Leeks

Took a few leeks today for leek and potato soup.  Not as thick as last year's which were bought as seedlings - this year's all from seed (Real Seed Co.).

Next year I think I'll do a bit of both.  

Soup tasted good though, with the Nicola spuds from earlier this year.  Almost at the end of the spuds now and they seem to be sprouting a bit even in the dark garage in a sack.

Garlic planted on Shortest Day

Tradition is that you plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest.  So that's what I'm going to do, even though the guy in the local garden centre said that was a load of rubbish and I should plant in February.

It's the a Shortest Day today and quite mild so I've managed to get them in.  2 varieties this year, Thermidore and Cristo.  Seem to be 'better' winter varieties although I'm going to get some more in early next year anyway.

45 Thermidores and 30 Cristos nicely planted.  Soil seems a bit wet but we'll see.  It's nice to plant something . . . anything.

Tidy greenhouse

. . . manure . . .

21st October :  3 trips to manure pile so far.  10+10+7 barrow loads shifted and almost all of strawberry patch 1 (with 20 single spade full).  Weather turned now and clocks go back at the weekend.  Still a big pile left though.

My manure

Couldn't resist posting one image of the pile.  Half of this is mine (sharing a 'full load' with Alan) and I'll start barrowinf it away later this week . . . maybe.  Not sure what the carpet's for but I think it's to keep it warm!

Borlotti bean harvest

I was planning to leave the borlottis for as long as possible to dry out but it's too wet now and I need to clear some space to start spreading the manure (see previous post).

Some seem to be dry and nicely speckled but others are still green.  I wonder if they'll speckle as they dry?

A big pile of manure

Yes that's right.  Driest September for ever (apparently) and then after just a few days of rain it happens to be the manure delivery. It's messy and I don't think it needs any photos.

Glut, what glut?

Ok maybe there are a few too many but they still keep coming and I keep finding people to eat them.  I imagine Sainsburys and Tesco are wondering why there's a dip in their courgette and tomato sales figures.  Bunch of sweet peas seems decent enough payment for allowing me to sit and watch football all afternoon. (Nearly October and I'm still picking sweet peas!  Definitely doing a load more of them next year)

Tomatoes in abundance

Next year, when I know a bit more about want I'm doing, the tomato harvest is going to be crazy.

This year, with not much idea of what I am doing, they are continuing to deliver in abundance.  Swapping them, giving them away and , of course, eating them - smell and taste is perfect.

Here's last night's harvest - when will it end I wonder.  Other plants e.g. Peas just seem to give up in an instan! wither and die.  I guess the tomatoes will do this too at some point - loads of green ones left though, maybe I'll get through to October.

Couple of images ...

The main catwalk

3 that didn't make the main catwalk, splits caused by irregular watering apparently - and I though I was on top of that!

And how I see next year's harvest going with the Inaugural Ecclesall Allotment tomato Festival - like the Spanish one except a little more gentile.

Harvest time continues

Courgettes are coming thick and fast now, so two meals this weekend have included them.  When you can combine them with tomatoes (easy) you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  I have got rather a lot here so I'll take some to work tomorrow.

Swapped some tomatoes with Margaret for Bramley apples, so picked a load more blackberries for more pie/crumble experiments this week. Going to try that blackberry, oats and whiskey thing too - cranachan(?)

Peas coming to an end but managed to get a few more.  Sweet peas continue to deliver.

Borlotti beans

Not quite sure what we are going to do with the borlotti beans (or when) but they do look nice don't they.  

Keeping the crows off the corn

Faithful old scarecrow keeping the crows from the sweet corn.  Must be working really well because I haven't seen a single crow!

Tomatoes before and after

Sentries of the greenhouse

These litle beauties keep bad stuff away from the tomato plants apparently.  Not quite sure if it's slugs or,black fly but they seem to work as the tomatoes are doing very nicely.  French Marigolds by the way.  From seed.  You can eat the flowers too although I haven't tried that . . . yet.  

Tomatoes

A bit more manageable harvesting tomatoes because they conveniently ripen at different times.  

Get the red ones and leave the green ones until later - unless you're doing Fried Green Tomatoes of course (is that even something real?)

Barbecued courgettes

Courgettes coming thick and fast now but still taking them while they're not too big.  Elaine says that they could be a biit darker (green) but, whatever, they taste great sliced up and grilled.

Peas

Nearly enough for more than me!

Garlic

Harvested a week or so ago and dried out in the shed so I thought I'd try my hand at plaiting.  They're a bit smaller than they should be because I did plan them a little late.  Not bad though and they'll be superb next year.

Courgettes, tomatoes, peppers and peas

Tonight's pick.  The beauty of having lots of courgette plants is that you can take a load of them when their super small with the flowers on.

Tomatoes coming strong but the peas still a disappointment.  I think that they are planted a bit too close together actually so it's worth another go next year.

Few green peppers, a bit small but cute aren't they?

Peas - some thoughts

Starting to harvest peas now and it's clear that they are a tricky thing to do in terms of actually providing food for the table.  It's been quite satisfying to get the plants past the slugs and the pigeons and they are fairly attractive plants, if a little wild. 

There are quite a few pods but all a different stages of maturity which makes it hard to pick enough for a meal.

Here's a pod with a nice set of fully grown peas. (For a sense of scale the peas are the size of peas)

So, you pick a stack of pods which seem to be ready and leave the rest to carry on growing, open them all up and this is what you get.

Ok, not that many pods but they were the ones that seemed ready.  Enough for a single portion or maybe a few MasterChef type plates where I could scatter a dozen or so in an artful manner I guess.

More planting -Lettuce and Fennel

 All the potatoes lifted now and acres of bare soil.  

Decided to plant some random stuff, partly to see it grow and maybe to even get some more food.  Rocket, Lettuce (Lollo Rosso) and Fennel.  Tiny seeds that grow quickly (7-14 days) and will then need thinning out.

Potato sorting by size

May seem to indicate marginal levels of OCD but I thought it important to sort the potato harvest into size order (the substantial harvest of the Nicola variety in particular).  Not completely from smallest to largest but just into general categories, to make it easier when cooking something to pick the best size.

4 categories; tiny - not sure what for; small -  for salads etc.; big - probably cut in half before cooking; massive - for baking or chips.

Very satisfying half an hour (if only slightly worrying).

Here's the results showing a nice normal distribution curve.

A couple of closups of Tiny and Massive (same size trays)

Basket of produce

Looks very cool when you pick a few things at the same time

Only 4 tomatoes but these were the only ripe ones.  There's a stack of green so I'm hoping that they start turning now.

Peas and more

They're starting to appear now and apparently more will as you pick them so I took these few.

More potatoes, second earlies, Nicola

Strolled up to water the tomatoes and decided to get some potatoes up too.  Both Ron and Alan tell me they should all be up by August so, although my back hurts a bit, I do a bit of potato-forking.

Glad I did.  This Nicola variety (second earlies) is much better than the Maris Bards of a couple of weeks ago.  Hardly any had been eaten by slugs etc and I only had to throw a couple away.  A range of sizes but they all look brilliant.  Definitely doing them again next year.

Artichoke Flower

Can't eat these flowers but don't they look superb?  I actually think they look better than artichoke's taste if that makes any sense at all.  I'm not bothered about eating them but I think I'll leave the plant in for the flowers.

Tomatoes

Well, I haven't done the thinning out thing as much as I should have done, and I'm sure I've got too many in my tiny greenhouse (that's right, I think I need a bigger one!) but the tomatoes are growing nicely.  I cannot wait to eat them.  Are 'fried green tomatoes' a real dish, cos I might have a go?

But still, not too long to wait as they are turning red.  How cool is that?  Slightly out of focus image of my first ever ripening tomato (in my life remember) but I was shaking too much with excitement!

Courgette flower

Following on fom the last post where I was worrying about planting too many courgette plants.  When they flower they look really nice and I'll be quite happy with a load of these beauties.

Courgette plant estimates

Tricky one this.  From last year's experience, and what all the books say, 2 or maybe 3 courgette plants is more than enough for anyone.  Last year I had 3 and, more courgettes than I knew what to do with.

This year I planted 4 and, guess what, the slugs ate them all.  I planted 1 more and it seemed to survive . . . just.  So, I planted 10 more seeds and and then moved the young plants outside, scattered around a bit to fool the slugs.  

They seem to have all survived!  If these 10, and the original one that managed to get through the onslaught, all produce like last year's, I will probably need to negotiate a deal to supply Sainsburys as I am going to have a lot of spare courgettes in a month or so.  

Alternatively it's courgettes for breakfast, dinner and tea.

Potato harvest begins

"100 days for First Earlies" my site-neighbour Ron tells me.  Well it's been 95 days since planting and I decided to lift.  Apparently the rest need to come up before August or blight sets in - black diseased potatoes.

3 rows of Marix Bard planted on April 7th, about 15 seed potatoes. Salad or 'New' potatoes

Very cool digging them up and quite a good harvest.  Sorted them out back home using the 4-stage classification system Perfect, 1-Hole, 2 or more holes, Severe (I.e. Bad).

Here's a photo of the resiults (Perfect at the bottom)

Probably eat everything in Groups 1 and 2, unless war breaks out and we'll have to eat Group 3.  It would have to get pretty bad to try Group 4 although there may be some poor sods who would welcome them.

Sweet peas

A bit of colour on the plot.  I seemed to plant a load of seeds earlier on this year but only a few actually survived.  Nice purples though and, who knows if I pick a few, they might look quite good over the summer.

Courgette plant victory

A minor victory but I managed to get one courgette plant past the slug menace and now seems to be doing well.  I didn't take a photo because I sometimes think the slugs are teasing me and as soon as they see me taking a proud photo they'll creep out and completely demolish it.

Strimmer needed - petrol preferred.

. . . The Stihl FS40, when you have to strim every blade of grass on the allotment, accept no substitute.  (Slightly modified words from the Samuel L Jackson lines in 'Jackie Brown')

Second Pea Protector is up

The second pea protector module is up and running.  I'm determined to get some peas this year and the young plants look super-cozy behind a wire fence.

The scare-crow keeps most of the birds away obviously but, the fence keeps the braver pigeons out.

Baby leeks

Coming along nicely but still miles away from actually getting in the ground.  I might thin them out a bit and transplant some more into individual pots.  Supposed to be 'pencil-thin', mine are more like 'pencil-lead-thin'.  

All from seed though so that's probably a good thing . . . 

Pea protection

Next door neighbour, Everton, was laughing at my pathetic attempt at guarding my peas last year and, of course, the pigeons ate the lot!

This year I'm taking no prisoners and am determined to get a few peas.  Here's my pat pending chicken wire guard.  Peas are just starting to show after starting off in the greenhouse.

Tomatoes are in their grow bags

Finally got some tomatoes in their actual growing place.  All from seed of course, and I have been looking longingly at the plants for sale in the garden centreswaiting . . .

Anyway I think it's worth the wait and the seed thing is amazingly cool even if you do end up with more plants than you actually need! I'm just going to pant them in everything I can.

Check out the marigolds keeping guard - they "keep bad stuff away" apparently!

Baby sweet corn

Not sure about these as the results were mixed last year.  Still, worth another try as they do look great when they've grown up a bit.

Got some straw around one of the strawberry beds too (in background of photo)

Beetroot and sweet peas

Worth a try.  A guy was using it on MasterChef this week so, who knows? Sweet peas on the canes in the background -  looking forward to using the shoots in some posh dishes too!

Greenhouse goodness

Everything is doing well from seed - even the leeks (in the foreground), although they've got a long way to go.

Check out the rocket in the trays!  Need to put this in the ground I think, although I'm sure the slugs are peering through the glass and licking their lips (ugh!) and waiting for me to move them outside.

Tomatoes are coming on great although the plants in Dore More nursery today looked very tempting at 3 times the size of mine.  Stil, I'll stick with the seeds this year and see how it goes.  Wonder when you actually transfer to the grow-bags - soon I think.

Slugs claim the 'first beans'

I'm not sure how we got away with this last year, but the slugs have taken a real liking to the broad beans.  The scarecrow was completely useless in guarding the crop.

Lucky I've got some more ready to plant with the 'wave strategy' I'm using this year.

May have to put up some better defenses for the second wave - can I go to slug pellets?  I'm not sure rreally although I could have a go at the Organic variety.  I presume they don't kill the birds like the non-organic sort.

Here's a pic of the ravaged crop.

First beans in

Seedlings coming along nicely in the greenhouse so I thought I'd get a few in the ground as we're away for the weekend.  Broad Beans Aquadulce from the Real Seed Company.

Being guarded by the scarecrow.

The scarecrow gets a facelift

One of the good things about visitors to the allotment is that you get some extra help now and again.  Particularly useful when the scarecrow needs a bit if a facelift and especially good when the original scarecrow-builder is visiting.

A facelift for Rosie courtesy of Elisa.

Greenhouse antics

Starting to get quite a few things started in the greenhouse. Tomatoes, broad beans, leeks, rocket, borlotti beans and some sweet peas.  

Decided to have a to at planting in waves so that they don't al come at once.  8 broad beans started and then 3 weeks later another 8.  Cunning eh?

Final Batch of Potatoes

Only went for a wander and met someone who was planting potatoes and I remembered that I had a few left to do. So I got the rest in; Main crop Maris Pipers and some Anya, the funny looking ones that apparently were 'created' specifically for Sainsburys.  2 rows just north of the garlic - didn't take a photo because, after all, it is just soil at the moment. 

(Actually I took a lot of phots of 'just soil' last year, and few this - maybe there comes a point in this Allotment game where you're not super excited at merely planting things...)

Crop rotated potatoes

Potatoes are in and 'rotated' to bed number 1.  

2 rows of Maris Bard- 'First Earlies' and then 3 rows of Nicola - '2nd Earlies'.  Some main crop, and Anya still to get in but I'll do that later the week.

Chitting a-plenty

What a strange verb - 'chitting','to chit' (certainly confuses the spell-checker).

Anyway it's all coming along nicely and I think they could be nearly ready.

I'm stealing glances at other peoples plots; some have started others are waiting.  Am I the only one stealing glances - or maybe they're waiting for me?

Strawberry patch maintenance

Put some chicken manure pellets on the strawberry patches.  Not really worth a picture- just saying.

Path building

It's clearly too early to plant stuff so I thought I'd tackle a bit of path-building. The 'entrance' path is more than a bit dangerous so that's a good starting point.

Here it is in all its glory

And here it after a bit (i.e. a lot) of huffing and puffing - just working out where things might go of course.

All I have to do now is get a bit of a base together (sand and cement maybe) level it off and re-lay everything so it nice and smooth.  Easy-peasy.  Final image to follow, in a week or so I hope.