Mystery solved...

This week I found loads of these weird plants everywhere on the allotment.

So I did what you're supposed to do in these situations and I posted it on Facebook... After a load of interesting ideas from peas, to old crops, to a devastating weed that could kill our crops! But it was Law who realised that what it was was the shooting plum pips from our trees! As when we go the allotment, we only caught the end of the season and a load of plumbs fell... I didn't imagine this would happen, but if you pull the shoots out ever so gently you see a small plum, pip shell at the base... Mystery solved...

Thank god! I did think for a moment of leaving them in and having a mini plum orchard... But no...

Everything is carrying on tickaty boo at the moment... Not much else to say...  Apart from the pre seeded (In Laws lean to) are in and my radishes look fabulous!

Eats shoots and leaves

Yes today is the day that all allotementeers love, the day they notice that their hard work is being rewarded and things are happening! It was the potatoes first, about a week after planting, then the cabbages...








                               

and then the radishes! The radishes... wow,                                        

Shoots.... Shoots and leaves!


Ok, it doesn't look much now, but you just wait!

Quiet... shhh.... shhh...

Yes, sorry I've been a little quiet lately, but well there's nothing too much to report.

I did finally get those parsnip seeds down and we cleaned out the chicken coop... Which is now covered in poop again... Where the hell does it all come from?! And it does seem that which ever one sits at the back of the other two has a bit of a problem, honestly I defy a horse to do as much!

There is a new character about however, I have named him Monty... He looks a bit like this...

Parsnips V Lazy

After all my digging and planting on the weekend I've taken a bit of a break... To be honest, the weather has been awful, but I do need to get my parsnips in... But having an allotment is meant to be fun, not a chore, so instead of digging and planting yesterday (and Sunday) I had lunch with a friend and relaxed with my family and you know what? I deserved it...

Although on Sunday I did send my husband and daughter up to fetch eggs for breakfast and there, as if we had ordered them, were 3 perfect eggs waiting to grace our table and fill our stomachs... Thank you ladies, thank you.

Back to it today though... If the weather holds out... Those parsnips will be in the ground before the week is up!

Batman is the Robin!

 I found out something really interesting today... Talking to a lovely bloke from the RSPB I discovered that Robins are very territorial and that the Robin that keeps appearing in our garden is the same Robin! Batman is Batman... And I apologise for my scepticism... Sorry Lili, sorry everybody... Sorry Batman...

He also told me that they will rip another birds head off if they invade their territory... Robins are hard mothers... Who knew?!

Yeah, my chickens have jumpers, so what?

Making space

Today I made space for our tomato plants to go, meaning that something had to go. This turned out to be the beetroot - we have a lot of beetroot! - so I brought it home, boiled it for half an hour and yum... Pass the sweet vinegar please...

Started planting!

Yes, I have started planting! The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining, yes it's still a bit chilli, but hell, after 10 mins you'll have worked up a sweat anyway and if you haven't then you're doing something wrong.

So today I planted my lettuce, radish and cabbage seeds... Cabbages are a bit of a gamble, they are notoriously hard to grow, but I stuck them in by the broccoli -  which has finally (After about six months!!) finally started to produce veg! - and then I can net the two of the off together to stop those pesky butterflies, they may be pretty, but they're also leaf eating bastards!
Very easy to plant, just prep your ground, breaking up the earth really well and adding good handfuls of fertiliser. The thinly sprinking your seeds in straight lines a decent amount of space between each line (Or just one line as I did) and cover with about 1/2 inch of earth. Giving the earth a firm but not too firm pat down (Imagine your are making short bread)  and cover with a cloche... This one is from Wilco's for £4... and is still a but shit... It does shoe that you most definitely get what you pay for!

Plant the radishes in sort of the same way, I didn't worry about the lines and don't worry about the cloche, plus they grow in no time, or so I've been told!


And the lettuce, as planned is by the spinach. It's slugs that are the enemy here... But a sprinkle of egg shells (Thank you ladies) will keep them at bay (I hope!)

These are very easy to plant, just make a well in a straight line, about a cm deep and then sprinkle the seeds down the 'isle', I did two 'isle', an Iceberg (especially for my husband and a Cos for me - then fill it in with a fine sprinkle of early and press lightly... Then cross your fingers.

Tartiflette... Spinach style...

So I've dug up a load of spinach but decided on Tartiflette for dinner... What to do? I know! A
spinach Tarliflette... and hey why not add chorizo too, to make a weird French/ Spanish fusion? And, my god it was delicious... So here is my recipe, if you fancy a go.

You will need:

Potatoes

Onions

Bacon or Chorizo

Garlic

Cream

Brie

and lovely spinach

Oh and breadcrumbs... 

... and seasoning... and nutmeg! 

Cut up some potatoes in large pieces, they say waxy in the recipe, but just use anything you have to hand really... I'm definitely going to try this again with my potatoes... and boil for about 8 minutes until they're firm but cooked through... I know that it is hard to get them just right, but try... No nipping out for a swift fag or a cuppa... Stay and watch!

Then in a frying pan add a good glug of oil (I'm sorry, I don't really do measurements, so you'll have to guess) and slice one big, or the equivalent of, onion and a large clove of garlic. Add this to the oil when hot and fry until the onion is soft.

Then add your sliced smoked bacon - I use scissors to chop bacon, so much easier, or Chorizo if you fancy that change I mentioned and let it cook through.

Pop a large handful of spinach in to the pan and stir around - you may want to add some nutmeg at this point too you can... I did...

Then remove all of the fried veg and meat, retaining as much of the oil as you can in the pan and wack it up to full blast. When it is ready put the drained potatoes in and give them a good fry to crisp up the edges, then add the onions, spinach and meat back in and give it a good shake.

When its all evenly distributed - you actually have two options at this point thinking about it... You could carry on this way and make the Tartiflette, or you could just whisk up a few eggs and have yourself a delicious Spanish style omlette..?!  - But we're doing Tartiflette, so lets get on with that... So when it's all done, add blocks (Or as near as you can 'block' soft cheese) of brie - The recipe stated some weird cheese beginning with V that I had never heard of, but I Googled it and Brie was the nearest thing to it, so I went with that -  anyway dot that around the pan and a good glug of cream, I used a half fat double cream, only really because I had some leftover from my lemon tart gorge the night before, but use what ever you have. Season well and sprinkle with some breadcrumbs - real ones, not those golden things that look something straight out of the 70s please! - and slam under a hot grill.

Let that bubble away for a few minutes and then take it own and serve on a plate, with a bit of side salad if you fancy it... Yummers.

By the way, his is not a photo of my dish... 

I had eaten it by the time I thought about doing this... 

But imagine this with chorizo and spinach...

Cloches from Poundland... Too good to be true?

In a word, yes... Yesterday I was rejoicing in finding my £1 cloche... Today I am cursing it.

There is a reason things are cheap, because it generally means they are shite... The cloche, although flimsy seemed ok yesterday when I put it up - There was a sudden parting of the clouds yesterday giving a 2 hour lettuce window, although Law had taken home my seeds to dry off, so I just got to prep the soil and dig up a few yesterday and try out the cloche...  - had mostly fallen over this by morning and the bits that had remained upright had sagged with the rainwater... So my advice is spend those couple of extra pounds and buy good equipment, because sometimes a £1 bargain is just a waste of a pound... Pop down to Wilco's where you can pick a good one up for only £3 more... That's what I'm off to do today!

By the way never Google to words Poundland Logo Cheap PNG.... Never!

I prefer it on my face than in my wellies...

And no, I'm not being rude... It's just that is pretty much what my allotment is right now, a quagmire
of mud and slush... I haven't seen mud like this since The Green man festival in 2010, Christ we're sliding around like figure skaters up there and I wanted to plant my lettuces!

Yes, lettuces can be started now, either at home in pots, or how I'll be doing them, straight in the ground with my new friend, the cloche.

So, now I need to buy a new cloche, I have heard tales of Poundland stocking them, so I'll be down there as soon the sun appears and the ground has firmed a fraction, but they aren't too expensive anyway its seems, just a few quid it seems, now you can make one yourself, there are loads of 'how-to's' on line, like this one on youtube, but I am a bit lazy and although one day I might be making my own cloches, mixing my own chicken feed and even sprouting my own potatoes, but until then what the shops can do for me, I am happy to take and hell, if they're only a £1, then why not?

So my logic tells me that if I dig up a row of my over flowing spinach and put the lettuce seeds there, it might be just as successful, and I tell you when it comes to the few success stories of last year, my spinach is one massive one! As my family and my friends will testify! And this is proper spinach, not that baby leaf crap you get in neat little bags in the supermarket, these leave are darker, tastier and some have slug holes - which still can be eaten, please don't chuck these away and be a big baby, they're only slugs, you wash and boil any residual slugginess off them before eating after all!  I'll share my recipe for spinach, chickpea and chicken pasty with you later if you want? - But this is about lettuce! So lets get back to them shall we...

 So, as I said, if I dig up a row of my spinach and pop the seeds down, then hopefully one green leafy veg will be as healthy and successful as its neighbour! Sounds logical, right?

But until the land dries out and I stop leaving the allotment looking like a drowned rat, my lettuces will have to wait.

Can you get wellies for chickens?

3 chickens - 4 eggs?!

Today I popped into to let out the ladies into their run, I did the normal; fed them, checked their water, added some new straw as it's so muddy at the moment and threw in some snacks - kitchen scraps (Including mashed potato) and checked for eggs...

... There were none...

But then Law called me at about 6 and told me that when she went to lock them in she found 4 eggs?! 3 good sized ones and a little-un... I've been Googling chickens laying 2 eggs all evening, seems it is possible, but very rare! Well done ladies!

Well that's my breakfast sorted tomorrow! 

Official day 1: Potatoes in February?!

It is the end of February and today, while I was cleaning out the chickens, I heard a voice and looked up, it was Dave, his thick Devonshire accent and my lack of gardening know-how sometimes makes him hard to understand! but after asking to repeat himself an uncomfortable amount of times I figured out that he was asking if I started putting in my potatoes? Now? But surely it's too early?

But no, it turns out there are potatoes called 'early planters', you put them in, well... early. He also lent me a tool, lord only knows what its called, but the only think I can equate it to is the end of a piping bag without a handle... It looks like this...








He instructed me to make holes about 50cm to 70cm apart with this thing and drop one or two potatoes in each hole, then filling the hole with earth and fertiliser, covering with a cloche.

So, I took myself down to Wilco's and grabbed myself a bag, there were quite a few of these early planters to chose from but the one called 'Rocket' took my fancy, I got a huge bag for only £2.50... Far too many, but I can give the rest away.

Anyway, so I get back and after digging over the soil I grabbed the hole making tool that from Dave's plot and stuck it in the ground, it worked perfectly, made a perfect hole to the perfect depth, so I plopped a good sized spud in it and went to make another hole - This is where I discovered a big problem with this tool - the hole was not only bunged up, but now, because of the soggy mud, it was bunged up good a proper and by the third time I'd had to force the mud from the hole I kinda wish I hadn't started, but then again it did make the perfect hole, to the perfect depth... So I carried on.
After finishing the first patch I still had loads of tattles left, so found another spot and did the same, although this time I didn't dig over the spot and the mud stuck in the tool was even worse, I prodded and pushed but, shit, I having pushed that much since I gave birth! But it did make a perfect hole to the perfect depth....

But after messing about for far longer than I should have I had two neat rows with 10 holes and 10 potatoes in each (Dave did suggest that if the potatoes were small to add two, but mine were all a good size). Then I grabbed a load of fertiliser from the bin - yes, the people before left two bins and a water tank too! - and filled in the holes, then I raked the over and stood back and admire my work.

Then I remembered what Dave had said about the plastic cloche - the plastic tunnel thing - and it made me think... I'm sure I'd seen one in the shed and low and behold when I looked there was not just one, but two! Perfect! So after sprinkling a few slug pellets around, - you can't be too careful - I popped the cloche's over (I wish tents could be this easy to put up! It's just basically pull out and stab in the ground) Now potatoes do need a little bit more attention later on, I'll get to that when I get to that.
But basically we should have a good crop of Rocket New Potatoes ready to eat by June.

Until then it's back to the green grocers I suppose...

Chickens love mash potato...

... Fact

The Players:

I'm Charlotte, i'm in my 40s... That's as close as you're going to get to knowing. 

Allotment experience; none. 

Enthusiasm; lots

I have one daughter, Lili. She was the reason I applied for a plot, as she had spent the day at a friends and had got really excited and urged me to apply for one, promising to be my right hand girl... But unfortunately the plot wasn't offered to me until two years later and now as teenage-hood looms, she gets bored very quickly and days at the allotment with her are accompanied by the faint Ching Ching Ching of her iPod and "I'm tired... Can I see if [insert name] can come?...  She does however love the chickens and is happy to help with them... I say help, she doesn't feed them, or clean them out, but she is very good at cuddling and looking for eggs.

Husband: Rod, not Rob... He helps occasionally with the chickens and heavy lifting, but neither of the husbands are particularly relevant in this story. 

Laura, my age... 

Allotment experience; a lot more than me! 

I asked her to join me for her knowledge and expertise...

Daughter, Faye, younger than Lili and if it comes to digging, very enthusiastic, but unfortunately gets bored just as easily... 

Husband: Steve... See Rod... 

The chickens: 

Mrs Merryfeather: The top dog of the coop, a bit of a bitch if the truth be known. She will always be the first out, always the first to the feed, bosses the others around and she is the only one who pecks my boots. 

Professor Marshmallow: The sweetheart, she is the one that gets most of the cuddles. She is sweet natured and pretty as a chicken can be, if there was a prize for the sweetest chicken, she would win. 

And Brownie: Poor timid little Brownie, she was the sole survivor of a fox attack... Twice! And Merryfeather knows this... Poor Brownie. 

But they all seem happy, no feathers been ripped out or malicious pecking and the eggs... Oh the eggs are as yellow and as tasty as anything Cadbury's can produce!

Supporting cast:

Batman: Now my sweet daughter is under the illusion that there is only one, so for the purpose of this blog there is... I am not daft however, I am well aware that there is more than one Robin that visits our allotment, but let's just pretend eh? 

By the way, if anyone has been told the guff that a Robin seen in a garden means that a loved one is watching over you.... Come on?! Come on?! My late father’s name was Robin and I don't even believe it! A Robin appears when you’re gardening for one reason and one reason only... Worms.... They come for worms... It is a nice thought, but come on!!! 

There are also various characters, allotment neighbours who give us invaluable tips and advice; 

Dave; he talks a lot and keeps apologising for it, but his advice is brilliant and his leeks are huge! (This is not an innuendo)

Rachel; she is on the other side of us, a sweet lady who is having trouble because of her shoulder, I would love to help, but our plot, together with my job and family gives me little or no day time free, let alone to dig another persons garden. I do feel guilty though...

There are many others, but these are our main cast.

So these are our players and this is our play...

Before...

Now I am not a gardener and if you told me five years ago that I would, not only have my own allotment, but would be knee deep in mud and fertiliser, I would have laughed in your face, but here I am! My love affair with soil and vegtables only went as far as the organic isle in Sainsbury's and as far as digging and weeding, I was far more used to digging through racks of sale items in Primark and weeding out the crap in my makeup bag... But here I am, I have weeded, I have dug, I have sewn seeds and by jingo I have made things grow!

How it all started...

This was what it looked like on the first day...

The first thing we did was to raid the shed we'd been allotted and the garden box that they had left, and my god! There was loads of stuff in there! Pretty much everything needed to start... Forks and spades, plant food and slug killer! 

Plus we discovered a patch of strawberries and a raspberry bush! Also an apple tree and two plum trees... 

Sweet!

Then I started digging, this takes a long time and breaks your freakin' back, but if you take a radio and something to drink then time slips by quite quickly... But don't expect to get too much done too quickly... You won't!

But eventually we got it cleared.... And we could start planting...

And so we did... Sadly I got the allotment a bit late in the season, so our crop was not good... This is why I'm starting my blog now, at the start of the new season. So ignore all this. 

And then we got chickens...