Welcome to our allotment blog. We've got a plot, now we're trying to figure out what we're doing! So please join us - put the kettle on, sit back, and dream about Living The Good Life...

Tuesday 22 January 2008

Lists, lists, lists


We sat down and made a wish list last night of all the things that we would like to grow. It seems we each have a slightly different approach. I get excited about things I know I like, things that we’ll enjoy eating, and the interesting varieties of said items - like quirky shaped squashes, yellow courgettes and multi-coloured carrots. Adam, on the other hand, likes to add really random things to the wish list – stuff we’ve never eaten before, let alone know how to grow and what to do with. Things like kohl rabi and asparagus peas. I think we might have an interesting crop this year!

The list came to about £30. That initially seems a LOT to spend on seeds, but then you consider how much fresh food you'll actually get for your money and how much you spend in a week at Tesco (or on a night out), and it doesn't seem so bad. Especially when some of the seeds will be kept for next year too.


While he may pick out some strange veggies, Adam is good at thinking forward to next winter, and is keen to add stuff to the list like kale, parsnips, swedes and spinach, so we’ll hopefully get more winter greens and veg than this year. Our sprouts this year were nice and easy - thanks to Sian providing us with three seedlings - but, to be honest, three plants do not a hearty crop make. At the weekend we picked our first sprouts that've been ready since Christmas, so I think it’ll have to be the more the merrier next time on the sprout front. Also our spinach is a wee bit pathetic, having vastly underestimated the amount we needed to sow; our spring cabbage won’t be ready until (surprise surprise) spring, and although we’ve had a few beautiful baby turnips, about the size of golf balls, the rest aren’t yet ready to be plucked from the ground.

1 comment:

Nic said...

Good job you've got a big allotment to grow all of your wierd and wonderful crops ;o)
I wish Michael was more interested in growing veg.....the closest he gets is planting peas but then his didn't germinate and mine and Jack's did so he decided that he must be jinxed and stuck to building random paths across my veggie patch...I kid you not, he is a freak!
Kohl rabi is a bit like a turnip, we get them in our veggie box. You can make a lovely gratin with them or disguise them by hiding them in stews.