Chickens, Raised Beds & Tumbling Toms

Been down to plot 119 to do some watering this week and pick some more courgettes.  Something has been nibbling the tops off my newly planted leeks so netted them, reckon its pigeons but not entirely sure.  Simon has been busy at home, finished building the run for the chickens we are getting in August, did a grand job and really pleased with it.



Going to get 3 or 4 light Sussex hens, coop apparently takes 3-4 good sized birds, will seek advice from chicken man when I pick them up.

Simon also been busy with the raised beds at home, we decided two of them needed moving as the fence made it a bit dark on one side, so he moved two to the other side and has stacked them making them really nice and high, easy for weeding!  Not a lot going on in them at the moment now the peas and beans are finished, have some sprouting broccoli, baby marrows and he planted up some more salad veg.



And the tumbling toms are doing well, regularly fed and producing lots of flowers and little tomatoes starting to appear.  Some mini sunflowers in the baskets too to encourage the bees!  Will be off to the allotments tomorrow to check things over and perhaps harvest the last of the broad beans, maybe plant some Charlotte potatoes for Xmas!

Busy Times - Plot 69

Weeding, weeding and more weeding..... this plot certainly has stubborn weeds!  More broad beans to harvest, Suttons up here and really good size, still some more to come yet too.



 

Runner beans are starting to produce beans now, and the climbing beans - Blue Lake, are showing lots of pretty flowers.  Parsnips have gone a bit mad, dug one up and it was a bit weeny so lots more growth to come.



 

Curly kale is looking great, and slugs seem to steer well clear, they dont seem to like chard either so those are definitely on the list for next year!



 



Thinking about concentrating on turning this plot into mostly fruit next year and keeping veg down 119,  just expensive to buy in lots of fruit bushes - Simon seems to be very good at persuading cuttings to take so this may be an option... albeit a very slow one!

Busy Times - Plot 119

Busy couple of weeks, mostly busy weeding!  Neverending job it seems, you turn your back for a second and there they are again.  Really pleased with how the veg are growing, the cabbages are looking like cabbages at last and the potatoes are starting to turn, soon be time to lift them all, lifted half a line to see how things were going and brought them home for Sundays tea.  Nice size and good taste, not sure of the variety though as that row were our 'salvaged spuds'.  All I know are they are red ones!  Busy harvesting broad beans, had to freeze loads as got a real glut.  Also lots of courgettes and chard.





Plot 119 is looking very cheerful with the calendula and the sunflowers too.  Pulled the last of the broad beans on this plot and filled the gaps with 6 rows of leeks.  The only sad thing on this site is the polytunnel, usually the growbags self water (from the holes in the roof!) but despite this they dried out between visits and some of the tomatoes are looking a bit sad, still lots of fruit coming though.  Trimmed back the jungle in the greenhouse too, courgettes gone mad.  Had a lovely weekend down there, allotment BBQ on Saturday afternoon, good weather, good food and good company, a brilliant afternoon!  And Sunday saw us lazing around chatting and socialising again at the summer house, really nice!

 

 

 

Time to Relax!

After a long day of weeding and planting, watering and harvesting, its time to sit back and relax, soak up the last of the days sun and enjoy the peace and quiet.  Really pleased with what we have achieved so far, 4 months on now and the two plots are starting to look like real allotments and are beginning to give us produce that we can cook with and make preserves and pickles.  Already starting to think about what we are going to grow next year and which plot is going to be used for which crops.  Definitely going to put more raised beds in, they look so nice and tidy, already have 4 waiting to be put together but have to wait for the celery and celariac to finish first!

Sun on Sunday on Plot 119

And so, on down to Plot 119 after nipping home for refreshements - muffins with our homemade strawberry jam.  Plot 119 is lovely, a really relaxing plot, despite the hard work that is involved, not sure why it feels that way but it is a real pleasure to be down there.  First job of the day was clearing through the jungle of the greenhouse, the courgettes were a bit rampant and had to cut them back a bit.  The chinese gooseberries have doubled in size this week too.  And lots of flowers on my sweet peppers (when I finally managed to get to the end of the greenhouse!)  Polytunnel is doing what it should, first cucumbers are starting to appear and the striped stuffer tomatoes have got their first fruits, catching up with the Gardeners Delight now.





 

Strawberries have just about finished now, but the broad beans are still producing in abundance, harvested some more to take home for the week.

The sunflowers are out now too, lovely bushy variety called Wahoo.

 





 

Did some more weeding on hands and knees with the sun beating down on us, regular stops for refreshment today.

Got the raised beds looking lovely and cleared around the celery and kohl rabi - really pleased with both of those, the kohl rabi already have started their bulbs, still not sure what they taste like though.... hope they are nice as we have two rows of them!

 



 

Herb Barrels

The herb barrels on plot 119 are looking nice and colourful, the bergamot has flowered and is stunning.  The chamomile has spread well and smelling wonderful.  And the thyme is a real picture.  Nice to sit on the bench and enjoy them, especially when the sun is shining and the bees are busy buzzing around.  The herbs at home arent doing quite so well, something has eaten the parsley and the rosemary is a little sad.  Dont think the cats help much though, they like to sit in the tubs.  Hopefully now we have put some pepper dust down it might put them off!

Sun on Sunday on Plot 69

Split the day in half today and took advantage of the sunshine (I know... sunshine!) spending the morning at plot 69 then going to 119 for the afternoon.  So on 69 today we caught up with some weeding (as usual!), everything doing well, put in some more winter cabbages and cauliflowers, picked some beetroots for pickling, broad beans for tea and the last of the red onions to make some red onion chutney.  Managed to get 2pts of tayberries as well from our dividing hedge with Alan, will be making more jam I think!  Certainly getting some use out of my new jam pan.

Lots of slugs and snails in the brassica beds but managed to sort out that problem as we weeded, luckily not too much damage done and made sure fresh slug deterrant was put down before we left.  The chard is doing exceptionally well and we decided to leave that uncovered today as nothing much seems to be very interested in eating that!

Runner beans are putting out lots of flowers and the bees seem very interested in them, the dwarf beans are a little disappointing though, not sure if we will do them again next year, will wait and see, only half of them survived and they look a bit puny.

Strawberry Jam... with Extras!

Made my strawberry jam this morning and it is fabulous!  This is all a new venture for me and really enjoying it, I can see my cupboards being full of jampots at this rate!  I used some lovely flavoursome strawberries from plot 119, some wild strawberries from the garden which are going a bit mad this year, getting loads of them, and some raspberries, also from the garden.  Put them all in my new Kilner jam pan, warmed them through till all the juices were coming out (smell was wonderful!), then added same weight in sugar and juice of a lemon.  Boiled it then let it simmer for only about 10 minutes.  Did a set test to make sure it was doing what it should be and after just another short boil it was ready.  Poured into sterilised jars with a little bit left over in a bowl to taste!  Only made 2 jars but it was less than 450g of fruit so I was pleased with that.  Just need to get the scones and cream now!  Looking forward to making chutneys later in the year with all the tomatoes and peppers and courgettes that are coming.  And more jam of course, might try the strawberry one again next time putting vanilla in it.

Some Fruits of our Labours

We have been enjoying our first broad beans and peas, strawberries and raspberries, new potatoes, radishes and lettuces so far.  And today Simon bottled up our first pickled shallots, only picked a handful of plants and it was enough for a large jar, lots more to pull up yet, we will be well set up for Christmas!  He put pickling spices in with them and some home grown chillis too, should have a bit of a kick.  Bought myself a Kilner jam pan and jam making accessories yesterday in preparation for my new hobby, started off making a couple of jars of passion fruit curd (obviously not grown them on the allotment!) and then 2 jars of marrow and ginger jam (again, not from the allotment..... yet!  Got about 8 marrows starting so hopefully next time they will be home grown).  Looking forward to making mixed berry jam tomorrow, with strawberries, raspberries and wild strawberries which we have growing in the garden.

Spent a nice Sunday afternoon down plot 119 in the sunshine, didnt see much of the sun though as bent over weeding for most of the time..... Felt nice on my back though!  Tomatoes have gone crazy, almost as tall as me in the greenhouse now (the ones in the decent growbags at least...)  And picked our first 4 courgettes today, the first of many I think, will have to find a courgette chutney recipe I think!