Life may be damp and increasingly chilly, and I know we’re looking down the wrong end of the dank, dark tunnel that is winter. But poking their brave little heads above ground all over the allotment are the signs of new growth. Just enough to keep me going up there whatever the weather: little flags [...]
Archive for November, 2009
The green shoots of recovery
Posted in Allotments, Soil care, sowing, tagged baby leaf salads, green manure, onions, seed, sowing, sweet peas, weather, winter on November 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Currant affairs
Posted in Fruit, Pruning, tagged blackcurrants, weather, winter on November 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
With half my plot all but under water what with torrential rain and flash floods in the last couple of weeks, and the other half under sheets of black plastic (partly in an optimistic attempt to keep out said flash floods), I can no longer sink a spade into my soil without hearing the dreary [...]
Pick of the month: November
Posted in Pick of the month, tagged chard, cooking, winter on November 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Ruby Chard At a time of year when everything seems drab and grey, the scarlet stems of ruby chard backlit by the winter’s sun are like a tonic to the soul. Also known as rhubarb chard, this is the most beautiful thing on my allotment at the moment. Sometimes I take a detour over to [...]
Something for a rainy day
Posted in Other stuff, tagged blogging on November 19, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I’ve had a happy day in the veg-growing blogosphere while the rain pours down outside and the gales buffet my window. I’ve had the perfect excuse to visit all my favourite virtual gardens where I spend time procrastinating, prevaricating and generally playing around instead of doing anything particularly productive: Jo at The Good Life was [...]
Rogues’ Gallery: Mealy cabbage aphid
Posted in Allotments, Rogues' Gallery, tagged aphids, brassicas, kale, pests on November 14, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I was happily cutting the first young leaves from my beautifully healthy-looking curly kale for supper the other day, when a little white fly flew up in my face. ‘Ah-ha!’ I thought, and began rummaging around for further signs of cabbage whitefly – an annoyingly common pest which I’ll go on about at greater length [...]
Garlic a go-go
Posted in Unusual veg, sowing, tagged cooking, garlic, seed, sowing, weather, winter on November 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
What with the wind whipping about my ears and a relentlessly vicious November drizzle trickling into places no icy water should ever find, I’m becoming glad of the imminent excuse to retire indoors with a pile of seed catalogues to grumble until spring time. The soil is getting soggy now, and soon the frosts will follow – [...]
Recipe of the month: November
Posted in Recipe of the month, tagged cooking, pumpkins on November 8, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Pumpkin and ginger bread Another cake recipe – but then one can never have too much cake in one’s life, I find. This is a great way to use up all that pumpkin flesh you scooped out to make your Hallowe’en lantern: the pumpkin gives the bread a lovely moist texture and a natural sweetness, [...]
The rake’s progress
Posted in Soil care, tagged compost, leafmould, manure, soil, soil conditioners, weather on November 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My garden is turning yellow. And orange. And red. A few gales and a spot of rain is all it’s taken to send millions of leaves cascading like confetti to cover every surface in sight. It brings out the kid in me: all I want to do is kick them up in the air and [...]
Crocus kitchen garden shop
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Harvesting Now
Blackcurrants, calabrese, cauliflower, courgettes, French beans, garlic, globe artichokes, gooseberries, kale, onions, peas, potatoes (new and second early), raspberries (summer), redcurrants, runner beans, salad leaves, shallots, strawberries, tomatoes, whitecurrantsSowing Now
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