The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies. Gertrude Jekyll

Annie's Little Plot

Annie's Little Plot

Thursday 10 October 2013

A mish-mash

Aargh I've been very negligent of my blog recently and I've so much I want to write about, my allotment show, I've been away on holiday, visits to gardens, as well as catching up on posts about my allotment and garden. So this blog post is going to be a bit of a mish-mash as I catch up with things, but I'm hoping normal service will be resumed once things settle into more of a routine.
I'm really getting into my training at York Gate but time is passing by so quickly it will be over in a blink of an eye but the training is going well and its very varied. One day I'll be up on a platform pruning a wall trained pyracantha which has been trained into an espalier, or the next I'll be weeding the canal pond or labelling all the plants in the white garden (as there are plans a foot to renovate the borders). A real mix of jobs though not all great jobs, spreading leaf mould on a wet drizzly day is very messy though still in some ways satisfying and definitely keeps you warm. What I love most is walking round the garden spotting which plants are at their best each week. But this autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale 'Waterlily' has been the star this week.
Plus there are some lovely leaf colours starting to develop. The garden is closed for the winter now and there is so much to do, things that you can't really get on with when there might be visitors to the garden. So I know I'll be busy for the next few weeks. Whatever I'm doing in the garden though there is one creature that is never too far away, usually I first tell he is with me by a faint warbling song in the tree unless he's in the mood for showing off when he really belts out a song. I've been trying to capture him on camera and I've managed a couple of shots.
 
Think I'm going to have to get properly wrapped up now though its gone noticeably colder this week.
Down on my allotment things threatened to get a bit out of control at one point a few weeks ago after I came back off holiday, with the squash threatening to completely take over, but I've got the upper hand again now and I've been busy trying to clear things in the last few weeks. I've still got lots of flowers which have been enjoying the lovely autumn warmth and sunshine that we have been having recently so I've left things for as long as possible. My sweet peas have had another mad burst and are looking really healthy again now, they did have a bit of an aphid problem earlier but I assume the ladybirds and lacewings larvae have been feasting as they have all gone now and they are flowering well again.
My pumpkins, there are 3, are ripening now and look very colourful with a backdrop of Salvia viridis, the clary sage.
Talking of orange I want to say thanks to Flighty for the Marigold seeds that he sent earlier in the year, they have been flowering all summer and it is a nice mixture, some bright orange and some more subtle.
 
I've still got a few crops going at the allotment, in the roots bed I have lots of beetroot, some parsnips which look very fat, I'm going to have a go at digging some up this weekend, celeriac, which isn't looking very fat though hard to really tell how they are developing underground and a few carrots, I've grown these in a container as I never seem to have much success in the ground. In the Brassica bed I have some sprouts developing nicely, some Romanesco broccoli which hasn't started forming a head yet, they were very late last year, and some cabbages. The Legume bed has lots of Borlotti beans which I've picked for the beans inside and I'm drying some too, and still some runner beans though they are getting a bit stringy now. I'm due to plant some overwintering onions and some garlic in the onion bed. I do have some leeks too in the main plot, so I'm not doing too bad for some overwintering crops. The rest of the plot is mainly squash sprawling and flowers. I've taken out all my courgettes now, think I overdosed on them this year.
As I do each time I leave my allotment at the moment I pick a couple of bouquets of flowers and I had to make sure the bees had finished getting all the nectar from the cosmos before I could take them home. They were really clinging on.
 Lastly I've written a few posts about my local park and its looking gorgeous in the low autumn evening light.
But I'd thought I'd update on some recent developments, the council is obviously thinking that Huddersfield is becoming very continental and this is our new leisure facility at Greenhead Park.
Its a Petanque pitch or 'terrain'!
Ooh la la.....

20 comments:

  1. Our roses start the year covered in greenfly and then they disappear but I think our pest detectors are the blue tits.

    Must put York Gate on our to visit next year list

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    1. It opens again in April, but you should definitely visit as its not far from you.

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  2. Glad all is going well at York Gate and that you're enjoying your time there. I've been meaning to visit the garden for years but I've put it on my list for when it opens again so that I might eventually get there. How lovely that you have a little robin following you around. There's one at the allotment who comes and perches nearby when we're digging. Are your pumpkins for culinary use or Halloween? They've reached a good size.

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    1. I think I'll save one for Halloween but the rest will be for soups I think, its the first time I've tried growing them so quite pleased.

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  3. Thanks for the linked mention, and it's good to see that you've been enjoying my favourites.
    It's nice to read that you're really getting into your training, and to see that you've acquired a friend.
    Cosmos seem to have done well for everyone this year, which is typical as I didn't grow many. Hopefully I'll make up for that next year.
    A lovely post and terrific pictures. Flighty xx

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    1. Thanks Flighty, I'll definitely be growing Cosmos again next year.

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  4. Ooooh La La indeedy!

    Gosh, there is so much going on for you....the training sounds right up my street, it's good to be outdoors in a beautiful place and when working you soon warm up.

    Your flowers and harvest looks and sound wonderful and your park is gorgeous.

    I too have a little robin friend that hangs out with me in the garden, what characters they are, and so tame too. Lovely post Annie.xxxx

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    1. It just amazes me how tame the robins are, they look at you as if they really want to communicate.
      It is such a treat being out in the garden doing the training I'm really loving it.

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  5. You have certainly been busy, no wonder you haven't had time for your blog! It's good to have a robin as a gardening friend, their song is so beautiful while you're working. I think my bluetits and great tits do a wonderful job of keeping my garden free from nasty insects, if I see greenfly one day, they are gone by the next!

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    1. Yes I've missed blogging but I'm hoping I'll get more time again soon.
      Yes the robin's song is so lovely.

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  6. Well I'm glad your new job is going well and it sounds like you're getting everything under control at the plot. I haven't seen my resident allotment Robin for a while but it's getting to the time of year where he usually starts showing up so I will be keeping my eye out for him.

    I keep saying things are getting under control and back to routine so I'll have more time to read and post but it never quite works out that way!!

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    1. Yes it might take a while to really get settled properly I think I'm going to have to expect that I can't spend as much time as I used to do blogging but I'm trying to catch up every now and then

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  7. I have wanted to visit York Gate for years but just never managed to get round to it. What an amazing place to be training. Keeping up with everything is a bit of a juggling act isn't it? I sometimes wish I could press a pause button so I can tackle jobs and then feel a little less overwhelmed. Your photo of the petanque pitch did make me chuckle. I spent quite a bit of time in Huddersfield in the past and I can't say I remember boules being popular. ;)

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    1. Yes lots of juggling, as I know you have been doing this year too!
      It is funny isn't it, yes can't imagine some of the Yorkshire people I know getting into boules, though time will tell!

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  8. so happy you are enjoying everything in your life at the moment after all your traumas - lovely pics - looks like you have been having some sunny weather - send it down here will you we have nothing but rain rain rain

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    1. Bless you, Elaine thanks, yes I feel very privileged and want to make the most of my time in the garden. I really want to savour it.
      I think the rain has arrived here now, last weekend was a washout.

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  9. Petanque, huh. Exotic! Your training sounds very varied, if sometimes a trifle tedious, there again, that's gardening, isn't it. Your allotment sounds amazing. I still have beetroot and courgettes in the kitchen garden, and a few flowers - and some rather puny celeriac.But that's it for this year, I didn't even manage to sow any salad leaves or orientals to over winter in the greenhouse.

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  10. It's great to hear that you're enjoying your training and it sounds like there's a lot happening on your plot, too. I've never grown pumpkins, and fancy doing so just for the fun of it!
    I love your gardening companion, he/she is obviously becoming quite friendly.
    And petanque always sounds a bit exotic. I wonder if it will attract any kind of following where you are.

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  11. Enjoyed catching up with what's been happening Annie. It certainly sounds as if you are being kept busy but at the same time pausing enough to treasure the season. There's usually more time to catch up with blogging once the long dark nights arrive. The same here with sweet peas - covered with aphids in early September but came back strongly :) What are you going to do with your pumpkin crop?

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  12. Your little bird is a cutie. :o) Pumpkins are so fun to grow, especially if you have young kids. Your crocus is a real stunner!

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