This is the week!

This week the sun has come out and somewhat un-coincidentally everything is starting to look a little brighter. All of the seedlings are really getting a move on and it will soon be time to move things on up to the plot!!

For the first time I was able to make use of the extended daylight hours yesterday because it was dry, sunny and warm until almost 7pm! It was lovely to be back up the plot and I am so glad that we started digging it over last Autumn, because if we hadn't we would be in a real mess now. Thankfully the head start has really paid off!

The plot is now almost completly dug over and ready for use. We have 3 compost bins full of compost to spread over the potato patch, and providing the weather stays dry, I'm hoping that Friday might well be Potato day!! At last!! I have previously said that we always liked to get them in on Good Friday, but this year there was still snow on the ground and the plot was just completly unworkable. The potatoes still cover the kitchen table but all have really healthy strong sprouts/eyes which will be a real benefit when they finally get in the ground!

It's also good to see signs of life already emerging on the plot without having to plant anything, the rhubarb is getting stronger each day and I love seeing the contrasting colours of the bright red stalks and succulent green leaves! Rhubarb is an allotment favourite, and I really don't know what an allotment would be without it. After all, it comes back every year without much need for love and attention!

Inside, the tomatoes that we sowed in the last week of February are now several inches tall, the chilli plants have also started to kick on this week which is great news.

There is so much positivity for gardeners to embrace in April and May and it is much needed after the extremly long winter we have endured. I still can't believe that in less than a fortneight I should really consider sowing runner beans and courgettes yet on the other hand the potatoes and onions still aren't in the ground yet! Madness!!

I'll be back down the plot tonight finishing off the potato bed, and if I have time I will plant out my 30 new strawberry plants and 7 bareroot gooseberry bushes. That may have to wait until tomorrow though, we'll see!

I really look forward to catching up with other blogs over the common days. It is very nice to see so many signs of life on my 'reading list'.

Have a good week!!
Martin

Baking Sunday and 'those' Creme Egg brownies...

If you regularly use social media websites such as Twitter or Facebook then there is a very good chance that at some point over the last 7 days you would have come across a picture of unknown Lizzie Batchelor's 'Cadbury Creme Egg' Brownies. The recipe has become insanely popular and over 60,000 people have shared or tweeted a picture of her creation.

I do usually spend Sundays in winter/spring watching the football but this week due to the Easter break and also the unbelievable amount of snow still covering the garden and allotment we were left a bit stumped regards how to spend our time. But having seen the results of this creme egg brownie recipe there was only one place we would be this Sunday, in the kitchen (after the football of course)!!

Here are the results and I can say that if you like creme eggs then this recipe is a must, they are mind blowingly delicious!


Alongside the brownies we also made a lemon drizzle cake a chocolate mine egg nest too!! After losing over 2 stone since the turn of the year it was quite nice to have a day off over Easter!! But I'll be back to rations again tomorrow - that is for sure!!

If you hadn't stumbled across the recipe for the creme egg brownies then here it is. You must have a go!!

I can't believe that this time last year we had onions, beans, lettuce, raddish and potatoes on the grow already. So far this year nothing is actually in the ground and we have been restricted to growing a few bits in our. Pop up greenhouse!

Anyway, the cake was good so I am happy!!

Enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday and thanks for reading!!

Martin

Oh chit!

Today would be the usual day to get our potatoes in the ground but the truth is that the ground is still completely unworkable and the weather is so unpredictable. After a week of snow - we thought spring and sunshine were finally on the way yesterday. However to see it start to snow around lunchtime today, it has slightly dampened our spirits.

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely Easter and are able to get growing soon!!

Martin

Frozen Fircroft

Well the snow certainly persisted, and we now have approximately 7 inches of snow all around us, maybe 8 inches at home. But today I'm back at work and back at Fircroft College of Adult Education where I am on a year long placement.

You may remember I did a walk around the college and it's beautiful grounds when I first joined back in August/September time if you can't remember then here it is. Well, it certainly looks very different today in comparison with that pleasant Autumnal day last year when I did the same walk of the gardens, because today it was covered in thick snow! The main house at Fircroft looks idyllic at the vast majority of times but in the snow it seemed even more grand and magical.

I intend to sign off this post with a host of pictures from today's walk around the grounds of Fircroft which mainly involved following footprints left in the snow by a fox. If you want to find out more about the fantastic work that Fircroft does for less privilidged adults in and around the Birmingham area then click here or click on the logo on the right hand side of the blog in the sidebar.

Enjoy!

Martin

Fircroft House and Teaching Block

Former Cadbury Family Home in the Snow.

Orchard in the snow

Fircroft

Lots of untouched snow, I simply had to run through it!

Isn't there just something mesmerising about snow settled on trees.

A wintery path leading to the woods..

Following fox footprints..

Magical trees

A walk in the snow..

Well today is what you can officially call a 'snow day'. It is far too dangerous to go to work so it's simply a day to bask in the wonders of winter.

It started snowing yesterday at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and it has not stopped since.

So having phoned work and decided to have a walk to see the extent of the blizzards. Instead of waffling on I'll just post the photos and a small sentence here and there.


Ok, so first call was my grandparents house...

The park as we go by..

Coming up to their house for a nice cup of tea..

Off towards the high street now after a nice warm drink..

The very wintery and very beautiful St.Nicholas church.

Perfect postcard scene...

Fields on the way up to the allotment. Very white..

The allotment site..

A nice amount of untouched snow on the way up...

Believe it or not this is our allotment. it looks like the brassica nets have collapsed under the weight of the snow.. sigh!

Time to go home again for another cup of tea..

Thanks for reading as always. Enjoy your very own 'Snow Day'.

Martin

Must do before November...

Well, the last time I made a blog post I am sure the leaves on the trees were green if not with a slight tinge of yellow. Since then the glorious autumnal colour show has really got off with a bang. Red, Orange, Purple are just beautiful colours to see on the side of the road, back garden or at a public park. It makes a nice change from the mass quantity of green we have seen over the last 7 months.

With the end of Autumn and beginnning of winter does come a tinge of sadness, the first frost has been and gone and it is a timely reminder that the clocks go back on Sunday morning. I like to pop up to the allotment when I can after work, but I know that from next week it will be very dark at 5pm and I won't have a chance of getting up there. The next 'day at the allotment' will probably be in February. Only sparing visits will take place from next week until then. However, the allotment isn't being completly put to bed. Some things continue to grow like Purple Sprouting, Leeks, Parsnips and lettuce. Broad Beans can be sown from next week. So some joy still does exist.

We have just got back from our annual trip to Disneyland Paris and that really enforces the message that this time next week it will be November and Halloween will have been and gone. There were a few things I really want to get done on Friday at the allotment which didn't take too long which included tidying the shed. The last thing I want to do is go to the allotment on February 16th to find that the shed is a mess and I can't find the right sized seed tray to make my sowings. Other things to do in the next week or so include collecting leafs for leaf mould and making christmas cakes.

I also raked three barrow loads of compost in to the old bean bed which is going to be next years' brassica bed.

The frost had killed off all the bean and squash plant a few weeks ago, so it was also time to harvest the dried runner bean shells so that I could save some seed for next year. Runner beans in a small little bag sealed with a ribbon make a wonderful gift for those family members who have birthday's early in the year. There were plenty of beans left so we have a good stash of seed now..

We also picked up a couple of butternuts I had missed before when the foliage was still quite big, they are going to go on the window ledge to ripen up. The leaves are all curled up and black now so they were easy to spot. We also harvested the first 'purple top milan' turnips and the last pumpkin, which is going to have a big job on it's hand to be orange enough for Wendesday.

I think that last pumpkin may end up as soup. Never mind the other 5 pumpkins in the conservatory are ripening nicely as you can see. The one in the bottom left is particularly orange...

It was also my birthday last week. I had asked for euros for our trip to Paris as well as Gardening Vouchers if they prefered so that I could buy a small polytunnel. Tomatoes and cucumbers have been a small disaster over the last few years, so I want to give them a bit of a helping hand next year. I have £65 in vouchers so that will be very helpful indeed. We're going to be changing the allotment layout again next year based on what worked well and what didn't for us this year.. More to follow soon..

I think that's all for now.

Thanks for reading..

Martin

Cursed?

I'm feeling a little bit like I've had a spell cast upon me by the weather witch. Whenever I am doing something that I don't want to do but I need to do then the sun is shining, but when I am wanting to do something I want to do then the rain starts to drum down.

Every time I put on my Allotment gear ready for a trip, the heavens open. Oh well, we are getting up to pick bits and bobs and we've had marrows, runner beans and french beans in plentiful supply. The courgette glut is almost over, they are definately slowing down now and the picking isn't as heavy or frequent. However, there is still plenty to eat and we certainly aren't going hungry as you can see in the next picture which shows some recently prepared Mediteranean inspired potatoes and roasted vegetables....

I really need to get a move on with a few things though. The winter cabbage seeds really should have been sown last week, but will have to cope with a week less of growing time and I am sure they will. Linda also asked about a how to grow perfect cabbages guide, so that will be coming up when it's time to put the spring cabbage plants out.

On an interesting note, we're dabbling our hand at... showing vegetables. Apparently there is a local vegetable show on September 1st, Amy picked up a leaflet in one of the local shops. It's all a bit spontaneous but we are entering 4 categories. We know our veg isn't perfect, simply because it was never intended that it would be, if it was good to eat that was good for us. But we will be challenging for the honour of the largest marrow along with contending in the classes for courgettes, runner beans and french beans. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

I have also started my new job this week at a college in South Birmingham. It is a beautiful college with fantastic gardens and if I get permission I will be regularly taking photos and posting them here. They have their own veg patch and the food is used in the kitchens and so far so good. I am working in a marketing position and one of the things I am looking forward to is the first ever 'Open Gardens' at the college, where hopefully we'll be inviting the general public in to the grounds for the first time to view the beautiful collection of plants and trees that we have there. There is also a large ornamental pond and orchard. It's just great and I am really enjoying it.

However, due to the increase in my working hours there is obvioulsy less time for blogging, so I'm working on several social media streams including Facebook to bring you short, snappy updates as opposed to large posts. However as Friday is my day off I hope that Friday's will be my regular allotment and blogging day. So hopefully it will be something for me to look forward to at the end of my week and also give you a good read for the weekend.

Amy also works on Thursday evenings so until the night's do really pull in, I'll be visiting the allotment then too, but how many weeks of light evening's we have left is surely limited.  You might be lucky to see some photos tomorrow. But only if you are lucky.

Have a great day!

Martin

Gold! Gold! Gold! Even a GOLD Post Box!

Well Gold is definately this month's colour. With the unprecendeted number of olympic gold medals being won by Team Gb, and also the prospect of Golden Sunshine this week things are starting to look good again. We've also been digging up some Gold treasure down the allotment in the form of our maincrop potatoes. We took advantage of the mid-day sunshine to dig up a row of our main crop Maris Piper's. I was expecting them to be a good size for Jacket Potatoes and also for mashing but in reality the size varied greatly with small to medium potatoes and then the occasional whopper. We decided to only harvest the one row and have left the other 5 for next week!

We easily got 5-6kg off the small row. Our rows are only about 1/3 of the size of the allotment's width so it was a very good haul indeed.

The rain in recent weeks has ruined crops such as onions and shallots, but it seems to be doing the majority of the cucurbit family a world of good. We've had Golden Yellow courgettes to pick daily and the monstrous marrows keep coming too. Here's a picture of our marrow and courgette harvest from one day last week. This was a particularly bumper day but we are picking at least 3 courgettes per day...

The Pumpkin patch is also looking great too. We have at least 6 pumpkins which have set and are forming nicely. A couple of the hundredweight variety are already past an acceptable size for a jack o'lantern at halloween and seein as they have the best part of 2 months left to grow then we shall see what they are going to do. It could all be very exciting...



After 6 years of trying, this week brought me one of my greatest triumphs as a vegetable grower. I finally managed to grow, harvest and eat one of my own cabbages. I had told Amy that for years I have failed to get my cabbages to heart properly, they have always ended up with open leaves and not tight hearts. Well this year I changed my growing method slightly and I now have 2 rows of perfectly hearted cabbages and delicious they are too. I bet you think I can't keep up my gold theme now, well I kid you not but this variety of cabbage is called 'Golden Acre'..

I am very pleased with the final results. I had said that if they didn't grow properly this year then I might give up on brassicas next year. However, this delicacy has given me some hope at least. Sods law indicates that they will not heart properly next year, but I will try!

The allotment is abundent with growing produce and plenty of weeds too. The forecast is good for the rest of the week so I shall be going up to tidy everything up. As we harvest these cabbages it is a good reminder that it is time to sow some for spring time. I will be doing that in the next week or so, as I continue to plan for next years 'hungry gap' already.

On my way back from the allotment today, I popped by my town's new golden glory...



With 3 bags of produce in tow, I think they probably thought I was coming to sell it to passers by, but in reality I was only getting a picture for my loyal followers, who keep coming back to read my blog even when my posts are slightly infrequent.

The post box outside our post office has been painted Gold as a result of the success of local equestrian rider Nick Skelton who won a Gold medal in the team event at the London 2012 olympics.

Well done Nick and thanks to everyone else for reading.

I am way behind on blog reading but I hope your harvest are as good as ours.

Enjoy the sun,

Martin

Welcome to November (July)

Well. I took this video at 4:30 pm today on our way out to the garden centre from Amy's mum's house. This has been the picture for the last 10 or so days...

Crazy!

It is more like November than July, but at least the fresh produce keeps on growing, albeit rather more slowly than per usual!

We're now harvesting plenty of broad beans, courgettes, lettuce and soft fruit including raspberries and blackberries. We made a blackcurrant and apple crumble yesterday and today we had homemade ratatouille with chopped tomatoes, courgette ribbons and chunks as well as handfuls of broad bean served with pasta! Delicious!

When the weather sorts itself out, I'll give you a proper allotment update!

Martin

A note to the sky..

I have had enough of this weather! Have you? Yesterday morning we were sat in the living room being deafened by rain pelting against the windows, the whole road was flooded and there was no sign of it letting up. Then came the thunder and lightening, what a great insight in to summer time this was.

However, cometh the afternoon it was blazing sun with temperatures at 25 degrees celcius. I made my way to the allotment and came back in the evening with blackcurrants, lettuce, strawberries, raspberries and a tickle of SUNBURN!

Absolutely unbelievable. It is so hard to plan days at the allotment when the weather is so varied. Thankfully yesterday afternoon was good enough for me to get a lot of weeding done and also plant out the carrots we had started off in old loo rolls. We also planted some lettuces which we bought from a large food retailer that I work for. They were those cut and come again 'living lettuces' that are quite fashionable in the high end supermarkets. They had apparently exceded their sell by date and thus were destined for the bin (how a living thing can exceed it's sell by date is beyond me!), but I did manage to get them via a friend for 8p each from the staff waste sale. We had 15 so they are all now planted up and should in theory give us lettuce throughout the summer. We've picked some leaves from all of them to encourage them to produce new growth!

They are a gorgeous colour and I will be letting them go to seed at the end of summer to save seeds to plant again for next year!



We've planted 12 out in between the broad beans and dwarf french beans to fill a gap from the second lot of broad beans that failed to get going due to mice/bird problems. I don't normally use slug pellets but I've had to give in. We were losing a lettuce per day last week due to the wet conditions. We had tried using 100% natural organic pellets but they made no difference. So we have reverted back to the blue pellets but they are supposedly repellant and non toxic to domestic wildlife so that is good.

There are plenty more weeds to remove over the coming week, and I also want to get straw down at the top half of the plot to keep weeds down. The top area was awash with couch grass and the only way to get rid of it/to reduce it is to cover the area for 6 months or more. Obviously it would be suicidal to cover 1/3 of the allotment and not grow on it so we have dug over it several times and have planted it up with pumpkins, sweetcorn and some brassicas, so now I can cover around them with straw to keep the weeds at bay but also retain moisture for the vegetables if we do get a warm patch. Unlikely I know..

Anyway, I'm going to be catching up with other blogs today if I can. However, I do need to get up to the allotment and weed around the strawberries. I'll try and take lots more pictures to give you an idea of how the plot is doing.

Have a great weekend!

Martin

I swear that veg is growing...

Blimey!

This rain is certainly increasing the amount of foliage on the plot. As you can see below the potato bed is now a sea of green leaves and small flowers. A very promising sign indeed, the cabbages, well, they are certainly flying along and the lettuces don't seem to stop.

It definately looks like an allotment now doesn't it. Onions and potatoes in the foreground then beans and brasiccas just beyond.


We'll start at the back and move forewards in today's blog post.

In the soft fruit area there is plenty of growth amongst the raspberries which now present a huge green canvas of lushious leaves, with the not so glorious bindweed wrapped around it of course!

Our grape vine has finally started to get a shift on too. Everybody has a vine on our site and they all started off as cuttings from my plot neighbours single vine he purchased 31 years ago when he first got his plot. Everybody's elses have been running wild for the last month or so, however mine hadn't even broken out of it's winter dormancy, until now! The weeds on our site really are rampant due to 5 or more years of neglect. I have put some black tarpaulin over the grape vine area and cut a hole for the vine. This should supress the weeds and give the vine more of a chance. Here is what the area currently looks like, it is certainly  a work in progress!

Just in front of this area we now have 5 pumpkin plants. 2 hundredweight and 3 smaller Jack O'Lanterns. Amy and I are having a competition to see who can grow the biggest one! They were planted on top of heaps consisting of a mix of horse manure, farm manure, multipurpose compost and top soil. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to make sure I'm the winner...

The thing I am most pleased about is the brassicas. I am the envy of the whole site. My cabbages are hearting already and my brocolli have heads! Unbelievable, I've never grown a good brassica in my life, I hope my luck has changed and we'll be enjoying some delicious greens in the future....

You might have noticed my home made net tunnels before, they are fantastic at keeping pests out and also shading the crops from the blazing soon. They also allow perfect ventilation on moisture to enter. They are a real secret weapon..

They're not massive weeds between them either, they are actually rows of fast growing Cos Lettuce, to allow us to maximise our space!

Opposite the brassica bed is our bean bed. Our broad bean plants are starting to produce a few bean pods now and the dwarf french beans have germinated plentifully. I also managed to get my runner beans in today at last. They are a real staple for all allotments, plots don't look the same without them!

With the amont of horsemuck I put in their trench I really do expect a good harvest from them!

Here is a picture of the potato sea. Lots of foliage, let's hope there are some good tubers underneath..

Elsewhere, I was very glad to see Monty cover dealing with bolting onions on last Friday's gardener's world. Many of mine had repented the recent weather conditions and decided to bolt, thankfully I've now nipped them in the bud so there is still some hope.. I hope!

Although the allotment is being stocked well, there is still plenty in the mini greenhouses including kale, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, more lettuce, sweetcorn and french climbing beans. They'll all be making their way out in to the ground over the coming weeks...

Final installment of this update, is a suprising advancement. Remember those 19p Asparagus crows I bought from a large supermarket chain...

Only 2 more years to go and I might be able to taste some. At least they're growing! Best 19p I've ever spent, that is for sure!

Enjoy the rest of your week. If their is a break in the rain make sure you are in your garden or on your allotment!!

Martin





Flaming (wet) June

Well, I'm glad exams are out the way and a long, luxurious period of time on the allotment is now upon me! Poor Amy still has another 2 weeks to go until she put her feet up for a short time and join me on plot 114.

It makes me chuckle that the last time I made a post on this blog I entitled it 'Cost Del Allotment' referring to the scorching temperatures we had at the end of May. Almost 2 weeks on and the allotment is full of puddles and I haven't had to water for at least a week which is great in a way!

The courgettes and pumpkins are loving it, but the weather has stressed the onions and many of them are starting to bolt which is highly frustrating! These things happen though.

I was hoping to get down to the allotment to take some pictures to show you but the weather and bad light doesn't make them worth posting in all fairness. So you'll have to wait for the sunshine before you see the pictures of the plot now.

The good thing to tell you is that we are now eating fresh produce off the plot. We've had raddish but now we're harvesting a couple of lettuce per week which is ideal. Here's a few of our perfectly formed and delicious little gems....

 I see the strawberries are tinged with red too! Can't be long now, when's Wimbledon??

Everything is growing really well, especially the brasicas which look like they are already beyond the stage my brassicas usually get to, so fingers crossed there.

Off to Gardener's World Live on Friday so will do a report like last year. Last year's report had hundreds of hits from around the web so it was obviously popular.

I haven't logged in to the blog for a few weeks and our number of followers has jumped up so welcome all, I hope you enjoy reading.

Enjoy the rest of the week, sun or no sun!

Martin

Costa Del Allotment

Wish you were here...

Wow, wow, wow! What a week of amazing weather.

The reason we've been quiet of late is the annual exam season, I'm spending more time reading about neoliberalism and globalization than onions and potatoes which is not right at all. But in this glorious weather it would have been rude not to get out the table and chairs, sit back and drink ginger beer on our patio.

As you can tell by the picture plot 114 is starting to look like a proper allotment now! Potatoes are being earthed up weekly and we've already got brassicas in the ground. The courgettes and pumpkins are getting bushier and bushier every day.

The only problem with this weather is the arm ache every evening. Not having a hosepipe means we have to walk to the site water hole and fill up cans and cans of water.

IWeve been revising all day today but we've been up to the allotment to water the veg and there were so many people up there. It is such a nice place and there is a real community spirit. Everybody is so kind and happy to talk.

Well that's a quick little snippet of what we've been up to. After tomorrow (Tuesday) we are exam free for 10 days, so I pinky promise to make  a proper update.

Almost June so get growing!!

Martin and Amy

P.S: You know are mooing neigheighbours on the field behind the allotment? Well they have calves! It's a little difficult to get pictures of the calves on my iphone because they are so shy and keep away from the fence, but the big girls like to come and say hello all the time...