Strawberry Success

Further to the post below regarding 'caramelised' strawberries here is a taste of what Sue can really do in the kitchen! Wonderful! (Will that do darling? Ed.)

Peter & Marcia

(Uncle) Peter & Marcia came for a look at the lottie this afternoon. Peter is an allotment holder of long standing and currently has one near their home in Hayes, Middx. I laid two paving stones in the central path (path of shame as was) and we weeded the seedbed frame. Peter said it made him feel a lot better seeing loads of weeds everywhere. It's possible he was only joking, but it's more likely he wasn't. There's nothing like seeing a plot full of someone else's weeds to put a spring in the plotholder's step.
Actually I know that if they had had time Peter and Marcia would have got stuck in like nobody's business.

Peter can't bear the sight of all that convolvulus - Marcia is bravely pulling it up. Thanks Marcia!:-)

Peter has very high standards for appropriate Uncle behaviour in all circumstances. The allotment is no exception.

Sorry Strawberries

What a sad sight! Sue 'dried' these in the oven overnight the other day. Not so much caramelised as carbonised.... However when they work out ok they are delicious. The flavour is so concentrated that if you put one on your tongue it tingles! I sprinkle them on granola in the winter months when every taste of summer is precious.

3 Courgettes

I picked the first three courgettes of the year this afternoon:-)

Weeds & Onions

Here is the onion bed after I had a good go at it this afternoon.

Here it is before I started.

And here are the onions on the old guinea pig run drying in the sunshine. (Actually it was only a 'sunny spell' and it has been raining since then ...)

Weed, weed go away....

Here is the Asparagus bed after an unexpected bout of weeding this afternoon....

....and here it is before I started! Much better I'm sure you'll agree. The little weed with the dear little dainty yellow flowers is a right little you know what to get out. Can't remember what it is but I left it when it first appeared as it seemed so innocent - big mistake. Will look it up again and report back.

Super Sally!

Today I had a very welcome helping hand down at the allotment from my second cousin once removed (we think) Sally. She was very keen on the gooseberries, although they were rather too sharp for me.

Sally turned out to be a very keen picker, and as well as the strawberries she picked the first Loganberries of the year. Keen, efficient and cheerful - an asset on any allotment and very highly recommended as a house guest. After lunch she turned to me and asked "Are we allotmenting - I don't mind getting a bit of dirt under my nails!" I rest my case.

Meanwhile I harvested the overwintered garlic and laid it out in the greenhouse to dry. Before we left we dug a few of the first early potatoes Red Duke of York. All in all time very well spent. There was a Painted Lady on the Comfrey for a little while. Sally says that down Lincoln way it is all Red Admirals and Peacocks at the moment but we haven't seen either yet this year.

Update

All the rain we have been having over the last couple of days has really freshened things up. Sadly the wind has left quite a few things rather battered.

I dropped these off at Mum's yesterday evening. There are plenty more to come, by the look of it.

Day of the Artichokes

Oh dear!!! Maybe I should have tied up both sides of the Artichokes!

They're coming to get me....

...that's better... I did something about this side...if a jobs worth doing, etc etc... I'll have a go at containment in the near future..... (possibly)

Cora waiting patiently in the rain.

Dad....can we go home now?

Flowers...

I potted on some of the second sowing of Cosmos 'Candy Stripe' today. They are a wonderful flower. They went on right up until the frosts last year. These might look even fresher for a while later on when the others are beginning to look a bit tatty - that's the theory, anyway....

This is a bud on the mysterious Sultan's Turban with no latin name on the seed packet. These badly need potting on or planting out. They are much smaller than I thought they would be....maybe that's why....

Mallow

This Mallow is part of my resolution to have more flowers for butterflies & hoverflies etc at the allotment. It's still in the pot I bought it in at the moment but I am going to transfer it to a larger one soon.

Tomato Update

I took the carpet off this bed today and dug it over ready for more tomatoes. There was quite a bit of bindweed to get out but after all the horsetail bindweed makes a refreshing change.

Here they are laid out ready like Uncle Peter recommended all those years ago...

....and here are the first lot in. I got 16 in today. Eight San Marzona at the end, then four Tigerella left over from the other bed, and four Llid which should be nice little yellow ones. I planted a couple of miserable looking squash plants from the greenhouse along the middle to avoid having to reach right to the middle to tend the tomato plants.(not shown - done later - raining).

Elderflower Update

This is where the Elderflowers are coming from this year. Next to the 'car park' at the allotment. There are masses! I picked another 60 today ready for a double load and I've hardly even dented them!

Jane Grigson's Parsley Tart

This recipe came from The Observer this weekend, in Nigel Slater's page. I made it yesterday and it has absolutely no allotment connection ecxcept that we ate it with Asparagus. I was so pleased with it I'm posting it anyway! I haven't made pastry
for ages. This recipe uses a little beaten egg instead of water to moisten the dough mix and I think it works!

Elderflower Update

I decanted the Elderflower cordial this afternoon, and made Lemon with Elderflower Marmalade out of the lemons - very satisfying. There wer ethree lemons. I removed the pips, whizzed the lemons with the stick blender 'til they looked ok & put them in a pan with water to the level of the lemons. Simmered for a few minuted 'til the lemons were soft, then added the sugar, disolved & boiled for five minutes. That's all it took! Lisa came into the garden later & said "Hey Dad - that lemon stuff might taste quite nice..." Only two qualifiers -high praise indeed!

'Usual' View 11 6 2007

Here is the 'usual ' view, taken just before I left this evening.

When I arrived it was clear it had bucketed down for a short while, even though the sun was shining resiliantly behind the trees. We had no rain at all in Ansdell, although Sue said it was pouring down in Preston a little earlier.

Apart from anything else (see below) I managed to pick another bowl of strawberries to carry home in triumph!

Tomato Update

I got the Tigerella tomatoes in this evening. I left them in position ready yesterday and blow me if they hadn't fallen over and developed enormous cricks in their necks what wiv' bein' phototropic n'all. Still. I used this brilliant velcro stuff that is supposed to be used as a tree tie. I cut it into strips last year and it is by far the easiest thing to use for tying in. Got very muddy doing this and had to wear plastic bags on my feet when I went to see Mum later. Luckily she's used to me... Now i just have to find space for another 40 or so tomato plants. I have had some ideas this evening, though. It rained hard for a short while in Lytham this evening so the ground might be a little more yeilding than recently.

Brassica Bonanza!

Yesterday (Sunday) I got the brassicas in through last year's potato holes (took up the carpet & dug etc first though).
I also prepared 8 tigerella toms to plant but stopped as no scissors for groundcover (though found some in the greenhouse today). Just as well really as I was laid low(ish) with sunstroke yesterday evening and this morning.

Kevin & Irene

We popped in to water the allotment after our walk along the Lancaster Canal this afternoon (see Mike's Nature Diary for details!) Sue & Irene picked strawberries and the odd stick of asparagus. I must get the brassicas in asap etc etc!!!!!

Strawberries!!!

I picked the first strawberries of Summer this evening and Sue ate nearly all of them straight off - which is the accolade they deserve. Actions speak louder than words and all that - especially if you've got a mouth full of strawberries!!!
The plan is to move the strawberries somewhere else at the end of the season, probably with new plants as well. These were dug up and thrown in a couple of years ago and are really a bit past their best. The bed needs repairing and resizing and freeing from the grip of the couch grass which has taken advantage of my haste when getting these in. Still, they don't look too bad, do they?

Elderflower Cordial Day

I got the first lot of elderflower cordial underway this evening. As you can see I had to brave the nettles to do so but it was well worth it! Some of the heads are huge this year - the third picture shows just one head!!! We are just finishing the last of the cordial from last year, so the timing is perfect. I am intending to make more this year though - it's delicious.

Asparagus Update

I also picked another bunch of asparagus this evening...only a week or so to go now....(sigh)

Usual View 5 6 2007

Here is the usual view taken on the 5th June 2007.

Courgette Update

The Courgettes are doing nicely now the bell cloches have been removed. You've got to be careful as they can get too warm and scorch but these have been well protected from the wind and seem to have taken off without any problems.

Weed Update

This is what I meant below about groundcover & carpet....

Hedge Update (FAO Sue)

If you're reading this darling...

Eeeek!!!

The trouble with going down without a plan and playing it by ear is that if you're not careful you end up doing something you start to think better of more or less straight away... All I wanted to do was clear a space for the tomatoes Christine gave us this afternoon and now look.... I've completely dismantled one bed and made a start on another...actually I carted the bits away rather than demolished the beds themselves as they were falling to pieces anyway. The plan now is (probably) to get the tomatoes in and then build the bed round them in the fullness of time.

At this time of year I always start to curse myself for not covering every last bit of soil with groundcover or carpet while the weeds are still dormant...The key here is timing..it's no good trying to dig them out of dry soil. The soil needs to be just drying & crumbly a day or so after rain.

In the foreground you can see that I have finally dug out the potatoes that I had left in last year. I am using the same carpet holes for Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Cavelo de Nero. They are in the greenhouse and raring to be let out into the wild. The carpet in the middle of the first picture I removed in readiness for digging the bed asap. I am wondering about then using it for staggered rows of tomatoes. I don't want to have to reach too far to tie in. sideshoot and pick the tomatoes, though. One of the few drawbacks with raised beds is that it can be slightly more fiddly reaching in to do jobs rather than just wandering down a row.

I am also about to sow some more Crown Prince squashes in pots as the greenhouse ones don't look to happy . I will plant both out asap to give myself two chances.

My guess is that the ones I haven't sown yet will romp away and overtake the yellowing greenhouse specimens.

Salsify & Asparagus

The sorry story of the Salsify I left to see if it would be ok ends in the wheelbarrow as it went to seed and then shrivelled up without even flowering properly. Shame as it has beatiful purple flowers.
The Artichokes I actually gave a bit of support to this evening to help (appropriately) in the event of wind.