Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts

Thursday 27 July 2023

The Importance of Being Idle

I was pleased when it was sunnier than expected yesterday morning and we had a lovely few hours on the plot. The clouds started developing while we were digging the area for the leeks. That’s where the broad beans were.
The leeks were sown en masse at the end of that patch - the whole packet. That method has worked for Neal in the past, so we followed his example and the little leeks look pretty good and ready to be planted on. There should be plenty left over for sharing once we’ve planted ours - I don’t think we’ve ever planted them so early.
Apart from that bit of digging I’ve had a relaxing few days pottering around on the plots. We’ve been watching juvenile robins and bullfinches in the hedge, it’s been lovely. The bullfinch father seems to be pointing out the various locations for food by whistling for his young ones to follow.
We pulled a Nicola potato from one of the bags; probably enough for three or four meals. We had all the tiny ones as part of a salad containing 7 other home-grown veggies.
And this is the ice cream dessert with the gooseberry and blackcurrant sauces from Ivan’s fruit. What a treat!
I should have, but didn’t, do the Big Butterfly Count; there’s still another week or so. This brimstone butterfly (I suppose it may not be the same one) has been hanging round Kate’s runner beans for two days now. Our beans are nowhere near this stage! Lots of people are already picking beans and we don’t even have flowers 😖
Big yellow butterfly
We do have beans on our Yin Yang dwarf beans though. I was considering eating the pods but it seems that they are best grown as shelled beans even if not dried, so they have quite a bit more growing to do. These are the fab looking black and white Orca beans that were grown from our last year’s collected seed - also known as Calypso beans. 
I mentioned in my last post that the asparagus peas are doing well this year. I let some pods grow a bit bigger and they were very tasty - I boiled them for about 10minutes then cooled them before adding to this Beetroot and Quorn roast salad lunch.
Courgettes are still part of every evening meal and were good with this fried gnocchi in a tomato and garlic sauce. Mmm, I do so enjoy this time of year and I even don’t mind doing a bit more of the cooking.
I did a bit of clearing by the pond - we really need to tackle the bindweed. This scabious is enjoying a bit more light now I’ve cleared some of the Nigella seedheads.
And, having cleared some weed from the pond, a froggy appeared! 
I am enjoying my time off work and I’m pretty sure my cold is thinking about moving on which is why I’m taking it easy 🙂 Great song and video by Oasis - enjoy!

Saturday 8 July 2023

What’s Going On?

I’m a bit out of date, I haven’t posted in nearly 3 weeks. Well, it’s been a busy time and I have a rotten cough/throat infection which is hanging round too long. But, apart from that whinge, it’s a great time of year - look, fresh veg for lunches and dinners!
We enjoyed quite a few strawberries, but not as many as we'd hoped. One of the peat-free compost bags was clearly a bit dodgy as the plants were not at all happy.
We’ve been living on broad beans for a while now, so many different ways to enjoy them but they’re just about finished as we’ll be moving on to courgettes. The leeks will go in the ground once the broad bean stalks go to the compost bin.

We had our Open Day on one of the hottest days of the year, it was a great success with plenty of visitors and lots of chit-chat. So exhausting organising and setting up on a sweltering day but there were plenty of volunteers and it’s always fun running the tombola.

Photo courtesy of Forbes

And the after-party was good fun too, with Ivan’s wine followed by a game of horseshoes - definitely need more practice!

The Open Day was the day after the Hungerford in Bloom allotment judging, so the plots were looking their best. Plot7 was included so we had a LOT of weeding to do beforehand. It did look tidier than ever and I even cleared and weeded behind the polytunnel. 

We got 3rd place in our class 😊 mostly I think because there are quite a variety of different items growing on that plot. The plot looks better now after a couple more weeks with some heavy showers between sunshine but still much more growing to do to cover all that bare earth - otherwise a weed will find it! I’ve been filling gaps with lettuce seedlings.

The Incredible sweetcorn that Nia gave us is growing at a pace. I had to stomp the earth around them as they’ve had some really strong winds to contend with. The four tiny plants are the Lark variety that we managed to germinate - they shouldn’t be affected by cross-pollination apparently.

A few more flowers are appearing but our plots are definitely looking mostly green at the moment. The larkspur and nasturtium are the brightest spots for the many hoverflies and bees that have arrived with the warmth. 
And I’m pleased to have noticed a lot of ladybirds over the last week. The HAHA Wildlife plot has plenty of colour for the butterflies that have turned up too.
So, as new veg is emerging, the earlier planted items are giving way. The radish are all eaten, but the radish rats tails provide a spicy addition to salads, along with the delicious peppery nasturtium, which caterpillars haven’t found yet. We ate the scapes from our garlic a couple of weeks ago. They were a very tasty mild-garlic addition to a halloumi meal.
And, I gave the garlic a couple more weeks in the ground but not long enough for the bulbs to properly form into cloves because the foliage was looking so dead and rust- covered. As a result we’ll have to eat it as ‘wet garlic’ and it won’t store for long which is a shame.

Oh, I finished my Best Foot Forward challenge for the National Kidney Federation - Thankyou if you sponsored me! I managed over 176,000 steps in June - a lot of watering was involved in those steps! So much watering!

Alfie very kindly gave us a Bokashi Composting kit. It literally ferments the green waste, rather than composting, and as it ferments we can use the ‘tea’ as a plant food. Seems interesting and all our broad bean waste has been going in there over the last few weeks - the Bokashi bran needs adding for the process to work.

Apart from the lovely plot visits I’ve been working (obviously) and prepping some documents for the BIG HAHA SUMMER SHOW. It’s our first year of running the show ourselves and it’s going to be in the Town Hall, so we really hope there’s a big turnout. I’m not involved in the organisation, but you know me, I do enjoy doing the posters, etc ☺️
Full schedule is available on the website if you’re local. 
So, that’s me caught up. We’re hoping for a thunderstorm this morning then we can go to the plot this afternoon. Song title and sadly relevant question,  provided by Marvin Gaye.


Monday 12 June 2023

Last Nite

Petrichor - that's the word of the day after we eventually had some rainfall last night. Aah, the smell of earth after rain - it really is a feel-good smell. And rain is so much better at watering than we are - having said that, the watering regime has certainly helped me keep my steps up this month so far!

This photo was taken at the HAHA Plant Swap & Picnic on Saturday. Not many people turned up as it was extremely hot and clashed with various other events in town. Having said that, those of us who stayed for the picnic were over the moon to be drinking Ivan's wine - there, on the table in the demijohn. Made from grapes from his Marsh Lane grapevine - it is delicious and rare to have a red grape wine made in England. It was a lot of fun but the walk home was quite a struggle!

The Plant Swap was more of a success, even if people didn't stay for the picnic. I couldn't resist taking a pink jasmine climber (probably Jasminum beesianum), which I've planted at the end of the polytunnel; a couple of Heavenly Blue morning glory, which I have seen on other plots before and it's so beautiful, some spinach and two aubergine plants. I spent Sunday planting out the flowers and also planting the Nicotiana and Verbena Bonariensis that I've grown from seed. Hoping the flower bed will burst into colour quite soon...at the moment it's still looking rather bare..Slightly concerned that the rain will have brought out the slugs and snails to polish off my seedlings.

The HAHA Wildlife plot is looking much more flowery with lots of these huge daisies, which bugs really like.
HAHA Wildlife Plot

I'm pleased that my mangetout have finally developed some flowers. We've all debated it and are convinced that the cold nights have been the cause of slow growth this year - but they're on their way now. And this week we're working out different ways to enjoy broad beans. I do have quite a few recipes that I know we've enjoyed before and I love them cold in salads.

I've transplanted some lettuces from their grow tray into the ground and we've started eating our radishes - I wanted them to get big enough to roast them, but I may need to wait for the Chinese Dragon radishes for that meal. You can see that the pollen beetles are making a mess of the leaves as usual.

On my final day of annual leave last week we had an engineer come to sort out the site's composting toilet - what a relief (hoho) that it wasn't as big a fault as we thought. Kate and I dug out and prepared a proper soakaway so that the blockage doesn't repeat itself. Jamie and I were wandering the site searching for suitable stones - that's a first :-)

On Saturday, thunder was rumbling around, the sky went quite dark but we only felt about 10 drops of rain but last night (Sunday) we got the rain although the thunder & lightning was mostly further north and east of Hungerford - more may be expected today.

So, back to work now, looking out at the sunshine and wishing I was on the plot - but we'll have a lunchtime visit today to see how much rain actually fell. Here are The Strokes not singing about last night's rain!

Monday 5 June 2023

Step On

I’ve been on leave for a week and have a few more days off. I must say that I feel like I’ve been off for a fortnight already - the sunny weather has helped. Although the easterly wind is rather unwelcome, it’s not so noticeable on the allotment site and has even been a relief from the heat at times.

Dragonfly

We’ve spent most of the time on the allotment, obviously. It’s been fabulous. We enjoyed a barbecue one day and plenty of allotment lunches and chats with fellow plotholders.

Nigella

As you can see, the Nigella has flowered and the valerian is filling the air with its lovely vanilla fragrance.

Wildlife reports are showing a distinct reduction in numbers of bees and hoverflies which is apparent on site, though we’re beginning to see a few more this month. We have seen a lot more dragon flies and damsel flies this year - including the impressive broad-bodied chaser in the first photo.
The robins and blackbirds are enjoying the mealworms we take with us each visit, but we have to stand guard otherwise the magpies sneak in and take the lot in one go. They attempted to break into the pot to help themselves yesterday - they’re always watching!
Magpie
More excitingly, we have been hearing the bullfinches recently but actually spotted the male yesterday. We’re hoping they’ll bring their young out soon as we’re beginning to hear baby bird sounds from the hedge.
We were disappointed that only 5 of our Lark sweetcorn germinated so I put a message on the allotment’s WhatsApp group and fellow plotholder, Nia, came to the rescue with 20 Incredible plants! THANKYOU NIA! So now our plot is looking less bare. There are two Jack-be-Little small pumpkins in the corners which we hope will scramble between the tall sweetcorn plants (although I’ve planted the corn a bit close together - the blurb says this variety can reach 8ft!).
I’ve been planting nasturtium in various patches around our plots - the hot weather has kept the slugs away (so far). My other flower seedlings are still too small to plant out but I’ve sown seeds in the flower bed by the bench. This poppy is self-seeded by the polytunnel.
And these irises have been in pots for a few years but I’m not sure I’ve seen the flower before - interesting colour.
My iris display isn’t as stunning as Ivan’s which all visitors to the site can’t help but stop and look at - so beautiful.
I’ve now planted out the Florence fennel, Yin-Yang dwarf beans (our seeds from last year) and a globe artichoke, also from Nia. They’re in the plot with the oh-so-slow-growing mangetout, asparagus pea and beetroot (which I’ve had to net again because birds were snipping the leaves). There’s a lot of watering required, but so pleased that the plants are now in the ground and will hopefully start bushing out/growing upward quite soon
The (blue lake) French beans and Borlotti beans are planted in the old polytunnel frame and we’ve direct-sown Scarlet Empire runner beans as the ones in modules didn’t germinate. And Jamie’s planted out our sunflowers Tall Timbers for the Sunflower Competition 😊
Broad beans are imminent, if the wind doesn’t damage the tall plants and we’ve eaten two 🤭 strawberries so far… They’re netted to protect from blackbirds - there’s a lot of protection needed these days!
The potatoes have been earthed up; garlic has been fed with epson salts and soil loosened to assist the bulbs swelling before being pulled later this month. 
So that’s most of what we’ve been up to. I’m doing for the National Kidney Federation - 68,000 steps in June to represent the 68,000 kidney patients in the UK. That target won’t be difficult while I’m off work and if nature doesn’t join in with the watering!
NKF Best Foot Forward
The song title links to this and is provided by the excellent Happy Mondays. You’re twisting my melon man 😊

Tuesday 8 November 2022

Bitter Tears

Anyone else had a rainy start to November? It was so rainy on Sunday that we had to shelter in the car when we got back from the allotment! The rain was streaming down the road.

Rain gauge

While we were on the plot it felt quite warm and we even saw the Sun for a short while. We went to the plot specifically to pull our last potato plant - Nicola. Surprisingly they’re not very scabby and don’t seem to have been slugged. Although they were rather muddy.

Nicola potatoes
I pulled up the Chinese cabbage which had been desecrated by slugs and snails. I was pleased to find a couple of cabbages that weren’t completely destroyed and had matured enough for form a heart. I think I'd try them again, under a sealed enviromesh net as they are very tasty. I like them raw but they're a nice addition to a chinese dish too.
November salad harvest
That's a nice harvest for November. The tomatoes are continuing to ripen on the plants and the Chinese Dragon radish are lasting so that was plenty to feed me for a couple of lunches.
Yesterday, I added some left-over marinated tofu to the plate.
Last week I roasted two small squashes for dinner. A Honeyboat and a Winter Celebration. I thought it was a bit too much for just me (Jamie's still refusing to eat my lovely squash) with the Spanish rice and grains but I’m glad I chose to cook both squashes. 
 
Roasting squash
The Winter Celebration tasted nasty, bitter (lucky Jamie didn't choose that day to try again with the squash!). I threw it away along with the two remaining ones from storage. I’m aware that cross-pollinated squash can develop a bitter taste, however these weren’t saved seeds and looked pretty regular. Apparently environmental stress can also cause bitterness, but that’s usually a result of temperature fluctuations rather than just the extreme heat of this year. Or, perhaps the lovely looking orange squash wasn’t entirely mature. Whatever, it was rather disappointing! Luckily the Honeyboat was as tasty as usual.
Tomatoes with everything
We’ve had so much rain recently and it’s been mild so there’s a lot of new growth. The HAHA Wildlife plot is looking good with plenty of ground cover with mostly welcome weeds and evidence of self-seeding from some of the flowers from this year. Very little grass and not too many thistles in evidence so far… In this photo I can see borage, foxgloves, allysum, daisies, evening primrose, golden marguerite and lots of nigella seedheads.
HAHA Wildlife Plot
I should have put this photo on my last post, which was titled Autumn leaves, it’s been so colourful this year. Just look at this lovely lot from a tree by our flat.
Autumn leaves
The song title is provided by INXS, partly due to the bitter squash experience, but also the bitterness I feel to the housing developer and landowner of our site. In February a 10-year lease was proposed, with a  1-year cancellation clause, and was verbally agreed - Hooray! - then in September they "changed their minds". So the Council have to cover the cost of legal fees every year. Appalling and disrespectful behaviour to the 80+ households currently enjoying the site and the wider community. The latest development plan showed the Marsh Lane site as being 'not currently developable' - for 15+ years but they're just trying to use the site as a bartering chip for other inappropriate building schemes.  They make me sick 🤬