Happy Birthday!

Well it’s been two years since we got the plot. I think it’s fair to say it’s not been easy to get to this stage. There were the minor inconveniences of large amount of produce being eaten by slug, squirrels, rabbits, mice, rats, pigeons, pheasants, etc. The plot suffered from major flooding last summer. Mrs D ended up in and out of hospital with knee problems, which ultimately ended her digging career before it began. The hedge remains a constant battle, not helped by ‘absent’ neighbours. And then I went and took on another plot!

But it’s not all bad news. We’ve currently got potatoes, onions and garlic dotted around the kitchen and in the out house. Made jams – rhubarb and ginger, strawberry and raspberry (some of which were actually from our allotments). Introduced the kids to the delights of digging, eating raw peas, pulling up onions and seeing potatoes being dug up. They’ve even eaten raw French beans and (cooked) Brussels sprouts!

The site is now full again with a waiting list and we set up an association for the site last year. For my sins I was elected Chair for the first year and still remain on the committee now – but I get a lot less moaning now! We have an active Facebook Group to keep in touch and can regularly be found sampling the delights of a local tavern.

So what’s happening now. Not much really. Tomatoes are coming to the end, potatoes are all dug up after the got blight, onions are now up and drying in the kitchen – well it’s not like they’re going to dry outside! Summer squash and courgettes are still going on, and we have at least one pumpkin growing well. The raspberries are struggling along, they don’t seem to like the wet weather. The raspberry jam I made the other day was approximately 90% supplied by my Grandad and 10% from the allotment.

Planted some buckwheat, under one of the mini polytunnels to give them a chance to germinate before being eaten by the pigeons and/or pheasants. Hoping to get some Hungarian grazing rye in the same bed. Need to sort out the strawberries still. One of the varieties doesn’t seem to be giving out any runners at all whilst the other variety is throwing them out all over the place. I’m going to put the new plants in the new allotment where there seems to be less wildlife around to eat the fruit. Hopefully the apples will soon be ready, after which there will be an ‘identify the apple’ entry to the blog. At the moment I have absolutely no idea what variety they are or even if they are ‘eaters’ or ‘cookers’.

The Good, the bad and the ugly

So glossing over the lack of an entry for the last 3 months… Work, holidays, busy on the plots, etc.

The potatoes went down with blight a couple of weeks ago, so I cut off the tops and waited the suggested length of time before digging them up. Which was today. The remaining spuds to be lifted were a few Salad Blue, a row each of Pink Fir Apple, King Edward and Maris Piper – I still have a few rows of King Edward and Maris Piper on the other plot that thankfully hasn’t got blight. Well not yet anyway.

So a few hours later, the good…

‘Action’ shot digging up the Pink Fir Apple

King Edward

Maris Piper

Pink Fir Apple

The bad…

Some of the potatoes throw away due to blight, with added weeds.

A slug ‘at work’ – check out the centre of the picture,towards the top.

The ugly…

Not only an ‘interesting’ shape, but with scab and the beginnings of blight too.

So all in all a reasonable harvest from the potatoes. Not surprising they were pretty much on the small side, not too much slug damage (maybe the nemoslug works?!) and lost about 10% to Blight – which was a bit of a relief really. Probably lost more like 20% of the Pink Firs to blight, possibly due to their sprawling nature and being quite close to the surface? Still got the same number of King Edward and Maris Piper in the ground at plot no 2, although they went in quite late. Mrs D seems to think we’ve got a lot of potatoes but I did point out that they will store (once they’re dry) and also that we’ll get through them quicker than she thinks.

Will we grow them again? The Orla’s that we finish months ago now – maybe. Nothing special on the taste front though. Salad Blue – doubt it, great from the novelty point of view and got loads of interest, but again taste wise just OK and blue potatoes don’t look right on some occasions – and yes they so keep their colour when cooked! Pink Fir Apple – possibly, taste good but bit problematic with sprawling nature and if I do grow them again maybe not so many. King Edward and Maris Piper – probably, although if so it will be on plot no 2 where blight seems to be less of a problem.

Next year though I want to try some Charlottes and possibly some of the maincrop blight resistant varieties.

So what else is growing?

Or has been harvested in this case. The shallots were smaller than last year, but a reasonable crop from the Longnor on plot no 1. The others (name escapes me at the moment) on plot no 2 were rubbish – barely bigger than the sets that went in originally, but that did at least divide up to give me something to plant next year I guess.

The garlic has been dug up, dried out and plaited. It’s actually bigger than last year as well so more than happy with this. Only grew half the number as last year so just the 27 bulbs this year – and from my own ‘seed’ saved from the previous year.

There’s been a slow but steady stream of tomatoes (mainly Aurora) from plot no 2. The Sub Artic Plenty haven’t really delivered on their early promise. I’ve still a lot to learn with tomatoes though and next year we’ll be growing less plants and (hopefully!) watering a bit more consistently. The first chillies from the Ring of Fire as well. Amazingly something has been eating them (what eats chillies???!!!) and whilst the plant is healthy enough not going to producing that many at this rate. I’ve also had quite a few of the Hungarian Hot Wax – not as big as I thought they’d be (there’s a theme running through this entry!) and seemingly varied in which ones are ‘hot’ and which ones are pleasant to eat!

Fruit – we had loads of summer raspberries (ice cream – yum!), but the Autumn ones are taking their time getting going. My pot grown blueberries have never done very well either, one of which hasn’t had any fruit on at all this year (these are grown at home in a nice sunny spot). They could do with a ‘partner’ to aid pollination really. Typical crap bought from not very reputably source, you live and learn.

[Picture on other computer – arrgghhh, it was all going so well!]

The pumpkins appear to growing well this year, although only one fruit so far – that one being about the size of a football now.

Sprawling mass of the plant.

This years’ soup and lantern!

I’ve been having great problems with my beans and peas on plot no 1. Basically they are being eaten before I get to them by something, quite what I’m not sure – suggestions please! Mice?

As a result I’ve not had any Broad Beans from this plot, but fortunately the other plot has been most productive on this front. The peas (Telephone) are also suffering, but only about 50% of them are being lost. The rest are eaten practically as soon as a get in the door but either one of the kids or their Mum – none have actually got as far as being cooked yet! The French beans are just beginning to start producing some beans and I was surprised to see this Borlotti Bean – didn’t realise I planted any on that plot.

Finally one for those of you who like looking at pictures of soil – really that’s going to be most of you even if you’re not prepared to admit it ;>) This is the bed I’ve just dig the potatoes from. It was heavily manured last Autumn and looks really good now, even though I say so myself!

Hopefully another update before Christmas…

101 things to do with Rhubarb

No 47, rhubarb ice cream. We do like our ice cream in this house, so it seemed like the logical thing to do with the stuff. I attempted to make it as a kind of ‘rhubarb ripple’, which didn’t work so well as the rhubarb wasn’t mixed in well enough so that froze solid. Also would probably use a bit more fruit – it’s not like we haven’t got enough of the stuff! The recipe I used (based on the ‘standard’ base from Ben and Jerry’s Book):

400g of Rhubarb
50g Caster Sugar
Orange Zest

Cook the above for 10 mins (might cook for a bit longer next time) until soft. Then put in the fridge.

Ice Cream (sorry recipe uses American ‘cups’)
2 Eggs
3/4 cup of Sugar
2 Cups of Double Cream
1 Cup of Milk
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Beat the eggs, then gradually add the sugar whilst still whisking. When custard like consistency add the cream milk and vanilla extract. Mix together then pour mixture into ice cream maker. When done mix in the rhubarb and put in the freezer.

Next on the list is rhubarb vodka!

A glut!

So what to do with all the rhubarb? Despite eating a LOT of rhubarb crumble, giving away the stuff in vast quantities to friend, families, anyone really, we still have a lot of the stuff to get through.

Having inherited my grandmothers preserving pan last year, it was time to find out how to make jam! So quick web search threw up Allotment Lady’s blog with a recipe for rhubarb and ginger jam. Once I got over the shock of just how much sugar there is in jam, a surprisingly short amount of stirring later produced 5 jams of rather good jam – even if I say so myself! Sadly 3 of them were immediately ‘snapped up’ by the family, but only on the proviso my jars were returned with something else in them. Now with Mum, this isn’t going to be a problem having supplied the family with jams for many years now. My brother on the other hand…

As luck would have it the rhubarb on plot no 1 is finally picking up, so should have another chance to make some more jam.

So much to plant!

So now summer has arrived, and looks like it’s on the way out already, everything needs planting out/potting on at once. The chillies (Ring of Fire and Hungarian Hot Wax) and tomatoes (Sub Artic Prime and Aurora) were in desperate need of potting on to larger pots, which has now largely been done, but so much for putting them outside looking at the forecast. Which in turn meant the greenhouse needed a good sort out – which to be honest it’s needed since I got it. Fortunately it’s long looking a bit tidier than it does in the picture. The Sub Artic Prime were from the front of a magazine and are supposed to be good to grow outside. These are doing really well. The Aurora on the other hand are looking a bit leggy and not so good considering they’re supposed to be an early variety too.

Finally got the last of the potatoes (Maris Piper) planted out on plot no 2 last night in the semi darkness. Also planted out some cauliflowers (Snowball), calabrese (Waltham) and Brussels (Groninger) and covered with netting. This isn’t going to be a popular move as this was the bed the kids had been using as their ‘digging patch’. By the time they were in and covered up it was pretty much completely dark – and I wasn’t staying long last night…!

The blossom on the apple trees is looking good, so hopefully get some nice fruit off them this autumn. So long as we don’t get a late frost. A bit lost in amongst the fruit bed there! Difficult to see but the currant bushes look like they are going to be loaded with fruit, weather permitting of course.

Back on plot no 1 the strawberries are looking good, plenty of flowers – look like they’ve caught up with the other side of Sheffield now! Just need to keep the birds and slugs off them now. Thinking of getting some straw to put around them, so need to find somewhere that sells it preferably without getting ripped off. The (new) rhubarb is still looking crap though, not quite sure what’s going on there. The rhubarb on the new plot is still providing enough to supply most of Yorkshire, so rhubarb and ginger jam is on the menu for later in the week.

The potatoes are all through now and earthed up, the mint looks like it’s going to try and take over the whole allotment and the spinach is just coming through. Put in some Brussels and calabrese as well, sadly the netting I took down wasn’t big enough to cover them all, so I’m guessing they’re not going to be there when I next get down there. Put in a couple of butternut squash with lots of manure, and would have put some courgettes in but realised I hadn’t actually dug enough ground…! So they returned home to take their chance with the slugs, already lost one of them.

Back on the new plot I have discovered I have both Ground Elder and Bindweed, which is going to be lots of fun for many years to come…

Flowers

A controversial subject! Some people (no names mentioned!) “don’t do flowers“, but I’m a big fan of having some on the plot. In particular bulbs as they suit my style of gardening – i.e. you put them in the ground, they look after themselves!

Daffs are OK, but these tulips (Queen of the Night) have got to be worth space on anyone’s plot.

I grow them for cut flowers and they’re certainly a hit with Mrs D! This time last year she was in hospital so we missed them, guess that makes them all the better this year.

How much does it cost?
The general consensus seems to be that having an allotment costs more (financially) then you receive back in produce. However, given rising food prices I’m not so sure any more. I was looking at the price of rhubarb in the supermarket we usually use – 50p per 100g. I reckon I’ve had at least 5kg of the stuff of my plots, which is £25 at supermarket prices! Not even taking into account that I grow my crops organically. So I’m going to try and keep a record of what we harvest from the plots this year.

In the night garden

My secret weapon

Used this last year and didn’t seem to have too many slug ‘issues’, although they were probably washed away in the floods! Put this down tonight over the potato bed and around the strawberries, although may have had it a bit longer than recommended in the fridge. Certainly was the case for Mrs D…! Have got some more some more coming in a few weeks, the theory being a couple of applications about 6 weeks apart should take care of most of the little buggers in the soil and therefore save your potatoes and strawberries – in the latter case for the birds…

This is the first signs of the Orla’s I put in before Easter.

Strawberries
Decided I’d best get the strawberries sorted out before it’s was too late to move them. Last year I put them in a bit too close together and more importantly too close to the rhubarb so they were getting covered by the leaves from the rhubarb. They were also planted a bit too deep. So after moving the lavender and mint the other day I dug over the bed to remove any weeds and moved one row of strawberries (Gariguette) and spaced them out a bit more. I also moved a couple of the Chelsea Pensioners (the other strawberries, not some elderly residents of the plot!) to give them a bit more room too.

As you can see by the time I finished and took the photo, it was getting a little dark.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb!

So after hail, came snow and then sunshine. Obviously the latter was quite unexpected, which may explain the sunburn on the top of my head – sadly it’s all a bit thinner than it once was up there these days!

In between the snow and the sunshine plot no 2 suffered some mindless vandalism. Some idiot went on the plot and threw over the shelving in the greenhouse with most of my plants on. Most of them were struggling to grow as it was, but if anyone’s going to finish them off it should be my job! I got away lightly compared to one of the other plots on site that had the shed burned down.

The rhubarb at the new plot is now in full swing. Looking at it, I think I can easily split it up into about 8 crowns this winter, not to mention the four crowns I have on the old plot. So anyone got any good rhubarb recipes? So far we’ve had rhubarb crumble 3 times (main because my son loves it) and given some to the neighbours, but I can see (some of) us getting tired of the crumble.

Taking advantage of the good weather, on plot no 1 I got most of my potatoes in (Maris Piper, King Edwards, Pink Fir Apple and Salad Blue). The Orla’s that I planted before Easter have just started to show through, as have the broad beans I’d all but given up on. I also planted a row of peas (telephone). And then spent most of the time ‘harvesting’ my crop of dock leaves. Now the weather has warmed up, the weeds have started growing very well ;>(

I did move the lavender and mint that were growing next to the strawberries so I can give the strawberries a bit more room to grow in, although may have to move them away from the rhubarb for that! The globe artichokes aren’t showing any signs of life, possibly died? They did have great roots on them when I moved them earlier this year, but maybe the cold and wet killed them off? The daffodils are now past their best, but we got a couple of bunches from them and the tulips won’t be long before they’re in bloom.

Up on plot no 2 I took the kids up there on Saturday where they got very messy digging before eating their picnic – which on later inspections appeared they mainly ate sweets! Whilst they were doing that I planted out the dwarf peas (Hatif D’Annoy) I planted in toilet rolls and survived the greenhouse ‘incident’. I also planted some more leeks (which hadn’t survived the greenhouse ‘incident’ – Bandit and Pandora) and some carrots (Amsterdam Forcing).

The following day we went up en masse. The children dug again, this time with water for added mess/fun, their mum knitted and I dug more weeds. Couldn’t get any volunteers to help plant the French Beans (Cherokee Trail of Tears), so planted them myself.

Spring is here!

Then again…

And those hail stones hurt! In between being pelted with hail it was bright sunshine. I guess that’s what you call April showers…

So clocks went forward signalling the start of the evening visits once more. However the first night I did this it was colder, wetter and windier than it looked, so it was also a shorter visit than daylight allowed and the onions remained unplanted.

Checking over the plot (no 1), nothing much happening. No seeds through (not surprising given the weather), no sign of the potatoes under the polytunnel, but plenty of weeds begining to make their way to the surface. The rhubarb that was showing some promising signs has flowered! Now this apparently isn’t good, so I’ve removed these and am crossing my fingers that I get some rhubarb from them this year.

Given the foul weather I decided to sort out the main path going down the middle of the plot. It has to be said it’s a little uneven (!) so the plan was to lower and level the path, putting the excess soil in the main beds and covering the path with the weed surpressing fabric. I’m also taking the opportunity to narrow the path a bit too to increase the size of the fruit bed – by about 20cm… Eventually I will cover this with bark chippings. However the crap weather made things a bit wet and slippy so didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped – which is a familiar story with most of my jobs on the allotment!

Earlier in the week

When spring was still here, took my son to the new plot so he could try out his new gardening tools from the grandparents. Has to be said the quality of them is better than some of mine! He tested them out by digging a big hole and burying himself in it! After digging him out he then proceded to ‘dig over’ and trample all over the rest of the bed I’d dug a few weeks before. However I did forgive him as he discovered some couch grass I’d missed and helped to dig out a seriously big dandelion root.

In between digging him out I planted the broad beans I’d started off in toilet rolls in the greenhouse. Not much top growth but they’ve got some good roots on them, which I’m hoping is a good sign. Moved various seedlings up to the greenhouse (various brassicas and leeks) to create more room to start stuff off at home and gave the salad leaves and strawberry plants a water. Sadly there is no sign of the sweet peas at all. I’m sure the slightly erratic watering hasn’t helped but not one of them has germinated ;>(

More planting

So rubbish forecast of snow showers for the day decided to stay put and plant some seeds. As it happens most of the day was bright sunshine with no snow here, certainly none that settled. Quality forecast as ever…

So planted some parsley, coriander, peas, sunflowers, pumpkins, cucumbers, and courgettes, the latter three just sowing a few of each to see if I can get an early start with them. Having just planted the parsley and coriander, my two little helpers arrived to help with the larger seeds. Planted all those in toilet rolls which were ideal for small hands to fill with compost, put the large seeds in, top up with more compost, put the labels in and then finally water. They seemed quite happy with the job, which of course means I was happy!

Few days earlier I planted some more Brussels, cauliflowers and calabrese to supplement the rather poor specimens I’ve grown so far. These are now through already, having found a new place for germinating seeds – the bedroom windowsill. Fortunately Mrs D has quite willingly given her approval for this move!

Local Links

In a slight departure from the usual ramblings I’ve added a new category to the right of the page – Local Links. This lists some local food and drink places we use and visit, obviously not much use for most of you from outside of the local area but hopefully interesting all the same. The more observant may notice there are three breweries in the list! Sheffield used to have several large breweries all of which have now closed – which apart from Stones is no bad thing! We now have a thriving micro-brewery industry.

The Hillsborough Hotel is a local pub that brews its own beer on the premises – and very good it is too. We’ve had a couple of get togethers for the Allotment Association there. Anyone thinking of going, the Stannington Stout is amazing!

Kelham Island Brewery has a special place in my heart, it was the last major project of my degree before my finals (just a few years ago…) to produce a simulation of the brewery to see how they could increase production. Obviously I’d like to think I had a hand in the fact they built new premises next door after we found they couldn’t increase production in the premises they were in… However, more importantly they do some very nice beer, Pale Rider being my favourite.

Bradfield Brewery is a relatively new find. Situated on the outskirts of Sheffield, about 10 minutes away from us but in the middle of the countryside, they do some more than passable beers and we’re hoping to try the pub out soon.

Not just beer!
Probably the most regularly visited on the list is Coppice House Farm Shop. We probably go at least twice a month to stock up on meat. They raise their animals in the Valley just a few minutes from home, and just down the road from the allotment (plot no 1). They have a good philosophy in raising their animals, the meat is very good, and they also supply manure for the plot!

Our Cow Molly is in fact an ice cream maker on a local dairy farm. It is seriously good! I think we picked up our first pot at Coppice House Farm Shop, but on Easter Sunday we made it to the farm where it is produced – where the kids got to feed the new born lambs as well. Again the farm isn’t far away from home and still officially in Sheffield, but was in the countryside.

Finally, picked up the South Yorkshire Good Food Directory from Our Cow Molly, which lists a whole variety of local suppliers of food, restaurants, farmer’s markets, etc. Looking forward to trying out some of these in the book.