Slowly

Slowly things are starting to happen down on the plot. For a few weeks there's not been much going on and I've tidied up as much as I can, in readiness for the Spring. I've enjoyed pottering about, there's always something to be done.  It's good to be down there, it's a good place to switch off from things at home, or think things out.

We have just a few little areas with bulbs and flowers and now we can see there's new growth. The spring bulbs and primroses are gradually starting to come through.They will soon be seen as little splashes of brightness.

The rhubarb is growing and there are buds on the fruit bushes. The strawberry tubs were looking a mess, they were full of leaves from the tree which overhangs the tubs. I removed the leaves, cut back the old leaves from the plants and got rid of the straw left over from the summer. I can now see the new growth and today I put a layer of compost around the plants. I have some new plants in the cold frame which are from the runners. I'm thinking of planting some of these up in troughs to put in the greenhouse for an early crop. 

Once my seed potatoes and onion sets arrived I felt things were really starting to happen. The potatoes  are now chitting in the back bedroom and the onion sets have been planted in cell trays to start them off. 

My seed order arrived too. There's always the dilemma of when  to start sowing seeds. My greenhouse is unheated and in the last couple of weeks I have started off chillies, sweet peppers, tomatoes, leeks, lettuce, and broad beans. The chillies and tomatoes I brought home to keep in warmer temperatures. This week the chillies, tomatoes and lettuce seedlings have started to come through. As usual it is so exciting to see those first seedlings germinated. 

And so little by little things are getting done. Soon in March there will be the mad rush of more seed sowing and planting. But in the meantime I am enjoying slowly pottering about.

Pottering around the plot

strawberries all over the place

At the allotment in the last few weeks whilst Richard has been putting up the new green house, I have been pottering around doing other things. Pottering around is about all I can do at the moment with the damp weather. 

The fruit bed badly needs sorting out. The strawberry runners are all over the place, but the ground is still too wet at the moment to do any digging up. I managed to tidy up the strawberries in the bath and that looks much better.

a bath full of strawberries

The rhubarb which had been on Helen's old plot got dug up before Christmas and I left the crowns until I had more time to divide and pot up. They have now started to show signs of new growth, so I spent some time splitting them up into smaller plants and potting up. I was amazed at how big and woody the roots are. I have planted some on the allotment and given some away to friends but there are still rather a lot left.

just a few of the rhubarb plants

I didn't get chance to clean out the wildlife pond in the autumn, so that's another job I've done in the last couple of weeks. Armed with rubber gloves I got down on my hands and knees, scooped out the leaves, dead plant foliage and some of the silt from the bottom. A week later there was even more silt so I was back doing it all again. The silt is coming down the drain into the pond from the plot above us and with all the rain we have had recently there is  more coming down the drain than usual. I know that a certain amount of silt is needed for the pond creatures, but this is a bit excessive, I want a pond not a bog.  So my next plan is to empty the pond of all the plants and rocks, so that I can get more of the silt out and then start again with a fairly clean pond. That's if it doesn't rain too much.

murky overflowing pond

More and more jobs

The heavy rain and blustery winds which we had last week changed to really cold, frosty days with snow in some places at the weekend--no snow here thankfully, it was dry and sunny so it was thermals on and down to the allotment to get more jobs done.

When we arrived at the allotment site there was a little bonfire on the car park, one of the plot holders had been burning some rubbish. We took advantage of this and added some rotting wood which we had been meaning to get rid of. I love an allotment bonfire especially in the autumn.

Richard then dug up and split the rhubarb plants on Plot 10b.  They have the most massive thick roots so I now need to find some really big pots to plant them up in.  There are far too many to plant on my allotment, but I hate to throw them away. I  did manage to give three of them to some new allotment neighbours.

This was the last big job to do on Plot 10b before we hand over to new tenants at the end of the year. The rest is just a bit of tidying up. The new tenants are lucky to be getting a good plot with beds already in place, and some fruit beds too.

Rudbekia coming to an end

On Plot 8 I  finally decided the annual flowers had to go.  I cut back the rudbekia, sweet peas, calendula, sunflowers and some wonderful scabiosa called 'Back in black'. I will definitely be growing the scabiosa again next year, it's a lovely deep, dark  red/burgundy which  looks good in a vase as a contrast to yellow, pink or blue. Most of my flower seeds were from Higgledy garden, they are really good value. Have a look at his web site if you like to grow flowers for cutting. Once I'd cleared all the flowers away, I weeded and we then spread some well rotted manure on the beds. Next year we will be growing peas and beans on this bed. The  flowers get slotted in where there is space, but they don't seem to mind.

Last of the rudbekia and scabious

You never get to the end of a jobs list at the allotment, there's always more to be done. As I was looking around feeling pleased with all the work I had done, I spotted the brassica bed, full of dead, yellow leaves lying on the soil surface. I knew I had to get rid of those before they spread any disease. Not only that, the bed needed weeding, the purple sprouting broccoli needed staking and there was a mulch of manure to be added to the areas where the cabbages had been. That done, it was getting colder and beginning to get dark.

Still more jobs to be done another time-- clear the pond of leaves,  weed and manure the asparagus bed, tidy up the strawberry bed of runners, empty the growhouse of dead tomato plants and dismantle because it's seen better days, put up the new greenhouse. More of all that on another blog.

Plot 8 looking better

Bad weather, lots to do

Heavy rain and strong winds have kept us away from the allotment recently. There's so much work I want to do down there still before the winter really sets in, so I watch the weather reports carefully and if there's any chance of a dry day I abandon any other plans and head off to get a few more jobs done. We had one dry but cold morning this week, so I packed up a bag with flasks and sandwiches--the house jobs would just have to wait.

Looking around the other allotments I could see that quite a few of our neighbours plots were looking very tidy, with beds manured and everything cleared away. I wished my plot looked so good. But then we are still in the process of moving stuff to my plot from Helen's plot which she is giving up at the end of the year. We have about six weeks left and as we never know how bad the weather may get--not just rain but frost and snow, we decided our first job would be to dig up the two gooseberry bushes which we want to replant on Plot8, my plot. It was not an easy job, as gooseberry plants are so prickly. Richard dug them out and I potted them up into large pots for the time being as the fruit bed on Plot 8 needs a tidy up before we can plant them. As usual it was a job which took much longer than I thought. The next job will be to dig up and move the rhubarb to my plot. I dug one plant up a few weeks ago and was amazed at how big the roots were. 

Gooseberry plants ready for potting up

Back on Plot 8 I looked at what needs to be done there. Some of the beds have been cleared and manured, but there's still a lot to do.

One bed weeded and manured

I cut back some of the asparagus foliage which has started to go yellow. As soon as it has all been cut back, I will weed the ground and cover with manure. The last time I was there I started to cut down the sweet peas,cosmos and other flowers which have now gone over, but ran out of time. Finishing that off is another  job for next time. The fruit bed is in a bad state with strawberry runners all over the place and of course there are now some gooseberry plants waiting to be rehoused there. 

The weather forecast says we could have snow at the weekend, I hope not.

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.

A bit of fair weather gardening

 The other day one of our allotment neighbours jokingly described us as fair weather gardeners.  It was a lovely day and we'd not been down there for ages because of the bad weather except to pull up a few veg and feed the allotment cat.  But there's not much to do on the allotment when the weather is as wet as it has been lately. We can't dig because the soil is wet and sticky. We can't even go in the polytunnel at the moment because the path up to it is too muddy and slippery.

I suppose we are fair weather gardeners really. We watch the weather forecasts avidly and quite often plan the week, looking for the days when it is expected to be fine and we will be able to go down to the plot.  I'm sure most gardeners are the same.

Once Christmas was over, fired with the enthusiasm of the new year I was longing to get down to the allotment. Well we were lucky last week, we had some good sunny spells.

One of the first jobs on our list planned for the allotments this month was to manure the beds.  Being fairly new allotments they still need plenty of improvement to the soil. Some of them got done last autumn, but we didn't manage to finish them before Christmas.

We have a supply of manure delivered to the allotments every week from a nearby stables.  I was really pleased to see that the bin which we had filled last year was well rotted down, so I set to work shovelling and barrowing.  I started on the rhubarb bed, where there are signs of new growth. Then I did the fruit beds and finally some of the vegetable beds.  Some of the beds still have winter veg growing, so they didn't get done and I didn't cover the ones where we plan to grow root crops this year. 

That was plot 10b done, plot 8 needs weeding and manuring yet, but I was pleased with the work done, it all looks much tidier.

Gluts

This year has been fantastic for growing vegetables, everything has done so well on our two allotments.  But some things we've had just a bit too much of.  First it was the lettuce—lollo rosso and little gem. We’d planted too many thinking some would get eaten by slugs or just not survive.  But they grew and grew, we ate what we wanted, gave some away and when they went to seed we threw them on the compost heap. At least they will rot down to make something good.

Then there was the rhubarb.  We’d moved it from our old plot last autumn and it had been a fairly new plant then, so we hadn’t expected great things from it. People told us not to pull much from it the first couple of years, but there was so much, so we just took what we wanted. They also say don’t pick any after July, but it was still growing like mad during August.  So I picked even more.  I froze most of it.  It freezes well, just wash it, trim the stems, cut into short pieces and bag up. We’ve had one or two rhubarb and ginger crumbles and in the next few weeks I shall be making rhubarb and gingervodka in time for Christmas.  It’s really easy to make and is delicious, it doesn’t last long in our house.

The beetroot has gone mad too. It’s lovely in salads cooked or raw. Helen has made some beetroot chutney and we have also pickled some of it. I haven’t yet tried roasted beetroot which I’m told is really good.

The biggest glut of all on our allotments this year is runner and French beans.  Much as I love this type of bean, I may get fed up with them soon and we’re running out of freezer space.  I have given plenty away to neighbours. The runner bean variety is Czar and the seed packet says any beans not picked can be left on the plant to dry and use as butter beans.  That seems a good idea, we like butter beans in soups and casseroles. French beans can also be used in soups if they get a bit too old to pick for boiling. I made a broad bean and runner bean risotto which was really good

I have also been making soups  full of allotment vegetables, turnips, carrot, kale, cabbage, broad beans, French beans and leeks.  It’s getting to that time of year when a big hearty soup is very comforting.

What gluts have you had on your plot this year?

Fruity

It must be a good year for fruit. I have never seen so much fruit in my garden.  Well I only grow strawberries and raspberries, but there are loads of them.  I keep thinking this will be the last good picking I have of them.  Then a day or two later I go up to the top of the garden and there they are again, waiting to be picked. Then there's the allotment-- gooseberries, blackcurrants and rhubarb.

In the kitchen there are bowls of strawberries in the fridge waiting to be eaten, trays of raspberries and blackcurrants in the freezer, and more fruit already bagged up. I'm considering buying another freezer for allotment produce.  I think though that I really need to get into jam making, that is the answer I'm sure.

Using up the rhubarb

When we went to the allotment recently I was pleased to see that the rhubarb was starting to grow. There were some lovely bright pink stems just showing and new green  leaves. We had moved three rhubarb plants from our old plot to the new one a few weeks before Christmas and the soil in the new bed wasn't as good as the previous one so we weren't sure how well they would do in the new plot. The plants had done really well last year and we had frozen a good amount of it. We love rhubarb crumble in our family, but when you have so much rhubarb you need to find other ways to use it up.  Which is why when I was making blackberry and raspberry gins before Christmas, I was pleased to find a recipe for rhubarb and ginger vodka.  Ginger and rhubarb go really well together and this drink is just wonderful. I made it a couple of months before Christmas. I found a few different recipes, so I just tweaked them a bit and used the basic method I use for the blackberry and raspberry gin.

Rhubarb and ginger vodka
600g rhubarb
300g caster sugar
3 inches of ginger root
Zest of one lemon
70cl bottle of cheap Vodka

Pour the sugar into the bottom of a large sterilised jar (it should have at least double the capacity of the amount of vodka you’re using, and be airtight). Clean the rhubarb and slice it into 1inch chunks and put it in the jar on top of the sugar. Slice the ginger (no need to remove the skin) into coins, and toss it in along with the zest of a lemon, pared carefully with a knife into wide strips.

Pour over the vodka, seal the jar and shake well until all the sugar has dissolved. Then give it a shake  every day for  a week or two.

Leave it at room temperature (it’ll be fine sitting on a shelf in the kitchen) for two months, at which point the rhubarb will look disgusting and grey, having given up all its juice and colour to the now pink vodka. I stored mine in a cool dark storeroom as I didn't read the recipe properly!

Strain the mixture through a sieve into sterilised bottles. This liqueur is even better if you leave the finished bottles to mature for six months or so, but can be also drunk immediately.

Plans and projects at the allotment

We've now got the most important work done on our new allotment, which means we can have a bit of a breather and ease up on the heavy work until we start with next year's projects.

My husband has now finished building the raised beds in the main part of the plot. There are 12 of them. This may seem a lot but we share the plot with our daughter so we are feeding 2 families on the produce we grow.  We also wanted to have as much if not  more growing space as we had on our old allotment.

 There are two beds where we are growing brassicas--red cabbage, brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spring cabbage and swede. Another two beds are planted with leeks and garlic. Three beds are going to be for growing fruit bushes and rhubarb. Last weekend we topped up the remaining five empty beds with manure which will rot down over the winter.

 

Also at the weekend we went over to the old plot where we cleared away the pumpkins, squash and french beans which had all gone over. We dug up the rhubarb, brought it back to our new plot and planted it up in one of the new beds. We still have  blackcurrants, gooseberries and raspberries to move to the new plot. We have the old plot until the end of the year, so we have time yet to clear the beds completely and move the  fruit bushes.

Back at the new plot my husband has been putting some cladding on the lower end of the fence to keep the weeds out.  He is also digging a border along the front fence where we want to grow some climbers and shrubs to give us some screening as it is very open and exposed at the moment.  It's not an easy job though, as there are lots of big boulders, stones and bricks below the surface.  We are getting quite a collection of rubble. I'm sure it will all come in useful in other areas of the plot eventually, but it's hard work shifting it and trying to dig. The cladding for the fence came from the old cabin which we demolished a few weeks ago. It's come in very useful for all sorts of things and there's still lots of it. Even if we can't use it all there are plenty of other allotment neighbours who have got their eyes on it.

Our plans for next year are to sort out paths between the raised beds and to clear the top end of the plot behind the grow house. The area behind the grow house is like a secret garden and my daughter and I love to spend time there cutting back the brambles and nettles, each time revealing a bit more space.  We haven't decided yet what we will do with that area.  We may have a wildlife area and perhaps one or two fruit trees.

 

Yummy rhubarb

When I picked some rhubarb from the allotment the other day, I remembered that years ago I used to make a lovely spicy crumble. I searched my recipes and was amazed to find I still had the original recipe in an old and battered scrapbook. It really is delicious especially with cream, but also lovely with custard, ice cream, or on its own. So here it is, sorry there are no metric measurements, but it is an old recipe.

Spicy rhubarb crumble

Ingredients

1-1 ½ lb rhubarb

1oz brown sugar (demerara or light brown, not the very dark kind)

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

For the crumble topping:

3oz flour

3oz brown sugar

2oz butter

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 gas mark 6.

Wash and slice the rhubarb into 1inch lengths then put this into a pie dish

and sprinkle with 1oz of brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of ginger and the same of nutmeg.

For the crumble top, mix the flour, sugar, salt and spices together, add the butter and work together until the mixture is crumbly.

Then spread it over the rhubarb in the dish so that the fruit is completely covered.

Place in the oven on a baking tray and cook for about 30—40minutes or until the fruit is cooked and the top well browned.

Serve warm or cold.

I've since realised that the crumble mix ingredients need to be doubled in order to completely cover the fruit