Harvest & flowers

Lovely Rudbeckia flowers, Jo loved these when she saw them in Vancouver a few years ago, so we got some seed and this is the first to flower, more to come. 

Wow 5 courgettes on this one plant, yellow round ones too! 
We always grow these, but not often we get so many ripen at the same time!

So a good harvest on Saturday. 
Including 3 types of green beans, a swede & beetroot.

Ooh look lots of sprouts forming on the brussels, plenty for a winter feast.

4lb of Picasso main crop potatoes, 1st lot I've dug up this year and so far so good and some real whoppers!

So a late visit on Sunday as we were both busy elswhere. But our plot is looking really good, lots of flowers and its buzzing with Bee activity.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Another 5 hours busy on our plot

We needed to weed these brassica tunnels, as they were a bit over run. 
Jo did it all while I was busy elsewhere.

I earthed up the leeks as Gardeners World said its best to, so they stay nice and white. 
I've never done it before so will be interesting to see. 

The patch of soil at the back, where Charlotte potatoes had been dug up, has been dug over and levelled, we will plant some spinach there soon.

Some of the broad beans had finished, so Jo planted some pak choi that we had started off in a seed tray. 
We covered them with a netting tunnel, so the birds dont peck them out!

I made a bird table from some scrap wood, as we had some extra bird seed, so thought our allotment visitors would like it. 

I finished cutting the grass on the path, with my old shears, hard work, but worth it.
Jo was looking in the pond and spotted quite a lot of froglets & tadpoles with back legs already formed, so a good year for our pond again.


Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Harvesting, planting & more bumper harvests!

I'll start with this trug full of goodies: 
Potatoes, 
Mixed Berries, 
Peas, 
Beans 
& Sweet Pea flowers.

We also picked the last of the cauliflowers, so dug up the roots & composted them, then planted more that we had started off in a seed tray. 
They are Autumn Giant.

5lb of Gooseberries! 

Jo made a great job of weeding around the leeks & beetroot.

And these asters needed weeding too.

The strawberries are almost done fruiting and sending out runners, so we pegged each into a small pot of compost, we will cut them away from the parent plant when rooted.

Another trug full of goodies.

The path got a trim, but sadly my petrol strimmer wouldn't work, so I got busy with the shears, was hard work but worth it as it looks a lot better.

And another trug full of delicious produce and our 1st carrot too.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

Rhubarb wine making time

As its getting to the end of Rhubarb season, its time to make some wine. 
But first pick about 3lb of rhubarb (10-12 stalks) trim & wipe clean, then chop into 2" pieces and freeze for 2 days. 
You then put the frozen rhubarb pieces in a large bowl and cover with 3lb of sugar & leave over night. 
Next strain all the fruit & syrup through a jelly bag or muslin, make sure you wash off all the sugar from the remaining rhubarb, add a cup of black tea and make up to a gallon (8 pints). Put all the liquid into a clean demijohn add yeast, air-lock & leave for 1-3 weeks to ferment. 
When fermentation has finished, put 2 campden tablets in to make sure fermentation doesnt continue & transfer to another clean demijohn, to clear for a few weeks. 
When its clear carefully syphon into sterile bottles and seal, leave for 6 months, but must be drunk within 2 years. Enjoy.  

Today's harvest: Another 12lb of Stockbridge Arrow rhubarb! Wont make wine out of all it, maybe half, but there is crumble, cakes & ice-cream to make with it, will give some away to neighbors too.

And all this too, far too much to mention it all!
I love this time of year when we can harvest after all our hard work.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Harvest, Harvest, Harvest time.

Tuesday 23rd June: 
Smallish harvest, but more to come.

Wednesday 24th June: 
A bigger harvest of fruit & veg.

Monday 29th June: 
A very big harvest of fruit, veg & garlic too.

Tuesday 30th June: 
More fruit and beetroot & lettuce.

Most days we visit, we pick some strawberries, raspberries and loganberries, that turn into jam, or we have with our breakfast.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Another week isolating, harvesting & planting more!

First, I made a new number for our gate, just cut from plywood & soaked in dark oak fence/shed paint, in the hope it lasts a few years!

 

Strawberry & Sweet Pea harvest. 
We have had so many strawberries, we made Cordial and eaten plenty with ice cream etc.

Main crop Maris Piper potatoes, most are in flower and the rain & sun has helped to boost the growth after a very dry April/May. 

Cauliflowers are ready, a few have bolted but still OK for soup etc. 
The firmer ones will make a lovely cauliflower cheese dish.

No sooner do we pull out plants that are finished (cauliflowers in this case) we plant more out, that we had started in seed trays. 

The leek patch is looking good, the first lot I put in a few weeks ago have grown well & the ones put in most recently have taken too. Again the sun & rain has helped.

Another big harvest: 
Cauliflowers, 
Broad Beans, 
Peas, 
Chard, 
Raspberries, 
Strawberries, 
& Loganberries.

All the potatoes are looking good, most have flowers and the earlies have caught up, I think we will dig up some International Kidney very soon.

So another good week, inbetween the showers. 
We have been down most days or evenings, just to do weeding, picking & a little more planting.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

Mid June & a change in the weather

Our first big harvest: 
Chard, 
Radish, 
Rocket, 
Lettuce,
Spinach, 
Rhubarb, 
Strawberries & a few Raspberries too.

More Peas put in, so squeezed in another wig-wam!

I also put in more Peas on a chicken wire frame.

So we now have 6 varieties growing, I think we must like peas!

I dug out our label making machine, so new smart labels are popping up all over our plot. It's a good way to re-use old plastic labels. I'm looking at a way to re-use wooden lolly sticks too.

We have been making the brassica tunnels bigger, by swapping wire for 20mm water tube hoops, we have replaced 5 up to now & just one more to do. 

Look our Charlotte potatoes are in flower, well 2 are so far, wont be long until we can dig some up. 

I love the thrill of digging up the 1st potatoes, to see how many we get from each plant.

Another good harvest, Chard & Strawberries again.

With all the rain the early potatoes are growing taller, so I earthed them up again, hopefully for the last time.

Well its been an interesting week, rain sun & windy too. At least the ground isn't so dry now. 
I planted out more leeks today, so check back to see how they get on. 
Check out my latest video below:

Allotment walkabout 2020

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo