0502/2117 My allotment



My allotment is long and thin which makes it difficult to photograph it properly. This picture really emphasizes the middle part - there are lots of things hidden at the back and my lovely bbq area is behind the camera - but I suppose it gives an impression of the place. It's only a small plot and I've not managed to grow many new crops this year, but it's doing OK. My perennials and self-seeders are just about surviving the rain and the slugs.

I decided to write a list of all the useful plants currently growing on my plot, whether they are in season or not. Some (actually, quite a lot) are planted by mother nature but I harvest them as regularly as those I grow myself.

July 2012 flora, in no particular order:
3x apple trees (you can just see one next to the old greenhouse)
Greengage tree (in the dustbin to the right)
Rowan tree (blurry, front left, growing in a pot but I will plant it somewhere good one day)
Raspberries (planted for me by allotment creatures)
Redcurrants (cuttings from the woods if I recall correctly)
Blackcurrants (first ripe fruit today!)
Gooseberries
Strawberries (standard and alpine varieties)
Cranberries
Grape vine
Hop vine (wild)
Rhubarb
Jerusalem artichokes
Rosemary
Thyme
Parsley (self-seeding)
Chives (self-seeding)
Bay (I thought it was dead, but a new shoot has appeared)
Mint (various types)
Lemon balm
Lavender
Pot marigold (self-seeding)
Comfrey (for compost)
Nettles (wild)
Ground elder (wild)
Sorrel (wild)
Oxeye daisy (wild)
Dandelion (wild)
Horseradish (wild)
Hogweed (wild)
Hairy bittercress (wild)
American land cress (one of the few seeds that actually grew this year)
Red orache (self-seeding, originally from a fellow plot-holder)
Opium poppies (self-seeding)
Rose
Foxgloves (for decoration, they were a gift)
Parsnips (last year's in flower/seed)
Beetroot (last year's in flower/seed)
Alexanders (introduced from wild, struggling but persisting)
Leek (last year's in flower)
Walking onions (being attacked by slugs, not doing much walking)
Burdock (front left, introduced from wild)
Courgette (hanging in there)
Pumpkin (hanging in there)
A few pathetic beans (very slug-munched)
An almost-dead fig tree
An almost-dead lemon tree
An almost-dead chilli plant

I might keep this list for reference, and update it as new things appear and old ones disappear.

Considering the rubbish weather, and the fact that I do this on my own whilst also working full-time, it's not too bad really :)

0447/2125 Winter to summer solstice

Solargraph (six month exposure)

0446/2124 In praise of mint

The weather has been wet and rubbish, the plot is waterlogged, seeds haven't germinated, plants have been munched by slugs and snails, and some pesky little critter has been nibbling off all of my unripe strawberries and hiding them under the leaves in little piles.

At least I have lots of mint. It's reliable and it's tasty, and I really should do more with it.

Last year, my friend Miriam and I held a mint-tasting event (well, we had a barbeque on my allotment and there we sampled about eight varieties of mint and were amazed by the differences between them). My favourite has always been water mint - the type that grows wild by streams and lakes. It has a sort-of smoky/earthy flavour, a bit more sophisticated than the others in my opinion. I have it on my allotment now (which is almost like a lake) and yesterday I picked a big bagful to make water mint wine, which will be interesting at the very least!

As well as growing it on my allotment, I'm guerilla-gardening some mint on a patch of ground close to my flat. This plant was originally part of a mojito from a cocktail bar in town. I rescued it, then forgot all about it and accidentally left it in my handbag for 24 hours where it got slightly crushed and a bit thirsty (oops!). Still, when I remembered I put it in water and it rooted (mint is *so* easy to propogate this way, I've never known it not to work). As you can see, it's now enjoying a healthy teetotal life outdoors with plenty of fresh air and sunshine...

0502/2100

0532/2031

I have to admit I'm getting slightly tired of all this rain. It seems every time I go out I get soaked. Today I spent my lunchbreak dodging puddles and sheltering under trees.



In my wet weather walks, though, I've spotted rings of mushrooms and I've seen some amazing wild flowers - they can be quite dramatic when they all bloom at the same time. There are meadows full of cowslips near my home (see my previous post), and masses of garlic mustard, which I don't think I've ever seen in such lush abundance! I've also been noticing subtle differences in the way various leaves reflect the light - some give off a blue tint, others seem to glow a bright yellow-green. The contrasts in the fields and hedgerows are strong at this time of year, and even more striking after the rain.


Ground ivy


Hemlock


Silverweed

0537/2026

I think the cowslips were actually glowing, not just reflecting the light this evening.

0612/1958

I love my allotment. Today I noticed flowers on my strawberries and redcurrant bushes. I sowed a single courgette seed under a cloche. I weeded and chopped. I watched red kites soaring overhead, heard lots of scuffling and squeaking in the long grass, photographed a lizard and accidentally dug up a shiny green beetle.

Lizards are amusing little creatures. They know I'm watching - they cock their heads on one side to keep an eye on me but still let me get really close before they scuttle away. It's a pleasure to share my plot with them :)



This is my wildlife stick-heap, the lizard I saw today was sunbathing on it. For some reason I really like this photo! I know it's just a pile of sticks.