Allotment geekery

Yesterday the weather was luuush so of course we had to get on the allotment, at this time of year there is so much to get done.  Not only that we have been so starved of sun this winter it's nice to have the sun on your face, even if it wasn't very warm just being able to get out there was enough.

In the last week the seedlings have really gone for it...

Courgettes at last!  These pesky things weren't germinating at all (or so I thought) so I kept planting more thinking I would have a summer of no courgettes *shudder* but I now have about 10 or 11 plants.  Anyone who has grown courgettes will know four plants are more than enough for two people so the folks at work are going to have to brace themselves for the onslaught of veg I'm going to force upon them.

I reacted in much the same way to beetroot as I did to courgettes, I now have 51 plants growing (oops).  Luckily we love beetroot, if you haven't tried beetroot thinly sliced on pizza you are seriously missing out it is mega tasty, try it.

I have never grown broad beans before so I'm happy with the way these bad boys are turning out.  Other people in the polytunnel have been growing broad beans and their plants have pods on them already, I'm not too concerned, from the looks of these flowers we are going to have plenty to keep us busy (so close to trying out broad bean pesto, I just need to find where I have 'safely stored' the recipe).

Well this is a selection of what we have on the go.  Bottom right we have peas that are ready to go out, on the left many, many beetroots, in the modular tray are the butternut squashes I'm hoping will make an appearance soon, borlotti beans which will be hardened off soon, broccoli, turnips, french beans (purple and yellow) and aubergine.

What we did on the plot: 

• Station sewed our first row of radish
• Got the first batch of carrot seed in
• Dug out the dandelions creeping over from our neighbours plot
• Hand weeded the onions

Allotment Geekery

So, could the weather have been any better this weekend?  The only thing to do was get on the allotment and get busy.  Plus today is MozzyMr and my 10 year anniversary, from here on in we'll probably just celebrate our wedding anniversary but 10 years can't be overlooked!

The big project this weekend was the apple tree, it needed to be cut back to encourage more fruit but also to discourage the caterpillars that have been wreaking havoc across the allotment.  This was MozzyMr's job, not because he's the man about the house but simply because almost every plant I've cut back has withered and died.  He's so precise, contemplating the tree from all angles, cutting back only the branches that created a symmetrical and perfectly formed tree.

The branches will come in really useful, for growing the peas up.

The carrots are in, both normals and rainbow mix, I was following the very precise instructions from 'Keeping an Allotment' a book my mum gave me for Christmas.  This involved digging, sieving, sieving again, planting, watering, and then covering back up under the fleece.  If this doesn't produce the best carrots I've ever eaten I'm giving up.

The strawberry patch is coming along nicely, my new watering can is making the constant shuffling back and forth to the water trough easier to bear.

Everyone in the polytunnel has been massively productive, I think we've been a little late with getting our seeds planted especially in comparison to the plots on either side of ours.  The temperature in the polytunnel was 30 degrees, yum.

The plant I'm most excited about this year is the pea, I've planted a whole tray just in case so when we turned up and they'd started poking through I was perhaps disproportionately excited *hangs head in shame*.

These planting bags aren't ours but they are a good demonstration of how keen some of the gardeners in our polytunnel are, I'm intrigued to see what they've planted.

Again, these aren't ours but shows what we will be doing with our apple branches outside on the plot when the peas are ready, they look loads better than bamboo.

Aaaaand finally, purple sprouting broccoli, it's finally making an appearance and is abundant.  I don't know what to do with it all, any one got any receipe suggestions?  I've just been steaming it so far!



Well that's me, next weekend I'll be going to the Totnes Vintage fair where my mum will be selling, I'm really looking forward to it hopefully some photos to follow..