Baby, it's cold outside!

1.22pm on Tuesday afternoon up on plot no. 2

New bed!

The front of plot no. 2 has always been a bit of a mess and despite having other intentions I ended up sorting this out. Which was probably no bad thing!

It all started when I took the kids to Wildlife Watch Group on Saturday morning. One of their tasks for the morning was to clear the leaves from the path. To be honest it was never going to be a goer with just 4 kids this month and that many leaves, but not one to miss trick like this I acquired a dozen bags of leaves.

So after taking the kids home and picking up the car to take the leaves to the plot, I needed somewhere to put them. Which was how I started tidying up the front of the plot. Anyhow, many roots of bind weed later, the remains of what appeared to be a compost heap (bonus find!), some carpet and edging the bed this is what it ended up like:

Spot the leaves in plastic bags by the hedge

I then covered this over with some weed fabric whilst I think what to put there. At the moment I'm thinking the rhubarb may go in there as I think it's looking a bit tired where it is and desperately needs dividing.

Further up the plot, this is the sorry state on an apple tree that is suffering from not having been staked when it was planted and then having fruited very heavily this year.

I think it's going to have to have a serious prune this year at the very least to see if it can be salvaged.

As an interesting side note after much discussion about what variety the tree is, Bob from the plot opposite bumped into the people who originally planted it. According to them, they bought it as a Bramley...

Out with the old, in with the new

It's that time of year when there are plenty of leaves around on the ground, so time to stock up and start making next years leaf mould! Now many garden writers obviously live in the leafy countryside and never see a car. I only the other hand live in a city so inevitably end up picking them up from the side of a road that has many, many cars passing along it each day - completely against the advice of these rural-based writers. I figure any leaf mould is better than none, and it's probably nothing compared to the crap kicked out here in the days when we had industry (and no clean air act) - there's a reason why the stone on our house is black!

So after collecting 10 bin bags full I figured I'd better empty out the old stuff:

Black Gold!

It's not fully rotted down, but it's great to add as a mulch to the beds, and I put it over the bed where the old blackcurrants were and then covered it over with weed fabric. I can't decide what to put in this new bed at the moment so covering it over will give me more time to decide. Maybe some more strawberries?

All tucked up for winter

Having emptied out the remainder of last years leaves, it was time to put in this years. Only after emptying the builder sacks I put them in, I discovered they'd excluded the light very well from the soil they were on. So I dug out the remaining roots (mainly nettles) and added a couple of buckets of compost from the compost heap to this area.

Blackcurrants here?

I'm thinking I might put some blackcurrants in here, maybe some Titania? Any recommendations?

I moved the leaf sacks to the other side of the  bath and put the leaves I have gathered in them. I also use Biotal Compost Maker with them which is supposed to help them break down quicker. And whilst it looks like a complete mess here at the top of the plot, this is a vast improvement to how it was at the start of the day! The plot slopes quite steeply here so is quite difficult to walk along here so I have leveled this part of the path past the leaves and generally got rid of a lot of the weeds

There's a path here, honest!

Finally the first Brussels of the 'season' were ready and eaten for tea, the first Brussels I've successfully grown:

And very nice they were too!

There's a buzz about allotments

I popped down to plot no. 1 this week to plant some garlic, tulips and alliums. Having ordered the tulips and alliums a while back I'd been putting off planting them as I wasn't sure where to put them. A quick inspection of the bulbs showed why keeping them in the warmest room in the house isn't the best idea ever... It also helped to sort out where they were going pretty quickly!


I also arranged to meet Gary, a fellow plot holder, down there to hand over some apples and the Association hedge cutters. Gary's also the bee keeper down on site, and when I wandered over to his plot he was inspecting his hives having treated them for varroa mites.

Now I've been around the hives a fair bit, and even seen them when they were swarming earlier in the year so I wasn't too bothered about being around a few metres away. Well until he got to the new hive he'd been given after it had been abandoned...       

Opening up

Not looking great

They're not happy!

What you, the reader, can not see if that (a) only one of us is suited and booted for bee inspections - and it's not me! - and (b) I'm getting further away as I take these photos. They weren't a happy bunch in this new hive and the inspection didn't last long before we both ended up at the other end of the plot with angry bees following. Only one of us got stung though and it just goes to show that wearing the full bee suit, veil and gloves doesn't always help!

An obsession...?

So what do you do the day after finding out what your apples are? Go and pick some apples of course!

So accompanied by my crack apple picking team (aka the kids) we set off for the plot, via the local fruit and veg shop to pick up some more plastic trays. I grabbed five trays, thinking I'd stock up on some whilst there were some there. We get to the plot and I ask the team how many should we take to fill up - "all of them of course!"

Unfortunately it was another cold day and it wasn't long before we were regretting leaving the gloves at home.

"Dad, I'm cold"

The kids worked on a system where the oldest picked them and the youngest put them in the trays for him, which worked quite well until they were both too cold to pick apples.

I'm copying these teeth when we do the pumpkin carving!

Fortunately by this stage we'd picked the 5 trays of apples - about 150 ish apples - so it was time to leave. With plenty of apples still left on the trees.

At home, Mrs D was busy peeling and coring as many apples as she could fit into out largest saucepan for another batch of apples sauce destined for the freezer, from the 'ugly' pile - those that weren't likely to keep. I started giving the 'good' apples a quick wipe and the kids set to work wrapping them in newspaper so they could go into storage.

After they were placed in their various boxes I then took them to the 'store room'. One of the advantages to living in an old terraced house is the old outhouse (aka outside toilet). Having removed the toilet a number of years back now (thanks Dad!) it functions as our general store room which at the moment is over run with apples (over 250 now), couple of sacks of potatoes and a couple of nets of onions.

That bike's not coming out any time soon!

The pumpkins Mum and Dad grew for us are arriving this week too. Despite pointing out the price of the Crown Prince in Waitrose there are few takers so I said we'd have what ever is left. I may regret this...

Blog changes
Some of you may have noticed a few changes with the layout to the blog. I've just been playing with a few things, adding and taking away different things. Hopefully all for the better. Now I just have to go and index all my previous posts... Hard to believe I spend most of my days playing with metadata and indexing isn't it!

And the answer is....

... Belle de Boskoop! Probably.

For those of you wondering what I'm on about, I took the family to RHS Harlow Carr today for their Taste of Autumn event. On what proved to be the coldest day of the autumn so far (aka bloody freezing!), the kids were amused by the monster trail and seemed not to notice the cold, whilst Mrs D and I found a sheltered spot and drank hot soup.

The monster trail just happened to take us via the apple identification greenhouse being carried out by the Northern Fruit Group. After filling in some paperwork to let them know everything I knew about the apple - it didn't take long to fill in! - the first suggestion was Belle de Boskoop. After various consultations with books and a comparison with the ones on display it was agreed that this was what it probably was. Despite the fact it didn't look much like the one they had on display, mine being far redder.

Northern Fruit Group version

My version of Belle de Boskoop

Still they seemed impressed with my apples and said it would be good to graft some trees from them as mine are very red and appeared to be a good apple, so place your orders now!

After a bit of searching once I got home, apparently they're somewhat sort after and much more common in mainland Europe, having originated in Holland. They also make a very good apple pie - which I will selflessly be making and eating, purely in the interests of research of course - store very well, mellowing around Christmas time to make them edible as an 'eater'. Which is what I was hoping for and well worth looking after those in storage!

The apple display was good, with a wonderful smell and they even had some apples for sale - we declined.

After the kids finished the monster trail we headed for Betty's Tea Shop (the branch at the Gardens), took one look at the queue, bought a couple of cakes to keep the kids happy and headed home, with the heater on to defrost. Sadly there seemed to be far more people in the Tea Shop than the Gardens.

It's an allotment blog, what were you expecting?

You just can't beat picture of soil!

This is where my strawberries used to be and has now been properly dug over with some leaves, the remains of a bag of manure and the remains of a bag of rockdust added to the soil - as seen above! Now just have to decide what to put here...?

Confused Strawberries

Over at the freshly weeded (honestly!) new strawberry bed - OK I still need to sort the runners out - they're happily flowering away??? So I moved a bit closer to get a photo and was a little surprised to see strawberries!

 

Can't see them ripening up now though - LOL.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen...


The apple challenge continues - the challenge being to use as many apples as possible in as many different meals as possible. Apples crumble was a big hit - although it would have been better with toffee as well (according to my son's friend) - but sausage and bean casserole (with sneaky bits of apple), not so good. But that was more to do with the sausages to be honest. Slabs of apples sauce are in the freezer - it doesn't take much cooking for them to turn to sauce - but the biggest hit to date (with the kids) has been apple fruit leather.

After a quick cook on the hob, followed by a quick blitz with the blender, it only needed the 20 hours or so in the oven...

I'm thinking maybe the mixture was a bit too liquid when it went in the oven? But it turned out OK in the end and the kids both took some into school to show their respective classes and give some away. The remaining 'sheet' rolls up quite nicely and should store in the fridge for a while yet - certainly longer than it's going to last!

I'm dragging the rest of the family off to the RHS Harlow Carr 'Taste of Autumn' event this weekend - waiting to see which day looks best on the weather forecast first - to reveal all on the apple tree, with luck. Speaking of which, picked another 50 or so the other day, still plenty left... Currently storing the good ones on top of the wardrobe and in the outhouse, may need to find more room soon!

Apples, apples, apples

Why do I have two plots on two different sites? It's a question I'm often asked and one I wonder about myself at times. But this is the time of year when I remember why: apples.

It's reached mid-October and I was beginning to worry about my apples on plot no. 2 going 'walkabout'. So I thought I'd pick one or two. Or 150 or so. And after giving another 30+ away I'd say I've probably got as many again still to pick.

They're still a bit reluctant to come away from the tree even this late in the year, but when they get home they undergo careful inspection and are separated into the good and ugly - the bad already having being left on the compost heap.

The Good

 The good I'm giving a quick clean and then wrapping them individually in newspaper and storing them in trays.

The bad are hanging around waiting to be used up in whatever recipes we can find - the 'bad' are those with any blemishes on that probably won't keep so well. We're going to be busy this weekend!

The Ugly

So far on the list of recipes are: oatmeal, apple and cinnamon cookies, spiced apple chutney and apple fruit leather. Any further suggestions gratefully received. This is the point where my planned apple press would have come in handy, but alas finances didn't allow for that this year.

Still none the wiser as to what they are but we're off to Harlow Carr on either 23 or 24 October when (hopefully!) all will be revealed.

Farewell to the strawberries

After 4 years, I decided I'd pushed my luck far enough and dug up my original strawberry plants.

Fortunately I'd used some of last years runners to establish a new bed earlier this year, so it wasn't such a painful task. The only problem is I had two rows of two different varieties of strawberries where I knew which was which. Unfortunately I wasn't so careful when I planted up my runners...

Truth be told I got a little distracted with the usual allotment problem: chatting. As a result it wasn't the comprehensive digging job I'd hoped it was going to be, but in my defence the soil was a bit too heavy to be digging anyway.

There's not an awful lot left on the plot now, due to poor planning and planting on my plant but the Brussels are doing well - better than I've ever grown them before. Unfortantely something appears to be eating them though. It can't be pigeons or pheasants this time though due to enough netting over them to cover half the site and it's well pegged down. The only things I can think is mice?

What's my apple tree - part 2

Glorious day on Saturday, but sadly I was a bit under the weather and didn't want to stray too far from the house. Feeling much better on Sunday, it proceeded to throw it down with rain all day.

Anyhow, moving on... Some people have their dog blogs but me and the mad cat lady of Sheffield seem to prefer cats, so after months of promising the kids some kittens and a tip off from said mad cat lady we're now the proud owners of two bundles of fur. Besides using the vegetable rack as a climbing frame and knocking the squashes on the floor one of them also seemed to take a liking to the apple I picked from my unknown tree, providing a nice background for a close up of the apple as requested:

Gingerbread (the cat) and ???

I picked this a few days ago (the apple!), but I wouldn't say it came from the tree easily - supposedly one of the signs they're ready. A few days later my guinea pig (the wife) and I had a taste:

It's quite juicy but sharp with it. It's not inedible, but whether it's an eater or a cooker the jury is still out. According to my Dad, brown pips are a sign it's ready though. So still none the wise. I'm looking for a local apple day to take them along to to see if anyone else has any ideas???

I also have another problem: there are a lot of apples on each tree, storing them could be a problem. The outhouse is largely full of potatoes and onions and without a serious clear out it's not going to get many apples in it. There's no heating in our bedroom though and space on top of the wardrobe...

Gratuitous cat picture follows:

Florence (front) and Gingerbread (back) lying on top of the shallots

Squash Review
Now Autumn has definitely arrive I think my squashes are over now. They did OK this year. I grew Defender and Goldie for my courgettes. Defender was its usual prolific self, but Goldie was very disappointing really. It produced lots of smaller courgettes - no bad thing - but with thick bitter skin. Don't think I'll be growing them again.

I grew Gemstore for the first time - this looks a bit like a round courgette but has flesh more like a pumpkin, a light yellow/orange colour. The plant has a kind of restrained, sprawling habit and the fruits are a great size to use up in just one meal and are prolific - 26 off two plants! The skins are also quite thick so I'm assuming they'll store well - they're coping quite well with the cats knocking them over as they clamber up the vegetable rack to get to the table.

I only grew Crown Prince for my large pumpkins this year, which is a bit disappointing as I do like the sight of a bright orange pumpkin on the plot. However, all is not lost there as we have several growing down at my Grandads - by all accounts there's a whole lot of different pumpkins down there that are likely to be coming our way as I don't think the rest of the family eat many. I only managed to get three fruits from two plants, and one of them is quite small, but hopefully the taste will make up for that. All three of them feel quite solid though so hopefully a good amount of flesh of them.

If you look carefully, one of the cats is at the top of the picture trying to get in on the action.

What's my apple tree?

Any guesses? The apples are largely red, they were much bigger than this last year, they're not ready yet (late September) and in previous years we've largely cooked with them as they've not tasted so good straight off the tree - but maybe should have left them a bit longer???

And I've got another just like it behind where I was taking the photo from, so I'll be needing to find somewhere to store apples soon! The flash shows that it's getting darker earlier and there's not going to be many evening visits left :>(

I don't believe it!

It's been a while, so time for a catch up. So where to begin...?

Happy Birthday

In the beginning...

It's now been four years since I first hacked my way on to plot no. 1, encouraged by the mad fools doing the same on the neighbouring plot. It's still not full cleared, the hedge is still a pain in the ar*e and the tree is still there. However, the hedge is under some sort of control thanks to the Association hedge cutters, I'm promised the tree will go in the next month and I've been clearing some old and unproductive blackcurrant bushes, and some of the previously uncleared areas with the Azada - something I wish I'd had when I started! So with all that and the greenhouse to go up, it's looking good for next year. I have new neighbours at the bottom of the plot too, which might encourage me to keep it a bit tidier down that end too!

Harvest Festival
Never ones to miss an excuse for a party our Association decided to have a Harvest Festival on 11 September. Sadly the weather didn't play ball and it threw it down a couple of times, but the people that made it along to the day had a good time - aided by a barrel of beer from one of the local breweries and some friendly competitions. Sadly my impressive display of around 20 different fruits and vegetables didn't cut any ice with the judge we invited along and I didn't even get a place yet alone the coveted allotment trowel!

Mine is the box at the top of the photo, the one at the bottom pipped me to 3rd place.

 
However, the kids did get joint first in the miniature garden competition, my bramble jam came second in the jam category and Mrs D controversially came 3rd with her chocolate beetroot cake in the cake with a vegetable ingredient category. Controversial as the 2nd place entry was bilberry muffins...

Prize winners with their garden

Still aided by the beer and a barbeque with supplies from one of our local butchers and sweetcorn, peppers and mushrooms from our local fruit and veg shop, the afternoon went very well. The barbeque went so well that it was still going the following afternoon when we went to clear up the remaining stuff, so we just dug out the remaining food and carried on!

The only downer to the weekend was the plot we had the event on (supposedly our community orchard) had been served with a notice to quit just the day beforehand - ironically just before our first major event on it and at a time when it was looking better than it had ever done so! Fortunately our Allotment Officer is a reasonable man and it looks like we might get a reprieve.

Potatoes
Given the choice between accompanying his Mum and sister to a local cafe, no. 1 child decided to come with me to plot no. 2 (sadly without a camera). I had 'hired' the hedge cutters from the Association on the other site to tackle the rapidly getting out of control hedges, which I tackled whilst he wore the safety visor and ear defenders... Once that was finished we moved on to the maincrop potatoes (Romeo and Pink Fir Apple). The few we've had from plot no. 1 have suffered considerably with slug damage - annoyingly most of these being the larger ones. After some discussion as to whether there'd be more or less than 10 on the first plant (he went for less than 10) we dug it up between us and counted 24 potatoes! This set the tone for the 3 rows we dug up (largely romeo, but 3 PFA plants too), which produced a sack and a half of potatoes which don't seem to have suffered from blight, have very little slug damage and are a good size, so all good there then. And we even managed to get them bagged up before it started raining.

Now all I need to do is to find somewhere for these - they're currently in the boot of the car. We have about 5 bags of shallots and onions in the kitchen at the moment (including two bags that Mrs D has crocheted to get them off the floor!). Then there are the pumpkins - only had a couple of Crown Prince but they feel good and are awaiting a suitably grand recipe. The other plants I grew were Gem Store which have proved to be prolific - 24 off just two plants. They are just a bit bigger than a cricket ball so are a great size to use up in one meal, but also have thick skins which should mean they'll keep well. There should be room in the old outhouse for lots of things, but I'm a bit concerned when I start picking apples. They might not be as big as they have been in previous years, but the trees are full of apples...