It lives!

I visited my allotment (in the rain) yesterday, and was pleased to find that my rhubarb has survived the winter. Normally the frozen waterlogged ground gets the better of it. I might actually be able to eat some this year! The best lunch I ever had was stewed rhubarb with a poached duck egg. Yum......



February half term is traditionally when I start to actually put some effort in after winter. The nights should now be light enough for quick visits after work. Everything is starting to grow again and it makes me happy!

Lumen prints

I've been experimenting with lumen prints. They are made on photographic paper without the use of a darkroom or any chemicals...

Christmas part two and new year part one

I am rubbish at keeping my blog up to date. Oops! Must try harder.

For Christmas-plus-birthday I got a brilliant present from my Dad: a food dehydrator. It's yet another kitchen gadget, of course... but to be fair I do use *most* of my kitchen gadgets... really I do!

Anyway, it's quite exciting! So far I've only used it for simple things, like dehydrating fruit to go with my breakfast cereal (apples are the best). I imagine it'll really come into it's own later in the year when I'm desperately trying to preserve all of summer's bounty. I think it'll be useful for making christmas gifts too. I'd really like to try candied fruits and flowers, and also fruit leathers (which get mentioned so frequently by foragers). When I make something exciting, I'll post pictures!

Since Christmas I've had very little time for allotmenteering, because mornings and evenings are so dark and I'm usually busy at weekends. I think I'm obsessed with sunset times though - I've been watching it get lighter and lighter every evening since mid-December, and now I'm just about leaving work in daylight again. This makes me happy! Soon I'll be able to visit the plot on my way home, and then the crazy gardening year will begin once more. Can't wait! :)

Christmas Part One

This year I managed to grow enough Blackcurrants to make a batch of jam. Hurrah! These little jars made ideal presents for my Dad and Nan. The alcoholics in my family got Greengage & Victoria Plum Vodka.



I also knitted scarfs (scarves?) but that's another story!

A gardening day

I enjoy winter gardening - finally a chance to catch up with everything! It's quite relaxing compared to the race and constant battle of summer.

I spent this morning on the allotment, generally tidying up and clearing out rubbish. I "pruned" some young trees which border my plot (I'm attempting to use them as living fence posts!) and made a big heap of twigs which I'm hoping will make a nice home for wildlife (especially lizards). I saw a friendly garden toad, which I'd have thought should be hibernating by now, but I'm happy for him to eat a few extra slugs before the really cold weather sets in!



This afternoon I decided to finally take ownership of a strip of land next to the carpark by my flat. It's not loved by anyone, and although I've occasionally pulled out the odd weed, I've always been reluctant to do much more. Today I cleared a big sackful of brambles and nettles, and I've decided it's time to make further plans...

I also removed a few of my neighbour's thistles... hope he doesn't mind!

Another attempt at homebrewing...

Last weekend Matt and I collected 2.7kgs of Haws:



I'm attempting to turn most of them into wine, following the recipe in Roger Phillips' "Wild Food". Stage one was to cover them in boiling water, and leave for a week, stirring daily. Stage two was to strain them, add the liquid to a sugar syrup with oranges and lemons, then introduce the yeast. I did that this evening. Now I have to wait for 24 hours before transferring to a demijohn then fermenting for... however long. I'm not convinced it'll work (as I've already done lots of things wrong!) but I'll keep you posted on my progress :)

Scrumping!

Well perhaps not strictly scrumping, because I think that means stealing from other people's trees. But I do like the word, and if I had a cider press I'd certainly be making scrumpy!



(The cat didn't help - she's just pretending)