Allotment geekery

1. Hardening off the pampered polytunnel plants in a sheltered spot on the plot2. The strawberries won't be far off so we've been slug proofing the plants3. Three rows of swedes and three rows of parsnips, planted, watered and eagerly anticipated4. Butternut squashes planted and under cloches just in case the lovely British weather decides to get cold and bitey again.5. Strawberry flowers galore!6. Borlotti beans finally out on the plot, last year I was convinced I didn't want to grow beans but have planted broad beans, borlotti, and dwarf (yellow and purple) so really I don't know what I was going on about?

Allotment geekery

It has been a busy, busy week at work so I haven't been able to get to the allotment during the week, we'll be heading off to plant more seeds and dig things over today.  To get my allotment fix I've been monitoring the progress of the following:

Borlotti beans, I cannot wait to get these out when it's warm enough I dug compost trenches back in the autumn and have been filling them with kitchen scraps and newspaper etc  because apparently beans love compost rich soil.  I  dug compost trenches last year and it seemed to work quite well, fingers crossed the beans like it!

Tomatoes and chillies, I really can't take credit for these, tomatoes and chillies are MozzyMr's pet project, we're still using the chillies he grew last year which we dried.  Plus the amount of passata we're still getting through is astonishing!  Great on homemade pizza though so no complaints here.

Pfft mushrooms.  These were supposed to be butternut squashes but nothing has happened with them so I'm going to have to buy more seeds because the butternut squashes we had last year were the best.  The compost we bought from Makro was riddled with fungus, green and blue mushrooms have been popping up all over the place.  The umbrella looking ones here only stay looking like that for a day and then they shrivel up to virtually nothing.  Whilst I haven't got the butternut squashes I really wanted it has been nice to see these develop, they're really delicate and beautiful (photographs them and unceremoniously chucks them in the compost bin).

Allotment Geekery

So autumn is here and when we got up this morning to go to the car boot sale it was cold, so cold that no one really bothered to come sell their tat, how very grr.  The prospect of an afternoon on the allotment in the cold was not very appealing so layers were the order of the day including my epic mustard coloured scarf, when held aloft it's taller than me and is the best thing to keep warm.  Did I mention I made it?

Of course when we got there it rained and I had to take shelter in the shed with the massive clumps of mud on my wellies that I'd collected along the way...

A view up the path, our allotment is on the left (you can't see it in this photo) and you can see the polytunnel where we have a plot.  I love that there is a guy who has decorated his shed with old skool Kentucky Fried Chicken shop awnings!

This is what it is all about, we grew those leeks, and those chilli's and we made autumnal soup...

..... included in the soup is butternut squash, we grew that, carrots, we didn't grow them, potatoes, we grew them.  I haven't included a photo of the finished whizzed up soup because I can't pretend it looks like anything other than puke.  Tasted good though.

Allotment Geekery

This Saturday there wasn't roller derby training because the team were playing in Plymouth, sadly as I am crawling on my hands and knees towards payday I had to go for free activities, i.e. clearing up weeds on the allotment.  Monty said we should bring our pumpkins in to avoid frost damage so bring the pumpkins in we did and very happy I am with them too.  Not only that but we had two medium sized flower pots filled with tomatoes, a basket full of runner beans, four butternut squashes, two peppers, four leeks and a large handful of spring onions.

Oh and in case you're wondering I'm going to save the seeds from the sunflower.  This one grew from the sunflowers we grew for the wedding so I want to see if I can keep the same 'family' of sunflowers growing next year 

Allotment Geekery

Sunday at the allotment, the butternut squashes have gone in...

the strawberries are flowering...

the lavender is on it's way...

the peas seem to be liking their new home and have started to produce pods already...

carrots!

too many tomatoes...

...and finally kites and shadows.  MozzyMr and I were suffering after a Birthday celebration at the Double Locks for friend Charlotte.  Too many ciders made us a bit broken, so we crawled to the allotment in the hope it might be restorative, a bit of sun and digging sorted me right out not sure about MozzyMr he seems to want to eat all the cake and sleep in his armchair.