Wash Out

Well it was throwing it down today so the work day and BBQ didn't happen. So we now have a freezer full of burgers ready to go for a couple of weeks time when we will try again.

However, even with the rain, we managed to get something useful done today. Our seed potatoes arrived for our mimi 'christmas' potato crop, so we got them in rubble sacks and an old compost bag.


These are sat in the lean-house for now, I didn't want them to get completely drowned before they had even started going in the bags (although the bags do have drainage holes pierced in them it really is far too wet today).

We also took out the remaining broad bean plants, as they were covered in 'rust'. This is fine in itself at this stage in their lives, but we have just put some dwarf bean plants in nearby and didn't want it to transfer to them too, as they are only small. Some of the beans were quite young so I've left them in their pods and will just slice them up and throw them in a stew, rather than opening them up and being rewarded only with a couple of beans the size of dried lentils.


And today I also brought home a courgette and courgette flower. I keep reading about deep fried courgette flowers, so that is what I'm going to do with this one, I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Living off (someone else's) Land

I collected some apples from a neighbouring plot the other day, after OKing it with the secretary. The plot isn't being used at the moment and the apples were starting to fall off the tree. I can't cope with needless waste like that so went and rescued some of them.I had about 5 pounds in the end. I divided that up, the ones in the silver bowl are for tart tatin, the ones in the clear tub for apple sauce, and the ones laying down on the board for apple jelly. So far I've only made the apple jelly , I cooked up the apples with water and a star anise, then let the liquid drip through muslin to strain it. Then added sugar to the liquid (1 pound of sugar per pint of liquid) , stir as the sugar melts and it comes to the boil, and then you boil rapidly for 10mins . I allowed it to cool a little and then added a bit of whisky ( I used Talisker). Tastes quite good so far, but the recipe advised waiting 3 months before use.



The tart tatin is under construction as I write, I will post pictures once it is done.

I'm going to try and harvest the rest of the apples on the community work day this saturday and then anyone who wants any can take them. I'm also going to do the sauce by then so we can eat it with our sausages.

Work Day

On 13th May we had a communal Work Day at the allotment to get some work done on paths and hedges. We also had a BBQ, which we volunteered to get going and man.

The main job was cutting down the large hedge on the outside edge of the site, it was filling the whole pavement and there had been complaints from people who lived nearby, so that was the aim. We gathered at 1pm and got going with one person on a Lidl scaffold platform with a petrol powered hedge trimmer and the rest of us with brushes and wheelbarrows ferrying the, considerable amount of, waste to the compost heap. Others got on with strimming grass on the paths and painting fences. With about 20 of us it all got done quite quickly, we stopped at 3pm for the BBQ. I had made mushroom, mustard beef, and spicy beef kebabs - peppers, red onion, small mushrooms on all of them and then one lot with beef marinaded in oil, lemon juice, mustard, chili flakes and honey, one lot with large flat mushrooms marinaded in the same kind of mixture, and beef ones marinaded in yoghurt and curry paste. Mmmmmmm. Plus pitta bread and salad out of the Bath o' Salad™ .

Other people brought loads of stuff too, so it was a marvelous social feast - we even had a little generator so we could run some powered speakers and our iPod. Apparently they tried a day like this last year and hardly anyone turned up, so the allotment committee were thrilled with how it went. It was good to meet people and we now know a few more faces.

And the neighbours can walk down the pavement now too.

Rainy Days and Bank Holidays

Generally the same thing it seems. We hopefully took the tools along and started on the cold frame today but the rain soon got the better of us. So we retreated into the greenhouse. Consequently the aquilegia got potted on into bigger pots; my Mum has warned me about aquilegia, she says hers self seed everywhere, so I'll have to keep an eye on them when they get planted out and maybe try and pick them as cut flowers before they seed. I don't want to annoy our neighbours.

Next week we should meet a few more plot holders, we are having a work day to cut the hedge that overhangs the public footpath and to tidy some of the main paths in the allotment site itself. And then a BBQ - we have volunteered/been asked to do the BBQ, must look out some kebab recipes to supplement the burgers and sausages.

I wonder if you can BBQ rhubarb?