m gonna put some more in to be stubborn and just keep watering like crazy
I think my spinach has bitten the dust, it seems to have gone to seed I’m not quite sure what to do I might see if I can collect the seeds and then replant this tub with something else.
My ring of red cabbages looks absolutely beautiful we’re taking the umbrella off to have a look at them and the colour is just wonderful and they don’t seem to have fallen foul to any damaging critters I hope that I’m not tempting fate by saying that
I tried an experiment with one of those wall-hanging systems. It’s a felt “mat” with pouches, into which you plant stuff. I had some initial success with some salad leaves and I started my pak choi off in there but now I realise I don’t think I can sustain this. The felt does not seem to retain any moisture – when you water it the liquid runs straight out. So now the wall was unfortunately very dry again. it ideally needs to be watered every day and I just can’t see that happening.
On the bench, I’ve still got some pak choi and I’ve got a couple of cucumbers. I’m starting to consider taking those back to the house to see if I can get them to grow in the garden. The chard does not yet look like anything’s happening there although it got very dry.
I only put these in 4 days ago so hopefully maybe I’m just being a bit premature some of these things do seem to shoot up really quickly in this heat though you’ll see what happens and keep waiting.
In the grow-house I’ve got action – those tomato shoots are looking very healthy they look like they need planting out soon but I am almost scared to move them cause they’re so happy here and the lettuce and peas I planted on Saturday haven’t really done anything yet but again that’s early days yet.
but I do have a couple of tiny shoots in the aubergine tub and these tomatoes just look healthy.
After this whistlestop tour, I hope you can tell I was so over the moon that everything was coming up veggie. But of course, the time had come for me to abandon my plant babies again. It’s summer holiday time folks, so let’s see what survives my absence this time.
I’m not very good at new year’s resolutions, so I’m just saying that in 2022, I simply intended to try more. More time at the allotment, more different crops, more learning. That’s about all you can do.
In the winter, I don’t yet know what to do with the allotment. It’s obviously mostly maintenance – tidying things up and preparing for the coming growing season.
I didn’t actually go to the plot at all in January and then in February we had a series of severe storms, the worst of which was Eunice. It was the tail end of Storm Franklin that had an impact on our allotment, though thankfully we didn’t get the worst of it. There were deaths, flooding and evacuations in other parts of the country.
Finally on a still miserable-looking Saturday, I went up to the plot partly out of guilt as I hadn’t been there in weeks, and partly curiosity to see how it had coped. As I arrived I could see that there had been a bit of damage – a few people had lost their sheds.
Our plot at first looked untouched, apart from the drainpipe on our shed which had been detached and the fact that next door’s little Wendy-house had been deposited on our patch.
I didn’t stay long as it was still quite windy and I figured I could do without catching a flying greenhouse.
There wasn’t much I could do at the plot but I could start some preparation. I decided that I was going to try growing a lot more things from seed. Almost none of my original shop-bought seedlings came to fruition last year and as a retired person, I have to try to minimise costs, so I went with seeds. By the time I had started in the previous year, it was too late to start sowing seeds, but now I can try them and see how they go.
Therefore after a slow start, the 2022 season began.
The sample posts that came with this theme featured recipes and they gave me the idea to start an occasional series to show some of the dishes I’ve made using my allotment produce as mini blogs. One of my first year’s harvests was leeks which I used in a delicious vegetable stew.
In a large pot or saucepan, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the garlic, carrots, celery, leeks, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Add vegetable broth and beans, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes to combine all of the flavors together.
Line a bowl with spinach and pour the soup over it
Sprinkle fresh black pepper, parsley and grated parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Per Serving:
Calories 248.29kcal, Total Fat 3.11g, Carbs 42.28g, Sugars 3.35g,
Protein 14.81g, Sodium 1470.1mg, Fibre 10.02g
All the veg prepped for action
This stew is easy to make and you can customise it to your taste as I did by adding my leeks. You can also add seasoning to your liking if you prefer more flavour.
To the roots of it 