Boxing day so back to work

Boxing day and back to the allotment for the men while the women were confined to the kitchen. They were there for nearly 5 hours so I think we got the best job.

The duck area is being levelled and a start on putting 8 ft posts, 2 ft into the ground for the compound. Not an easy job for anybody but we did call with a flask of tea and a bit of encouragement to keep going (while we went home to the warm).

A sad turn of events. Maria called for help as a group of lads were on the allotments. Luckily Nick and Matt were there and chased and confronted them. She was understandably upset as there had been a group that got in last week and vandalised here shed and greenhouse and taken loads of her tools and used them to break into the brick sheds and caused a lot of damage. This also explains how the small greenhouse had been torn to shreds. Although this had happened last week she thought that they had come back for more but this was a different, younger group. They had got in via the railway line but climbed over the gate to get out so no way of keeping them out. They had the cheek to ask Matt for a key to let them out!!!

A wonderful Christmas but now back to work

A break from gardening to join Christmas at the funny farm.


Katy was quite concerned when everybody turned into poodles but........


..........Aaron, Matt and Rebecca drew lots as to who was going to save us. Matt seems to have them under control.

Meanwhile, the after dinner frog walk seems to be attracting quite a crowd.





One mystery remains from the day - ‘who is Mr X?’

Happy Christmas

Two wise gardeners travelled from Old Basing, they followed the signs that led to the allotment where they found the manure laying on the ground.

What a fantastic weekend

Fantastic weather this weekend so we decided to spend some time at Old Basing, clearing the main bed to spread the manure. Along one some are still loads of strawberry plants and amazingly loads of them were in flower.

Just shows how the seasons are changing and the plants are confused.

We are still getting produce

Having never imagined how much produce we would get in our first year, I am even more amazed that we are still cropping in December. We have almost run out of parsnips but there are still leeks to pull and we still have a couple of heads of celery although only good for cooking now. I sowed some rocket in the greenhouse and the first cuttings were made today so we will be able to have some salad for our sandwiches. There was also a handful of sprouts and a couple of broccoli florets (too few and too small to see). We also found three potatoes that we had missed in the autumn.

Also, after the report last week re the camera, it was terminal so we made the decision that it was something that we couldn't live without, and the amount we have saved on vegetables this year covered the cost many times over. There may be more photos than usual as I am getting used to what it can do. Fantastic for close ups and much greater intensity of colour.

Wonderful sunshine

As the sun was shining we had no choice but to catch up at the allotment.

In the bed, that was the potatoe bed this year, the garlic is taking up half but the other half is for the winter broad beans and peas. Nick is finishing off digging for the plants to go in while I am shifting muck. I moved 28 barrow loads and don't seem to have made much difference to the pile.

One big disappointment was to find that the broad beans that I planted as beans rather than growing plants to plant out, have been dug up and eaten by mice. I was a bit odd that there were uniform holes on the bed so I dug down to find only the shell left behind. Oh well, we learn by experience.

The parcel that was delivered was in fact our Christmas present to ourselves, a selection of fruit trees and bushes. This means that No 53 has finally become the focus of our attention. It is amazing how quickly the space was used up, we have planted 5 apple, 1 pear, a cultivated blackberry, 1 tayberry, another whitecurrant and another blackcurrant. Next time I will make a list and plan of all of them so that we have a record of what is where just in case we lose the labels.

We still have to move the gooseberries that we inherited and a couple of currents that we planted on 51. This is in addition to the 72 strawberry plants and about 50 raspberries. So expect it to be a fruity 2007.

Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming and it is with great disappointment that I have to report that we will not have many sprouts of edible quality. To cheer us up, Nick decided to model the Christmas hat. If it is as cold tomorrow as it has been today, I will be wearing this at the allotment to keep my ears warm.

Garlic day

Yesterday was a rather late garlic planting day. We already had two rows that Rebecca planted a few weeks ago, but spent yesterday preparing the ground and planting more. There were:

5 bulbs of Solent Wight
5 bulbs of Early Purple
5 bulbs of Iberian Wight
5 bulbs of Lautrec Wight
5 bulbs of Albigensian Wight
8 cloves of Elephant Garlic

It doesn't sound a lot except the solent has 10-12 cloves per bulb and the others 6-8. The elephant garlic was per bulb but they grow to about 7 inches across.

I make that over 200 garlic bulbs that we should have early summer. Maybe we have over done it, or as we like to call it 'done a courgette'!

Big excitement when the postman called

We were expecting this parcel to arrive sometime in December but didn't expect it so early.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Note to our readers

I must apologise for the poor quality of the photographs recently but the battery has gone on the camera so these are taken with a mobile phone.

Thank you for your patience, normal service will be resumed shortly.

Wine bottling

I spent an evening last week straining the wine and leaving the sludge behind. It is now down to 10 gallons of assorted wines in various stages of clearing. I think another coupe of weeks and it should be ready for bottling.

Although it is not ready yet, it had to be tasted and Nick was the official taster but was rather non commital. Thankfully Jan (who I used to work with) popped in so was the guinea pig. The verdict was quite positive, the favourite being apple and plum which has a nice light bouquet but a rather strange orangy-pink colour similar for a blush sancerre. The runner bean and grapefruit was the most controversial but the final verdict was that it had the 'potential' to be a nice desert wine.

There was one demijohn that I siphoned a couple of weeks ago that I have bottled. This was the elderberry that I made using raisins instead of sugar and I must admit that it tasted alright. It is much lighter and paler than the elderberry made the convential way with sugar which I am sure would make you over the legal limit after one mouthful and is more like sherry.

So, as we are almost at the stage of bottling, the official 'Pyotts Products' labels had to be designed. Here is the 2006 prototype.

Memories of summer

Isn't it fantastic when it is a cold, wet, dark day and something reminds you of summer. This evening was one of those occasions when we decided to have soup for our evening meal - Courgette, sage and cheshire cheese - Oh how I miss them!!!!!

Drowned rats spotted at the allotment

Rebecca and I went to the allotment this morning to get the veg for Sunday lunch and as the weather was so bad it was not exactly crowded. The road was like a river and puddles everywhere. We were digging parsnips and sweed and pulling leeks with a thunderstorm over us. Good job they taste so good.

What a winner

Friday was the evening of the Old Basing Bowls Club annual dinner and prize giving. As I mentioned a few months ago, I was winner of the Lunn Cup (drawn mixed pairs) and the Grassi Shield (drawn pairs round robin). I was a fantastic evening and it was a struggle to carry them all home.

p.s. Nick got a plaque for being runner up in the Grassi Shield. He is more modest than me so no photo.

A comfort to us all

I know I keep on about how good 'Grow Your Own' magazine is but this month it has excelled itself. An article entitled ‘Weed between the lines’ extols the virtues of the weeds that we try to eradicate from our gardens and allotments and the uses to which they can be put. After reading about dandelions and their use for making tea, soup and insect repellent, I moved on to a subheading ‘Beauty therapy’. I know it sound dull but I must quote you directly – ‘Comfrey is a well-known ally for organic growers. It makes an excellent compost activator, plant food and mulch and contains nearly three times as much potassium (which stimulates fruiting) as farmyard manure. Bud did you know it was known for centuries ad knit-bone due to its alleged ability to fix bone fractures? Comfrey has powerful healing and soothing properties which makes it a perfect plant to pick for the bathroom. It contains allantoin, which binds tissues and stimulates cell growth, and is an ingredient in many moisturizers. Herbalist still use comfrey for eczema and psoriasis and it’s great for calming acne outbreaks.’

Well would you believe it – and I thought is was really obnoxious smelling stuff that tomatoes loved!

The first frost

Sunday on the allotment was a sorry sight as we had experienced our first frost since having crops. The courgette plants have produced their last, but they will provide a lot of composting. The beans are very limp and pathetic and the marigolds are black and floppy.


I took the opportunity to clear out the greenhouse and picked the last of the peppers as they will not get any bigger. We now have the pepper glut, I have filled a couple of bags of prepared mixed peppers for the freezer and hung up a couple of strings to ripen to give red peppers as they are all still at the green stage. They seem to turn overnight, although we are having to shiver in the kitchen as I have turned the radiator off so as not to spoil the onions and garlic.


We had a surprise visitor in the front garden at home last week. We usually only see him at night but he came out in full daylight when we got home. I am not sure if it is the same hedgehog that we have had for the last three years, or a new one each year, but there has been one living in the bushes under the office window. We don't feed him as I am sure he has a good supply of slugs and snails.

A final thing I must share with you, and a tradition with a promotion, is my new shoes. I have a passion for Camper shoes particularly their 'twins' range. As you will see they are not identical twins.

My last day

Yesterday was my last day as an Online Sales Manager before moving up to the top floor on Monday.

Thankfully, they respected my request for no leaving speech or collection and rather than a leaving do, I took the team to lunch at cafe rouge, which was very relaxing and fun. The team did buy me some wonderful flowers, a funky filofax and a delicious bottle of rose. So thank you, Vishali, Kieran, Ruth, Nick, Darren, Pravin (for three days) and Abi.

They obviously know me well as the arrangement included ornamental cabbages and my favorite Blue Moon roses.

By the time they had traveled on the tube the lilies had started to open so everybody in the second carriage of the 1605 Poole train out of Waterloo benefited from them as well.

Anyway, from the buzz of high finance, today it is back to the even more thrilling world of muck spreading.

Winter veg

It is wonderful to realise that your diet should change with the seasons i.e. what is ready for harvesting. Today is the turn of the parsnips), although Ted told me off as they like to have a frost on them to sweeten them up, but I was weeding and got curious to what was going on under the ground. The first two were standard Tesco size but then a whopper came up. It is much easier harvesting that when we did the carrots, as the ground is nice and soft (although muddy) it is possible to get a parsnip out without breking it in half.

So that I could make a casserole I also pulled a leek, a couple of small swede and some celery. Now that mixture really did make the car smell!

I also started a new tub of comfrey tea and also a tub of nettle tea, which is (according to Bob Flowerdew) excellent for getting rid of caterpillas, so a good investment for the spring.

Haloween

The crop of the day is the 'giant' pumpkin. I am thinking of writing to Thompson and Morgan as this was the biggest we got - we planted it in manure, watered it daily, gave it a dose of comfrey tea every sunday and still it would not get any bigger. It is too big for me to carry so maybe it is just as well. There are three others that are going to be made into pies but hopefully we can preserve the skin for carving.

I also harvested the rest of the beetroot, a load of peppers, a marrow, two courgettes and a couple of aubergines.

Spring cleaning

To us allotmenteers, spring cleaning is actually autumn cleaning. This is where the hard work starts. Every season brings surprises as we didn't have the pleasure of the big clean last year, it is somewhat of a shock how much work is required, although a day of sunshine makes it so much better. I have cleared most of the small beds leaving only the chard, the everlasting onions, fennel and the bed with parsnips and swede. One small problem is, I didn't realise quite how many plastic bottles and canes we used so the greenhouse is filling up. We need to have a good tidy up in the shed to make room for winter storage.

I took up the 100 gladioli that were planted and, having consulted Ted on what to do with them, it appears that I need to hang them to dry. He was very impressed by the size of my corms!




The big excitement of the week is the manure delivery. A much larger load than I expected but smells lovelly and the boys popped round to inspect and gave their approval. In fact, they are going to get theirs in now that they have seen it.



Nick has prepared the strawberry bed on 53, ready to move them from Old Basing. We have a problem with couch grass on 53 so it took a lot of deep digging. There is a clump of raspberry canes that we have had to dig round as they are still providing a lot of fruit and it seems a shame to miss out on them.

We also seem to have been adopted by the allotment cat who took a lot of interest in the digging but we move interested in sleeping in the small greenhouse as there is a hole in the back that she can go in and out as she wishes.

Water, water everywhere

As mentioned, I have planted some cabbages at Old Basing. These are in the small bed next to the shed, where I planted 100 onions earlier in the week. Spacing them 12 inches apart meant that 60 went in at OB, so with the 60 that I planted at CW, allowing for a 50% success rate, we are going to be looking for plenty of new cabbage recipes in the spring.

Instead of troughs, there are stand pipes at OB and as we haven't got our equipment up to date all I could find was a coil of hose left in the shed by the previous occupants. There were a few kinks which I struggled to iron out, a few holes which squirted water at various places along the path, and no nozzle to control the water. It did get the cabbages watered in but I am much happier with a watering can.

Now that autumn is here a change of diet is required

As the courgettes seem to have ceased production we have to look at what preparation we made the the autumn harvest. Although the brassicas are doing well it is going to be a while before any broccoli, sprouts and cabbages are ready but we did get a shock to find a large swede hidden under the leaves of the broccoli. The leeks are doing well so we thought we would give one of them a try as well.

I know I have said it before but there is nothing like the taste of home grown veg. The sweed was much paler than expected but the flavour much stronger, and the leek was heavenly. They were so tasty that a before and after picture is provided.

We had (from left to right) courgettes cooked in olive oil with garlic, chard stalks cooked the same way, swede (mashed) chard leaves (lightly boiled), french beans, leeks and roasted potatoes. All home grown and all delicious. So was the roast beef, gravy and horseradish - delicious that is, but not home grown.


I must at this stage also make an apology for being so rude about chard. We made the mistake of thinking the bigger the better, but our friend Baptista put us right. We were letting the leaves get too big which made them bitter, so we tried some of the new young leaves and it is delicious. I cooked the stalks with oil and garlic and the leaves separately as greens and both are great. So, sorry chard - you are both pretty and tasty.

Nick and Janette went to the tip and they bought................

................. a pond and a role of alcathene pipe. And a bargain they were too.

Aparently, yellow signifies gas but in this case it is going to be the framework of cloches. Watch this space for the finished result.

The pond is for 53. We were going to dig a hole (or at least Matt was) and get a sheet of plastic for a liner but this should do instead. It will still need a hole though but can be built up more to stop the dabbling ducks making such a mess.

A pond is a must on an allotment, in my opinion, as it attracts beneficial wildlife. The area at the bottom of 53 is going to be a wildlife area so we are going to leave a patch of nettles and plant more herbs and flowers that will attract insects etc to polinate the fruit.

Hi ho - its off to work we go

Rebecca came to visit at the weekend and I did warn her that we would be working at the allotment. She seemed quite excited at being able to join us - and work she did......

She dug all the potatoes having pulled back all the black plastic which has a mind of its own.






She shifted barrow loads of weeds. Mainly bindweed which had grown long, pale and straggley under the plastic.






She made a start at digging over the bed, forked in a load of pelletted chicken manure and planted two rows of garlic.







We still have quite a lot of work to do on the bed to get it dug over ready for the overwintering onions. We haven't had a chance to get any manure dug in so chicken manure it is. I have 300 onion sets to go in and these should be ready for harvesting in June next year. I will use the rest of the bed to plant another loads of onions in the spring (I estimage about 500 should fill the bed) which will give us a September harvest as well.

The spring greens are overgrown in their pots so must get in the ground this week. There are far too many so I might try a bed at Old Basing to see which grows best. It is much more moisture retentive at OB so I am worried that they may rot over wintering but only one way to find out.

They are going to miss me

As there is not much going on at the allotment I thought I would share with you how much I will be missed at work.

Bartering

Today is a catch up on the week and I need to explain the reason why we haven't been to the allotment for three days. Firstly, I have a horrific assignment that is due in and is giving me a headache, secondly I have revision for exams in two weeks, thirdly I have a hugh amound of reading material for my new job that I start on 30 October, and finally - we had the boiler serviced.

It passed with flying colours but did need a new seal around the casing. I was very impressed by the engineer who did the job even though she had to stand in the sink to be able to reach. Anyway, back the the title of this entry - for such a good job done I felt it was only right to give suitable remuneration and this came in the form of a bag of autumn raspberries, a box of tomatoes and a marrow, although the marrow was politely turned down,

Marrow nightmares

With the rain comes the marrow's. Gone are the courgettes, overnight they turn into marrows. I took some to work but they took a bit of a battering on the train and tube and nearly broke my arm with the weight.

So back to the wine making again! I made a double load and still have 12 marrows sitting in the kitchen. Having not been to do any harvesting for three days I bet there are loads of them waiting for me when I get there.

5 Ib. ripe marrow (you can add other bits of fruit to this as well if you have not quite got enough marrow)
Rind and juice of 2 large lemons and an orange or 1/2 OZ. citric acid
6 oz. chopped raisins 1 oz. ginger
2 1/2 Ib. of sugar
1 gallon water
Nutrient
Sauterne yeast

Choose a good specimen of a marrow, wipe off any surplus dirt and chop coarsely into the bucket, include the seeds (unbroken), the skin of the marrow and the fruit rinds together with the crushed ginger and the chopped raisins.

Pour on boiling water, stir thoroughly and when cool add the fruit juice, nutrient and yeast. Ferment on the pulp for four days, pressing down the cap twice daily, and then strain; stir in the sugar and continue the fermentation.

What a difference

One major observation about the differences between the allotment at Old Basing and Churchill Way is moisture. At Churchill Way the soil is free draining and always appears fairly dry on the top. There is no chance of water lying around, even with the rain we have had recently (apart from on the tarpaulin on 53 where we have a ready made duck pond). At Old Basing there is a feeling of dampness, a great lack of stones and the soil is dark and rich. One major problem that Nick has detected is that this is perfect habitat for frogs.

One thing that David Attenborough didn't tell us is that frogs are similar to dogs (not only in rhyme) in that they can smell fear so I haven't come across any yet but you can guarantee wherever Nick is they will appear. I think they may also be attracted by the large amount of worms - now they are evil so I take great pleasure in feeding them to the frogs.

And that is what you call working with nature!

p.s. there are also some lovely sunflowers and dahlias.

More wine

Being resourceful as ever, I came up with a brilliant idea for my failed batch of mint jelly. Failure was dud to the fact that I got distracted and boiled it for too long so it was just a bucket full of sticky liquid. Knowing that jelly is a ration of 1 pint to 1lb of sugar and wine is roughly 7 pints to 1lb of sugar, I diluted the mixture with cooled boiled water, added yeast and now we have three gallons of apple mint wine bubbling away.

What a month

Once again I must apologise for my absence but the last few weeks have been a whir or sporting and career achievements.

Firstly I won the Lunn cup (mixed pairs with John Belair) then last Wednesday I heard that I had a new job and in the evening won the Grassi Shield (pairs with Mick Green). OBBC annual dinner and prize giving is on 24 November so I am sure you will get to see a photo of me with my trophies. I start my new job, moving to level 42 with HSBC so we need to get the manure spread before then.

Back down to earth, I must give you a quote from this month’s Kitchen Garden magazine – ‘How do you see a typical allotment holder? …slightly weird, pretty scruffy, set in his ways, probably retired and finding it hard to make ends meet. … baggy serge trousers and … a flat cap’. No way are we set in ways or retired but apart from that all we need are a couple of flat caps.

He does go on to say that the new breed are ‘younger, less often male, better off, better presented and they drive smart cars’. Here is the crux, with my new job and interest free car loan, we are moving towards the nouveau allotmenteer model.

This brings me on to quantifying the slightly weird bit and I know you think we are mad but we really have tipped the scales this time. The reason we took an allotment at Churchill Way (CW) was that we put our names down for a plot at Old Basing (OB) but were told that it may be up to three years before one came available although residents in the parish did get priority. We then scoured Basingstoke for allotment sites and found CW, fell in love with 51/52 and you know the rest. Well, out of the blue we received a letter from OB Parish Council with an agreement to take on 3A. I would have shown you a picture of the tenancy agreement but I signed that and took it to the council offices with my £14 rent for the year.

There is method in our madness. As well as the social aspect of integrating ourselves further into the local community, the soil is so different to CW that we will be able to grow a whole different sort of crop, in fact this is going to be our show plot. We are already planning the 3ft carrots and show potatoes as well as dalias and chrysanthemums. CW is going to remain our food source where as OB will be less quantity but more quality.

You will notice that there is a good supply of rhubarb and there are also about 60 strawberry plants. All of these are going to be moved to the fuit plot (53) at CW.

Days of wine and roses

Due to the lack of freezer space we have had to find an alternative means of storing produce so wine has become a very popular alternative. As well as the two gallons of elderberry and have four gallons of plum and apple bubbling away and I have just started two gallons of runner bean and grapefruit (I think I must have had too much wine when I decided on that one). It smells nice is the only comment at the moment.


3 lb. runner beans (choose those you would use in the kitchen)
2 grapefruit
4 lb. sugar
1 oz. yeast
5 quarts water
Prepare the beans as you would for cooking and pour the boiling water over them. Into this mixture put the sliced grapefruit and allow the whole to soak overnight. Bring slowly just to boiling-point and strain into the fermenting vessel at once. Add the sugar immediately and stir until all is dissolved. Allow the wine to cool and then add the yeast. After fourteen days fermentation proceed with isinglass and bottling.

I forgot to mention yesterday how fickle roses are. We had entered three classes for roses in the Old Basing show but come show day there was not a rose in sight that fit any of the requirements. Waking up this morning there are buds opening all over the place. The message to learn from this is never trust a rose bush.

Show time

Once again apologies for the lack of news but I have been away on a course at the HSBC training college in Brickett Wood near St Albans. I really missed the allotment (and Nick and the cats) and was shocked to find that autumn is just around the corner when I got back. Lots of harvesting to do and I remember fondly the days when we got excited with one little trug of produce. The onions were ready to pull and we found a lot of garlic that I had forgotten that I had planted. The beetroot is ready to pull as it is going woody. We decided to dig the carrots and have a plastic dustbin full – which brings me neatly onto another topic – the Old Basing Village Show.

Out of that many carrots you would think that we could find three good enough to show but sadly no! Having paid out 30p for that class we decided to go for it anyway and in the non-pointed class there were only three entries so we got third! I have to admit that the show was not as exciting as the Basingstoke Show earlier in the year as it was a bit of a one man show but we had a modicum of success. My model shed won first in the craft section, the beetroot got a well deserved second plus second for cheese straws and we got third in the classes for a foliage plant, cheese scones, 3 carrots (as mentioned above) collection of 6 veg, any other veg (aubergine) and a highly commended for shortbread. No sign of any rosettes though but there are cash prizes which don’t even cover the entry cost. One think we have gained is what we need to do next year – so watch out Old Basing 2007 will be our year.

Yippee - another use for courgettes

I knew there must be a courgette wine recipe somewhere. All you need to do is think American!

As soon as the kitchen is clear of the two gallons of elderberry and four gallons of apple and plum wine that is fermenting we will make a start. Should be ready for Christmas so no surprises on presents this year.

ZUCCHINI WINE
5-6 lbs fresh zucchini, chopped
2-1/2 lbs finely granulated sugar
1 11-oz can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate
1-1/3 tsp acid blend
1/2 oz fresh ginger root thinly sliced
1 crushed Campden tablet
6-1/2 pts water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Hock, Sauternes or Champagne yeast

Bring 3 cups water to boil and dissolve sugar in it completely. Set aside. Meanwhile, Select, wash and chop the unpeeled zucchini cross-wise into 1/2-inch pieces. Mix all ingredients except the yeast in primary, cover, and set aside for 10-12 hours. Add activated yeast and recover primary. Stir every 6-8 hours for 3 days, then strain off solids and transfer liquid into secondary. Press solids lightly and hold liquid from them, covered. When vigorous fermentation subsides, add reserved liquid, top up if necessary, and attach airlock. Rack after 4 weeks, top up and reattach airlock. Rack again after additional 4 weeks. If wine has not cleared, add amylase according to instructions and set aside additional month. Fine with Bentonite if desired, rack 10 days later, stabilize and sweeten to taste. Wait 3 weeks before bottling to see if wine is indeed stable. Wine should be aged 3 months after bottling.

What d'you think of those melons

Back to reality with yet another success from the allotment. The first of the melons was picked and it seems that we left it a bit late as it is slightly over ripe, but it does look very popular and is very sweet and tasty.

We have kept the seeds and they are drying out on a bit of kitchen paper ready to be packaged up and overwintered for sowing next spring. As they have done so well, the melon plants are going to be promoted to the big greenhouse next year.

I am quite overwhelmed at the sort of produce that we have managed to produce and it is still amazing to think that we have only had the allotment since February.

We are expanding on our production line and have now included wine on our list. This is mainly due to the elderberries that are overhanging the plot. The problem is that the berries have to be stripped off the branches as any stalks will make it bitter. Nick volunteered for this before he realised what he was letting himself in for. We are also making wine with the glut of plums and windfall apples that we can't resist from the derelict plot. If only we could turn our backs and walk away we would be OK. The freezer is so full that we couldn't get another plum in but the kitchen is going to smell nice with so many things brewing.

Too much excitement for one week

Fantastic news from Katy this week is that she has been nominated for the 2006 WISE award.

'The Women Into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE) annual awards are given in recognition of companies and individuals who have actively addressed the issue of promoting science and engineering to young girls and women, and who have supported the aims of WISE. Each award will be presented by Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, the Royal Patron of WISE'

Even greater news today was that she is in the semi-final. It is fantastic just to be nominated.

Guest Blogger Calling

I feel privileged to be the allotment blog's first guest blogger so thought I'd better come up with some good reports from the allotment produce.

Firstly, the plums - we made a delicious "Friar's Pudding" with the recipe from mummy:

Step 1: Put plums in a dish
Step 2: Top with breadcrumbs
Step 3: Bake
Step 4: Eat

The crumble made the long journey to North Kent as our offering for Sunday lunch at Matt's mum's house and it went down a treat. I can report that the best accompaniment is vanilla ice cream.

Secondly, was the super-marrow that filled up the whole of the back seat of the car on the journey back to London. I stuffed it with pork, apple, beans, sage and parsley (the latter 2 ingredients are produce of Colliers Wood) and served it with a cheesy mustard sauce. It was delicious but we had a little too much stuffing so ended up baking the whole thing so we've got half left - if anyone is passing SW19 and would like some stuffed marrow, there's plenty to go around!

The photos below show the before...



and after (you'll notice that we couldn't even wait to take a photo before we started to eat)...




I also thought I would take the opportunity to show off the produce that we've been growing in our garden. These are our first 3 red tomatoes, hopefully the others will ripen soon...



Hopefully we'll have lots to report about the mini-allotment that is growing in our garden very soon but until then, I hope you enjoyed the first report from Junior-Allotmenteer.