test upload

this is the first i have uploaded for ages

this is the second 

Update at last!!!

Rosemary Russet

Fruit etc...

Again these are catch-up pics as I haven't been able to get to the lottie for a week or so until this morning...These are the last few Margorie's seedling plums. Sadly they shrivelled rather than ripened further on the kitchen windowsill.

This is the first of the 'Annie Elizabeth' on the left and the best of the 'Rosemary Russet' on the right which has a large damaged area on the other side so needed picking early.

More 'James Grieve' windfalls...

...and still getting plenty of runner beans.

Visitor...

Andrew came over a week or two ago and helped with the runner beans amongst other things. Cheers Ange...:-)

HFW Chicken pot roast

I used the first leeks of the season to make Hugh's pot roast chicken again.

Misc....

Nice to see the flags flying again...the greenery behind the bed to the left is comfrey which I use for making liquid feed in the dustbin you can just see behind the post.
The green compost bin in the centre of the picture is for forcing rhubarb in the sping.

The yellow plastic is supposed to be protecting decking for the new bed until I get round to constructing it but it has been there so long it is in holes - so the wood may be damp and warped as well. Must move this bed up my list of priorities - it too would be a good bed for brassicas as it has definately not been planted with any for several years.

today I cut the lawn - always a triumph!

Here you can see the courgette/Summer/Winter squash bed. The yellow patty pan squash plant in the centre (at each side) are succumbing to mildew and yellowing leaves more quickly than the courgettes. I will soon do what I did last year when this happened which is to remove the plants to make more room and extra ventilation for the remainder. It is easier to pick the yellow squash this way anyway as the growth is rather congested in comparison the the usual Romanesco courgettes.

Something Missing...?

Is there something wrong with this picture?

Spot the difference! Not as good as the ones Kevin and Irene brought back from Tibet for me but rather pretty all the same.

Apples, plums, tidying up...

These plums still have a way to go before they are ready for picking.

These three Rosemary Russet apples look absolutely beautiful in the late Summer sunshine.

I have made a start in tidying up this area at the back of the allotment - it is the best place to sit as it is the first place you can get out of the sun if it is hot.

Potato apple bean update...

I dug the remainder of the potatoes today after having left them with the haulm removed for a couple of days due to blight...

...some nice ones but they are generally rather small this year.

These beans we had the other day were lovely.

The James Grieve are still wind-falling for fun - delicious fresh though when you cut out the bad bits.

Kale & Hearty...

A couple of days ago I thinned out the Curly and Tuscan Kale after they did unexpectedly well after having been 'heeled in'for a couple of months...

...much better but still a bit more crowded than they ould be if I had planted them out properly - they looked rather sorry specimens at the time and I thoght I'd just see how they did andplant them out elsewhere later if they looked ok...

I kept some plants to put in at my leisure in buckets with a bit of water at the bottom...will probably put a few in where the potatoes came out of today - and hopefully find homes for some of the others - Mike said he was after some kale pants when I saw him the other day but I had forgotten about these at the time!

Asparagus Bed r.i.p.

Today I spent a good few hours at the allotment for the first tile in a long time. I started to dig out the old asparagus bed after the ravages of cold and drought had taken their toll. Lots of dead asparagus roots with perfectly healthy convolvulus entined within. Truly it is said a weed is a plant which grows...

I got a fair way through it so it might possibly be finished tomorrow - am considering covering the bed with carpet so it can just be peeled back to get rid of the weeds without giving them a chance to see the light.

May well use the bed for potatoes next year or brassicas as it has not been used for those for many years. Could grow them through carpet or groundcover as it will be impossible to remove evey scrap of bindweed, couch grass ec and this will keep them in check and keep the soil permanently moist as well.

Raspberries!!!

Here are today's raspberries - 2lb 11oz of flavour!

And here they are mashed and mixed with icing sugar in preparation for a short simmer to turn them into compote.

Misc...

This is the bed I have just planted the salad crops into...

It took around 15 minutes to prepare the bed - the magic of raised beds...

The cabbage seedlings from Dobbies I rushed in in a panic earlier in the year have started filling out nicely and look like they might be quite a good thing.
I got them due to being anxious about the Curly and Tuscan Kale plants I also put in late but actually those are doing well - I must thin/transplant them soon to get the best of them.

this shows a corner of the plot with apple 'Jumbo' to the left, followed by leeks, sweetcorn I never got round to transplanting so are having to take their chances where they are, Runner beans forming a backdrop and the laden James Grieve apple tree in the left hand corner.

The flowers are self-seeded marigolds and cosmos (originally 'candy stripe').

Fruit again...etc

The raspberries are still going strong and should be for months yet. One problem at this time of year is that the tops can go a bit slimy if not picked in time - if that happens they can be snapped off as there is still time for new growth to fruit before the frosts stop them in their tracks.

The yellow raspberries in the background are 'Allgold', a sport of the red 'Autumn Bliss'. I have one row of each.

This shows the healthy new growth on the acid cherry I pruned last Summer after picking.

Here are the salad rows - maybe the Mizuna and Pak Choi need a little more room than this as they can take up a surprising amount of space when they really get going.


And these are the pea Blaushokker??? ready to go...

Sowing time again...

I have sown some salad vegetables ready for stir-fries etc later on in the year - I was a bit worried I'd left it too late but on browsing the blog I see that I was getting great pickings even in October after some frosts. That was in 2009 the first year I tried this - it really does give the allotment a whole new lease of life later on in the year.
The oriental vegetables such as Pak Choi and Mizuna really need to be sown after the longest day or they tend to go straight to seed rather than producing pickable leaves.

With the Mizuna I harvest the leaves a few from each plant as needed but I tend to pick the Pak Choi whole.

I am intending to plant some chard and some purple Curly Kale for Winter leaves in salads and stir fries too.

I sowed some of the blue-podded and flowered peas this week as well as the salad leaves but it might be too late for these now - time will tell.