Showing posts with label hedge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hedge. Show all posts

Monday 16 October 2023

Rainbow

We have a LOT of mini pumpkins (Jack-Be-Little). They're actually a bit too small and may be a bit of a pain to cook, but they'll look nice in a Halloween display. My sister and a local nursery school will benefit from a few of them and I'll keep the slightly bigger ones for roasting.

We put them all in the polytunnel and zipped it closed ahead of the forecast frost at the weekend - and it did arrive. Brrr, we weren't used to it at all! 0.3° on Saturday night.

We weren't cold during the day on Saturday because it was a HAHA Workday. Lots of hedge-cutting - only to stop the fence getting overgrown; the birds are enjoying the berries far too much to cut back the laden branches. The bonfire was mostly old rotten wood from pallets and the like. The Sun shone for much of the day and it was a nice gathering of plotholders. We were watching the activity on the ivy in the hedge - so full of life!

Literally buzzing with flies, bees, hoverflies, ladybirds and wasps - all enjoying the nectar and pollen.

The frost has taken out some dahlias on site but our plot is a bit more protected because of its proximity to the hedge and our flowers are still blooming - the hummingbird hawkmoth was enjoying the verbena again at the end of the day yesterday.

I pulled the first parsnips yesterday - look at that monster. Of course I stuck the fork through that, so it went into the compost bin but I was pleased with the one on the right. Though they need a bit more frost to get the true parsnip flavour out of them, I'll try roasting some to see if that draws the flavour out.

The leeks were some which weren't transplanted but have grown quite thick in their original sowing location. That Wintery trug formed the basis of our gratin dinner - I added some chopped nuts and cheese to the top but I think the all-home-grown dish looked better before the cream and topping was added.

On Saturday, just when we were feeling ready to go home, there was a very timely (it damped down the embers) and very heavy shower! It was quite unexpected and we had to run for cover.

And then we had a lovely rainbow to enjoy!

And when the big black cloud moved on, we were bathed in sunshine with blue sky again - crazy weather!

So that's why today's song is provided by Marmalade - love the hippy lady, she reminds me of my sister back in the day 😀

Monday 22 May 2023

In the Morning

Early morning visits are the norm now. We have a pleasant hour on sunny mornings, enjoying the wildlife, removing covers in the polytunnel, watering all the seedlings then back home to log in to work. The temperatures have been in low single digits in the early hours but warm up quickly during the day and the polytunnel gets really hot, so we go back in the evening to cover the seedlings up for the night.

Hawthorn - before and after pollination
Hawthorn - before and after pollination

The hawthorn in the hedgerow has bloomed over the last week and the scent is quite over-whelming. So beautiful especially with the blue sky and sunshine we had this weekend. It was windy so we were being continually showered with confetti.

Jamie mowed the paths while I stared at the tadpoles; there's at least one frog in the pond too, but it's laying low at the moment except for the occasional splosh. Jamie's sown our Lark sweetcorn and we're pleased that the Jack Be Little pumpkins germinated in the week - the plan is for them to trail around/over the sweetcorn plants. The Baby cucumbers, Bush Delicata squash and Mangomel melon are also in that tray. They need to grow at least another pair of leaves before we plant them outside.

I’ve transplanted the Radish Rats Tails and some of the larger of the Asparagus Pea seedlings. The six biggest plants I’ve actually planted out, but I’ve given them some cloche protection as they’re tiny and looked too vulnerable out in the big wide world!

Winged peas
Talking of the big wide World, we went to Newbury for the Vegan Food Market on Sunday. It made a nice change to be out for something other than the allotment or an appointment!
What a treat, people-watching in the lovely warm sunshine. And look at the plant-based hot dog I had - the Colorado Mountain - so delicious, makes me wish I was growing gherkins again as it was stocked up with them and other amazing fillings with a plant-based sausage in there somewhere!

The rest of the weekend was allotment-based and we got a lot of tidying done. Trying to keep our edges neat so the snails have fewer places to hide. I found about 20 giant snails in my 3 chive plants during the week!! I flung them over the hedge (the snails, that is) and they haven’t returned…yet.
The chive flowers are so pretty. I usually start making chive flower vinegar at this time but I’ll let the bees enjoy them for a while because there aren’t many other flowers available on our plot at the moment. (Note the neat edging).
 
We do have a few flowers but these aquilegia are by the polytunnel so aren't very noticeable - it's another area that could do with a tidy and improved edging.
 
All the potatoes have burst through - the ones in the bags have the same amount of growth as these in the ground. We did top them with a bit of soil the other night because we thought there may be a frost, but it was ok. The temperature at Marsh Lane is about 3° lower than in the town so we're keeping a close eye on the forecasts.
I sowed all our beans into root trainers yesterday. Eight of each variety: Yin Yang dwarf beans (home-saved), Scarlet Empire Runner Beans, Blue Lake Climbing French Beans and Firetongue Climbing Borlotti Beans. Hopefully they’ll germinate in the polytunnel and then the climbers will be planted to grow up the old polytunnel frame (previously the squash tunnel).
That was a most enjoyable weekend but now it's time for work. Have a good week all and happy growing! Here are The Coral.


Monday 27 March 2023

Walk on the Wild Side

British Summer Time is here - the weather doesn’t realise and it’s been mostly dull and windy plus we’ve had a lot of rain; 35mm in the last week.

Cowslips
That sounds a bit moany considering we had a pleasant few hours on the plot on Sunday afternoon and lots more flowers have bloomed in the last week providing such welcome spots of colour. Those cowslips in the above photo are putting on a lovely show on the HAHA Wildlife plot and there are 'common' daisies popping up in the grass paths.
Daisy
Plenty of pollen for emerging insects but I only saw one bumblebee. The grape hyacinths are appearing in various places where we thinned out the bulbs from our plot and planted them around the site. And we have lots in pots where other bulbs are also growing. I wonder if the succession planting will actually work for once..!
The blackthorn blossom has now opened in the hedge. Such a pretty little flower.
Blackthorn blossom

Along with 2 robins singing their tuneful ditty trying to drown out the church bells, there were several tiny birds flitting about in the hedge. It was difficult to see what they were but Jamie managed to get this shot - thanks Sue for the tip to use ‘photo burst’ on our camera. Lovely to see a tiny goldcrest!

Goldcrest

In the path alongside the hedge we have a lot of violets growing - white ones, and they don’t smell so must be common dog violets. 

White Violets
A little tint of colour on the petals to direct the insects in.
Violets
And here’s another common plant alongside the hedge which flowers at this time of year. Creeping Charlie or ground ivy. The flowers are tiny but bees love them. The leaves have a lovely minty scent and can, apparently, be used for various ailments and as a herbal tea (though I expect it tastes nasty like most herbal teas 😏). Apparently it has been used in cheese-making as an alternative to animal rennet!
Creeping Charlie
It seems to be treated as an invasive pest, but perhaps that's for people who want grass lawns - I prefer to see a mix of plants personally.
Writhing mass of tadpoles

Apart from scrambling around the ground taking macro shots of tiny flowers, I did get up-close (down-close) and personal to the writhing mass of tadpoles in the HAHA Wildlife plot - as you can see, they have their external gills. They do form quickly, these have grown in 12 days, although there are some which are still little dots or commas in their spawn bubbles. 

Frog spawn

Including the ones in our little pond. The spawn sunk when I added it to our pond and the spawn is still only at comma stage from what I could see in the murky depths. Quite interesting that you can see where they're eating their way out of their bubbles.

We did actually do a little work on the allotment too - our broad beans have been weeded, but left under their protective covers. The chocolate spot on the leaves is annoying but hopefully won't spread too far into the plant. It's probably caused by being under the covers but that offers protection from pigeons and heavy rain/snow.

Some of the plants which were sown at the end of October have flowers on, but many didn't survive the really cold spell. The plants are better where we popped a bean into the empty spaces more recently (was it before Christmas? Can't remember!)

And finally, at last, some purple sprouting brocolli to harvest! Nearly 12 months on from sowing! Mmm, it is lovely though so worth the wait. This mostly wild blog post has the song provided by Lou Reed - do...do..doo...do..di.di...doo

Sunday 5 March 2023

Just a Little Bit Longer

It may be meteorological spring but brrrr it’s been a cold weekend with temperatures of about 5° and no sunshine both days. Needs must though so we got a few hours of plotting done both days.
Primrose
There are signs of Spring, with these pretty primula and grape hyacinths giving a little colour in the dullness. The hedgerow is full of song from the robins, tits and finches and this weekend the first signs of new growth on the hawthorn (or possibly blackthorn). I had to use the macro, they’re very tiny buds.
My tiny hazel tree is also in bud. I know the bud isn’t in focus, but the stem is rather interesting especially compared to the smooth hawthorn.
Hazel bud
The perennial flowers are beginning to emerge. Poor little things; it’s due to go much colder with possible snow this week. This is a lovely silvery delphinium that Aimee let us take from her plot last year.
I cleared our iris bed and the stems will need a bit more trimming after the cold snap is passed. They’ll also appreciate a bit of potato fertiliser.
We’ve been pulling lots of grass from the beds and have buried it deep in the bottom of holes that we’ve dug and manured. One is for a Jack-be-Little pumpkin and the other for a green bush courgette on Plot7. We have our planting plan worked out now and just a few more seeds to buy…
Not quite as fancy as some of my plans from previous years, but it serves its purpose 🙂 Of course, I fully expect to diverge from this as other plotholder’s spare become available - it’s so hard to resist!
There’s a lot of clearing and prepping happening all over site and we’re at that point where we just want to get sowing, but we’ll wait… just a little bit longer.. Thanks to Maxi Priest for the song title. (I know what you’re thinking, but I’ve used the Jackson Browne song before)

Monday 14 September 2020

Free Falling

I’ve been working from home for 6 months now. I know lots of people don’t get on with it, but I’ve found it ok. It’s a bit intense, with too many meetings and I miss the general chit-chat and the random corridor chats but I’ve found I’m more productive with work and at home - look, I even made a blackberry & apple crumble! I haven’t done that in a few decades 😀

The blackberries were from the allotment hedge and the apples were windfalls left outside a house we walked past at the weekend (Thanks!). It’s very tasty and I had some for breakfast. I added some almonds to the crumble, but can’t really taste them, I should have added a few more.

We walked to the plot because the East-bound M4 was closed all weekend so all that traffic had to drive along the A4 and was queuing for miles, we didn’t fancy getting caught in that for the sake of a mile walk! You can just about see some of the traffic in this photo from the site’s entrance.
It was a lovely sunny weekend and we spent a good few hours on site both days. We did lots of weed clearing, trimmed the edges, dealt with the compost, hoed everywhere and enjoyed the sun and wildlife. I was given two kale seedlings (Thanks Min!) so planted them in the netted area on Plot3 - the weed seedlings are happy with all the extra space so we’re going to have to hoe it regularly. This is an extreme close-up of a tiny section of ‘bare’ earth!
Jamie spotted this great looking Herald moth on the back of our bench. I love the wing-shape.
We’re still enjoying runner beans which are very long but surprisingly not gnarly yet.
These few went into a stir-fry, made with peanut satay sauce and Naked Glory ‘roast tender strips’. I hadn’t tried them before and they were a really tasty veggie-protein fillet to use as a ‘meat replacement’ - I’m not keen on that phrase but it’s hard not to use it sometimes.

It’s sweltering today (Monday) and it was nice to have a quick lunchtime visit to the allotment - I won’t be able to do that when I eventually make it back to the lab. Talking of which, have you seen the news about life on Venus? Well, maybe not life as we know it 😊

Tom Petty provides the title track, though I added the 'g' because I'm just not that cool to get away with it and Blogger can’t handle apostrophes in titles :-D 

Sunday 6 September 2020

Afternoon Delight

We’ve had two lovely afternoon visits to the plot this weekend. We’ve had no rain to speak of but some great clouds interspersed with warm sunshine.

Yesterday I spent most of the time admiring the hedgerow, it’s full of berries.

We always used to say it’ll be a hard winter when we’d see this many berries, but I don’t think it’s true... we’ll see...

The topmost photo in this post is young ivy berries - the birds love them. I think it looks like the Covid-19 virus. Talking of that, I went to the hairdressers in the week! I kept my mask on throughout the visit and the salon staff all had face shields. The Government are trying to encourage civil servants to return to the office  but I don’t think I’ll have to, I hope not anyway.

Jamie and I were both cooking this morning. He was making a tomato sauce, with tomatoes from my sister’s greenhouse. Our tomato plant on site went down with blight along with everyone else’s, but at least we had some tasty fruits from it. And, as you can see, I was making another decorated focaccia, with olives, peppers and basil this time. 

It’s very pleasing to make!

We’re still getting a regular supply of courgettes and Ivan gave us some of his Red Rooster potatoes yesterday...

He had plenty to share!

And Neal gave me a couple of lovely beetroot which I roasted and am having for lunches, I’m keeping them in the fridge in vinegar and pepper. They’re so delicious and made a colourful cold snack with runner beans and roasted peppers today.

The beans are leaning after the unseasonal strong winds we had a couple of weeks ago, but they’re still going strong. In fact, they seem to be producing another lot of flowers and beans at the moment.

The title song is provided by Starland Vocal Band.