Happy Christmas

Well what a year its been, how it has flown by and now its Christmas, I'm hoping for a much better one this year after one I want to forget last year. Mum and dad were both very ill and a few very hard months followed, my lovely dad passed away in May and its at times like this I really, really miss him. We are all feeling it especially my mum who has also had a hard year with her own health problems but she's getting stronger again now and I really admire her so much for resilience and determination. She's coming up to mine for Christmas dinner which will be lovely as she hasn't been well enough to come here for over a year.

So yes its been a challenging year but there have been some lovely times too, I had an amazing weekend down in Dorset for my River Cottage prize plus a sunny weekend away in Barcelona but also I've had the amazing opportunity for training in a beautiful garden in Leeds and I'm relishing every moment there. Hence why my blogging has dropped off a lot in the last few months as I'm still doing my other job 3 days a week, then gardening for 2 days and usually visiting my mum one day over the weekend so its busy all the time but I'm loving it.

I'm still managing to find some time to get to my allotment though not as often but I've squeezed in a visit today and have really blown the cobwebs away, its wild and windy here, though dry and sunny thank goodness and I know we've got off lightly compared to the South of England and I think Scotland is bearing the brunt of the bad weather now. 

You have to have a good memory when you visit your allotment at this time of year as it can look bleak but surprisingly as we have had such a mild autumn/winter so far I've still got some marigolds in flower which add some cheer to the plot. I've also got lots of self-sown Cerinthe which adds colour too. The silver new leaves of the globe artichokes look great too.

As you can see its not been put to bed for winter I've still got a lot to do but today I've been picking my veg for dinner tomorrow. I was determined this year to have some crops over winter and I think I've done quite well, I still have some beetroot left, some of the 'Golden Globe', some celeriac which still isn't very big at all, I've got leeks, parsnips and that Christmas dinner staple some sprouts, they are not the prettiest but I was determined to have some for Christmas day and so I have.

Not quite as good as the ones on Alan's plot next to mine, he of the enormous cabbages. His look fabulous will have to ask him what variety they are. Can you also spot the enormous turnips,I think they are, in front of them!!

I also found a late developing Romanesco cauliflower which is a bonus.

I'm looking forwarding to cooking Christmas dinner tomorrow with my crops.

So I'd better get ready for tomorrow, so just finally I'd like to wish all my fellow blog readers and bloggers a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2014.

Race for the strawberries

Its still light at 10 o'clock I love it, so spending long evenings up at the plot, its fabulous. The allotment glows in the evening light. These photos were taken last week, its a bit grey today but sunshine is planned for the weekend, good timing for my trip to River Cottage.

The allotment is flourishing at the moment, could do with it being a bit warmer at night still and the wind has been a bit annoying but I'm days away to harvesting some of the crops, the over-wintered onions are glistening, spinach is ready, strawberries ripening as we speak as are gooseberries and redcurrants, potatoes are flowering, suggesting that their starchy goodness is ready, broad bean and peapods are swelling and lettuce is hearting up nicely. Its a bit of a race to get the strawberries before the slugs, they seem to have become a bit more active again recently with the damp weather, I've had to lose some but overall I think I'm winning.

I'm growing some purple flowered broad beans this year which have done really well, and produce not only a lovely colourful flower which the bees are loving, but also have a lovely scent which wafts around as I work.

I've also got some things planted for future crops, I've some runner beans 'White Lady', some dwarf french beans, both green and yellow-bean varieties. There is some climbing french beans 'Cosse Violette' which were fabulous last year and I've just planted some Borlotti beans which have a lovely speckled pods and will be great to harvest for their beans which can be eaten fresh or dried for storing and can be used in soups and stews in the winter.

 There are some squashes, a bit of a mixture here, I've planted some 'Blue Hubbard' and 'Crown Prince', which I've had good success with in the past. 'Uchiki Kuri' and 'Patty Pan' the latter of which I'm going to try growing up a wigwam. There is also a pumpkin 'Jack O'Lantern', never grown a pumpkin before. These have taken a bit to get going, another reason why we need some warmth.

Here are my Brussel Sprout 'Titus', I'm determined that I'll have a few more winter crops this year so I've got some sprouts and I'm also soon to plant some red cabbage.

The leeks, another winter staple have now also gone in though admittedly a bit weedy looking at the moment I'm sure they will get going soon.

I've planted a few sunflowers which I've managed to get past the slugs this year and they are growing strongly now.

The Globe artichokes are starting to bud.

New for me this year is the Cucamelon, supposed to give you small sweet fruits. Not sure whether it will cope with being outside but will have to see, its starting to climb.

Anyway hope you are all busy harvesting the first delicious crops and enjoy the sunshine this weekend.

Spring has finally sprung

Thought I would try and write a less frantic blog post this time, though I think that will be hard as its such a busy time. I'm struggling to find time to write my blog and I'm behind on reading all my favourite bloggers but I'm sure I'll catch up soon. I've been busy in both the garden and at the allotment. In the garden my spring plants are finally getting going, with masses of primroses and an ornamental cherry blossom whose flowering was short but very sweet.

The daffodils are just finishing but they have been lovely, amongst others I have 'Jetfire' and 'Minnow', the coolish weather has kept them flowering for such a long time. Another plant which seems to have liked the cool weather has been the violas and the pansies which have really taken off again in my garden. My tulips are just starting to colour up.

One exciting sighting has been a flock of birds in a tree in the park near my house, I walk through it on my way home from work and a couple of evenings, at 5.50-6ish, I've walked past and there has been a flock of biggish birds making a lot of noise, I would describe it as trilling, but on mass. The first time I walked past I knew they weren't anything normal but I couldn't really get a good look to see them. Anyway they were there again the next evening and this time I stopped and tried to get a good look, they were the size of a blackbird but sort of plumper and light coloured, plus they had a crest on their head. So I texted my bird guru, my brother Will, and he said they would be Waxwings (this page has a link to listen to their sound, I just played it and confused Bob my cat, his ears were twitching all over the place!), gorgeous birds over from Scandinavia, he thought they were having a pre-roost gathering and would soon be flying back home. Well they've gone again now, not seen them since, but a lovely surprise.

At the allotment my fruit bed is coming on a treat, I've got masses of flowers on my redcurrant, going to be my best harvest yet and my gooseberry bush likewise has lots of flowers and the bees have been busy there. I think I'm going to have to properly net the bush this year, as much as I love the birds, this crop is for me.

Its peak rhubarb season and as with many other bloggers I've just started harvesting mine, my first dish was a rhubarb and ginger crumble which was delicious. I have some plans, if I have enough, to have a go at making some rhubarb wine, following the advice of the lovely John Wright, a recipe he posted in the Guardian in 2011.

I've planted my onions and shallots, which I got going in modules and my garlic is doing well, there are some tentative plans to build a sort of greenhouse in the corner of this bed so I've had to put my maincrop onions in one of the other beds.

I've some broad beans which I sowed in modules, the ones I sowed direct have not come up yet, neither have my peas! I never have much luck with sowing direct.

My potatoes are in and I'm waiting for the first shoots, though we've had a few light frosts this week so hope they will be OK.

I've been trying to finish off the structure of my allotment, last year I divided the big main plot into 3 beds, though the paths at the bottom end of the plot were not finished as this bit was a mass of buttercups and grass. I've been finishing off the ends of the beds and the paths. I can't decide whether to dig up this green path in the picture below and create a woodchip path. It looks quite Ok at the moment, but if you look closely its full of buttercups, though maybe if I keep it short like a lawn the grass will take over. Will leave it for now and see whether it causes much trouble. The patch of earth next to the fence has got my thornless blackberry plant, three raspberry canes, which are just starting to come up and a tayberry, which I'm hoping will get going this year. I've done my final digging of the year digging over these bottom beds, with plenty of muck, this is where my squash and courgettes will go. I'm hoping for better things for these this year.

I've had my first and probably my last crop from the only surviving plant of Purple Sprouting Broccolli. I planted them too late and most got demolished by slugs, note to self, be organised this year.

Finally a quick thanks to Anna at Green Tapestry for the lovely gift in the post, some foxgloves seeds, I'll sow them in a month or so, one of my favourite flowers.

Busy, busy, busy.

It was inevitable, I know, all our complaining about the weather and then whoosh, full speed ahead into Spring and all is chaos again. If I'm not sowing seeds, I'm pricking out, if I'm not pricking out I'm potting on, if I'm not potting on I'm finishing off the digging at the allotment. That along with planting potatoes and garlic, putting up wigwams for future crops and getting on top of the early weeds, its all go. That's as well as my day job! I'm not complaining though, I love it. This time of year feels like you are always trying to keep up with the garden/allotment. But I feel exhilarated with all the new growth, full of optimism for the summer ahead. If I'm not now I never will be. Plants and trees seem to have put their foot on the accelerator and are rushing into growth with this first hint of warmth for months. I was working at home on my computer all day one day last week, my desk is in the back bedroom, which also serves as a temporary greenhouse at this time of year, for starting off the more tender varieties before I can put them in the mini-greenhouses outside. It gets full sun for a large part of the day. I swear that you could almost see the seedlings growing as I was working. I'd sowed some Cosmos seeds a couple of days before and everytime that I looked across there was another popped its head out of the compost. Unbelievable. They really germinated quickly. That and the Tithonia which was up a day after sowing, thats a record for me I think very speedy. It amazes me that after just a couple of days of warmth there is now a proper haze of green on the hawthorn hedges and there is a Horse Chestnut tree which I walk past each day and straightaway it has unveiled its leaves, hanging down like a skirt around the flowerbud which no doubt will be out soon. The daffodils have opened their buds and are blowing in the breezes.

I say breezes, wow its been windy here the last few days I've been bracing myself for my mini-greenhouses to take off and end up in next doors garden. Its still blowing a gale now, but at least the sun has come out now. I'm hoping it calms down soon.
So yes I've been very busy, after the winter we've had and also the summer that we had last year, I feel I've got to make the most of every nice day or evening. So Monday and Tuesday I was up at the allotment straight after getting home from work and after a quick bite of tea and there till 8ish. Its quiet up there in the evening, only me and one other chap, who was barrowing manure onto his plot.

My beds are almost already now, I've forked in some rotted manure on most beds and they are poised ready for planting and sowing. I've planted my early potatoes, they are in, I'm growing 'Pentland Javelin' and 'Charlotte', I'm planning on planting the maincrop 'Desiree' a bit later. I noticed the other day when I was at the plot that the garlic that I planted in the autumn has just come up. I'd given up on it, thought they had rotted and had planted some more in modules in the mini-greenhouse at the end of January. So will have lots, I've now planted the ones in modules onto the plot.

The over-wintered 'Electric Red' onions have perked up a bit and so may get going again now. They'll certainly be ahead of the ones that I got started in modules at the end of January but not by much, but you just never know. I still think they are worth a try.

I planted a Blackcurrant 'Ben Lomond' in my fruit bed, to go with the rhubarb, a gooseberry, a redcurrant, a small apple tree and some strawberries. So I'm looking forward to those, probably not this year but next year. My gooseberry and redcurrants are now well established and I've really no excuses to not get a good crop off them this year so fingers crossed.

Seed sowing is in full swing, all at different stages and I've still got lots to do. Veg-wise I have on the go some Chillis, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Celeriac, Artichoke, Sweetcorn, Broad beans, Peas, Beetroot, Leeks, Cauliflower, Calabrese, Lettuce and other salads all at various stages. Flower-wise I've sown some Sweetpeas, Dahlia 'Bishops Children', Cosmos, Nasturtiums, Tithonia, Salvia viridis, Malva, Calendula (with great thanks to Flighty for the seeds from his favourite flowers), Cerinthe and lots of Sunflowers. I need another session of sowing this weekend.
We had our first allotment meeting of the year on Sunday and we are planning to hold another allotment show again this year, which was a great success last year. Due to the terrible start to the year though it has been decided to hold it a bit later this year (8th September). This year again we are all to show a basket or tray of 6 different vegetables and we have proper guidelines for how many of each to show and whether they should be trimmed and dressed!! All a bit bonkers to me but we have people on the site who take it very seriously so I shouldn't joke, but each to their own. I will participate but know that I won't have much chance against them. One thing that concerns me the most is that there are 3 compulsory vegetables in the basket, potatoes, onions and beetroot. Now potatoes and onions I'll be fine with, though they won't be the whoppers that the professionals grow, no the crop that worries me is the beetroot! I really struggle with what other find the most easy of crops. I had about 3 small beetroot the whole of last year. I've tried sowing direct or in in modules and still no success. So that is my challenge this year to get some good beetroot, I've even got some seed for the yellow beetroot and the one with stripe 'Chioggia' so fingers crossed. Any advice from you growers out there? I'll try anything. There is also an additional category this year which is a vase of sweet peas, six stems of any cultivar. But whether we will still have lots of sweet peas flowering in September we'll have to see. But it is a great way to get everyone together and was nice to chat to other plot holders who you don't always see. We are planning to organise the tea for afterwards better this time as we had far too much cake last time! Can you have too much cake, I'm not sure.
But my most exciting news is that I'm booked onto the River Cottage 'Get Growing' course, with the new Head Gardener Craig Rudman, on the 7th July. I never normally enter competitions but Hugh FW is a bit of a hero of mine and when there was a competition a couple of years ago in The Edible Garden magazine to win two places on the course I gave it a go and much to my surprise I won. Its taken a while to get it sorted but its all booked now and I'm taking my sister and will spend a few days down there in the most beautiful part of England. We have a night's B&B included in the prize plus dinner at River Cottage canteen on the Saturday night. Woooo. Can't wait.

Can we restart Spring now?

So the snow has finally gone from my garden, only yesterday though. There was a patch holding on. All round Huddersfield there are still little towers of snow. The moor roads still have big drifts where the snow plough has piled it up high.Though its gradually sinking a little bit each day.

It was a good weekend though with plenty of sunshine, and it was great to get out for some fresh air after a very stressful and long working week.

On Saturday it was a gorgeous day with proper blue skies, still a bit of a nip in the air but compared to what it has been it was balmy. It was my friend's 40th birthday celebrations and we were having afternoon tea on a canal barge at Hebden Bridge. Delicious scones with jam and cream, cucumber sandwiches and lots tea in vintage tea pots and delicate cups and saucers. Very civilised.

On Sunday the sun was streaming in through the curtains so I gave up on the lie-in and got up and out. It was a little bit warmer too. 

At the allotment, my rhubarb has survived the snow but has not grown at all since my last visit, there are some signs of green on the redcurrant.

Martin helped me finish off getting the last bits of manure on the beds.

I lured him there with a promise of a nice cup of tea and some bourbon biscuits, with our new toy for the allotment, a small gas stove to make a brew.

But unfortunately the water has been switched off on the site due to the freezing weather, I think there has been a leak and it was being fixed today. So no tea for us!! We were gasping after all our barrowing and digging. Oh well I'm sure it will get some use soon.
I've been off today and it was a bit different, much hazier and much colder again, with a biting wind but I finished off most of my digging today and have then been sowing seeds, pricking out and potting on. My christmas present has been coming in useful.

My back bedroom is starting to look like a greenhouse again. But with it so cold at nights I'm reluctant to put too many things in the plastic greenhouses outside just yet.

It seems like the garden and the allotment have been on freeze-frame for the last month. Nothing has changed. Reading my gardening magazines telling me what flowers I should be enjoying is a bit of a joke with the Snowdrops, Crocuses and Hellebores still in full bloom in my garden and the tulips, forget me nots and blossom seeming a long way off. But a bit of sunshine and more importantly some warmth and I'm sure things will start moving again. Maybe soon the scene will be transformed from this monochrome landscape to a world of Spring colour, like Dorothy walking into the land of Oz. Here's hoping it gets a move on.

Annie's lost the plot....

Under a blanket of snow!

Its started snowing in the early hours of Friday morning and its been snowing ever since. I thought we had a lot earlier in the year but this is incredible, made worse by a brisk wind which is causing big drifts. I walked up to the allotment this afternoon as I realised that I'd left the spade there and we needed it to clear some of the snow! It is one pristine view, you are can't even see where the raised beds are.

It was up to our knees in places. This is the most snow I've seen for a very long time.
In the garden I got the ruler out (sad I know) and on the lying snow on the bench it was 8 and a half inches, ~21cm. But it is much deeper than that where it has drifted.

Poor Bob, I can't even show you any pictures of him as he is just not going out! But I can't blame him the path onto the grass is deeper than him. We've cleared a path to the side so he can at least get out. The snow is blowing into the back door making it hard to even get out of his cat flap.

 My poor sweet pea seeds, will be shivering in the mini-greenhouse.

The front garden is covered too.

Looks set to stay for a while as well as staying cold most of the week.

So I've lost the plot for a while so I'm taking advice from Bob and snuggling in for the rest of the day and he's an expert.