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 27 July 2010

Summertime


Quick quick QUICK get some stuff on there about June before July's nearly over...!

Have you noticed I don't have the inclination to blog as much as I did? I think it's 'cos the novelty's worn off. The learning curve of having an allotment has levelled out and it's not quite as exciting digging up potatoes the third, fourth and fifth time around as it was the first or second. And my gut feeling is that there are only so many times you guys out there want to read about my potatoes... so it's more of a struggle to turn on the computer and tap away.
So, apologies, but that's just the way it is right now. Plus, it's summer, for goodness sake! No one in their right minds really wants to spend time at a computer when the evenings are long and warm(ish) and there's the possibility of a barbeque and a cool beer in the garden.

Ah, the garden. Brings me on to my first piece of June news. The chickens are no more. That's right, we are now chicken-less, but garden-rich. I hadn't realised how much space the chooks took up! Ellie got egg bound, we think, and unfortunately didn't make it. We'd decided that once another chicken died we'd call it a day for now, otherwise we'd just keep ending up with one older and one younger chicken - a never-ending cycle of replacing chickens! So Peggy Sue got adopted by a lovely little old lady in a nearby village, who has three-quarters of an acre, a large veggie plot and about 50 other chickens, all living out their days free-range in the countryside. The good life, eh?

Now, back to the allotment. June started with a break-in - someone wrenched the hinges off our shed doors and about a dozen others down on the plot. Nothing major was taken - just our camping stove, coffee pot, kettle and radio - but it was a bit of a shock. Not as bad as it could have been, mind you, as a few years ago someone had their shed burnt down to the ground...

Veggie-wise, we've had peas, broad beans, potatoes, onions and garlic so far. The tomatoes are just starting to ripen, as well as the cougettes, pumpkins and squash. The damson tree looks good - lots of fruit - so there'll be more damson gin made this autumn! And the big blackberry bush along the side of the plot is also bursting with fruit, just ripening in the sun, so again, it'll be blackberry vodka. Possibly the tastiest flavoured alcohol type concoction I've ever made. (Please note, I'm not actually an alcoholic, it's just that sticking slightly tart fruit into cheap alcohol with a shed-load of sugar is damn tasty. And possibly one of your five-a-day... wishful thinking, eh?)


We tried making elderflower champagne at the start of June, using a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, but it was a bit of a disappointment. Lots and lots of fizz, but not much taste, so we're having to add some of our elderflower cordial to it for a bit of flavour.


What else... oh, the raspberry bushes are taking over (eek) and after all my faffing about last year with parsnip seeds on kitchen paper and in warm places and in toilet rolls, this year I just chucked some in the soil and loads have germinated. We've also got beetroot, swede and some crappy carrots. (really can't do carrots - any tips?)




Enjoy the summer everyone... will be back soon...

6 comments:

Bettiboots said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bettiboots said...

I can only do carrots in pots. I do them in a mix of 3:1 compost and sand, and then off they go! The only danger is sometimes they want to grow longer than the pot and then you get a strange right-angle at the end of it. I tried some in the soil this year but some terrible beggars (slugs, I suspect) 'alf-inched the lot apart from one. I've alway had better yields in pots.

And is it sad that I do want to hear about your potatoes...?

Damo said...

Everything looks great, lovely photos.

Matron said...

I really can't do carrots either. I think the secret is to sieve your soil so that every last stone is out of there, and add some extra sand. Try that!

trendy georgia said...

Just found your blog. I love reading about allotments over in England. I find them so intriguing. Yours seems really healthy. Over the other side of the world I am seed sowing in pots looking forward to summer again. In the meantime i am so interested as to the allotment life. I think my ongoing love affair with The good life on telly has sparked it. wever got a quarter of an acre to play with here. Actually less than that GHIU doesnt want me to dig up the front and parts of the back ut one does what one does and sometimes on the sly..
Your Cherry

Sarah said...

Hmmm, maybe carrots in pots with added sand is the way to go. I'll try that, thanks!
Wow Cherry I'd love to have quarter of an acre to play with. I must admit I dream about 'one day' when we'll have enough room to have a veg plot in the back garden instead of a few streets away in an allotment. I'm sure we wouldn't have as many weeds as it'd be much easier to do a few minutes each day if it was outside the back door. Oh well, here's to dreamin'...
Sx