Allotment Yoga
I love autumn on the plot. Most of the plants are finishing off and I get to start clearing the beds and tidying the plot ready for a long winter. This weekend we ripped out the corn and intertwined squash plants, leaving us two beds waiting for overwintering prep. There...
Bullace Jam
You probably have just enough time left to follow in our footsteps and create the worlds most delicious hedgerow jam. Two weeks ago we stumbled upon a laden bullace tree and decided to gather ourselves a few fruits for a stewed pudding. They were so abundant and easy to reach...
Return to Eden
I’ve long been attracted to all things faddy and ever since I read about the Back to Eden project in last month’s permaculture magazine, I’ve been itching to turn the plot into a forest garden, layered with inches of paper, woodchip and manure. Although I’m eager to dabble with the...
The Excellence of Second Hand Sloes
In search of suitable bottles for the preparation of the annual glug of sloe gin I found last years experimental sloe port. I planned on leaving it for 2 months to mature but here we are 10 months later and I can only say that it has matured fantastically. It...
The Annual Broad Bean Glut
he beans have been tremendously successful this year which can only mean that the Annual Broad Bean Giveaway will be more challenging than usual. This event sees us sneaking from neighbour to neighbour trying to catch them unawares so we can thrust a carrier bag of un-podded and usually unwelcome...
Where there's Muck
Years of following a haphazard compost cycling routine has resulted in two full heaps of uncomposted matter. I was always supposed to fill one side of my pallet compost system, before flipping it all over into the other side and starting the process again. This disciplined rotation would result in...
Port and Sloe Gin Production
Most of the sloes had gone by the time we got our foraging heads on. We had to endure multiple blackthorn puncture wounds in order to get deep enough into the hedgerow to secure some berries that the birds had missed. I still bear the scars from that day and...
The Importance of Labels
We ran out of tartare sauce today. I don’t know what you are supposed to do in that situation. If I run out of lager I’ll substitute a bottle of Merlot but I don’t have a ready made substitute for tartare sauce. With salmon on the plate, I had to...
Hitting the Water Table
We made a flying visit to the plot this morning to deposit the kitchen compost and to rescue the last few Brussels. Compost has become a bit of a cottage industry at our house. I have a production line that starts by the kettle with a little repository for tea...
A Room of One's Own
I’ve always considered the allotment shed to be a home from home but the recent crop failings and resultant low morale has led it to be more of an irregular holiday home and our lack of attentiveness became apparent today. Opening the shed I discovered my boots had been used...
Fungal Induced Abstinence (In Search of Chip Butties)
Mushrooms are tricky critters. The line between deadly poisonous and delightfully edible is a vague and fluffy one. Take the Common or Shaggy Ink Cap as an example, classified in some quarters as an excellent edible it also takes centre stage on our poster of “Some Poisonous Fungi” and is...
Month in Pictures - April Blitz
Most of this months pictures were the result of one weekend’s endeavours. A two pronged assault during a sunny break in the middle of the month proved to be an excellent opportunity for pulling the plot together. Weeds were pulled, beans were planted and my resident constructionist re-built last years...
Months in Pictures - Jan to Mar 2009
Here’s an almost wordless month in pictures update. I’m so far behind that I’m cramming 3 months into one mosaic and as I didn’t seem to make it to the plot much in those first 3 months, there isn’t a lot to say.
Month in Pictures - December
Life dried off a little for December and I managed to get down to the plot quite a few times. The grotty dark nights resulted in a couple of torchlit digging sessions but I also found myself shamed into a day of weeding after passing by on the train and...