Allotment Update Jan 2020

 Hello, thought I would update on my allotment as not done any crafting the past couple of weeks as my hands are not their best at the moment with the rheumatoid arthritis and this wretched damp weather we seem to have been having the past few months in the UK!

My plot is still drenched and soggy so I have limited standing on the soil and working mainly from the sides and paths I have created.

I have been trying to over winter some corn salad to see if I can get an early salad harvest under a cloche, so far it seems to be hanging on in there-they are SO small, but then I suppose there is so few hours of daylight at the moment.  I hope in the coming weeks as the days lengthen they will suddenly get a growth spurt!

My kale is hanging on in there, the red kale has done a LOT better than the green kale

My over wintering onions I planted in a mound all along the length to see if that would help as that end of my plot is really sodden and until recently was still a bit under water seem to have worked, I have covered some with the metal mesh I used to keep my squashes off the soil back in the autumn in an effort to stop the birds trying to pull the stalks out of the soil!  The rest are planted up in a small plastic greenhouse (those small 4 foot high ones) in my garden until I am able to work the soil on the plot when it dries out a bit more.

My plot-kale, spinach and purple brussel sprouts still ready for picking (the leeks at the very top of the plot are covered in rust and didn't really bulk out so don't think I will bother again.

 I am trying something new in my compost bin this year.  In a book about compost I borrowed from the library it said to create a chimney of wire in the middle as a way of getting some air into the middle (my compost in the first bin is quite wet, presuming I need more brown matter) so in my 2nd bin I am going to see how it works.  I have only just started the bin, putting down some wire mesh on the floor in a bid to keep the rats out and I was lucky enough to convince the works canteen to give me a large bin bag full of spent coffee grounds.  So according to Charles Dowding these are classed as brown (rather than green) matter and are better in a compost bin rather than spread on the soil (where they can go mouldy) so I thought I would give that a go too-it doesnt cost anything so I reckon it has got be worth a try, if it doesn't work for me then I will start again.

 My garlic in my small 4foot high greenhouse thingy at home is starting to sprout nicely.  As soon as we get a cold spell I will put them outside as they need sub zero to help split the bulbs (or at least that is what I read in another one of the many books I am borrowing from my library!)

 During the wet dark evenings I am sat here with the dread that is TRYING to sort out a plan for crop rotation.  I have read so much up on it and it seems like the main thing is rotate brassicas, onions and potatoes but who knows as I then read others who don't and find it fine!  I have decided to put my onions etc this year where my spuds and courgettes were last year and the spuds will go where my onions and roots were last year-as to the rest-who knows!!

 then finally I have started sorting out my seeds.  I have placed like with like in envelopes (i.e. all carrots together, all beetroots together) but I haven't thought about sowing times etc as I am hoping I can do some seed swaps in the next few weeks which may thin things out a bit.

So there you are, fingers crossed the soil will dry out a bit.  I have some potatoes chitting from local potato days I have attended and have started cleaning my tools and sharpening them all ready for the new growing season.

Kyla

Allotment update

Just a quick allotment update. As we have had our first frosts I thought I should harvest my winter squash.  I have urchi kuri, butternut and I think the yellow/green one may be acorn (not sure to be honest)!

I am really pleased as so far I have 11 winter squash that I am curing to store so am hoping that this will last me about 7 weeks (with any luck).  We do get through a lot of squash so I plan on growing more next year.  I have 4 of the orange urchi kuri (there are a couple really small ones still on the plant that I am hedging my bets with!)

3 of these and 

I managed to harvest 4 butternut squash (and a couple really small ones I have already roasted) 

Boy the plot does look bare now though!

Kyla

WOYWW

Happy hump day and  "What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday" where we bare our desks.

On mine this week it has looked the same most of the past week....mainly because it is preserving season so my crafting has been in the kitchen (or on the computer so sorry if I missed revisiting some blogs in the past week).  I have printed out some labels BUT the wretched inks do NOT last as long as they used to so once again I am going to have to buy some more as this batch have printed quite light.

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are "Mayor Tricks General"....ooh!

Scroll on down the page if you'd like to see some of the preserving I have been doing recently, not posted them all as there is rather a LOT this year since I have the allotment.

Have a nasty feeling is this my ONLY batch of elder brandy and elder vinegar this year as sadly the berries have all been shrivelled and not great where I go for my walks (same with the sloes and bullaces-very few on my walks)

For the first time I thought I would try drying my calendula to use in tinctures etc.  My friend has passed me some recipes (thanks Bex) so I have a few ideas.

Made lots of pickled nasturtium seeds this year.  I didn't make any last year and had to buy capers!  Shocked I know, I have made about 6 jars so hoping they will see me through.

Made these the other week, Strawberry Jam.  A fabulous local fruit seller gave me a load of fruit past its sell by rather than binning it so I picked through and had enough to make a few jars of jam.

 Been making LOTS of this.  Marrow and Ginger jam.  Those who follow me on instagram would have seen the HUGE courgettes I have, especially the yellow zephyr ones.  Well these make a delicious ginger jam and I have made about 4 batches so far!  It does take abut 3 hours from start to finish per batch so hard work but worth it as tastes delicious (even added some warmed up to a glass of spiced rum the other day!

Couple batches of spiced courgette chutney to ring the changes (rhubarb wasnt great this year so was low on chutney for winter/spring) its having to wait a few months before I can taste it to find out how it turned out which really frustrates me!

Last but not least, Strawberry Vinegar.  LOVE this, last year I made tons of elderberry vinegar but this year its strawberry as I had a lot on the allotment as well as local producers.  It is like an old fashioned shrub and nice in a cocktail, cooking or my favourite, neat over salad or cous cous. 

 Phew, just need somewhere to store it all now!!

Kyla

Plot 12 update

 Hello peeps, thought I would do an update on the allotment.

As you may have seen a couple of weeks ago I made a plot sign from an old wooden stamping block and it is now in situ (having had a couple of coats of varnish).

Now all my strawberries I inherited with the plot have finished for the year I will take some runners with a view to starting a new bed as they are quite old so need replacing.

With the strawberries I made Strawberry Vinegar for the first time.  It is a recipe from Pam Corbin, known as Pam the Jam and is the lady behind the River Cottage preserves.  

It is similar to the Elderberry vinegar I make but is lighter and more fragrant, perfect for salad dressings throughout the summer and cost me pennies to make!

I have also started to harvest my potatoes.  No main crop for me but lots of 2nd earlies which I love as new potatoes, boiled or in salads.  I have 15 plants to dig up which I plan on digging up one plant a week so hopefully they will see us through the summer.

I have already harvested my garlic so I started to harvest our red onions

I am drying them out, though to be honest I am also eating them rather than buying any onions straight away. I have another couple rows still in the ground so I am hoping they will last us through the summer too

I was shocked as to how big they had gotten too!!

I am loving the allotment, it is very much a learning curve as I am growing different produce than I used to grow 20 years ago and having to understand what I can do with my Rheumatoid Arthritis and work arounds-like they say every day is a school day!  Luckily in this day and age there are some amazing instagram pages, youtube videos etc that have so much advice and suggestions so I am slowly working out what will work.

Kyla

Allotment update

I have been loving my allotment and slowly it is coming together.  

I am sure that it will change in layout over the next year but for now I just wanted to get as much of my seedlings etc in the ground as I ran out of space at home!

We were lucky enough to get some strawberries from the plants we inherited with the plot.  The plants only tend to be really productive for 3-5 years so we were really surprised that we got quite a good picking from them.  I will plant some runners from them this year ready to make a new patch next year.

The potatoes are 2nd earlies (charlotte) and I dug these up to see how they were developing, the rest (another 3 rows) will stay in the ground for another month and i will just dig up a plant at a time as and when I need more spuds!

The broadbeans tasted delicious, I have about 15 plants which I now know is SO not enough so next year I will plant more.  I bought them as seedlings and they worked really well, even after being totally attacked by blackfly earlier in the season (I made a garlic spray to keep them at bay and it seemed to work, so I will spray earlier next year).

The beetroot are golden beetroots.  I bought about 9 small plants and they are developing really well, I also sowed lots of ordinary beetroot seeds and these seem to be growing ok.

I also have lots of herbs and micro greens I have been picking and am looking forward to the crops as they develop.

Kyla

Allotment update

Thought I would catch up with what has been going on at the plot.

The past few weeks we have been busy weeding and digging.

We decided to keep the black plastic on the top left of the plot as there are some thick deep rooted weeds under there so in an effort to break this into smaller tasks to help manage my Rheumatoid Arthritis we have decided to leave this until later in the year/winter to think about dealing with it.  I plan on planting some courgettes/squash in the tyres and through the plastic so the space won't go to waste.

The top part was very stony and heavy so we planted potatoes to help break up the soil.  Yes, it is old school with the long trenches (remember I was taught to garden in the 70's so I am old school I suppose) and they do resemble buried bodies-but it is main crop spuds!  Honest!

We planted some onion sets in the front of the plot and put down some weed control fabric pinned down with some metal wire and piled with bark chippings that the council kindly donate to the site.  This will help me with my stability on the site and make it easier for me to walk on a slightly firmer ground.  Later in the year I am thinking of edging it with some wood to help keep the chippings in place.

I also bought 4 pallet collars.  A bit dearer than I hoped BUT I think this will make life a lot easier for me, easier to reach the middle without stretching and as they fill up I won't have to bend down as much, and if my mobility gets worse then I am thinking I can add another pallet collar on top easily to increase the height even more.

So far so good, I am also toying with the idea of growing some plants for dying fabric too, but that will probably be next year as I need to do a bit of research and see how much space I have when I have my fruit and veggies all growing.

Kyla

Allotment sucess

So, a few month's ago I put my name down for an allotment and then earlier this year I found out my name had gotten to the top!  Hurrah!

So I am now the proud renter of this plot (not quite a full plot, thank goodness that would be too much for us).  It is about 15 foot x 37 foot (approx) and doesn't have a shed or beds but it does have a compost bin and some tyres!

Not too many weeds, though quite a stony plot so will plant potatoes to try and break up some of the soil this year

The end of the plot has loads of old strawberry plants!  I know these only tend to have a lifespan of 3-5 years before they stop being really productive so I plan on seeing how these fruit this year and then potting up some of the runners if they are strong this autumn ready for next year.

the plots to side of me have sheds but I am lucky that we live close by so I plan on taking the tools that I need on each visit as there seems to be quite a few thefts etc in the area so I am thinking no shed may reduce the risk of plants etc getting trashed by people.

Even though I used to have 2 allotments throughout my 20's I haven't had one since I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis so hubby has kindly agreed to help out with this one and it will be interesting to see how I get on.  I know that some days I struggle to do basic tasks so I am thinking low maintenance so it can be left for a few days when I am not very well.  I was thinking of chipped bark paths and some raised beds as that will help with my mobility and allow me to work from each side of the beds without having to stretch too far.  

I have already started clearing and planting so will update with some photos really soon.

Kyla

Seedlings are taking over

When I was a kid I used to help my parents grow their own fruit and veg.  I was SO lucky as our council house had a big garden so we used to grow most of our own and from a very young age my mum and dad taught me how to plant, tend and cook them (I have fond memories of picking the spuds, placing them in an old biscuit tin and burying it in the bonfire, when the embers died down we had hot baked potatoes-and my mum's face as we walked in the house stinking once again of bonfires (sorry mum, I am no better these days)!

Then in my 20's I moved in with my now hubby and rented flats, missing the garden I spent my 20's renting allotments and growing my own fruit and veg, an experience I loved.

Then we finally were lucky enough to buy a house and I have been tending the garden since.  The past 8 years have been hard as being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis has meant I have had to learn how to pace myself and remember that I can only do short bursts and accept on bad days I am not able to!  Seriously, I have a REAL issue with trying to accept I am NO superwoman!!  Anyway following a year or so of struggling with my pay the bills job (too much work, not enough time...yadda, yadda....many of us know this but SO grateful I have a job and am still able to work with my disease) I decided I would expand my growing and convert a bit more of our small garden/patio to more veggies, I also put my name back down on the allotment waiting list, knowing it can take a long time to get near the top, but it costs nothing to put your name on the list so why not?

So a couple month ago my window ledges look like this, nice clean and organised. 

 A mixture of propagators and upcycled plastic containers from the kitchen and even the labels were cut from my yogurt pots.

However, in what seemed like quite a short time my window ledges looked like a mini jungle and the plants started to take over!

 I have a sneaking suspicion I may have sown the seeds a few weeks too early so they are still too tender to plant outside as the night temperatures are still a bit too low

They have gotten a bit leggy now and I have started hardening them off, not sure if they will be any good (so I have sown a couple more as a back up for a bit later and if push comes to shove I can always look to buy a couple plants, we often see them being sold from people's front gardens etc).

What have I learnt from this?  Well two things really, I need to remember to wait a couple weeks before I sow them next year (I have made notes this time of the date I planted them etc, whereas previously I just guessed!) and secondly my hubby has the patience of a saint!

I will be pleased when these can be planted out and fingers crossed they take, if not, well I can try again next year!

Kyla