October snow

Can you believe it, snow in October and it seems that Basingstoke got the worst of it. By the time I had got to Winchester on the train there was not sign of any and from out weather watchers in Tonbridge none in Kent.

I must admit, I wouldn't stand where the ducks are as you can see the roof sagging under the weight of the snow. With the sun shining it is soon going to start dripping or even worse suddenly collapse on top of them.















It is a good job we didn't get the netting on the circus tent as I am sure that would have collapsed. That is now a job for the spring as the birds and ducks have done a good job of getting rid of all the bugs around the fruit but we don't want a repeat of the last two years when the pigeons have got to the berries before we have.



It is amazing how warm the greenhouse keeps under the snow. We still have a regular supply of salad leaves and more germinating so it should keep us going for a while.













The whole allotment actually looks better in the snow as you can't see how shoddy we have been in keeping it tidy. We should have all the digging done by now but so far there are only two beds, one has been planted with garlic and the other is ready for broad beans but at the moment a bit to sticky to get at it. Still, this will do the parsnips good and the Jerusalem artichokes don't mind a bit of frost.















All the dahlias have gone black so we need to get some time to cut them back and cover them for the winter. Last year we dug them all up and stored them but without great success so this year we are going to leave them in the ground and give them a good mulch of duck bedding which should keep the frost off and give them a bit of home made manure.

Big winners

I am considering making a living our of showing as we won three prizes in the Basingstoke and District Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society.

Two seconds and a third gave us the fantastic sum of £2.80.

I think this was a fix as our little pink ones are much more impressive than the others.







We did quite quickly realise that we were real flower display virgins as everybody else had all the equipment necessary for professional showing where we just stuck them in a bucket. Aparently, they have to be 'staged' and supported in the vase so that they face the right way. Luckily someone spotted that we were looking a bit confused and came to our help.





Anyway, back to the serious business of getting provisions in for the winter so it is bean hanging time. I have had to shuffle the garlic and onions around a bit and put a load of onions in the shed but this is the next batch which I decided to pick as we appear to be heading for an Indian summer so it will give a chance for the plants to keep growing and give another crop.

I also have three trays of beans that I have shelled already with beans drying so we should have quite a few boxes this year.


I have also cleared out the last of the beetroot. I have made 8 jars so far with about half of them and will try to get the others done this weekend.






There are also three jars of pickled red cabbage with the left over bits. I decided to make colcanon using red cabbage instead of white forgetting that the red coloured everything. Saying that, when cooked it is a bluey purple so the potato looked like the blue ones from Kent.



One final picture is the pullings from a row of carrots just in case you are used to those funny soilless supermarket things. I can't describe how wonderful these taste (once the mud is washed off and the slugs removed)

Oops

It doesn't matter how many times you check your calculations, there is always one measurement that you don't spot.

The Boyd's are notorious for being short but there is always one oddity.

Kentish Life

Greetings from Tonbridge!

We thought it was about time for an update from out little garden in the Garden of England, lots has been happening in the 6 months since we moved in!

As you can see from the before and after photos, our vegetable beds have been quite successful!





In the new photo, which I took this morning, you're looking at tomatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, globe artichoke, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, peas and chard on the left and cabbage, jerusalem artichoke, beans (broad and borlotti), herbs, blueberries, lettuce and garlic on the right. Considering we only started our garden 4 months ago I think we've done pretty well!

Our best harvests have been courgettes and chard as you would expect and our giant cabbage, which you can see Matt holding in this picture. We made an indulgent cabbage casserole (cooked with garlic, blue cheese and bacon) and bubble and squeak burgers (mashed pots, cabbage, onions, garlic and peas browned in some oil).



The only vegetable that we brought with us from London were broad beans and they did quite well until the aphids attacked but we have a second lot in now which I sowed about a month ago. They managed to fight through the slugs and get to a suitable height and we don't have the pigeon problem here that we had in London so they should give us a little crop before it gets too cold for them.

Speaking of slugs. We've found a secret weapon...Matt! Every evening he goes on a slug hunt and collects all of them (from the giant orange to the tiny brown) with his bare hands (yuck!) to be disposed of.

When mummy and Nick were last visiting we went on a walk and found lots of elders heavy in berries so Matt and I went on a collecting mission at the beginning of the week and came back with two tubs. We now have 4 jars of elderberry and blackberry jam (blackberries from the freezer that we collected from the garden in Wimbledon). We haven't tried it yet but it smells lovely!

The final update is on our potatoes, which are a beautiful purple colour (very me!). This is the first year we're tried to grow them. We used 6 large tubs and this is the crop from 3 of them. I didn't chit the seed potatoes for very long and I only put one in some of the tubs where they could have had 2 or 3 but for our first effort I'm delighted!

Finally some dahlias

We decided that this would be the year of the dahlia. That we before we discovered that it was actually the year of the slug.

It seems that slugs love young dahlia shoots so as soon as they peeped above the surfact of the soil, the slugs nibbled them down again. We did manage to get a few to grow large enough to succeed so here are a few for your enjoyment.

Actually the pictures are better than the real thing as there is not a hint of scent anywhere so you are not missing anything there.












To finish today, we do still have food in the form of bean, tomatoes, eggs, raspberries, courgettes (or is it marrow, or maybe banana)and the last of the sweetcorn.

Augsut update

Before the month is out, it is time for an update. I must admit that it hasn't been the best year for veg growing (unless you live in Kent) as it was too dry, then it was too wet, then blight hit and now it thinks winter is on the way.

At least there is signs of green on the allotment. This year I went for companion planting in a big way on the basis that flowers attract the beneficial insects. Unfortunately the companions seem to have done better than the veg so we have wonderful sweet peas, dahlias and nasturtiums but hardly a carrot in sight. We do have good beans, in many varieties.





One great success at last is squash - corgettes, pumpkins and squash that I don't know the names of seem to be filling out nicely so we should have a good winter store.





The giant pumpkin is mainly due to the big blue tub of comfrey mix. I hope you appreciate the artistic sacrifice made as I had to hold my breath to get this photo. You will remember from year 1 on the allotment, that the smell of comfrey tea isn't one that you would share with friends.





The wet weather is working wonders on the late raspberries. This is one days picking after being away for two days. We are getting at least one box per day at the moment so the freezer is filling up with raspberries if nothing else.

We also have some apples to go with them. These are ready early this year so we have picked a few and I might make some apple and raspberry crumbles and pies to go in the freezer as well as some Hampshire Apple Cake (recipe to follow once I have made it up).



In preparation for next year, Nick and Matt have been building. The cage for the brassicas is up at the top of 51/52 and is ready to be netted (pictured here without netting) and the big top is built at the bottom of 53. Len is giving up his allotment and has a load of netting that he is giving us. There is a mixture of blue and green so I am tempted to make a fruit cage to be proud of with blue on the roof and green around the sides. I will make some red and white bunting to go around as this aparently these are the colours that pidgeons particularly don't like. You might ask why there is no picture ofthe big top but that will follow once complete so that you can see it in its full glory.


Another building project that they started was the composting centre. We have been provided with a wooded compost bin by the council. As they have allowed one per plot we have three. Cunning people that we are, we have built one and then added a back and side to make two more, without fronts, on the side of it. The third bin is used to form an entrance to the plots and we will add a gate between the two bins. Update to follow once complete.

Kitten

Words cannot describe how cute kitten is. This is the first picture of him before he found his new mummy.



...... and there is no doubt who his mummy is as they have bonded so well!

Shallotts

This is the first time I have grown shallotts. The first batch had died down so I decided to clear the lot to make room for some more sowing.

This is what we started with, after using some for cooking, Katy taking her supply, I made six jars of pickled onions.


After last years unsatisfactory use of pickling vinigar, this year I decided to economise with ordinary malt vinigar and pickling spice. A fraction of the cost and I am sure they will be just as tasty.

Watch out for results in a few months time when we have the first tasting.

The weekend's harvest

Things are really starting to take off now which means that we can eat something other than broad beans and eggs. Talking of eggs, production has eased off. We are assuming it is the broody/moulting season but it at least gives me a rest from cake making for a while.

We dug a row of early potatoes, some carrots from the greenhouse, fennel from the greenhouse and the garlic that was planted in the Autumn as well as the first couple of beetroot.








Add to this two more boxes of broad beans...








A box of strawberries and a box of raspberries....







A big basket of new potatoes, I call that a meal and a half.







The new potatoes deserve a bit of an explanation as I realise that scale is not clear here. New potatoes are supposed to be small and sweet. Although sweet with lovely skins that just rub off, they can't really be described as small. This basket was too heavy for me to carry.

The harvest begins

I have said before that I learn something new every year. Well this year I have learned that you only need one trailing tomato plant per hanging basket. This one is destined to produce a bumper crop as evidenced by the number yellow flowers already.




No, your eyes didn't deceive you, there are two ready to pick.







Last year was disaster for broad beans - not so this year. I can't keep up with them. The plants are starting to go over so I have pulled up a load and sat with a cup of tea shelling them. It is amazing that I got almost a full tub of composting for a shoe box full of beans.





Another change from last year is the strawberries. I put it down to the duck bedding placed around them early in the season, but the plants in the bath and the old wheelbarrow are really producing beautiul fruit. With all the sun we have had recently they are ripening faster than we can eat them. Thanks to my new toy - the ice cream maker, there is no worries what will happen to the surplus.



And still the beans keep coming. I have now harvested about a quarter so a few pounds to go.

Artichokes

In a mad moment last year, I bought a packet of globe artichoke seeds. Now this year, we have three enormous plants which are covered in flowers.

What I didn't consider at the time was that I had never eaten globe artichokes so didn't know if I liked them and also that I didn't have a clue how to cook them.

Well, now I have a solution to my second problem which will (hopefully) solve the first as well.

Yesterday evening I met a previous colleague for a drink after work and we agreed to meet at Carluccio's in Canary Wharf so she has a couple of weeks before she starts her new job (she is a lawyer). Well, if you have been to Carluccio's you will know how irresistible the shop is and I was drawn towards a book called ‘Complete Italian Food’ which had wonderful descriptions of all the traditional Italian game, fish, vegetables, pulses, eggs etc so decided to treat myself.

Here is an example:

Duck eggs
Duck eggs with their distinctive pale blue colour, can be easily distinguished from other eggs. The have a rich pale yellow yolk with an intense flavour. Duck eggs can be used in place of hens eggs but the stronger taste gives a more powerful result.

Globe artichokes
[full description of all the varieties of globe artichoke, where in Italy they come from and how to prepare them] The variety I have are La Mamma which are ‘usually boiled and eaten leaf by leaf until the fleshy heart is reached, with the hairy choke being discarded.’

Amongst the recipes there is one for Frittata Di Carciofi which for the non-Italian speakers translates as Artichoke Omelette. How spooky is that as I just happen to have a spare 30 eggs!