Secret Ingredients

There must be some secret ingredients here since I have never been able to grow carrots before but my grandaughter Lianna gave me some for my birthday last year and success at last.

Lianna with carrots

She also helped with digging up the Main crop Desiree potatoes around 26Kg in total. Also shown here are the second early Kestrel which I left drying far too long. Out of sight (in the garage) is another full 25kg bag of first earlies Pentland Javelin from some time earlier.

 

Second and main crop potatoes

As a consolation prize here is the infamous “duck potato” mentioned last time!

Duck Potato

The Master of the Onions

Well, thanks to my granddaughter Lianna, I decided I really ought to enter for the show even though the entries had to be in on Wednesday and my sister Rosemary’s funeral was on the Thursday. A regular forced day off on Friday left time to recover from that and Saturday morning saw me rushing around picking and selecting. 

Here is the unexpected result – a second prize to go with my first from last year. This year the onions arrived just days after leaving for holiday and so they sat in a jiffy bag by the back door for nearly three weeks gradually rotting. I decided to plant up what I could and managed to lift around 45 New Fen Globe and 55 Red Baron that were reasonable.

The day of the show and I desperately tried to find three matching onions in reasonable condition and this was the result. Next year may be less daunting and I’ll try to do a better job of whipping the necks.

 

Also unexpected was the third prize for these runner beans – Aintree. They have been erratic but again I managed to find five similar ones to display.

Just to show that everything isn’t always easy, I also entered french beans, courgettes, beetroot, shallots and the longest runner. I was going to enter the cucumber but it was only about 5 inches long and I preferred to let it grow and eat it. 

I also was in trouble as I forgot to enter the novelty potato that we dug. A Desiree shaped like a classic rubber duck.

Next year I might try the “4 veg in a seed tray” to show off the others such as garlic and squash that look and taste so good.

High Summer

 

After last years prize winning pumpkin but less than thrilling squash I am pleasantly surprised by the first Festival squash picked on Monday night. About 5 – 6 inches but aesthetically wonderful. Several more on their way but some time off I think. Other cucurbits are coming along but not photogenic yet. (cucumbers, pumpkins and decorative gourds) 

My sister is very ill and so this and other family issues leave little time for the allotment at the moment but it is still wonderful to be able to sit and think by the chamomile lawn and lavender bush and keep the stress down.  Joan bought an echinacea plant after seeing it on mtp a couple of weeks back but it is in the garden at the moment until I decide exactly where it should go to add to the sense of calm.

It is very reassuring to see that the allotment will produce its bounty even without me attacking the weeds. I just need to remember that I do need to sow or plant first.

Below is a selection of lettuce ( Webbs Wonderful, Lollo Rosso and others), peas (Hurst Green Shaft – not impressed so far), runner beans ( Aintree ), courgettes (Pomodoro and AN Other), beetroot (Chioggia) and carrot thinnings.

The onions will need to be lifted soon as the necks have all gone over. No prizes this year I suspect! 

Summer Selection

I also cut back almost all of my tomatoes in the garden yesterday as the blight had got to them. I’ll try to save those few left but interestingly of the four varieties, only the cherry type ( Red Alert) was least affected. The left over plants that I put in the mini greenhouse look more promising now even though they are still in 4″ pots and on a liquid diet.

New Pickings

Black Red and White currants

Finally decided that I should pick the currents at the weekend.  Not sure about the weight but must be a couple of pounds of blackcurrants.

The Redcurrants were lost at the start of the season. I think the wind got to them or possibly birds right at the beginning. I netted the three bushes quite early and lost very few. I look forward to eating them later.

 

Eschallot Grise

The shallots have dried out nicely so I trimmed them to about 3 ins and will hang them in the string bag. About 1.5 Kg (189 bulbs)  from 12 surviving plants. I lost four to rot and then another before I decided to cut my losses and lift them several weeks ago.

The broad beans plants were all lifted and some left over runner and french beans put in their place as a second crop.

Lollo Rosso and Winter Density lettuces doing well in their nursery between the leeks. Also just sown Webbs Wonderful, Ice King, Mixed Shades and Salad Bowl to give me some later lettuces.

 

Overview

Just to show that there are other things going on – a shot from the North East corner looking up and across the allotment.

In the foreground are Cabbages – Savoy Endeavour, Ruby Perfection and Candice.

Runner and French beans – Aintree and Empress

Onions – Red Baron and New Fen Globe,

Potatoes – Desiree

Out of Shot – Parsnips and Celery,

Middle beds from the bottom:

Peas – Hurst green Shaft ( almost ready to pick)

Onions,

Potatoes – Kestrel

Cucumbers – Marketmore and Burpless

Pumpkins - Crown Prince

Decorative gourds ( some of last years still going strong)

Broccoli, Spinach, Swiss Chard

Far beds:

Leeks – Musselburgh

Lettuces – various

Potatoes – Pentland Javelin

Carrots – Early Nantes and Parmex

Beetroot – Chioggia and Wodan,

Sprouts – Berwick and Cromwell

Lettuces

Sweetcorn

At the top is Sweetpeas, Lettuces, Rhubarb, Sunflowers, Courgettes – Gold Rush, Pomodoro and unknown green, Squashes

I can’t remember all the specifics so I’ll update this later!

Home again

Broad Beans

Back from holiday towards the end of April and at last there is a chance of broad beans this summer.

Just before leaving at the beginning of April, I finally had enough and bought some Bunyards Exhibition. I planted up 96 in modules and placed them on the garage window sill.

On returning three weeks later, they were all up at around 4 inches high. Hardening them off over a few days and I put them in the cold frame. The next day some had been dug up and eaten again so rather than the lose more I placed them in the ground immediately replacing all those that failed of the Aquadulce attempts. Around 20 Aquadulce and 50 Bunyards.

 

Looks promising so far with pea netting just above them to keep the birds off and pellets below for the slugs. I have wired between the posts to give a small amount of support in case of high winds.

Alliums again

Just to show that the garlic and shallots planted last November are still going strong along  with the weeds!

Also in the background is the rhubarb – Timperley Early – chucked in the ground last year before finalising the plan. We had that a week ago in a rhubarb and almond crumble and it was excellent.

Sweet Pea Haven

Sweet Peas

Too many other events in life so just a little later than planned. 

At the end of March and just before leaving for a holiday my sweetpeas arrived from Simply Sweet Peas. I could not expect them to survive in the packaging so though it best to get them in the ground.

The hazel sticks came from next door and I spent Monday and Tuesday night before the holiday carting most of the tree onto the plot.  The left group are the “heirloom” so should be very fragrant next to the bench. The others are “blue skies” and are more modern blue ones for cutting.

The lettuces in the front are Webbs Wonderful that lasted through the winter under a cloche and still tasted good last week.

Alliums away

Garlic

Sundays weather was changeable to say the least. From cold to sunny to heavy rain to sleet and back to sun again.

At least some things are working well on the plot. Above shows the Albigensian garlic and behind that the Purple Moldovan that was planted in November.

Eschallot Grise

Also going well are the Eschallot Grise planted around the same time.

The Elephant garlic has yet to show but I may have planted that deeper.

Slightly disappointing is that a number of the potatoes that have been chitting for a while now have gone rotten. No idea why but they are all from the same supplier. Others I bought from a different supplier are much healthier and are likely to go in “real soon now”

Early Spring – or is it?

Jerusalem Artichokes

Finally got back onto the plot this weekend and decided to clear some of the rubbish. Three apparently dead Jerusalem Artichoke plants yielded the lovely harvest above and also half a dozen potatoes left over from last August that look good enough to eat.

The stainless steel spade works wonders on the clay I have in many places at the moment. I should have bought one ages ago. It is noticeably easier to work where I added manure last year so in a few years the whole plot should be happier.

I’ve dug over two of the potato beds and covered one with fleece to get a head start. I’ve got carried away this year with Pentland Javelin first earlies and Kestrel seconds. I then couldn’t resist some Desiree main crop from Lowden Nurseries and finally fell for some Swift very earlies which are in planters to beat the lot.

I should be getting the onions later this month so I have dug over and levelled one of the beds for that  but then wanted to plant the bulb of Solent Wight I bought in the Isle of Wight last year. I’m interested to see how it performs against the other garlic that I planted in November that is looking good so far.

The broad beans are still showing few signs. Just three are poking their heads up from the 96 I planted in modules and none from the second sowing in the ground yet. 

The Purple Sprouting broccoli is showing signs of recovery having been netted again to keep the pigeons away.

Last but not least I still have the last of the parsnips and sprouts to collect before they finally rot, and I lifted the first of the leeks. There are still swedes (admittedly small) and cabbages that I cannot see will be ready before next winter. 

Hopefully I’ll get a bit more time as the days lengthen but lets hope the economy doesn’t mean I have too much time!

2009 – A healthy year

parsnip

It’s been a while since I last updated this so there are a few things to show.

First is this parsnip about a foot long and 5 inches across – the first of many back in October. This was Panache from Marshalls, from my first sowing. Plenty more right up until Christmas but the later sowings were smaller and in 2009 I plan on sowing earlier and in cardboard tubes or root-trainers.  I didn’t notice the mark when I took the picture or I would have turned it round but none of the parsnips were so badly affected by pests they had to be discarded.

gourds

 

I planted a packet of mixed ornamental gourds picked up cheaply just to fill a spot and these are the result. I planted about 30cm apart each way and trimmed them back when they started spreading to neighbouring beds. They look good in the kitchen doing just what it said on the tin.

Ice

When we had that very cold snap at new year I drained the water butts before they split. You can see I just caught them in time since these beautiful ice spirals about 2 inches long spreading towards the middle. Very difficult to photograph and shortly after getting the pics the whole lot crashed to the bottom.

sprouts

These are some still left after raiding on Christmas Eve. The pest damage is only on the very outside and they taste delicious. I’m puzzled since I had two types, Montgomery and Cromwell, which should have been ready at different times but they both seem to be producing together. I did pick some and freeze them a couple of weeks before Christmas just in case I lost the lot.

From the allotment, Christmas lunch included fresh sprouts and parsnips and very tasty peas, broad, french and runner beans  from the freezer. Also desert included raspberries that were as tasty as the day they were picked.

Winter plot

 To finish – a general view of the plot as at 2nd January 2009.

In the foreground are some January King that I suspect may be Jan 2010 before they’re ready!

Under the cloche are Webbs Wonderful lettuces.

Behind these are swedes “Marian”, which we may try soon. The largest is still only about 6cm across and about 12cm long.

In the bed behind are purple sprouting broccoli, turnips that really did not work this year and on the right chard “Bright Lights”.

Further back are the leeks that still need another month or so and the sprouts.

I’m already up on last year as all the heavy digging and manuring was done before the rain and cold. I will need to get out there and replant the broad beans soon as I can see none of the 96 have survived the birds and mice.

The shallots and garlic I planted are looking OK but not up to last years levels yet.

 Here’s to a good, healthy 2009.

Yet More Triumphs – Largest Pumpkin, Third Prize

3rd prize pumpkin

 

A very unexpected bonus last Saturday when Mike, one of the allotment wardens, pulled up and handed me an envelope. Inside was not the expected summons to pay the next years rent but my Hundredweight pumpkin at 40 inches diameter had won me third prize in the largest pumpkin competition judged that morning. Luckily for me Dennis was not allowed to win more than one prize or his would have taken first, second, and third! I understand Mike himself had won second.

My wife Joan has already made pumpkin pies and pumpkin soup that was perfect yesterday.

I’ve been too busy to do much on the allotment lately let alone add anything to the blog but here are a few recent goodies.

Cauliflowers

I was very pleased to get these caulis since everyone told me how hard they were to grow. They were given to me by our friends Barbara and Jim as 6 plants ( all the year round ) so I put them in to the only space available at the time along with the lettuces. The cabbage whites had a field day as you can see. One failed to grow at all, two grew but the centres were eaten before forming, one I picked but froze and when it was taken out a week later it looked disgusting but the one here on the left was perfect in a cauliflower cheese on Monday night. I’m hoping we catch the other before it goes off.

red and white onion strings

Just to prove that the winning onions were not a fluke here are some of the Red Baron and New Fen Globe I strung up in the garage. About 5Kg each string and all the smaller ones are in hessian bags. As I wrote before, the White Prince were hopeless.

cucumbers

Last but not least, here are about a dozen of the cucumbers (Marketmore) that have such flavour and texture compared to the shop ones.

I’ll save the cornfield for later.