9 Mar 2014 - The Fruit Cage Continues!

I had tried really, really, really, really, really hard to do this on my own.  I had bought the 6ft posts and sledgehammered them all in only to be beaten by two staplers!  Go figure!  Could I get them to work?  Could I buggery.

I called on my faithful assistant who suggested we buy new netting for the job, so it wasn't patchy and we could do it in one go - he's not just a pretty face!  Because I had been trying to do this myself, he said he'd just hold the netting for me and be the third hand (after he tried fixing the staplers, threw one away & found the correct staples for the other one DOH!).


Well I still couldn't manage to press down the stapler with it above my head (which isn't fair, cos I can sledgehammer higher above my head!!!), so in true allotment fashion....I delegated!




After 2 hours of us both working (the netting was doubled over on the roll), we both had to admit that anyone with less than 3 arms would have struggled on their own!  We decided on the doorway and I need to get one more post for that.  Then we sort out the doorway, but at least the netting is up before the raspberries get too big!  I've still got half a bed to play with, not sure what's going in there yet, and the pathway down the middle to tidy up.  We ripped up the edging for the second bed because it's changing shape slightly and I need to nail the boards to the outside of the netting to stop longtails coming in.

I know I would have come home a baldycoot if I'd not had help, either tearing my hair out, or having it stuck in the netting!!!

Anyway, in my last fruitcage blog, I'd mentioned that I moved the canes that had appeared in the pathway because basically, they were in the way and if they lived that was fab, and if they didn't, then they weren't any use to us where they were!  All 8 have survived and got new growth on already!










There will be a further update - need to finish doorway and then put a roof on!

26 Feb 2014 - Raspberries & Fruit Cage

We've had a bumper crop of raspberries a couple of years ago, and then last year a plank (or two) of wood fell on some of them and we didn't do quite so well last year (obviously!), so I decided to spoil them and build a fruit cage for them.  This was planned last year some time, but the weather's not been so good and we couldn't do anything while there were fruit on them, so it had to wait until after December.

The "weather v my time off" has been less than hospitable, but I finally started getting down to the allotment in the last couple of weeks.  I enjoyed my time with the sledgehammer, although I've been doing a lot of swimming this week, so my arms are about to drop off, but I did get the 6 posts I bought put up. 

I failed miserably with both staplers when I tried to put the netting up, but maybe that's a good thing, cos we think the netting is not quite right.  Now that I think about it, I *may* have used the office stapler on my last project, but we'll just keep that to ourselves!! haha!

Here's a few pics, it's 2.5 hours work - I cleared some of the weeds (until the stinging nettles got me), bashed in 6 posts, turned over a new bit of bed (basically, the fruit cage will cover both beds, and there's a new bit of bed at the end, making it a U shape), dug up about 8 new canes that had appeared in the pathway and transplanted them in the spaces and new bit.  I'm quite pleased with myself!

before

after

before

after

Proof that I'm not theonly mad one!

26 Aug 2012 - Our first ever Artichoke!

Here's today's crop - a hellava lot of garlic, some turnips, rainbow spinach, 4 raspberries, 2 plums and our first ever globe artichoke!

We nibbled on the raspberries while trying to work out what to do with the artichoke!

 Two bags of cut turnip for the freezer, one for soups, the other for steaming.

Unfortunately, it looks like we've missed out on using the middle leaves for a salad, but the outer ones look okay (to us beginners, anyway).









Mike sets to with cutting the tips off, and we just put it in the oven with some oil and the potatoes.

(We did find a really cool recipe, but it looked a bit much for our first attempt!)

....and not much left, it was great!

2 Aug 2012 - success stories

Today was a very successful, but hardworking day.  I had a day off so I spent 5 hours pottering at the allotment in the sunshine - be rude not to!

I mowed some of the lawn, turned over a new bit of plot and planted out some more beans and peas and changed the protection of the cape gooseberries.  I also put in a rose plant to attract bees (and hide a wee gap under the mesh). 

potatoes & raspberries

The newly dug plot gave us a few potatoes, which was a nice surprise - I swear the guy before us planted nothing but potatoes!  Also managed to rescue a few more raspberries (raspberry fool, anyone?) and 4 redcurrants - see if you can spot them..... I guess any redcurrant jam on our shelves will be bought this year!

brocolli & sprouts

There were some other pleasant surprises - in the row of brussel sprouts is a very nice looking brocolli!

flowers on squash

There are also some flowers on the squash plants, although most of them are ornamental gourds, which is something I'm going to have to learn to dry out (or whatever it is I'm supposed to do with them (afterall, you never see one in the shops with a giant hole in it where the seeds have been taken out!)

Apart from that, everything else is coming along nicely, if not a wee bit behind schedule - but we have had a pretty wet summer. 

I've been impressed with the fact that the sweetcorn has grown - something that never grew for us at the old allotment.  It looks like one is definitely going to produce, not sure about the others, but fingers crossed!  We'll be freezing sprouts till the cows come home - that's the best crop we've got so far, and it looks like turnip wine might be on the list of things to try soon!  The garlic is doing well, but it looks like something had a nibble at one - will need to watch for that next year.  The carrots are coming along now as well, we were using up old seeds, so it's going to be a colourful Christmas dinner - there's samurai red, purple, orange and who knows what other carrot seeds we put in!

Raspberry Fool

As usual, what I used is in italics because you just know that I tweaked the recipe ..... again.

2 punnets raspberries (1/3 of what we picked last time - defrosted)
150g custard (440g tin because there was alot juice)
150g Greek style natural yoghurt (plus 2-3 dollops to thicken)
1/2t caster sugar (none, we're sweet enough!!)

Blend the raspberries and sieve out the pips (do you really think I did that!?)

I blended everything together in the real recipe and then added the extra custard & yoghurt to thicken it, because there was alot of raspberry juice and it was a bit runny.

Got a decent bowlful, which will do nicely for tonight and leftovers for tomorrow's picnic!  I don't know if it would freeze, I guess it would separate on defrosting - better to just eat it over two days!

Took about 5 minutes to make!

8 July 2012 - Garlic & Skinks

Today was pretty much a tidy up day.  We did get a visitor from our old allotment who wanted to be nosey - lucky for him I hadn't unpacked the camera yet, so there's no pic.  Next time, definitely next time!

I was a lady-wot-lunched with his wife yesterday and we were proudly showing him round horse poo & manure today - don't we just live the highlife!

I weeded the potatoes bed and put in a plant we picked up at Tynwald on Tynwald Day (Isle of Man national day) which loves sandy soil - left the tab in and now forgotten what it's called, but here's a photo.

Mike started weeding the garlics bed (which was way to overgrown for a before photo!) and I helped finish it with him because it was such a big job - better to finish two beds than have half jobs to go back to another day.  We were really pleased with how many garlic have come up and I've found a recipe that is a garlic version of pesto that I'll have to try later.

The raspberries definitely appreciated us taking the time to protect them earlier!  Here's how they're doing now. 


We'd left the brussel sprouts uncovered thinking they were strong enough to face the wind and now not little seedlings that slugs might like - completely forgetting that we have rabbits nearby.  Ooops, schoolboy error, but hopefully not too much of one.  They're covered up again now.

Someone forgot to tell the skink that sunning itself in the Isle of Man this summer is not the best idea in the world - but this one gave it a go anyway. 

(I wasn't happy to see a far-to-large longtail, but a Skink is okay)

While we were showing our friend around we noticed that someone's growing something very big of the onion variety!

I've never done very well with onions, and don't really like them much, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate someone else's efforts!

Summer Fruits Pudding

I was very lucky that Mike got an allotment cookbook for his birthday and it just happens to have a summer pudding recipe and we just happened to have some picked on our latest visit to the allotment....and we had some spare strawberries in the freezer to make up the difference!  How very fortunate!

We didn't have any Cassis, so looked for alternatives and found a Delia recipe which said "using sliced white bread just will not do!"  Well guess what Delia, it does!

Mike did pretty much all of it, I was at the other end of the camera and the professional clingfilm cutter!

As per usual, what we actually used is in (italics)
9 slices of white bread - one day old
250g each blackcurrants & redcurrants and 325g raspberries (460ish combo of blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries)
100g caster sugar (just sugar)
2 T creme de cassis (juice from the berries)

line the bowl with clingfilm and then the bread and simmer the fruits until fruits are soft and sugar is dissolved.  The idea was that the softer fruits went in last, but we just chucked it all in.

Spoon the fruit into the breaded bowl and drizzle the juice so that the bread gets a coated a bit.  Cover the pudding with the last of the bread, then clingfilm, put a small plate on top with a tin on that, to weigh down and help the juice of the fruit get all over the bread.

chill overnight in the fridge.  Turn out and serve!

2 June 2012 - filling in the gaps

 The latest bed that was cleared of weeds, the toilet rolls have got the cauli in, so I don't pull up my last 5 seeds thinking they're weeds! - in this half theres:
chickory, purple cauliflower, green kohl rabi, kale, rainbow spinach and savoy cabbage.

In the other side of that bed is:
purple brussel sprouts, nasturtium, purple sprouting brocolli, pak choi and purple kohl rabi






at the very end of the bed are some old seeds - that may, or may not come up.... sweet pepper bush and a licquorice scented herb plant.... well, may as well give them a chance....

 Then there was filling in the other end of the roots bed, and filling in the gaps where no seedlings have come up.  Because nothing goes to plan (and I wouldn't have it any other way.....) one envelope split, so in my hand is possibly spinach beet, or beetroots of some sort.  I put it at the end and we'll see what we see!

we have some new flowers in the pond ;-)

the raspberries get bird-proofed

 

Have a look at the quick 30 second video - my first attempt at uploading one on here - the resident sheepdog rounding up the chickens! 
Round and round and round she goes - when she stops, nobody knows!

2 July 2012 - Croppage!

Some blackcurrants ready to pick, and lots more to come - we even got there before the birds!

A few raspberries are ready too - we've protected them against from the birds now.

The comfrey is growing like mad, will come in very handy later on as compost, but for now, we'll leave it to the bumblebees!

 Rhubarb wine soon - must go and get all the equipment (and instructions!)

Mike having a quick break, showing off our first turnip - we're slowly going to thin them out, by eating one at a time!

Now that the strawberry bed has been weeded (the grass tried to move in) we've got fruits!

 In this bed we've got the turnips, a few carrots, 2 corn and all 4 jerusalem artichokes (which the bunnies have taken a wee bit more notice of than I would've liked)

The first bed of potatoes is doing well - we've got 4 varieties in here (and you can just see the plastic bottle and toilet roll crops in the background!)

Here's what we took home - looks like it could be summer fruit pudding and turnip for tea then!