Seasonal changes

On Friday I went to the plot intending to work but as usual I got distracted by photography. I was struck by how quickly things are flowering, making fruit and going to seed. 'Late summer' is definitely here...

Lizard!

A Common Lizard hiding (not very well, it has to be said) under a bit of weed-control fabric on my allotment. Taken this morning :)

General catch-up

I've just got back from a quick session on the allotment, and it's doing well. This year I haven't harvested as much as I usually do, but then I haven't put in as much work either! Notable successes so far include beetroot, blackcurrants, various herbs, a giant sunflower which was self-sown and my lovely little potted fig tree. My (once) wild burdock is looking good too - I'm quite excited about trying it. As usual, though, I'm struggling with carrots and rhubarb, and this year my beans have failed miserably too...

I was just thinking about my mulching system of old cardboard boxes covered with grass clippings, wondering whether it's really such a great idea. It provides a lovely damp home for slugs, and doesn't seem to deter the bindweed at all. But as I was tidying up a little frog hopped out, and just a bit further away a lizard scuttled over the warm dry cardboard. Then a cricket landed on my head. There is such a fantastic variety of wildlife on my plot, I really don't want to disturb things if I can help it. Even the slugs are interesting! As long as they're not too close to my salad plants.

I've done very little foraging this year. I always pick wild greens from my allotment, and I've had a few cherries and redcurrants from the hedgerow, but that's about all. Blackberries are just coming into season though, as are cherry plums, so perhaps it's about time I got my act together! I recently acquired an ice-cream maker, so now a whole new world of preserving has opened up to me...



Redcurrants growing in the hedgerow, click for larger image.

Vinegar prints

I'm working on a method of transferring the pigment from leaves and flowers onto paper using vinegar. This process is completely non-toxic and environmentally friendly, which is quite refreshing after so many years in the photographic darkroom. Here are some of my first results...

Allotment update

I spent yesterday afternoon in the sunshine happily tidying up the plot. My weeding strategy is to never pull out anything useful, edible, interesting, harmless or unidentified. In other words, I don't do much weeding! Although I do remove thistles and nettles for my own comfort. I enjoy finding self-sown herbs and unusual flowers, which I leave to grow on where they appear. My allotment has become a random jungle of curiosities rather than a collection of neat little rows of cabbages. I'm gradually learning which plants succeed there naturally, and I'm no longer bothering with those that don't (apart from a few exceptions which I keep in pots, like my Fig tree and my giant Lavender).

This morning I took a rainy trip to the garden centre, where I bought a little Bay tree to add to my potted collection. It's now on the allotment along with my three baby Kumquats which need some fresh air and sunlight after spending the first six months of their lives on my miserable north-facing windowsill. Let's hope they don't die of shock...



The photograph is of wild Ox-eye Daisies and Sorrel growing at the edge of my plot - both are edible as well as beautiful!

Why is there bread in my watering can?

Sometimes when I visit the allotment before work I find random items of food in my watering can. I've found bacon in there and I've found jacket potatoes, but usually it's bread. Who is stopping by my plot for breakfast but leaving their food only half-eaten??

Allotment update

I'm on holiday today but I got up nice and early (thanks to the cat) and headed over to the allotment for a catch-up.

I'm really behind this year - I've hardly sown or planted anything - but thanks to my recent strategy of concentrating on permanent/perennial/self-seeding crops there's still quite a lot going on!

My fruit bushes are beginning to flower; I have blackcurrants, gooseberries and some raspberries which spontaneously appeared in one of my large pots. My plum tree has bloomed and is already bearing lots of tiny green fruits. I bought a little "patio" apple tree a few months ago - lots of leaves on that and it looks quite healthy, but I won't get apples this year. I've also got a small crabapple with red foliage which I grew from a tiny seed, and two more babies from a juicy apple I ate at some point during the winter. One day I will have apples galore but for now I just have a selection of pretty trees.

The little fig tree I bought last year has (mostly) survived. One of the branches seems to be dead, but the rest of the plant looks quite healthy. There is even a tiny round fruit (or flower bud?) on it...



The jerusalem artichokes are already up (a very reliable perennial crop) but my globe artichokes don't seem to have made it. I should have protected them with straw over winter. The rhubarb made a good start but is looking quite slug-eaten and still too feeble to harvest. I really have no luck with rhubarb! My mint bed is looking brilliant already, but the wild water mint seems to be bullying the garden mint a bit! I also have lemon balm in there, which is looking good. Lavender, rosemary and thyme are all doing well in their respective giant pots and tryes. Happy self-seeded things include rocket, cornsalad, parsley and chives. And there are LOTS of wild edibles too including nettles, sorrel, ox-eye daisy, ground elder, hops and this morning I even found what I think is a morel mushroom (I left it alone though).



So far this year I've sown carrots, beetroot, runner beans (under cloches), a few herbs and a few weeds. I did actually sow weeds - I have a whole bed devoted to burdock. I'd really like to try it (you can eat the roots) but digging up wild plants is illegal. Let's hope they all survive the slugs!