Our patch of earth: We're back!

How it began...

So, we’d spent time walking past our local allotments, getting more and more interested in the mysterious things that other people were growing and the ingenious uses that people had found for stuff that non-allotmenteers would probably term ‘junk’.

In March 2007, we spoke to our council, and discovered that our local allotments aren’t council owned - it turns out they’re held in trust. So, we decided to find the secretary. We spoke to Mike and Louise who were really welcoming and enthusiastic, then eventually tracked down Alan the secretary and, a few weeks later, we chose a plot with a little blue shed, a water butt, a small bench, and a patch of oregano.

We dug. It was April, and for those of you who remember April 07, it was hot, hot, hot. The ground was like rock. Adam was having to jump onto the fork to get it into the soil. But we persevered – this was our new veggie patch! We had plans for a herb garden over there, and some rows of beans over here, a compost heap at the back and flowers planted down the edges… until, one week in, a little old Italian lady turned up and claimed the plot was hers. Wah! Much confusion ensued, until we decided we’d rather not have the hassle and uncertainty, and much less be known as the new guys who kicked a little old lady off her plot. Gracious, no.

So we found a new spot. South facing, with rhubarb, gooseberry bushes (I didn’t know they were spiky!), a damson tree (which we thought were plums to start with – till mum made Damson gin and we recognised the fruit) and the Biggest Strawberry Patch In The World.

Twas overgrown, tis true, but much better than plot number 1. Hurrah for little old Italian ladies!

And two sheds! His and Hers, obviously, mainly because mine isn’t quite tall enough for Adam to stand upright in. So, mine has the tea and coffee making facilities, small gas stove, radio, seed packets on nails and an assortment of gardening gloves, while Adam’s has all the manly things – tools, wooden crates, useful bits of wood, tangled netting and carefully wound up bits of wire.

So the digging had to begin, again. After assessing the plot, with some useful hints and random-plant-identifying by Mike, we headed home to get forks and other digging equipment. Ten minutes later we returned to our overgrown plot to hear a strange buzzing noise, and find Mike strimming all the thigh-high weeds with his petrol strimmer! Thanks Mike! A good start to our compost heap… (Add 'build compost heap' to the To Do list.)

And then, half an hour later, as we’re just beginning to curse the sun for being too hot and the earth for being too hard, around the corner of our sheds comes our saviours Mike, Louise and their mate Ali, on white stallions, (no, not really) all brandishing forks and ready to help us dig, till we’d dug the same amount we’d done on plot no.1. Bless ‘em.

And then it was all go! Nine months later, 2008 seems promising. We've read many, many more books, got more ideas and got much more ambitious. And we've actually grown stuff which tasted gooooood. It could still all go horribly wrong, but even if it does I can guarantee we'll still get some tasty fruit and veg from between the weeds, all for a few pence, and a bit of blood, sweat and tears... (well, hopefully not the blood or the tears... just good ol' elbow grease.)

And a bit of help from our friends and family. Any time, chaps - you're very welcome! We'll get the kettle on...

Sounds fun, eh?

Thursday, 11 September 2008

We're back!

Hello again one and all. Sorry for the absence but we're just got back from holidaying in Cancun, Mexico. (Not very carbon neutral, I know, but we'll plant some trees or something to make up...) It's an amazing part of the world but it's a bit depressing to come back to all this rain and grey skies.

We popped to the allotment on Monday which was very kindly looked after by our Mums while we were away...

Good things:

there are many, many squashes ripening, which is good 'cos I like squash (as I may have mentioned before.)
the carrots have grown, finally, and they taste really good.
there are lots of blackberries on the surrounding bushes so I can make bramble and apple jelly again.
the sweetcorn is getting fat and is nearly ready to pick.
the beetroots are getting big and juicy-looking.

Bad things:

some of the courgette plants have got mildew and look a bit pathetic.
one of the squash plants has some weird disease which makes the fruits go all bobbly.
the tomato plants have blight. Again. (sob!)
snails are eating the brassicas.
there are weeds EVERYWHERE!
I don't know if we'll get enough sun now to ripen the sweetcorn. That would be A Sad Thing.
I've realised I don't know how to cook beetroot... (research is needed.)

Things to do at the weekend:

set some beer traps to catch snails.
weeding, weeding and more weeding.
tie up the cucumber plants.
general never-ending tidying.
find out what to do with raspberry canes which are getting long and whippy.
decide what - if anything - we can plant to grow through the winter.

3 comments:

Gary and Jen, and Ruby and Peter said...: Hi there and welcome back to reality.

I've been reading your blog for a good few months - always a good read !

Beetroot cooking ? simple : Boil it until tender, allow it to cool, then peel it . My better half loves it chunky in Peanut Butter sarnies !!!

Any chance of linking to my blogs ? I have linked to yours!

Have fun with those weeds!

TTFN

Gaz.; 11 September 2008 at 21:44
Sarah said...: Sure thing Gaz - I've linked to yours too. Thanks for the kind comments!

S; 11 September 2008 at 21:55
Bettiboots said...: Peel it and roast it as twere a potato! It responds well to LARD (but then, don't we all?).

Or, if you have so much of it you feel you can't possibly eat it all at once, pickle it - I have emailed you my mother's address, as she is the Champion Beetroot Pickler of our family.; 14 September 2008 at 18:10

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Thursday, 11 September 2008

We're back!

3 comments: