Moving rhubarb

The black plastic covers the holes where I've taken out the later cropping of my two rhubarbs, hopefully not killing it in the process. It's gone a few yards away in the narrow strip to the right of the tree.

It was amazing to be able to do anything at all today. I only went to see if we still had a hut or the cloches after the gales.

The hut's still there, one cloche is ok, but I couldn't see the other one. Hardly anything to clear up really. Oh, and the old incinerator I was using to force the other rhubarb had blown quite a long way away, but I still found it.

The plan is (there's always a plan) to plant potatoes where the black plastic is. It's a flowerbed that I've been clearing over the winter and the ground is very uneven and full of weeds so I'll mulch it with some more plastic and when the weeds have gone, potatoes will help the soil return to a more usable vegetable bed. The flowers are all being popped into odd places where they won't take up so much space.

Happy gardening (and planning ahead)

Gadgets

As you can see I've been messing about with the blog. I love the moon phases gadget and I'm definitely keeping that one, but the cat may have to go! |It's kind of fun, but I can see it'll end up being annoying after a while. I wanted to put a playlist in as well but Roo (trainee computer nerd) says websites that start playing music at you as soon as the page loads are really annoying too. I suppose that's true but it must depend on whether you find one with music that you like, doesn't it?

What I really want to do is change the background. I want to keep it green, but with a pattern of oak leaves printed down the side borders, and I haven't a clue how to do it. Anybody know?

Happy blogging

Temporary hibernation of gardener

Brr. No photo today. It's been a lovely, lovely day but too cold to be outside. I seem to be one day behind at the moment - I mean I'm updating the blog a day after whatever it is I'm writing about. I must be all slowed down because of the cold. Heaven knows, I'm finding it hard to get up in the mornings, it doesn't seem natural to crawl out from under a warm duvet before it gets light. I can really identify with all hibernating creatures right now. My cat's doing it too. And as for the kids...

Anyway, yesterday I took the opportunity to put some more broad beans seeds in pots. I'd had to wait for the compost to thaw enough to fill the pots, it's been solid for ages. The previous sowing has grown to about 3 or 4 inches high so I've moved it to hide from squirrels and frost under some fleece in the front garden. Hopefully, I'll have some successional croppings of beans later on in the year if they survive.

happy gardening

Cold winter days

Happy new year to anyone who looks at this blog. The photo was taken yesterday (new year's day) and the happy smile is because I was well wrapped up against the cold. The temperature struggled to get above freezing as it has done for many days so the warm coat and the fab hippy hat (Christmas present) were much needed.

The pond was thick with ice and the ground solid. I managed to dig out some leeks and parsnips but didn't hang around for long, just went home to make soup.

Happy gardening for 2009

Windfall pears

There is a big, old pear tree on the allotments. It's seen many tenants come and go over the years and mostly, after a few skirmishes with harvesting them, trying to eat them and then adding them to the compost, the pears stay uneaten on the tree. They are an old fashioned culinary variety of pear, meaning that they just won't ripen however long you leave them. They have to be cooked.

I picked up a basket of windfall pears nearly two months ago and although they've been in the kitchen ever since, they are still pretty rigid. This year I've been using them to make chutney.

After my first ever go at making chutney, I quickly gave up using recipes. Apart from the science bit of needing to know the approximate quantities of sugar and vinegar to fruit, it seems a good way of using up whatever I had going spare at the time. I've made use of several gluts this way. This is my most recent effort:


Pear chutney with lemon and ginger

2 lb pears
1 lb onions
2 lemons, zest and juice
1/4 pint cider vinegar
1/2 lb soft dark brown sugar
A piece of ginger root - size depends on how much you like ginger
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
sea salt
small amount olive oil

Chop the onions and soften in a teeny bit of olive oil, chop and add the pears and cook gently while measuring the sugar and vinegar, grating the rind of both lemons, and squeezing them for the juice. Also shred the ginger and lightly crush the coriander seeds.

Add all these ingredients to the mixture in the pan and give it a good stir, grinding in a little sea salt. Cook for as long as it takes to thicken, I used a potato masher to help the consistency along a bit. try it for taste - you may need to add some more sugar. Mine has too much ginger, but I did use a huge piece of ginger root. J won't like this particular chutney, he doesn't like ginger at all and the ginger is a dominant flavour.
Decant into warmed jars and cover immediately. Mop excess chutney off jars, self and work surface. Take photos of little row of jars and add to blog. Regret excess ginger.

Happy gardening (and cooking for winter storage)

Winter jasmine

It says it's 10 degrees C on my little temperature gizmo but today the fierce wind made it feel much colder. I spent some time pointlessly sheltering in the hut doorway, then just took a few photos, picked up two odd bits of rhubarb I've dug up for a friend, and left again. As I said, very quick.

Still, this winter jasmine hedge at the side of the hut was looking pretty. It's one of the two well established plants that came with the allotment and is largely responsible for holding up the hut.

Useful as well as good looking. On the other side is a honeysuckle that I've recently given such a ruthless pruning that it may not be so useful at hut propping anymore. A few more of these strong winds and I might find out!

Happy gardening

Rubbish

Much clearing up today. The bean canes are down now and the resulting pile of dead bean plants just in front of the hut has started off a dumping ground for other woody stalks and thorny branches I've cut off and pulled out as I clear up ready for winter.

We have to dispose of our rubbish thoughtfully on the allotments. I compost all the softer, greener waste but there are always going to be tough, spikey or just plain huge items of organic waste that would take years to break down in the composters and disposing of this stuff is a problem.

We've got no vehicle access to the allotments; we've also got a no bonfires rule. The choice lies between bagging up our rubbish and taking it home to be put into those green waste recycling sacks that the council will take or lugging it up to the far end of the allotments and leaving it there. We have an area that my kids always used to call the "wild woods" and I've also heard somebody call it "fairyland" (!!) that isn't cultivated but is used as an amenity by the allotment holders. Young trees have been planted there, somebody keeps bees in there, the compost loo is neatly hidden behind the Japanese knotweed and most of us take our green rubbish and add it to the existing midden between the trees. Eventually it will break down and compost too but for now, the pile is growing rather high! Today I produced spikey brambles, honeysuckle prunings and some horrible bindweed roots on my clear-up heap and all this will have to be taken to the wild woods as I don't want any of it in my compost, thank you very much.

Happy gardening