Harvesting the apples

 We've had a bumper year for apples both on the allotment and in the garden.  In the garden we have an old Bramley apple tree. We've lived in our house for thirty-two years and the apple tree was well established when we moved in, so I don't know how old it is. It has good years and bad years. Last year was probably the worst year ever and we thought it might be because it was old. But it has bounced back. There are apples all over the garden fallen from the tree which will provide some food for the birds in the winter months. The good ones which we have picked from the tree are now stored in the shed.

On the allotment is an apple tree of an unknown variety, it was there when we took the plot on and we have pruned it and looked after it over the last three years. It has rewarded us with an abundance of apples this year. I think the variety is a cox's pippin, it tastes and looks much like it.

With all these apples around I needed a good way to store them. I haven't done well in the past with storing the Bramleys. So I got a number of boxes from the local supermarket. These are the sort which are used for displaying fruit or veg, shallow and made of good strong cardboard. I have wrapped each apple in newspaper and set them out in the boxes so they are not touching. The boxes stack up easily and fit neatly on the shed benches. I'm hoping this will work and the apples will keep well.

All that remains now is for us to eat all these apples. The Coxs aren't a problem, we are eating them an apple a day each. That should keep us healthy. Now the Bramleys need cooking and making up into puddings, jams etc. I have plans to make jams and chutneys.

Through the garden gate--August

I'm joining Sarah again at 'Down by the Sea' for her monthly 'Through the Garden Gate' slot.

August has just flown by and with grandchildren to look after during the school holidays we haven't had a lot of time for gardening.  The garden itself seemed to take a rest from mid July to mid August, it's been all quiet in the flower borders with not much happening.  It's like the flowers have been charging up their batteries and are now ready to explode, full of energy again. And now in the last couple of weeks things have started to happen. The rudbekias, heleniums and phlox are brightening up the borders, the sedums are starting to show signs of colour and the white buddleia is happily flowering away.

When I have managed to find time to get out in the garden I have been cutting back the alchemilla mollis which has now gone over and also the ferns which pop up all over the place and would take over if left to do their own thing. The ferns grow everywhere and obscure the other plants in the borders so it looks much better after a good tidy up. They soon grow back again though so it's a regular job in the garden. With some of them I can manage to dig out the roots, but others are really tough and some grow out of walls so I can't get rid of them. The recent wet weather has brought out all the slugs which have nibbled the dahlias and had a feast on the hostas leaving them in shreds. 

The good news is that our Bramley apple tree, which is quite old and produced hardly any fruit last year, is now almost bending over with the weight of all this year's fruit. That means I need to tidy up the shed, clear a space to store them all and then start making things.  I found a  recipe for spiced apple chutney recently which I want to try out.

School holidays means lots of days out with the grandchildren and we've visited one or two big gardens recently--Parceval Hall and Tatton Park.  These were both fantastic places to visit and I will save these for another blog.

Autumn jobs on the allotment

As we move into Autumn, the work on the plot changes. No more is there a rush to get things in the ground, no more sowing, planting, staking and netting. Now we are harvesting our produce, clearing the ground, tidying up and manuring. Now is the time to start thinking about those jobs we didn't have time to do in the summer, like laying paths, cleaning out the shed, clearing that overgrown patch of ground.

The leaves are starting to fall from the big sycamore trees which overhang both our plots. Soon I will be gathering up the leaves. That's reminded me that I need to sort out the leaf bin. I recently found bindweed growing in it coming from the plant which is growing along the fence between ours and the plot next door. After I have cleared out all the bindweed roots, I will give the bin a turnover to see how well composted it is. I hope to be able to use the leaf mould to cover some of the beds over the winter. Then I will start to add this autumn's leaves to the bin. The compost bins need turning too and the manure bins will be topped up.

This week I have been pruning the gooseberries and blackcurrants. I managed not to get too many scratches from the gooseberries.  Before I tackled the pruning I first pulled up the nasturtiums which had been planted behind them to climb up the fence. They had given a lovely display through the summer but it was time for them to go and they were getting tangled up in the fruit bushes. They were easy to pull up but left a lot of seeds behind, I think we will be seeing them again next year! Having got rid of the nasturtiums and as many seeds as I could get hold of I could then see how well the climbers were doing which we had planted last year to try to cover the wire fence.  The honeysuckle, ivy and clematis are scrambling away along the fence,  the cotoneaster has berries on it which is providing both food for the birds and some welcome autumn colour. Once the fruit bushes had been pruned I weeded the fruit bed. It looks very tidy now.

There is plenty of autumn colour from the apple tree on plot 8. The tree has done really well this year after it's re staking and pruning last year. The cut flower beds are also providing colour to the plots, but they are coming to an end now. Soon we will be pulling them up.

I'm always sad to see summer come to an end, but once we are into autumn I love the colours and changes that the season brings. I love the clearing away of all the dead plants, preparing the beds for their winter sleep and having a good tidy up  It's still a busy time yet as the autumn clear up continues, but soon there will be time to slow down,  time to rest and reflect, time to think ahead and plan for next year.

A new fruit bed

the fruit bed and apple tree last year

Plot 8 is progressing well and our latest addition is the fruit bed.   Last year when we took the plot on we found an apple tree amongst all the rubbish and tangled mess of weeds. In another part of the plot we found some raspberries. We decided we would have a fruit bed centred around the apple tree.  We dug over this area, moved the raspberries and recently planted strawberries around the apple tree. We also planted some rhubarb.

the new fruit bed

My daughter was given a plant which she was told was an apple tree. It was very pot bound and we have planted this in the new fruit bed. It has perked up quite a bit since being planted, we are not convinced it is an apple tree though. Also in the bed we have planted a blueberry. In the last few weeks the fruit bed has been extended and we have planted more raspberries, some gooseberries and a redcurrant. 

I'm really loving this fruit bed having seen it develop from an area full of weeds, rubble and all sorts of rubbish to a tidy controlled space. All the plants are looking happy, and we are looking forward to seeing fruit later in the year.

Coming along just fine

 

When we are down at the allotment working on plot 10b we are often asked by our allotment neighbours, "How's the other plot doing?" Well I'm happy to say that our other allotment--plot 8 is coming along really well.  After weeks of rubbish sorting and trips to the recycling centre, we can at last see the ground.  And after lots of back breaking digging, clearing of bricks and rubble the original layout of the plot is appearing.  There are flagged paths surrounding beds, and some fairly decent soil in them too.

We didn't expect to be growing much this year on the plot, but in the four small raised beds which were left by the previous tenant we have planted onions, climbing and dwarf french beans, radish, spring onion, beetroot and sweetcorn.  There are two small strawberry beds planted by the previous tenants which we decided to leave for this year to see how productive they were. We now have two new beds which Richard has weeded,dug over and filled with well rotted manure. One of these has been planted up with courgettes and pumpkins and will soon have some squash in there too.

There is an apple tree which was full of blossom a few weeks earlier and we will be hoping for plenty of fruit later this year. Helen and I dug over the area around the apple tree last week. We decided to make this a fruit growing area. I have a rhubarb and a couple of gooseberry plants to be planted in there.

Richard dug up a couple of conifers last week and that area is now being prepared to make two big beds either side of the drain. The soil there is very dry as it was full of roots, so it needs lots of compost and manure adding before we can grow anything.

The pond area is starting to look colourful now the yellow irises are in flower, but there is a lot of work to be done there yet. We discovered that the pond liner has cracks in it and the pond has become more of a bog than a pond.  There are frogs on the plot, but we are not sure if the tadpoles survived when the pond dried up. Sorting it out is a project for next year I think.

At the top end of the plot is a big tree and we think the best thing to do there  is have a woodland wildlife area.  It's also a lovely place for the grandchildren to play and have a den.

So that's where we are up to on plot 8.  We still need to build compost bins and Richard wants to make a shed out of some of the materials we have lying around on plot 8 and plot 10b.

It's all looking good and we are really pleased with how things are progressing.