I nearly made 30 miles

Just a quick update on my cycling training in preparation for this weekend's London to Brighton bike ride. I managed a 28 mile ride on Saturday, and only stopped because I ran out of miles.

Hopefully this works - here's a map of the route...



I also conquered my nemesis - 'the hill'. According to the roadsign at the top of the hill it's a 15% gradient, but it only shows up as a 5% on the map above. It felt very much like a 15% gradient, so we'll stick with that!

Then, if that wasn't enough physical exertion for one weekend I decided that I should get to the plot and do some much needed weeding and planting.

I started off by burning the prunings from the apple tree that had been a bit of an eyesore at the front of the plot - which took about an hour all in. I had to keep feeding the fire, so a constant stream of broken branches and twigs were supplied by my goodself - and I got a bit of a roasting too - but more on that later.

I planted my Celeriac "Giant Prague", my Spinach Beet, two lots of beans - Madeira Maroon (on 8ft Ash canes trimmed from the tree next to the house) and another row of 11 plants, HSL I think, but the name escapes me at the moment.

I'd also intended to plant out my Chicago Warted Hubbard, courgettes (all green bush) and Patty Pans, but kind of ran out of time as is often the case.

Of course, with all this weather we've been having of late (sunshine and showers) everything seem to be growing well, including the weeds of course, but just as a note of proof here are some photos of how things are doing.

The car boot, loaded and ready to go!



Rows, and rows, of potatoes.

Foreground - Kestrel, then Pink Fir Apple, then King Edwards and in the distance, Golden Wonder.



The HSL Crimson Flowered broad beans are blooming nicely, so should hopefully get a decent crop from these with plenty left over for seed saving/swapping.



The self saved seeds from last seasons crop are also doing pretty well - Martock.

I am also growing two different types of HSL peas, Victorian Purple - which are living up to their name.





And 'Poppet', with the most agitated looking tendrils I've ever seen!. Not much in the way of bloom, or pods as yet, but fingers crossed.



And lastly, Stephens - well, technically they're mine, but....



I had also meant to create a little bit of a herb bed, but thus far I've only managed to plant/grow some dill - but what a fantastic smell. I was down on the ground pulling up some weeds when I caught a whaft of this fantastic scent. One of the 'branches' had snapped - I don't know how, but I felt obliged to snap it off completely and the smell seemed amplified. Lush!



Everything else seemed to be doing ok - the onions are starting to swell, the garlic leaves are just beginning to yellow. I pulled up a bulb to see ho they are doing - and it was smaller than I expected, but I'm still hopeful of a decent harvest. The Swish chard has filled out nicely and my first sowing of beetroot are starting to form little bulbs.

I'll plant out the courgettes and hubbards one night this week hopefully.

In other news, the pond is full of life and full of blanket weed. I keep turfing it out, but it keeps on coming back. Still, the snails seem fairly happy.



Just in case you thought there would be no rhubarb news - have faith, I did have some rhubarb action at the weekend.

Before I set off to the plot yesterday I made a rhubarb and custard cake, recipe again from the BBC Good Food website:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/10500/rhubarb-and-custard-cake

Ok, mine doesn't look quite as light and fluffy, but it tastes pretty darned good. So much so, I might just make another one.

T'is the season to eat rhubarb, tralalalalaaa

And boy are we eating rhubarb!

Inspired by my good friends on The Grapevine http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/
I have recently been making all things rhubarb related. Short of bursting into "Jerusalem" and donning a WI pinny I'm pretty sure I'm almost ready for my membership!

Thus far I have made:

Rhubarb Schnapps.

Recipe; Rhubarb Liqueur / Schnapps

in a large sterilised jar put 2 finely sliced sticks of rhubarb
3 cloves (if liked, I hate it)
1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp sugar
1 litre brandy/gin/vodka

shake well, leave in a cool dark place for 4 weeks, shaking daily.
Strain through muslin into another sterilised jar, and leave for 3 months to mature.

Here's mine, currently maturing. Looks nice and clear - better than I'd hoped for.



I have also made Rhubarb and Ginger Jam

1kg (2lb 4oz) trimmed Rhubarb, chopped
1kg (2lb 4oz) Sugar
600ml (1 pint) Water
100g (4oz) Crystallised Ginger, chopped
25g (1oz) Root Ginger
2 Small Lemons, juice only

Trim and chop the rhubarb.
Bruise the ginger well and tie in a muslin bag.
Place the rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and muslin bag into a heavy bottomed saucepan and cover with water.
Bring to the boil.
Boil, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until the fruit is tender.
Remove the muslin bag.
Add the chopped crystallised ginger.
Return to the boil and simmer until the rhubarb is clear, stirring frequently.
Test for a set, when the setting point is reached, remove from the heat.
Skim the surface with a slotted spoon.
Pot the jam into sterilised jars.

Though I don't recall adding the water.....

Still, seems to have turned out ok.



Tastes sweet - which I guess will be down to the mountain of sugar, and has a little bit of a tang, which is undoubtedly the ginger.

I have also made two lots of chutney. Firstly, just called "Rhubarb Chutney" as mentioned by a fellow 'Grape' on-vine:


I found this by Mike Robinson:

500g rhubarb
200g brown sugar
6 banan shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme leaves
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
3 garlic cloves, chopped
100g cherry tomatoes
200ml red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juice and zest

Place the rhubarb into a pan with a drop of water and add the sugar. Cook on a medium heat until softened.
Add the shallots, spices, garlic and tomatoes and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Add red wine vinegar and lemon juice and zest. Simmer for 2 hours until most of the liquid has evaporated. Check for seasoning and leave to cool. Store in clean, airtight jars.

This only made a small amount of chutney - but plenty for us.



And last night I made some rhubarb and date chutney - recipe from the BBC website:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5885/rhubarb-and-date-chutney

Be warned though, the recipe doesn't print out the ingredients if you press the 'print recipe' icon, which is why you'll see my scrawlings in one of the pictures.

Oh, and it needs to cook for way longer than the 15-20 mins they say, but then again that might be down to my chunky chopping?





I have also previsously made rhubarb bellini's - very successful, and rhubarb flapjacks, not so successful. They were very 'wet' and just ended up like a rhubarb version of bread pudding.

On another note, I've been tidying up the garden a bit and trying to get my sweet peas to liven up a bit. Whilst doing so I took a few quick snaps of the various flora that seems to be coming to life at the moment.

There's this one (which I can't remember the name of - so if anyone has any pointers...)



Lavender.



Alliums (though they look a little fuller now)





The foxgloves have finally started to show bloom too - which is always a mood lifter.



Now, I know they look a bit straggly, but the Viola just keep on coming on the hanging baskets at the back of the house. I don't have the heart to pull them out and start again!



One more thing before I go - Bean is starting to really 'get' his climbing frame (which now occupies half of the garden). He has started to attempt climbing up the various ladders, and I managed to get him sat on the swing the other day. His shouts of "weeeee" tell me he enjoyed it.





Whilst harvesting the rhubarb last night (quickly, to avoid getting drenched through) I had a quick gander around the plot and was encouraged (and a little disheartened), by what I saw. The peas seem to be doing great - as do most things, including the darned weeds.

Looks like I need to get hoeing!

Forgive me farther.

For I have sinned.

It has been 3 months since my last post - but I have thought about you on more than one occasion.

I have given up on trying to blog at home - our BT connection is so rubbish. 0.256MB! Crazy. Hopefully we'll soon be with Virgin who quote 'up to' 10MB - but let's face it, even 1MB will be an improvement!

Anyway - back to the plot.

I shan't bore you with a run down of what I've done since my last post. A) it would take too long and you'd never read it, B) I can't actually remember what I've done in all those three months. So, I'll start here, where we are now and we'll go from there...



These first pictures give you a good idea of how things look currently. The first is from the gate and you can just make out the compost heap (which needs turning) on the left bottom of the picture. There are a number of beds now created - most of which are being used and some still awaiting tenants.

At the back of the picture (top right) you can see the rhubarb which has done really well this year (although it keeps bolting due to the shortage of rain - no matter how much I water it), and next to that the raspberries. The raspberries need a good weeding as there is a lot of grass and other weeds growing up through it - so it's a hands and knees job.



The next photo is from the other side of the plot and you can make out the four beds of potatoes (yes, four). This is pretty much how I started when I first started planting on the plot - scroll back through the posts and you'll see. Kind of completion of the circle I guess.

The bench is still holding up - though I will probably move this to the back of the plot - away from the pond and create a kind of area for Hayden to play in and Bev to relax in - make it a kind of family friendly plot. There is already a load of timber there that I intend to use, when I find the time of course!

So, here's a quick run down of what's in the ground.

Onions - 'Sturion'. Spring planted and I feared that I might be a bate late with these, but with the cold weather it may have been a blessing in disguise as I may have caught up with everyone.



My garlic seems to be coming along nicely - growing fat necks and a decent amount of foliage. I can't recall the variety but they are not a supermarket garlic - which is what I grew last year. These are 'proper' growing garlic, so I may be a convert. They even received a compliment from one of my fellow allotmenters.



I have three types of peas growing - all HSL varieties. Some 'Stephens' that are self saved seeds from last year - and some Victorian Purple Podded and Poppet.







There are also Martock Broad Beans - again, grown from self saved seeds, and also some Crimson Flowered (HSL) which look to be doing ok.





I'm trying 4 varieties of potatoes this year - Kestrel, Pink Fir Apple, King Edward and Golden Wonder. My heart sank when we had the late frosts - almost all my plants were hit - I didn't realise that they would come back, and come back they are thankfully. Might be a bit later than usual, but hopefully will still bear fruit (as it were).











I also planted a rose (Dublin Bay) against one of the rose arches I bought a couple of years ago. I've never grown a rose before - so thought I'd give it a try. It seems happy enough at the moment - time will tell of course.



What else...

Oh yeah - I have a row of beetroot (did really well last year) and a row of Swiss Chard. Never tried chard before, so will probably stick to the one row. Might need a bit of thinning out at some point, but still exciting trying new things to grow!





I've also made a bit of a start on growing herbs - not a great start, just some Dill - but it's a start right?

I have also planted two lots of sweetcorn - one standard 'sweetcorn' and another double coloured variety. I can't tell which one's which from the photos, but hopefully will be able to tell them apart when they fruit...

In some 'spare time' I also made myself a cold frame - I know it's a bit late in the year but not having a garage or a shed big enough I'm restricted to working outside on things like this and with the weather we've been having of late. Well. I had some left over chipboard from the bike shed and some odd bits of timber in the main shed - so drew up some plans (in my head) and set about putting it together. It needs a lick of paint, and I'm hopefully going to pick up some acrylic. I'm quite pleased with the result and look forward to making use of it next year.



I think that's probably about enough for now.

Oh, just one more thing - my other Bean is growing well, and should be helping me in the garden before long. ;)





Edit - just noticed the potato photos are skewiff - bladdy Picasa! I'll do better next time.

Boggy, boggy, boggy - oi, oi, oi!

I'd planned to get down to the allotment for a whole day yesterday, but as is the way with such things the weather (snow early on) conspired against me so I pottered about the house doing odd jobs (painting bookshelves, clearing the office, organising my potatoes to chit, washing and so on) so didn't manage to get to the plot until late afternoon.

When I got there it was clear that the ground was way too boggy to do any real work so I trundled down to the bottom of the site and loaded up a few barrows full of manure to add to the compost heap.

I also decided that I would build a pergola - inspired by a fellow "Grape" from my second home: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapevine/

I managed to dig two holes and place the uprights before deciding that it was indeed still to boggy to dig.

The weather will improve soon, of that I'm sure - we've had another full day of snow today so there must be some sunshine making its way to us...

Speaking loosely of weather - whilst in the garden yesterday I noticed quite a few clumps of leaves poking through in the 'trough' at the top of the garden,and one clump in particular has little white flowers - yes, Snowdrops. Odd that only one clump is showing, but that's probably the work of the local hoddie wearing squirrels.

Not sure what the rest of the leaves are, but it adds to the excitement of this time of year I guess.

One more thing before I go (I know it's a quick post), for anyone not already pestered for money - I am taking part in the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton Bike Ride this year and would be grateful (if you haven't already) of any donation. I am only £5 away from my target of £150, but it would be great to smash through my target.

If you would like to sponsor me you can donate online (as is the modern way) at the following site:

http://original.justgiving.com/HeyWayne

Things are never as bad as you think

Well, that's the case it would seem when it came to the allotment.

I haven't really paid a visit since before Christmas of last year, so I was expecting the worst.

I loaded the car up with three trays of garlic that I'd had in the mini greenhouse since autumn of last year. They'd been growing happily in vending cup pots in the greenhouse with the door open most days.

I also loaded the long handled loppers, the saw, and the extendable extra long lopper (the type you hook over the branch and then use the pull-cord to action the blade) as I intended to give the apple tree a good winter prune.

I arrived at the allotment and unlocked the gate - there wasn't another soul in sight. Drove up the path with a sense of trepidation and arrived at plot 35 and things didn't look too bad.

Sure, there's a lot of tidying up to do - there are planks of wood strewn about in readiness to be made into various things, there are some bits of metal that will come in handy I'm sure.

However, the overall sense is that it's manageable - which is far greater than I'd expected.

I set about pruning the apple tree and it took me about 45 minutes I guess by the time I'd trimmed back several of the lower, wider branches, then attacked what I could reach with the loppers. There were a few to thick for both loppers that required me climbing the tree, saw in hand and then steadily sawing them off where I could reach.

All in all it looks like a healthier tree now which should provide a good harvest this year fingers crossed.



There a lot of discussion over which method is best, "traditional" or raised beds. Well, for me I'd have to say raised. If I'd have looked at my plot laid out in a "traditional" manner then it would apear daunting and I would have fealt disheartened for sure. As it is the raised beds help the eye to seperate out the space and divide it up mentally into manageable chunks - well it works for me.



I planted three rows of garlic in one of the smaller beds with room left over for some onions perhaps or maybe some flowers of some description - I haven't decided yet.

I then tidied up the canes and laid them across the bottom rungs of the rose arch so that they're off the ground with room for air to circulate so that they don't rot too much.

There were also 6 big garden sacks in the back of the car full of the leaves raked up from the garden. I placed them onto some cardboard on a couple of the raised beds which should hopefully keep the weeds at bay. Tidied up a couple of the other beds - just scraping some weeds off and decided to call it a day.

Drove home with a renewed sense of optimism for the year ahead.

Oh, before I go - in other news we celebrated the 1st birthday of our son (yes, it does indeed fly by).

Just a couple of photos of the day that his Aunty Rach managed to send us.

Leaf it out!

Well, I think that's the longest I've been away from the blog. Busy busy busy.

Not really much to report as I unfortunately haven't been to the plot for months now. I'm planning to give a good go in a few weeks time. Get stuff in the ground, get some manure etc on and dug in. Late I know, but you know what they say about late - better than never right?

It's hard to believe that it's nearly a whole year since our son was born, but it will be exactly that in a couple of weeks. It's impossible to imagine life without him now, and he's only been here 11 and a bit months!

After the record breaking snow we've had of late the garden finally thawed out this weekend, so today I managed to get out there and rake up the leaves that have been on the ground for far too long. It's my friend late again...

Anyhoo. I attacked them with gusto and managed to get them all (well, I gave up on getting every last leaf some years ago) in about an hour.

As you can see, it was well over due.





But, quite literally some minutes later...



and then, some more minutes later...





Bagged and tagged.



I'd forgotten how much you ache after some 'ard graft, and I haven't got time these days for long hot baths!

Until next time - which hopefully won't be as far away.

Oh, forgot one thing! I noticed what I think (due to the label next to it) is Flat Leaf Parsley growing out from beneath the leaves: