Cold

Ooh its gone cold today. There was a biting wind up at the allotment this morning, I didn't stay long as its far too wet. I shouldn't complain though there has been alot of pictures of flooded allotments around. I've never known it as bad as this, even my bark chipping paths are getting churned up now. So not much point in doing anything. Not that there is much to do, but the raspberry canes need chopping down and I want to remove a blackberry plant at the bottom of the plot. I bought it very cheap, from a pound shop I think, which wasn't a great idea. It was supposed to be a Tayberry but its definitely a blackberry! It crops OK but I've got another on the other side of it which is a thornless blackberry and this has much bigger fruit on it. Plus its a spiky thug so its time to go. On a visit to my local garden centre earlier on in the week, they had a sale on all plants and I decided to get a Loganberry, so I picked a good sturdy plant, took it to the till and they charged me £2.99, what a bargain, should have been £10. So very happy with that. Just got a bit of work to do now planting it.

The kale that is not covered is being eaten slowly by the pigeons so I need to get them up. But I picked lots off the ones undercover and will freeze a couple of batches. I usually drop the leaves into boiling water then take them out almost straight away into cold water, dry them off slightly and then scrunch them up into balls and pop in the freezer. Then you can just get them out of the freezer and pop straight in soup or casserole. I also harvested a few more chard, celeriac and some leeks. Big soup making time for me I love that at this time of year. The kale grown undercover still does have some whitefly on it too so the enviromesh hasn't prevented that, but its not as bad as the ones not covered.

You have to have faith at this time of year, the plot can look very bleak, but actually its quite green for me this year, which might be a bit of a worry. The chives have been starting to sprout, the globe artichokes are sending up lots of their lovely silver grey foliage.

This clump is getting a bit big and probably could really do with splitting but might be tricky now with so much growth. So I might leave that till next year now, though I could probably could do with removing the old stems.

The rhubarb is also getting a bit ahead of itself. 

I noticed I have a few bulbs coming up as well, some Camassias and Alliums, cold is forecast for the next few days and into next week though and there may be some snow on its way. Eek. But looking at the long term forecast (if it can be believed) it looks like there may be some dry, cold weather on from Wednesday onwards. We need a respite from this incessant rain.

I've been back at work this week and made a sad discovery. I work in Manchester and get the train in, I have a short walk at the other end which I really like, some fresh air before I have to sit at a desk all day. As you can imagine I go the same route most days and you get to know the surroundings its part of your scenery. There is a lovely big Horse Chestnut tree on my route and I track the seasons by this tree, watch the buds break into those impressive candle like flowers, the big leaves unfurl, followed by conkers which I love to see just as they come out of their spiky shell all shiny and brown. Then the leaf colour change in the autumn and then leaf fall and then it all starts again with the big sticky buds. This looked a great specimen too, they have such a distinctive shape these trees. Its a marker for me on my journey to work. I was walking through part of the old UMIST area, which is now part of the University of Manchester, on my first day back and shocked to see it cut down to its trunk. What a sad sight.

I can only think it was diseased and the rip in its bark from the other side also suggests that but Oh, it didn't make it a good start to my week. There are so few trees in a city anyway, sad to see another one go. Horse Chestnuts are known to suffer quite a few diseases and from a quick bit of research its likely that it had canker, from the bark tear. Shockingly half of Horse Chestnuts in the UK are showing signs of this disease according to the Forestry Commision.

So lesson from this, cherish your trees.

Anyway keep warm over the upcoming cold spell, make like a cat. Bob is an expert at getting cosy.

Review of the year 2015

I like to do a bit of a review of the growing year at my allotment, and look back at ones in previous years to compare. Its especially needed this year as I have been very busy and not had time to write my blog as I'd have liked. Its a nice thing to do on a day when its grey and raining outside, listening to Test Match Special where England team are basking in the sunshine in South Africa! Looking out of the window here at my own garden and the allotments beyond, all is looking very brown! Its good to remind yourself that it will be all change again in a few months time and this hibernation is good to recharge the garden and ourselves. 

I don't know about you but I always go through a phase when I get tired of gardening and definitely need a break. Getting back into reading gardening books at this time of year and browsing seed catalogues I can feel the love coming back to me and the excitement building for the new season. The feelings of renewal that you have at this time of year, like a clean slate, you even believe your own hype that next year you will be a perfect gardener. I will keep the weeds away, I will sow in succession to have constant crops, slugs won't decimate my seedlings, I'll remember to sow biennials in June, I'll cut the privet hedge at the right time rather than leave it till it gets out of reach, I'll get to my redcurrants before the blackbirds, I'll not get too keen and sow tender veg like squash too early and end with them sulking in a cool Spring, I'll plant bulbs when I get them rather than forgetting them and then finding them weeks later dry and starting to sprout. Ah if only but I know what happens, you get so busy that all good intentions go out of the window. But its a real joy to review what grew well, which varieties you might grow again or what new varieties to try.

It was a reasonably cool start to the year, with snow in the first few weeks of January and into February. I had a go at growing onions from seed for the first time this year. Its traditionally said that you sow onions on Boxing day but I sowed a variety called 'Ailsa Craig' on the 14th January. They just need a long growing season so the earlier you sow them the better, basically the more leaves that you have when you come to plant them, the bigger the onion. I must admit I was a bit sceptical because its so easy to just grow onions from sets but actually they did OK. I pricked them out at the beginning of March into pots. Then they got planted at the allotment at the end of April. There was a bit of an issue then in that we had quite a dry spell so that had to be kept watered. They were harvested at the same time as the main-crop onions that were grown from sets. They were less uniform in size as those grown from sets but I got some quite big ones. Not quite exhibition quality but a good crop. So I've sown some again this year, that was my job for this morning. I'm also growing some Welsh red onions which are supposedly perennial, so will see how that goes this year.

Now I've finished all the paths at my allotment and the structure is all sorted its much easier to get the plot set for the spring. By April all was ready for the season ahead.

I had a fabulous crop of rhubarb this year, enough to have a go at making some rhubarb wine! It is truly my favourite first crop of the year.

Mid May and everything was getting going again in the sunshine but it was a very slow start this year, cool really until late June I'd say, and even then it felt like we just kept waiting for summer to come and it probably arrived in September. August was just a wash out with lots of rain and cool too. The best weather was at the start of the year in April and May and then in September and October and even into November. But at the allotment some crops loved this weather and as always the key I think when growing your own is to try and grow a range of crops, some will grow well and others may struggle one year, but then the next it will be completely different. 

This year the crops that really struggled for me were the ones that like a warm summer, so cucumbers, squash and sweetcorn. I didn't manage to grow a single cucumber and the previous year I'd had loads. They sulked when planted and either rotted off or got taken out by slugs. I sowed twice but nothing. I had about 4 squash but compared to previous years this was really poor. I did get some sweetcorn but they were very late and not as sweet as normal. Courgettes did get going eventually but I had a much smaller crop this year, though actually I normally have too many, so this was probably just right this year!! The picture below was taken in mid-May and the allotment is still looking bare.

On the other hand, the brassica's loved this weather, as did chard, beetroot, runner beans (once they got going, but again they were later to crop), I had good crops of onions and garlic, potatoes were OK, they suffered a bit with the dry weather we had in Spring, but had a reasonable crop although perhaps smaller potatoes.

At the end of June it was looking a bit fuller.

Other troubles this year were peas, which again I think struggled with the dry start to the season, had a poor crop from those, they never really got going. I had to do about 3 sowings of the dwarf french beans to get some plants. But once they started they cropped well and for a long time. Runner beans I always sow direct now and it seems to work for me. Think I might do that with the dwarf French beans next year. 

One crop you'd think might do well this year in the cooler conditions would be lettuce, but again I had a poor crop of that, I really struggled with slugs with these and unless I get up to the plot frequently they can just graze a whole planting in one go. So I have virtually given up on lettuce at the allotment now and I'm just growing them in pots at home, where I can keep a closer eye on them.

By July everything in and starting to catch up a bit but most things were late for me this year. Though with the extended Autumn we can't really complain too much.

At the end of August everything looking very lush, the sunflowers hiding the shed.

One crop that has liked the wet and mild end to the year and that is Celeriac, I try it every year, its a crop that needs to be started early but what do you get at the end of it, a tiny knobbly ugly looking thing with straggly roots and by the time that you have peeled it you wonder whether it is worth it. But this year it seems to have thrived and are a decent size.

The plot was still looking full in mid October but this is when I started to clear some crops.

End of November and crops were cleared and beds were put to bed for winter. 

This is the first time that I've managed to do this before Christmas so hopefully this will free up my time in early Spring when I'm usually rushing to get this done. I share a delivery of manure with a fellow plotholder, we got enough this year to put on the beds and also to pile up for next year and keep undercover.

This was the first year that I really had the greenhouse in my garden in full use and this has been a bit of a learning curve, the surprising thing for me was the temperature range in there. Even in January in the sunshine the temperature in there can get up to 19oC, but it can then drop like a stone at night. This is a real issue for growing and lots of door opening and closing!! But it really helped with all the sowing and growing that I do.

In the greenhouse I had a great crop of tomatoes, I grew 'Sungold' and 'Lucciola' two plants of each, which are great for me, they crop over a long period and slowly ripen, not all at once. 'Sungold' is so sweet but can be prone to splitting a bit later in the season. This trait can be forgiven as they tend to just get eaten straight away after picking anyway. I can't imagine not growing this variety. I am going to try a variety called 'Marmande this year as well though, this is a big beefsteak variety. Another greenhouse success was Aubergine 'Ophelia', this is a dwarf variety which I grew in pots and which produces golf-ball sized fruit. I had two plants and picked a good number of fruits. I love aubergines and these were perfectly sized fruit.

So not a disastrous season but a challenging one I think for growing vegetables. But my other main reason for having an allotment is growing flowers for cutting and these have been fabulous this year. I'll review this in another post I think.

Some people ask me why bother growing your own, and its definitely not straightforward, but I love the challenge each year and the fact that I'm learning all the time about which varieties grow best for me and more crucially which taste the best. But more importantly its the joy I have just spending time at my plot, the fresh air, the chatting, the exercise, the wildlife and the satisfaction of watching plants grow and flourish. I love it. Here's to another exciting year with new challenges and successes!

Presents and poppies

Storm Frank is starting to get going now so hunkering down for the day, no plans on going anywhere. I'm in my back bedroom and I've been sorting out my photos that I've taken this year. Where has the time gone, I really struggled to find the time to organise them this year and some I'm only just taking off my camera but its nice to look back at them and I might do some belated blog posts about some of the garden visits that I've been on this year.

I hope you've all managed to have a relaxing Christmas break, I'm making the most of mine, lots of reading, watching films, things I just don't tend to have the time to do at any other time of the year. I particularly like reading my gardening books at this time of year. I've had a few on the go throughout the year, two Monty Don books (The Ivington Diaries and Gardening at Longmeadow) and one by Carol Klein 'Life in a Cottage Garden'. They are written almost in diary form so I've been reading each month by month sort of, though more often chunks at a time to catch up. I've finally finished Gardening at Longmeadow as December comes to an end. I do like his writing, probably more than I like him on Gardeners World. Tend to watch that more for Nigel. But have you seen Monty's new dog? If you follow him on Twitter you will have seen he has a new puppy called Nell!! Gorgeous.

I've had a couple of new books for Christmas, The Crafted Garden by Louise Curley, otherwise known as Wellywoman looking forward to being inspired to be more creative in my garden and the latest book by Georgie Newbury, more inspiration for my cut flower patch. My bedside books for 2016 will also be Dan Pearson's Home Ground, Joy Larkcom's Creative Vegetable Gardening and Helen Yemm's Thorny Problems. I think I'm sorted till next Christmas now. 

My friend also bought me a book on the meaning of flowers which is an interesting one. I find it fascinating though confusing with lots of different versions out there. This concept of the language of flowers was especially popular in Victorian times, with the giving of Tussie-mussies, small posies of flowers the content of which had much meaning. 

But on Monday I went to visit an exhibition which truly emphasises the power of flowers as symbols. I went to the Poppies: Wave sculpture at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It is a wave of poppies arching over the Cascade Bridge in the park. At once, stunning and moving, on a gloomy Yorkshire day. We approached from the lake side.

These poppies were initially seen in that amazing display at the Tower of London, which marked the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. Its estimated that 5 million people visited the exhibit in London and many wanted the exhibit to stay there longer but the artist and designers always wanted it to be transient, however they decided that parts of it, the wave section and the weeping window segments, would be displayed at sites around the UK before finally being installed in the Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester. There were so many people there to visit this, I've never seen the sculpture park so busy.

I love the YSP anyway, especially in winter, though its becoming a bit of a victim of its own success, and of the weather too. Many of the sculptures were temporarily fenced off, at least I hope its only temporary. Because of all the rain, the ground was sodden and there was lots of mud in places so they've stopped people going on some parts of the grass, to protect it. As I say I hope it is only temporary as that is one of the joys of the park in that you can get up close to touch the sculptures. You couldn't walk round the lake either as they have closed the bridge at the top end of the lower lake so you can't do the usual circular walk. But this is while they do work on the bridge so hopefully this will be open again for the summer.

Its always worth a visit at any time of year but the Poppy exhibition is only on until the 10th January 2016 so you'll have to hurry if you want to see this.

Curiosities

Ahhh sunshine, where have you been hiding this last month. So lovely to see you again! Clear blue sky for what seems like the first time in ages, but more importantly it has stopped raining at least for the time being. What a relief for those living here in West Yorkshire who have suffered with the floods, there have been problems all round the Calder valley. Thankfully we've not been affected either by the flooding or the subsequent power cuts, the allotments behind my house have been a bit like a pond in places but our house is raised up. 

I walked over to my allotment yesterday to get some fresh air and to pick some vegetables for our roast dinner. I grow enough sprouts to have some for Christmas and a few other meals and that is enough for me. I never used to like them much at all but do like them now. This year I had a go at growing two varieties. Just three plants of each. An F1 variety called 'Titus' and one called 'Ruby Crunch'. Both from Marshalls. Some of the sprouts on 'Titus' had blown or gone over a bit and there was a mixture of sizes, some very big and some small. I think some of the sprouts should have been harvested earlier. Growing F1 hybrids is supposed to help to get more even sprouts but I think the growing conditions have made the growth a bit erratic this year with some dry spells and then a long warm autumn. In fact sprouts are supposed to be up to a third bigger this winter due to the long mild autumn. Have other growers found this? Those on 'Ruby Crunch' were probably more even in size. This is a variety with red/purple sprouts and Marshall's claim it as a dual purpose Brussels sprout as it also produces a red cabbage at the top of the stem. Mine did have a lot of greenery at the top which I used as cabbage but it was quite loose in growth. Maybe it should have been left for longer. This is the first year that I've really properly grown a purple sprout successfully. I found that they had a lot less of a tight button than the green variety and they did look very weird. Like little brains!! Here they are all picked and peeled.

I guess the real verdict is in the taste. Well we weren't sure but found the purple variety a little bit bitter compared to the green one. Hmmm so not sure whether to try that again.

Its been a good year for Brassica's for me. Calabrese was good over the summer, I grew the variety called 'Marathon' which is always reliable. I grew a mixture of Kale varieties which are still going strong. I also had good success with red cabbage, I grew a pointed cabbage called 'Kalibos', less so with the green cabbage 'Primo'. Wish I'd tried cauliflower this year, it might have been a good year. I was less successful with Kohl rabi, I struggle to get nice round balls as the slugs always seem to take a chunk out of them. But I did get some to harvest. I grew my main crops under enviromesh this year, which really helped with the cabbage white butterfly so I would definitely recommend it. There were no sneaky caterpillars in amongst my Calabrese which can be very off-putting!! It is also effective against the pigeons, though I still have a bit of a problem with cabbage whitefly but much less so for the ones grown under the mesh. The thing that was the biggest Brassica pest was slugs and snails. I would say that you need to be really diligent with weeding under the covers as I wasn't for my cabbages and the green ones got ripped to shreds. It can create a lovely haven for slugs and snails. It was clear when picking the sprouts and cabbage that slugs and snails are still active on my plot. We really need some cold weather to see some off!

So what to grow next year, well think I will stick to my tried and tested Calabrese and Kales, and the Cabbage 'Kalibos' was great. But our local garden centre was recently selling off seeds for 50p a packet and so I got another couple of curiosities, a Brussels sprout variety called 'Flower Sprout' from Suttons, which is a cross between a Brussels sprout and a Kale! It develops like a sprout with buttons along the stem but then these are like frilly kales. A bit bonkers yes but will give it a try. I also bought a packet of seed of Cauliflower 'Di Sicillia Violetta' from Suttons in the same sale, this is a vibrant purple variety. Maybe I should have learnt my lesson with the purple sprout. Are you growing any curiosities next year?

Counting down

There is a lot of counting down in December, many of us lighting an advent candle to mark each day leading us to Christmas day, others indulging in a chocolate a day (I do both!). Some of us count down to finishing school or work for the Christmas break or to the Christmas party. My countdown though is to Winter Solstice! This is more often than not on the 21st December but this year it is tomorrow, the 22nd December, more precisely at 04.49. The day after which the days start to get longer again and for me the promise of Spring. 

Spring you might say though has come early this year, or have we had a super-long Autumn? Its certainly been very mild here in Huddersfield the last few days, there has been a lot of talk in the media about daffodils and snowdrops being in bloom, blossom on trees. I'm not sure about this as there will definitely be some varieties that given a mild winter will flower earlier, and there are some well-known snowdrops which flower before Christmas anyway. But there is no getting away from the mild weather. Its looking like we may have one of the warmest Decembers on record. My bulbs are starting to come up, I'm planning a day of winter tidying this week, weather permitting, so I'll have to take care not to damage any emerging spikes of foliage. But as soon as we get any cold weather the plants will just sit tight and wait it out. So far we have had one or two frost here and a sprinkling of snow but other than that it has been wet, wet, wet and windy. Its been the lack of sunshine though that has been the hardest to take. There seems to have been a constant gloom throughout December that even the sparkle of Christmas and Strictly has struggled to shine through. But I did manage a walk the other day to forage for some foliage and made a wreath for my dads grave.

I also decorated a willow ring that I made last year and made a couple to give as presents.

Luckily I did manage to get busy at my allotment a few weeks ago, before all this rain, and cover most of the empty beds with a layer of well-rotted manure or compost. I've still got some leeks, cabbages, sprouts, kale, chard and celeriac to see me for a few more weeks. So it is virtually sorted for winter now, just a couple of other beds to tidy up now, like the raspberry bed and the main fruit beds. I even managed to give my shed a good tidy as well!

At this yuletide I have a very welcome visitor to my garden, usually making himself known as I do my check on my greenhouse. What is it about Robins that make you think they are looking right at you, the way they cock their heads and really seem to connect with you. No other birds seem to do that. The little delicate trilling that he makes is a sure sign that he is around and waiting for some mealworms.

I bought this feeder especially for him as he was struggling a bit with the seed feeder, though he can do it. Robins seem to have learnt how to use them now, though its often a battle to get on it when the sparrows are in force. The blue tits also seem to like this one too.

Enjoy the Winter Solstice and the return to longer days.

A funny old summer

Hasn't it been a funny old summer. I don't know about you but I feel like my plot is just about getting into gear and its probably going to be cut down in its prime with the talk about cold nights this week. Slow is the operative word and anything that prefers a warmer summer has struggled for me this year. I was at the plot most of Sunday and it was glorious weather, here are a few photos of it now.

Last year I had masses of cucumbers grown outside, this year, they just sat and sulked in the ground and then were the target of slugs. Two measly little yellow cucumbers. Courgettes have even been slow and I've probably had just the right amount of courgettes (usually am overwhelmed by the glut and end up giving lots away). Squash usually romp all over my plot and given a few more weeks probably would again but I don't think I'll have too many fruit this year. Even my runner beans have been slow, masses of flowers and beans now which is frustrating but I should still get a reasonable crop. But it amazes me every year how different it can be. Hence my ploy which I stick to of growing a range of vegetables so that I get something for all the hard work. What has done well after all my whinging, well I've had a good crop of onions, shallots and garlic, roots crops like beetroot have been OK, lots of spinach and chard, calabrese and kale. I'm hoping my sweetcorn crop will be good and I've got lots of leeks to come, plus still got sprouts, broccoli and cabbage, though have had a few 'issues' with that, have been trying to protect my Brassicas by using proper good netting called Enviromesh (its not cheap!), this is to largely try and stop the cabbage white butterflies, I was sick of searching for caterpillars amongst the heads of calabrese!! It also prevents whitefly to some extent and then obviously the much larger pests, the pigeons which are a problem on my site. But it doesn't stop SLUGS!!

So I have lovely filigree cabbage, now consigned to the compost heap! They don't seem to have gone as much for the red cabbage (they were too busy with the white!). The problem I think for me is that because of the cover I wasn't weeding it as well and this creates more of a haven for slugs and snails and well another lesson learnt.

On a more positive note, my fruit crops have been amazing, loads of gooseberries, red and blackcurrants and strawberries. I've harvesting masses of blackberries and my raspberries have been the best ever this year. I grow blackberries along my fence, they pop out the back and I have raspberries at the front of the fence. I've taken some hard wood cuttings of one the blackberry bushes that are along here (the one which is thornless!) and have three new plants so plan to replace the vicious thorny one with one of these and then put the other two plants along my other fence..

But its my cut flower patch that has given me the most joy this year and its still looking great even if I say so myself.

 

This is the bed that was newly created this year as overspill!! Jostling together here are Salvia Bouquet Mixed, which is a mixture of the blue, pink and white forms (I have to say I much prefer the blue form) and it lasts for ages. Really good doer. I have a few plants of Didicus 'Blue Lace', the absolutely gorgeous Panicum 'Frosted explosion', a revelation to me is Ammi visnaga 'Casablanca', there is Bupleurum for foliage, a few Zinnias which haven't flowered prolifically but they last ages in a vase, Nicotiana 'Black Knight' and some white Snapdragons. This is the more sedate part of the patch. The other main bed has the larger more thuggish plants, the cornflowers, Cosmos, Amberboa, Gaura, Sweet peas and sunflowers. I'm still very much experimenting with the planting of the annuals and realising some just can't cope in this bed. The Nigella I think will need to be put somewhere where they don't get overwhelmed and I grew a lovely Gypsophila 'Kermesina' which grew well initially but then got a bit overtaken as well. Some plants in the main bed are starting to go to seed now, like the cornflowers, Amberboa, Cerinthe so I'm trying to take lots of bags with me when I go up to the plot to collect seed to save me money for next year. Like last year I've edged the bed with sunflowers though I might rethink this for next year as it does make picking from one side more difficult!! I'm trying to get pictures of them all so that I can assess which have been the best. I'm going to do a proper review of my cutting patch later in the year so that I can decide what to grow next year, though I've already been tempted by a special offer from Higgledy Garden and ordered some of the annual rudbeckias for next year. I'm also planning on sowing some hardy annuals anytime now to try and see if I can get a head start next year. First on the list being Echium 'Blue Bedder' which has flowered non-stop since May and looks lovely here in combination with Calendula 'Coffee and Cream'.

Another brilliant plant this year has been the Scabious black and white mix, which has flowered for a long time and the flowers have really long thick stems. I've also grown Scabiosa 'PingPong' which really is grown for the lovely seed pods, you may see one amongst the others here. I only ended up with one plant of this and it got a bit overwhelmed by the Cosmos. Another lesson learnt.

Anyway I must stop now, could talk all day about my cutting patch. I'm going to have a post showing some of my arrangements soon.

At home, my greenhouse has been full to bursting all spring and then over the summer I've had a great crop of tomatoes in there. The same varieties that I grew last year 'Sungold' the sweetest tomato ever, Martin never really gets many of those as I just eat them like grapes straight from the plant. But also 'Lucciolo' which is a small red plum tomato but I like it as it crops over a long time, not all ripening at once and it tastes good. I have two plants of each variety. I feel like I should be experimenting with other varieties but I don't have much room, I may try and squeeze in another pot in next year and try a new variety. I've also successfully grown Aubergines this year, a dwarf variety called 'Ophelia' which produces small almost perfect size fruit. Not hugely prolific and again slow growing but I've had three fruits so far. I also have some chillis which I'm urging on to ripen. Must mention Martin and our friend Bob who put the greenhouse up for me over a chilly winter a couple of years ago. couldn't do without it now, and need a bigger one. But that may necessitate getting a bigger garden!!

Invisible sheds and the Flower Farmer

This is my last post about the Tatton Park Flowers Show but I just wanted to show some pictures of a really fun new addition to the show, the Garden Hideaways. Five standard garden sheds that were transformed into fabulous garden features in their own right. It was really popular area for visitors to the show. I wanted to take all of them home with me!

The first was The Hungry Gardener's Shed, I really loved this one as it could be found on any allotment. there was a small stove for cooking your freshly harvested produce on the back of the shed. Inside there was all the usual kit of the vegetable grower with seed labels, pots and plant supports, the must-have radio and kettle. There was even an apple tree growing on the side.

Sean Harkins is the National Trust Urban gardener in residence in Manchester and he created a shed to tell the story of the Lost gardens of Manchester. This tells of old gardens in Manchester, the sunken gardens in Piccadilly, the zoological gardens at Belle Vue, orchards of Shudehill, and who knew that there were Royal Botanical gardens at Old Trafford. There is an exhibit about this at Manchester Art Gallery at the moment.

The next shed was painted with a great picture of a blue tit, designed for nature lovers a hide for viewing wildlife.

The shed that caught the imagination was the Invisibility Tardis Shed of navel contemplation! Covered in mirror it was a bit disconcerting as it does seem to disappear when you viewed it from certain angles

But last but not least my favourite was the Cut Flower Shed created by the Northwest members of Flowers from the farm. How could I not love this with my new found passion for cut flowers. Lovely to chat to the ladies there about the flowers that they grow and sell locally.

While I'm talking about cut-flowers, another real treat at the show was being able to go to a talk in the Floral design studio by Georgie Newbery, an artisan flower farmer and florist who grows her flowers from a small-holding in Somerset. She's going against the grain really trying to persuade us to buy flowers that are grown locally and not flown in from places like Kenya and South Africa. But people are really starting to think about where flowers come from as well as their food. What an inspiring talk, she is really changing things along with a growing network of small-scale growers. She talked about the types of flowers that she grows, a big range but small amounts of each and successionally grown, all the while creating a handtied posy. She made it look so easy! It was a lovely end to our day at the show.