Hungerford allotment blog - grow your own, harvesting and vegetarian cooking. Enjoying allotment wildlife, weather and other things that catch my attention. Enjoying time on the Marsh Lane Allotment site in Hungerford, Berkshire. A record of successes, failures and a handy reminder for me. From 2017 each post title brings a song to add a little extra music to the world - enjoy!
Saturday 30 March 2024
Raining Again
Sunday 10 March 2024
Woman
I’m not sure how it’s the 10th of March already, but that’s what life is like these days!
A frosted daffodil |
So far March has brought frost, fog and rain, but thank goodness a bit of sunshine too!
I’ve enjoyed seeing the various poems in shop windows up the High Street for the Hungerford Poetry Festival - what a good idea! I haven’t had an opportunity to pop into the library yet to see all the locally written ones but here’s my offering - a Marsh Lane one, obviously 😊
We had a very pleasant allotment day yesterday, doing various bits of tidying and clearing - mostly not on our plots, but Jamie did finish the potato patch with a sprinkling of sulphur and a final dig through.
I dug and planted up some of Ivan’s irises - it’s a lucky dip for what colours we may get. There are 4 different plants there so hopefully a good mix - lots of plotholders have been taking them before the plots are re-leased to newcomers.Sunday 11 February 2024
Cool for Cats
Saturday 13 January 2024
Bridge over Troubled Water
The rain, brought by Storm Henk, was so torrential that there has been serious flooding in nearby towns and Hungerford’s rivers and canal have all overflowed with some houses needing to be pumped out - not us I’m pleased to say. What a truly horrible way to start the new year 😞
Here's the River Dun by the war memorial, at least 1 metre higher than it should be, with water gushing through from flooded areas upstream. Thank goodness for the marshland around Hungerford to capture most of that excess water. Nearby Marlborough didn’t fair so well…We’ve had a few visits to the plot, mostly just to plod around thinking how nasty it looks, but our leeks have survived the drenching and continue to grow. This photo shows that there has been some very welcome sunshine this year - makes a nice change to see it on a weekend!And the broad beans have grown quite tall under their protection as the weather has been mostly mild so far this Winter. We’ll leave them protected for now as the weather has turned frosty and snow is threatening over the next week…The spindly garlic is the only other sign of good things to come on the allotment.Thursday 28 December 2023
Looking Back
January
It was a wet start to 2023 (we couldn’t know how wet the year was going to continue!). We had at least one super frost, although no snow. The cold nights gave us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
The allotment was providing us with carrots, Cavolo Nero and parsnips.
February
Clearing and digging began in earnest as the ground dried up. We actually felt we were ahead of the game for a change.
And the Cavolo Nero kept providing - I think I’ll plant it again this year - and purple sprouting broccoli finally started producing the delicious flowerheads. A month later than 2022, but worth the wait.March
Early March was when we got some snow. We had to get up in the wee hours to enjoy it; it (and we) didn’t hang around long.
Last year’s dried beans made for some tasty meals including these bean burgers, served with steamed purple sprouting broccoli - delish.April
May
June
July
August
Harvests continued to include asparagus pea, courgettes, salad, potatoes and beets.