Pea ‘Ambassador’ I’m a bit spoilt for choice this month. The allotment is absolutely bursting with produce: courgettes, carrots, beetroot, onions, spuds, some chard, loads of cucumbers, a smidgen of early kale and the beans just starting to get into their stride. And that doesn’t count the salads and the herbs, still going strong. But [...]
Archive for the ‘Pick of the month’ Category
Pick of the month: July
Posted in Allotments, Harvesting, Pick of the month, tagged peas on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Pick of the month: June
Posted in Allotments, Pick of the month, tagged onions on June 9, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Autumn onion ‘Electric’ Back from all the razzmatazz of Chelsea and the first thing I did (with a little sigh of relief, I’ll admit – it was a long and busy week) was to head up to the allotment and see how it was doing after being left to its own devices for so long. [...]
Pick of the month: April
Posted in Allotments, Harvesting, Pick of the month, tagged brassicas, purple sprouting broccoli, weather on April 7, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Purple Sprouting Broccoli ‘Late Purple Sprouting’ I have been waiting for this for weeks… and weeks… and weeks. In fact it’s no exaggeration to say this event has been the most anticipated in the allotment calendar for years. My purple-sprouting broccoli has, at last, unfurled and is ready to pick. Purple sprouting broccoli, or PSB [...]
Pick of the month: March
Posted in Pick of the month, tagged heritage varieties, leeks, ornamental vegetables on March 14, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Leek ‘Bleu de Solaise’ Isn’t that a wonderful colour? Somewhere between that steely-blue metallic effect paint finish you get on very expensive cars and the deep aquamarine of the ocean somewhere very hot and sunny. This is my number one favourite leek for using in among the ornamental plants, or in potagers where the look of [...]
Pick of the month: February
Posted in Pick of the month, tagged parsnips, sowing on February 16, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Parsnip “White Gem” All right, all right. You can stop laughing now. Newly washed and presented to my family for inspection, my 9-year-old’s reaction to this was, “Ooooh, Mummy, you’ve grown an Ood!”(1) I have terrible soil for growing parsnips. Despite ladling on barrowloads of compost and well-rotted stable manure, despite lovingly constructing raised beds [...]
Pick of the month: December
Posted in Allotments, Harvesting, Pick of the month, tagged frost, kale, winter on December 7, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Kale ‘Dwarf Green Curled’ This is a staple on my winter allotment, and in fact in my winter front garden too: it’s so pretty with its frothily crinkled leaves and makes a great contrast to broad-leaved evergreens or spiky winter seedheads. It’s almost libellous to call it a brassica. It is nonetheless undeniably a relative of [...]
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 [...]
Pick of the month: October
Posted in Pick of the month, tagged pumpkins on October 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Pumpkin ‘Jack o’ Lantern’ I do wish I could bring you a picture of a nice big bright orange pumpkin, but you’ll have to use your imagination. I planted these a bit late, and the first orange tinge is only just showing through the sultry dark green. In fact Hallowe’en is looking decidedly dicey: I wonder if the girls [...]
Pick of the month: September
Posted in Greenhouse growing, Pick of the month, tagged tomatoes on September 18, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Tomato ‘Country Taste’ I’ve tried a few beefsteak tomatoes in my time – ‘Brandywine’, ‘Belriccio’, ‘Beefeater’…. Without exception, they’ve been a pain in the neck. It’s not growing the plants that’s the problem: they aren’t any more difficult than ordinary tomatoes to get to fruiting point. The trouble comes when the wretched things start to [...]
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