Weeds + potatoes = allotment
Two words to describe allotment life this week. Weeds. Potatoes. Hundreds of weeds. Potatoes popping up all over the place! We remove a potato or weed and another pops up. It's like playing a giant game of Whac-a-Mole! The few days of rain we had seemed to kick things in to life. It's not all bad though because it means everything else is growing too.
The runner beans were started off in pots in the back garden but they've now been planted out. We made an a frame for them and I'm pleased to say it's been up for a whole week and hasn't blown over yet. Fist pump! A second sowing will be done this week in attempt to give us a steady supply of beans rather than a glut. Last year I sowed them all at once and come Summer we were neck deep in beans.
These are radish seedlings. I was a bit ham-fisted when sowing so I'm going to have a lot of radishes to eat in three weeks time. One of the owners of our local takeaway often asks how our plot is doing and he told us to make a pickle with radish, onion, green chilli and oil. This Radish and Coriander pickle recipe sounds similar - and delicious.
Scott has been working hard to neaten up the edges of the plot. His love of straight lines and neatness means our edges now look like proper edges.
One of our biggest milestones is a path dividing the plot in four. We went and bought some bricks a few weeks ago and are now collecting stones to fill in the gaps. There are so many stones. At first we were cursing them but now they have a purpose they are a welcome find. Do you see how many weeds there are in the photo below!? Grrrr.
Another plot owner gave us some more rhubarb. I made crumble last time so had a look for other recipes and found one for rhubarb and vanilla jam. It's bloody good.
Broad beans are my favourite bean. I sowed some leftover seed from last year so germination has been a bit hit and miss. Also, a mouse stole some of them from the pots in the garden. However we have five plants that are looking healthy and starting to flower.
This blue crate was used to bring home some plants from the plant sale. We were going to chuck it away but thought we'd use it to carry some seedlings to the allotment first. Since then it's a had a multitude of uses. Collecting stones for path building, carrying weeds to the compost and sieving soil. It's surprising what becomes useful.
Our wild flower patch is coming along nicely. Although I think there are probably a fair few weeds in there too by now. The tallest seedlings are cornflowers.
Part of our initial tour around the allotment was the communal fruit space. My first thought? Jam! These berries are redcurrants, there are also lots of blackcurrants too.
These are our King Edward potatoes. Unlike the others scattered all over our plot, they are suppose to be here. Potatoes aren't something we've grown before, so any tips would be much appreciated.
Scott has been busy making us a mini tool shed. He's spent the last few weekends working on it; building a wooden frame, cutting wooden panels to size and stapling on plastic.
The sweetcorn is making an appearance.
Look what we've found! Asparagus! So far we've come across three crowns randomly growing. Two have been moved to a new area and the one below is well on it's way so we've left it where it is for now.
This was only going to be a short post but I've ended up writing quite a bit. Are you still with me? If so, pat yourself on the back, you made it :)
