Our allotment is booming at the moment! Last Saturday we officially became Good Lifers when we harvested enough food to fill a large trug. We had potatoes, broad beans, onions, strawberries and a big bunch of cornflowers.
On Sunday we had a mega weeding session. It was baking hot and we were both knackered when we went down there so I’m surprised we got so much done. The tall plants in the middle are our runner beans (tbt to a few weeks earlier). We have a real mixture of bean plants. Some we’ve grown ourselves, some from Grandma and Grandad and a couple of spares from another plot. I think we’ve got about 16 bean plants in total!
The strawberry patch needs a little more work. The weeds you can see are chickweed, it gets everywhere! Apparently it’s edible and makes a good salad.
These are our first homegrown blueberries! Picking them felt like a luxury as they are quite expensive to buy from the supermarket and almost never grown in the UK. We are finding they take a while to ripen fully after turning blue, which is a real test of patience on my part. I always eat one in the name of research when we go to do the watering.
We’ve also had loads of potatoes. On Sunday we had roast beef with roasted King Edwards from the plot (yummy!). The rest are being stored away until we need more.
The blackcurrant bushes in the communal fruit patch were bursting with fruit on Sunday so we also took home 1.3kg of fruits. My friend Rik recommended I make some blackcurrant jam – if you’re reading this, thanks for the recommendation. It’s bloody lovely.
This is our garlic harvest! I’m pretty enthusiastic about all things garlic and I’ve written a separate post about it, which includes photos of our gargantuous elephant garlic bulbs!
Last year I saved lots of cornflower seeds from the front garden. I sowed them at the allotment along with the seeds I was gifted and now look at them all! Every time we walk through the gate we are greeted by a big patch of blue flowers. The other day Scott pointed out that this patch was alive; and when I looked closely I could see what he mean’t. The flowers were teeming with hoverflies and bees.
Cornflowers make up the wildlife area which occupies an eighth of our plot. Next year we’ll fill the space with more flowers and I’d really like to introduce smaller pockets elsewhere. I take a few cut flowers for the house but always make sure there are enough blooms for the insects. If you want nature to help you, you should give something back in my opinion.
We are both feeling very proud of our little plot this week. Growing, harvesting and cooking something grown from a tiny seed is very rewarding. Barbara and Tom, over and out!
Yey! That is so great and satisfying isn’t it. Your garlic harvest is amazing! (Very envious, mine was not great) well done, I am so glad you are enjoying your plot.
We are enjoying our plot very much, getting into the swing of things about it now. Hoping to grow even more garlic next year!
Wow! You can start your own green grocers store! Lovely harvest and I am so jealous of the garlic as they are what I really want but its too late for us to plant them this year! I will try my best to start right on planting them =)
#hdygg
Haha! Our own greengrocers, now that would be something 🙂 Left a comment on your blog about planting garlic, hope it helps.
oh Gemma, this makes my heart so happy! how fulfilling it must feel. and i love those cornflowers!
You can’t beat swathes of cornflower blue 🙂
Well done you two thats a fantastic harvest, it all looks delicious ???
Thank you Tina. It’s going to take us a while to get through all our potatoes. Everything has been very tasty so far.
It’s amazing how much your space is growing and producing! After seeing in previous posts all the work you’ve done I feel like skipping with joy.
Thank you Kriss. I found a photo of our plot in April and I was gobsmacked about how much is growing now. Because we spend quite a bit of time there, change feels very gradual until you look back over time.
I’m just wondering when you will be moving the pig and cow into your garden! What a spread and so satisfying to know you’ve grown it all yourselves.
Haha! Chickens are next on the list 🙂
Ooooh, that is looking wonderful, what a great harvest! I am yearning for an allotment (or just more space) reading this. I’ve had a pretty good harvest too, so far, but I would love more space for beans and potatoes and things that just take up a bit more room. I dream of my very own kitchen garden (preferably surrounded by an old brick wall) one day. *Sighs and gazes off into space*
Thanks Sabrina! We only have a small back garden and managed to grow quite a bit there, but like you say, it’s difficult to grow things that take up space. So the allotment has been really handy. I think you’d love allotment life 🙂
Oh my this makes me grin – all your hard work paying off in spades! (little garden pun there *wocka wocka*)
I love those cornflowers and totally agree about giving something back to nature. I still love bumblebees despite being stung by the little darlings yesterday.
I bet you have had a good week for cooking with all this stash!
Thanks for joining in again lovely x
Fantastic harvests and such a beautiful garden!
what a fantastic haul, interesting to know that the blueberries aren’t ripe just because they’re blue, are they sharp when you carry out your research?
That’s quite a bumper crop – well done 🙂 And I’m liking that excuse for eating the soft fruits… yes dear, it’s in the name of research – I’ll be using that one 🙂 #hdygg