Piling on the Pounds

I have been given a whole trayload (4lbs) of blackcurrants and redcurrants by one of my friends from further down the allotment. He had a huge harvest and asked if I could use them. Could I?!

When I got home I looked up receipes and within a day or so I had made some redcurrant jelly, some blackcurrant ice cream and some redcurrant & blackcurrant jam. Delicious. The jam and the jelly will see us through the winter and the ice cream will be a treat on hot days.

The cupboard where I keep such preserves is now completely full, so I will have to find another storage space for the pickles and other jams that are "waiting in the wings" to be made.

I have also been given some Bramley cooking apples and they have been lightly stewed in a little water and frozen in convenient portions.

The runner beans, onions, courgettes and beetroot are all doing very well. We have loads of courgettes (so many that I have given away more than I can count)and I regularly look on the BBC Good Food website for inspiration on how to cook them in new ways and trying out different receipes.

The runner beans are prolific and we have already harvested 7lbs. I have prepared and frozen about 10 portions already and we have either eaten the rest or ....you've guessed it - given them away.

The white onions are huge and some have been harvested already and are drying out in the greenhouse. I managed to plait some of them and hang them up from the ceiling of the greenhouse, and it looks quite "French".

The beetroots that are ready have been harvested and cooked and preserved in vinegar. There are many more to come as I did some successional sowing throughout the spring and early summer.

Spuds Out, Leeks In

The first batch of potatoes (Ulstre Sceptre) have now been dug up and we have eaten most of them. They tasted delicious, but I was a bit disappointed in the yield from each plant. There were only 7-8 spuds per plant and they were not as big as I had hoped, but still I harvested more than I actually put in, so I guess that's the way to look at it. Even though the yield was relatively small they were not attacked by blight and there was no evidence of any eelworm or slug damage, so on that count they were excellent.

No sooner were they dug up and the ground well forked over, some leeks (Musselburgh) were planted in their space. Leeks need to be planted in a special way. Make a deep narrow hole with a dibber (I borrowed one) about 6" deep and plop the leek to be transplanted into the hole and fill with water. Most of them are thriving, despite the exceptionally hot and dry weather we've been having, and the stems are now about as thick as a pencil. They won't be ready to harvest for some months yet, but come the winter hopefully there will be plenty.

Berry Good Fruit

The strawberries I planted in the spring have been excellent - although we haven't had very many they have been big, sweet and juicy. The children have picked them and put them straight into their mouths, so some of them haven't even made it home!

I did rescue a few and made some shortbread biscuits for dessert and put a large juicy strawberry on top of each biscuit (see picture). They were delicious.

It was Peter's birthday earlier this month and as he likes desserts I made a plain cheesecake and topped it with fruits (blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries). It was a good combination for a topping as the blackcurrants were quite sharp and went well with the sweet raspberries and strawberries.

Both receipes have been very successful and will have to be repeated when more fruit arrives next year - hopefully in greater quantities!

That's Shallot

Thought you might like to see a photo to see how my shallots are growing. I planted them in April in ground that is fairly heavy clay and didn't really expect them to do too much as they were beginning to sprout because I was a bit late planting them. But as they were a freebie that I got with all my onions and garlic I thought I would stick them in and see what would happen.

As you can see they have not only thrived but they have positively bloomed. What I now need to do is to see when they can be harvested and then what to do with them. The only thing that comes to mind is making some pickle. Now that's not such a bad idea.....

Plants for Winter

Last week I had an email from Thompson & Morgan (seed specialists) from whom I normally order all my seeds etc. They were having a half price sale for one week only and I took the opportunity of snapping up some packets of seeds so that I can keep the crops going throughout the winter.

Here's what I ordered:-

Lettuce Arctic King - sow August-October & harvest April-May

Cabbage Kalibos - sow March-May & harvest August-October

Broccoli Sprouting Redhead - sow May-June & harvest March-April

Cabbage Minicole - sow April-June & harvest August-October

Radicchio Treviso Precoce Mesola- sow April-September & harvest August-December

This is just the start of my winter crops that I want to get going, and hopefully there will be plenty more to follow, but as the saying goes "you've got to start somewhere"

Over the next few weeks and months (as time permits) I want to create a big wall chart with what to plant when, how, harvest time etc and see where the gaps are and then try and "plug" those gaps so that I will be further on with my long term plan of being almost self-sufficient in vegetables all year round. It's a big task so will take some time, but will be worth it in the long run.

Planting Time

The past two weeks have been extremely busy at the allotment digging, planning and planting. The new plot is so overgrown and infested with weeds that each time I go I fill up 4 old compost bags full and take them to the local re-cycling centre. These places are great and you can pick up some bargains that would otherwise be sent to landfill. One lady was going to bin a beautiful rosemary bush that was too big for her garden, so that has made its way to the plot and is planted next door to the thriving blackcurrant bush.

The other "find" at the centre was a butler sink (which weighed a ton, or so it seemed) which is now sitting proudly in our front garden at home waiting for some love and attention.

Back to the allotment - the runner beans and French beans have been planted and are climbing nicely up their sticks, and although they have gone slightly pale in colour I am assured that they do this sometimes, but production is not affected. Today I noticed that there are some flowers that have just blossomed on one of the French beans. On the bed above them I have planted 6 courgettes, 6 cauliflowers, 2 broccoli (for the time being) and 5 sweetcorn (for the time being).

The bed to the right of the brassicas is full from top to bottom with white and red onions and shallots. The garlic is next to the compost heap (which is full to bursting). I have planted some spinach, but it looks very weedy and seems to be struggling to grow so will have to see how it turns out.

The fruit is growing well - I picked the first strawberry yesterday and the blackcurrant bush has produced lots of currants which are bright green at the moment.

On the new plot I have planted 13 plum tomatoes and 21 beef tomatoes. Peter is frantically digging at the bottom of the plot where the ground is very heavy and we will put in the last of the potatoes there to break up the earth a bit, besides we ran out of space on the main potato bed so am glad that they will have the right amount of space to grow in and not be squashed somewhere too small.

I am now digging below the tomatoes to prepare the ground for the cucumbers as they are nearly ready to be planted outside. They have been hardening off for about 10 days now so will hopefully be planted next week.

One man at the allotment gave me the two broccoli and 2 chilli plants and another man gave me 2 sweet pepper plants. I haven't offered them any of my seedlings as their plots are full to bursting and always look professionally grown. They are my inspiration and example, so instead I spend time talking to them. Maybe one day I can return the favours.

Free Bounty

The more times I go to the allotment, the more people I meet and talk to, and two people in particular have been very generous to us and our plot. One lovely lady, Eileen, has given us a big clump of chives to start off our herb bed. I placed them in a bucket of water for half an hour or so as they were quite dry and then planted them quite deep with plenty of compost and drainage. I gave them a good water and they are sitting there quite happily and look very much at home.

Another chap, Rupert, is also very kind and is always helping out people. He found a couple of rhubarb plants tossed onto the bonfire patch and he rescued them and brought them up to me. I don't particularly like rhubarb, and I don't think my family do either, but a free gift is not to be sniffed at, and I have a very good neighbour who loves it on her cereal, and there is also the challenge of making some rhubarb & ginger jam for example.

The next time I saw Rupert he brought up a loganberry bush that had been discarded on the bonfire. The bush looked very healthy and after soaking it for an hour or so while I found a spot to plant it and then prepared the ground, it looks like it has settled in nicely. It is between the blackcurrant bush and the strawberries for the time being, but I may move it next year if it needs more room.

We have also been given some piping to make a framework for netting over the fruit to protect it from birds, it is temporary water piping so I am told and it is ideal for making cloches etc. as it is very flexible.

I always feel I want to repay these kind people for what they do and give, but their plants and plots are far superior to ours and they seem to be very content to hand out their advice on a regular basis, and I think for them that is payment enough. Hopefully the time will come when I can do the same for others who are just starting out.