A quick 20 minutes... PAH!

I should have sorted this post out mid-week but I just didn't get round to it. I went to lottie for a quick raspberry pick. Ya know, a short 20 mins to harvest the first of the fruit ready for picking, then back home to do other things. Well, as usual, that 'quick 20 minutes' turned into a full-blown 3 hours! To be honest though, I was really pleased to actually spend a good chunk of time really working the plot. I got the hoe out and did lots of weeding. The generous watering the plants are getting is, of course, benefiting the weeds too. Once the hoe gets pushed around the plot is transformed and looks nice and tidy. I have very tidy plot neighbours so I usually get guilty if mine looks messy. Silly really!

I also re-jigged bits of the plot I'd planted out. Some plants were being overshadowed by others so they needed to be moved to get more light etc. The peppers in the med bed were being dwarfed by the tomatoes so they got re-homed. Also the charlotte potatoes from last year have popped up again (great, as they were SUPER delicious) and were encroaching on my aubergines. Aubergines, why do I bother? Last year they didn't do all that great and this year they don't look all that great either! Maybe next year I will learn not to bother....!

FINALLY, I have success with sunflowers. This is the 3rd or 4th lot of seed I've tried to get going and by a miracle I've got 4 plants looking pretty good. The rest of the seed were a no-show and the earlier seedlings I tried just got munched. I am amazed at how hard I have found it to get sunflowers growing happily. Aren't they meant to be a doddle, something a child could grow?! Anyhoo, I've moved these into final growing positions and put in some support canes. The way I got them to grow eventually was like with the peas - in plastic bottle tubes in an attempt to keep the slugs away.

I mentioned the rogue charlotte potatoes just now. Well, I had to dig up some of the plants that were growing through the path and over the aubergines - they had to go. Even harvesting a little early I got a good crop from the few plants I culled. There are still lots left. I am sure I will have charlotte pots popping up in the 'road end' big bed for lots of seasons to come, which to be honest, is no bad thing :)

I also spotted this red lettuce (variety unknown - any ideas?), growing under the patio apple, seemed to be nibble-free. Odd, I thought, as I've avoided planting lettuces due to the expected battle with the slugs. I can just about handle the holes in spinach as I love spinach so much. Well, reading blogs and lottie sites, as I do, I learned something I didn't know. Red lettuces don't appeal to slugs. Well I never, why didn't anyone tell me this before?! That's it, I am definitely stocking up on red lettuce seed to grow my own. I actually prefer the red varieties of lettuce anyway - it appeals to my artistic eyes more than the green. These are a few leaves I grabbed to munch on. Tasty :)

I also finally planted out the last lot of sweetcorn that was struggling along in the containers I'd planted the seed into. Poor things needed space to grow. I planted out 24 seedlings so if their older brothers are anything to go by they should do well. Fingers crossed.

Oh, and I did pick some raspberries and it did take a 'quick 20 minutes'! I just got the ripe ones from outside the netting and it was enough for a bowl of rasps for pud. However mostly they need a little more time before the main harvest. I also brought home some of the cornflowers which are making a great sugarsnap support, as well as looking fabulous.

The weekend is ear-marked for catching up on my glassy goodies business but I am getting a 'go down the allotment' urge already! I also need to do something with all those blackcurrants I picked the other day.

Construction keeps boys happy!

Unfortunately, somewhat of a disappointment on the seedling front. Lots of droopy and singed seedlings found today. :( What is still looking alive has been salvaged. All this effort can so easily be undone when it comes to growing from seed. So many things against you. I will post photos of what did survive and where I put it soon but the light faded before I took snaps.

I did, however, set my little bro and Nick a task at lottie today whilst I got on with weeding, watering, planting etc. The raspberries are now netted thanks to their teamwork and construction skills. I defy any bird to get into my rasberries now! Little bro was well pleased with his efforts and, I think, enjoyed building something :)

Look, he even built in a door :)

Thanks boys!

Tuesday evening lottie time - planting some climbers & some balcony seeds

Amongst my many tasks once I get home from work this week is going to lottie and watering. Of course, it is never just the one task I do when I go there! I also did some weeding in the seed cling-film nursery and am pleased to see everything has come through. Even the celeriac did, which is teeny tiny currently, but I'm glad it germinated. It is the green specs to the far right. The radish is getting huge and I think I will need to thin these soon.

I also planted the 2 climbers I bought to grow next to my bench, under the blackthorn tree. The blossom is devine while it lasts, but it is a bit dull as a tree most of the year. The sloes are a no-go too. All wrinkly and inedible. There are so many locally it doesn't really matter. Anyway, I planted a clematis and a pink jasmine. The jasmine will smell lovely and I picked it for the name - stephanense. How could I not buy it! I even lined the little area with wood edges. Aren't I good?! Ha!

Above & below: the seedlings in the mini-greenhouse are coming on in leaps and bounds. Some of the squash varieties, the sweetcorn and the courgettes doing best. In the big tray, the marigolds are starting to show. In the little tray are some earlier-planted courgettes which need re-potting soon. I also planted some more seeds - asparagus peas (a new one on me!), purple podded peas and red flowered broad beans. The PPpeas and the RFbroad beans are gifts from Nick's mum. Bless her cottons. She has an allotment and I think they're her own seeds, as it were :)

Above & below: I have finally got round to planting some seeds in the troughs on my balcony. I accidentally dug out a bit of mint so that found a new home here, as well as planting a few mint seeds and borage in that trough. In the 2nd one is rocket and coriander; all herbs I like to have on hand at home. In the kitchen I always have a pot of basil, supermaket-bought as growing from seed last year took forever! I do pretty well at keeping basil alive and happy, so much so some of the plants I've had have even had woody stems I've had them so long :) Look at my amazing use of clingfilm again!

Firsts in the latest food harvest

I didn't get too much done this weekend down the allotment. Mum and I did pop down on Saturday morning to water - and, as usual, got distracted by other tasks! We did some harvesting which was the main reason for going. We picked raspberries and gooseberries and the final redcurrants the birds hadn't eaten! They look beautiful, like little jewels. Hopefully there is enough to make a jar of jelly. I am planning on making a cake and some oat bars with the raspberries and some chutney with the gooseberries - all will be adapted recipes I am sure :) Mum took some fruit for herself.

We also got to harvest my very first broccoli florets and a head of cauliflower. I also picked a bunch of sweetpeas but have found the flower stems are shorter on the new blooms. That means a smaller vase is needed! When I inherited the allotment, some produce was already there. I had a poke about in amongst the weeds and found a few (what I assume are) shallots ok to pick. I am drying these out and will see if they are edible!

We also picked, but didn't photograph, more charlotte potatoes (delish!) and the first globe artichokes. I am going to try mine tonight and see how it tastes. Will let you know! Cauliflower cheese is also on the menu. Yummy :) I hope you are enjoying your harvests.

I have now taken the netting off the strawberries and started to pot on the runners. Hopefully this will give me more strawberry plants to keep or to pass on to others, perhaps in a plant swap which they do at the allotment - not that I have had time to go to one yet!

Jam and whatnot

The raspberries are out in full force now. The other day I picked 1kg easily so now I have 7 jars of raspberry jam! Next time I am going to try some tray-bake recipes and cheesecakes, etc. Got to freeze the surplus too. Can't let good raspberries go to waste.

I gave some raspberries and sweet peas to my neighbours as they're lovely and always very helpful. I got some lettuce and rocket in return so this was last night's tea - a salad with black peppercorns, goat's cheese and sweet chilli sauce. Yum!

I followed that with raspberries and vanilla icecream. A very cheap meal! And so tasty too :)

When I went down the allotment yesterday @ 5pm - too hot in the day - I planted out some leeks and dwarf beans. I pulled out some peas as they weren't looking healthy. I also did LOADS of watering! Need to get some tomato food for my tommies and re-net the broccoli as it has grown too big! Spotted some frogs in the pond too which was good to see. Hopefully they're feasting on my slugs!

I also built my new bbq and one of those mini greenhouses, the ones like a wendy house. Not sure how long it will last but thought I'd give it a go. Need somewhere to grow my seedlings as the tommies in the shed are huge now, so no room for seedlings in there! Bbq-ing tonight :)

Bringing it all home

As I was away at the weekend I popped by the allotment tonight for a check-over and a water. I was expecting to harvest more strawberries but brought a lot more home than expected :)

I thought I'd bring one of my basil plants home for the kitchen windowsill now it is a reasonable size (grown from seed). They're very slow growers so this has taken a while, but hopefully I can keep it going for a long time. I seem to be quite good with basil plants - water from the bottom!!

Lots more sweet peas were ready for picking. Bit more of a proper bouquet this time around. My lounge smells amazing now!

Strawberry and raspberry tubs full to the brim :)

Raspberries picked from under my net. A lot more now than thursday night's less-than-ten crop! Must be over 1lb there. I had to stop picking as my tub was overflowing! Shared some with the neighbours though :) Think they enjoyed them. I also ate a lot as I was picking them! I'm not a fruit person but real fruit beats shop-bought fruit any day.

Lots more strawberries to be picked - they're even still flowering!

Making progress

Hours of digging, turning over, raking, building and I'm proud to say I've finally planted something! Garden peas (feltham first) on the cane row (runner beans to go on another joined-on row of canes to the left), as well as a tripod of sweet peas. 2 or 3 more tripods to go in. I ran out of canes! I LOVE sweet peas :) Nice to see the plants where they should be, not trailing about everywhere! It's looking like a proper allotment now :)

Also got my hands on a strimmer to chop down the pesky dandelions. Only managed to roughly attack them but my first go with the strimmer was fun... including covering myself in chopped plant bits!! Next-door-neighbour John loaned me his. :) Need to get him some petrol for it tomorrow.

Mum and Dad were invaluable company, though I think Dad overdid the digging. Alas, he's not a young whippersnapper anymore!

More allotment antics tomorrow.

Oh, a couple of discoveries today - rhubarb growing in with the soft fruit and a watersource right next to my allotment! Huzzah!! I thought the trough belonged to my neighbour but it seems they are refilled on a float system (like a loo) and there are a few around the place - been going around with my eyes closed it seems! Is a bit of a result as it will be great for the 'road end' and I can use the waterbutts for the 'shed end' :)

Asparagus and spring onions cleared

This is part of what I was up to yesterday. I wanted to weed around the crops I have growing to take away competition for nutrients and to see what I've got. This is the asparagus and spring onion bed after I weeded it. You can see top right what it looked like before - very weedy! I hand-weeded as the asparagus is coming through now and I didn't want to damage it.

I have helpers coming today - my friend Claire who came with me the first night I saw the allotment and Paul who will be watering for me whilst I am on hols. I am hoping it will be fun and we get a couple of the large beds ready for planting.

I was going to measure the plot so I can plan what goes where yesterday but my tape measure has gone walkies, so I will do that today as Paul has one I can borrow. I don't want to put things in without planning so I need to measure asap.

I met another neighbour last night, from the opposite side of my plot - Bert. He seemed nice and I think he was worried I was digging up the asparagus! I expect having an allotment is like living in a village - everybody knows what you're up to. :) Bert was telling me Rob, who had my allotment before, "kept it like a palace". Hmm, no pressure there then!

Some shopping and my 1st allotment meal

Well, it blooming well rained ALL DAY here. Boo @ that! I was all psyched to dig but that didn't really happen. So, horror of horrors, I HAD to go shopping again! Terrible. I hate shopping... ;) So, I did the b&q/homebase run and checked out allsorts of things I might/might not get. They have lots of veg plants on special at the mo and as I got my lottie a bit late (and I am on hols for 3 weeks!) I may invest in some of these and save some of my seeds for later/next season. I did buy a few things - some compost for potting seeds, a plastic trug-type thing kinda like a flexible bucket. I'm sure it has a proper name! It was another bargain - about £3.50 where I have seen them elsewhere for about £6. It was reduced for some reason but looked fine to me. Lovely colour blue too. I also got sucked in by a 3 for 2 on garden refuse bin bags. There is way too much to compost once I sort out the allotment so I thought it was a wise investment. I will have to make a few trips to the tip I think! Speaking of compost, the first piccy in this post is of 'Captain Compost', my new kitchen compost caddy. Don't ask me why I have given it a name!!! I was also looking at bbqs. I think an allotment party or two is definitely in order. Pimms o'clock and all that!!

I did do practical things at the allotment once I'd dumped all... sorry, put away nicely(!) my new purchases in the shed. My new plants needed a good water. Got to keep them happy before they find new homes. Still need to plan where I want things. Must remember to measure out the plot next time I am down there on Saturday. I also bought a big pot to confine my garden mint and planted that this evening. I don't want mint going everywhere as it spreads like nobody's business!

On my way back to the car, when it was virtually dark, I decided to pull up some of my veg for tea. I grabbed some spring onions (which I had previously thought were onions) for tea and some parsnips which I will have tomorrow I think.

Don't they scrub up well?!

There's nothing quite as tasty as home-grown food.

And here is what I ate. Spring onions fried in olive oil, scrambled egg, seafood and a little soy. Yummy!

Oh, I also found some rhubarb on the plot. I think it is mine! It is on the path border but it looks like it is mostly on my plot. Wahey!

The shed of wonderment

As promised, here's a post about my shed. It is pretty special :) My friend Claire has decided it is very 'Joanne Harris'. It does look quite romantic in a very quirky way. I guess the unique decor also has a hint of the texas chainsaw massacre about it too! It was such a thrill to find out my allotment included a shed, and a good-sized one at that. What made me chuckle is that it has a proper front door, including a letterbox and porch!! I do need to get a number for it as although I have 2 plots, only one has a number. I wonder if I sent myself a postcard it would make it to the letterbox...?! The horseshoe on the door is a warming little touch of good luck. Hope it works for me.

The first day of 'owning' the allotment I didn't have the key to the shed so I had to admire it from the outside. What struck me most was the window. It is pretty big. Once it has been cleaned up I can admire my hard work from it. It's going to be useful too as I don't have a greenhouse. I should imagine the shed stays pretty warm as it has a clear-plastic corrugated roof which lets in lots of light. I'm sure it will function pretty well as a greenhouse substitute.

Having a shed has the added bonus of water collection via a gutter. There are 4 water butts next to the shed, all linked together so water flows to the next one as each fills up. The water in these has been standing for a long time though and I think they could benefit from a clean out, but they're useful to have. No tapped butts though, however it should be easy enough to fill the watering can.

Once I got the key for the shed from 'Betty' on day 2 it was a real moment of excitement. Who knew what mysteries and surprises awaited me as I turned the key for the first time. Yes, I really did take this before I went into the shed. I thought it would make for a good photo.

Once in, this is the sight I first saw. I was like a child on Christmas Day! ...is that a plastic pigeon?! - yep, it sure is. He's now called 'Bob'. There's a better photo of him to follow, along with the retro clock I am not going to reset. Allsorts of things had been left - tools, seeds, sacks, pots, propagators, markers, etc, even a shelf full of books!

I've made a list of the titles in the column on the right of the blog. Looking through them, they seem really useful so that'll be something for me to peruse when it is too dark to work on the allotment. Being such a novice I find a real comfort in books. Let's hope they are clear and simple. I like some of the titles such as "Vegetable Plotter", which sounds like some sort of sinister activity!

Allsorts of things have been left in the shed, of varying usefulness! Here are some of them...

plastic pots, markers and metal jugs

potato sacks, canes, a dusty director's chair and a pedal bin full of old seed packets! - i threw the bike pump out!!

'bob' the plastic pigeon and the retro stopped clock

looks like the past owners had the right idea with the wine glass! lovely slate markers too

a box of string sacks, the other containing lots of seeds - see list in the column to the right of the blog

Lots more shed-related photos to follow. Will post this now and post again about the shed later. Don't want to overdo it!