The last bits and pieces of 2023
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. Back at the garden, I had a whole range of tomatoes which seemed revitalised now there was sun, rain and someone to…
The begrudged harvest 2023
Cucumbers: 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.…
June/July 2023 Allotment post mortem
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…
Acorn Squash Ravioli
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. I’m gutted that after the hard work of preparing this meal, I forgot to take…
Can you even call yourself an allotmenteer?
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…
Autumn 2022: Final Harvests
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…
August 2022: Parting is such sweet sorrow
4th of August 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…
July/August 2022: Everything’s coming up
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…
Early 2022 – New Year New … Nah!
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 -…
White bean stew with allotment leeks and carrots
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. This stew is…
Spring 2022: it starts to look like something
The sun starts to shine and I start to feel energised again. I was at the plot more and started to get things sorted. My partners had got everything dug and the potato trenches were in place, while my corner of the plot still looked neglected. I had not dug or covered the plot so…
The end of 2021 Report
For a first year, I think this wasn’t too bad, I planted stuff and I harvested stuff. I lost a fair bit to weather critters and absence but that was to be expected. Notably, my absences didn’t seem as terminal as I’d feared. a lot of stuff got on with it without me – cucumbers,…
August/September 2021: Conflict of interests
I have learned over time to manage my expectations in certain scenarios and this allotment game was one of them. I said yes to my friend’s offer of a share of this plot primarily for a legitimate reason to get out of the house during the pandemic lockdown. I was not thinking I was going…
June/July 2021: My first allotment harvests
In the middle of June, I had my first triumphs. Between the garden at home and the plot, we were actually getting some produce. My allotment partners got the first yield as their potatoes started to give up some bounty. I can’t claim any credit for them as I did none of the Herculean digging…
May/June 2021: reality dawns
When we came back from our trip, my seedlings finally arrived. They had been languishing in a delivery depot somewhere for weeks. They were packed in a plastic coffin and it was obvious they had spent too long in it because they were rootbound and trying to burst out of the packaging. Some of the…
It’s an allotment-let
As of March, I’m an allotmenteer. My very good friends acquired a plot last year at the beginning of lockdown and they have offered me a share of it. I said yes instantly. It was a bit late in the year to get started last year so I didn’t get off the ground straight away…
April 2021: spring refused to be sprung
I started then neglected this blog last year now I want to try again with the new season. I thought I would still give you what insights I recorded from last year. Last spring was predictably (it is the UK after all), unpredictable. We had a mini-heatwave, and then the weather persistently refused to emulate…
It gets worse before it gets better
Spring Twenty twenty one was slow to get going but eventually, we saw some good weather. I did a bit of pottering about and tidying, still not sure what I was doing and without a plan of action. The twigs seemed to be in good nick, they were upright and I’m sure getting ever so…
To the roots of it 