Allotment, March 2015.

I have had my allotment for a few years now. It started as a piece of wasteland, covered in nettles and couch grass and over the years it has become a proper vegetable patch. Some years it gives us plenty of fruit and veg. Other years it ticks by. Last year was a quiet year. The weather was grim and I wasn't inspired. This year though, is different. Having had a year of keeping the allotment tidy and ticking over I plan on growing lots. The thing with allotments is that they take a lot of work. Little and often is a good idea.

allotment

 Since I started with my allotment it has been interesting to see people come and go. Of the 12 plots on our site there are only 5 of us who have kept going. Four of the allotment holders have been there longer than me and the other seven plots have been taken over and given up several times over the last few years.

rhubarb, garlic and fruit bushes

 If you start an allotment you need to realise that its a long term commitment... Once the initial enthusiasm has worn off you need to keep plodding along. You never stop learning and some years are better than others.

onions

I went up there a couple of times last week, planting garlic and onions. I have Charlotte potatoes chitting in my kitchen, ready to plant this week. I love having everything neat and tidy and there's nothing better than having veg fresh from the ground.

When the weather gets warmer I shall plant pak choy, lettuce and beetroot, as well as French beans and cabbages. I shall start reading through my books too, to give me ideas as to what I might fancy trying to grow this year.

At the moment my rhubarb is starting to sprout... All is good!!

rhubarb

Summer on the Vegetable Patch.

I am sad tonight. But I am not going to bore you with the ongoing saga of teenage bolshiness. Instead I am going to bore you with share with you some news of my vegetable patch. There you go.

We are currently bathing in the delicious warmth of a summer sun I thought had gone away forever. With the grey skies and cold temperatures banished for now my allotment is waking up and beginning to flourish.

Not long ago the earth was hard and cold, hostile to seeds and seemingly sterile. With the glorious summer weather the soil has turned to rich, warm chocolate that nurtures new plants and smells of happiness. I tell my husband that I have to go down there to water or weed or plant. I guiltily make it sound like a chore ... but really its a joy. The vegetable patch is the place I go to be alone with the sun and the breeze and the birds and the bees.

Especially the bees ... how many types are there? There seem to be so many. Just behind my compost heap is a bees nest now. I don't know what type of bees, but they live in the mound, bumbling in and out of tiny tunnels and buzzing drunkenly to the raspberry flowers, oblivious to everything but their love of nectar.

I have learnt so much this year so far. I bought a pot of leeks from the garden centre, planted them, but realised something was wrong. Having spoken to my allotment angel Len I learnt how to set them. (That is a technical term I like to drop into a conversation ... setting seeds, setting leeks ... ) 

I dug up the big clumps, separated them and then pinched out the roots and stems. Then I laid them out as you can see above. With my dibber I made a hole, held the leek in it, poured water onto the earth around and there it was, bobs your uncle, planted.

The scent of leeks ... oniony and rich was delicious. I can't wait for the time when they will emerge from my oven, bubbling in a cheesy sauce, sweet and tasty.

One of the clever things Len has taught me this year is how to make a cheap frame for my netting. He looked at my neat, garden centre bought hoops that cost a fortune and suggested canes and hose pipe ... I tried it for my Brussel Sprouts ...

In the net tent above I didn't have enough netting to create a box shape, but the canes still allow for a much higher enclosure than hoops. This gives the plants more room to grow. You just use a short length of hose pipe to connect canes as you can see above. Its so very simple!!

Autumn Gold raspberry ... yellow when ripe ... sweet & delicious.

red currants

Everything is starting to look tasty. My fruit bushes are heavy with jewel-like redcurrants and raspberries and the gooseberries and blackcurrants are starting to emerge shyly from the foliage.

Lettuces and courgettes are green and succulent, while my sweet corn and butternut squash are just beginning to wake up and think about putting on a show...

As I said, going to my allotment gives me peace and time to think. There is something about dipping my watering can into the trough again and again, plodding up and down the grassy path to water my plants, that gives me great satisfaction. I took my son down there the other afternoon and we worked together watering and weeding. It was wonderful. I cherish moments like that. I just wish they came more often.