The Weedy Allotment

Goodness me, but there was a lot of weeds at the allotment this week – mind you, we didn’t manage to weed last week as we were too busy getting ready for the allotment show, but I think the recent rain has also had a hand in it. So we have done surely three times as much weeding today, plus we trimmed the edge of the allotment – as soon it will be the Allotment Inspection (argh, the terror, the terror!!) and we must NOT be found lacking …

Anyway, the flowers have rallied in the rain and the alstroemerias (Peruvian lilies) we planted earlier in the year are actually in bloom, though I didn’t expect them to do anything at all until next year.

The gladioli and dahlias are also still doing their thing:

And we have more sunflowers, hurrah! I do love the dark orange colour of these ones.

The lilies are growing taller, but I fear the promise of them being in bloom this year might well be fading … as they really need to get a move on as the weather is definitely autumnal now!

Today, we’ve removed the old sweet williams from one of the beds and planted about 60 new ones:

Hopefully that will give us a good crop next summer, as they’re just SO brilliant in the vases.

The autumn raspberries continue to look good, though to my eye there isn’t as big a crop as there has been over the last couple of years. Though, of course, they’re not quite ready yet.

The beetroot look straggly but the crops are still good:

Though look at our mildewed courgettes! The weather is really confusing them, I fear. We cut those leaves off after I took this picture.

Here is the harvest, which consists of various flowers, French climbing beans, courgettes, one lone potato, and some rather small (but very smelly – in a good way!) onions:

And here are the vases at home:

Enjoy the rest of your Bank Holiday Monday, everyone.

Anne Brooke Books

The Allotment Show

Friday 17 August was a VERY important day for the village allotmenteers as it was the annual allotment show, which is a great deal of fun and a chance to see what everyone else is producing and have a chat about all things veg and floral, hurrah!

Here are photos of our preparation – we put in entries for flowers, courgettes, beetroot and beans.

We also tried to see what our potatoes and autumn raspberries were like but, sadly, none of these were show-worthy.

Here are pictures of the produce and prizes at the show itself:

Anne at Show

Sadly our flowers and beans failed at the first hurdle, LOL, but we gained 1st price for our round yellow courgettes in the Courgette competition, and 2nd price for our beetroot, hurrah! Well done to Sue for gaining Best Entry for some wonderful beans, and to Don for winning the cup for most points.

Now we have a lot of soup to make with our entries!

Have a lovely weekend

Anne Brooke Books

The Struggling Allotment

Great amusement at the allotment today as I turn up with my chin swathed in stitches and plaster, LOL! (Long story short: handbag, trip, hard kitchen floor, gash, blood, lovely neighbours, doctor with needlework skills, no anaesthetic (arrgh!!!), the walking wounded. Doctor’s advice – smaller handbags and kitchen carpet. He has a point, hey ho …). On the plus side, I did instantly get to the front of the queue in the surgery, I gave the youngest nurse her first real-life experience of facial stitching (ah, my work here is done …) and the scar should be a talking point in the future.

Never say I don’t know how to have a good time.

Anyway, to the allotment – it’s all a bit sparse, sadly, as we approach the Allotment Show this Friday, but hopefully most of us will be able to scrabble around for something decent to be judged. I took a couple of long view allotment photos:

The beetroot also looks a bit sad, though there is produce there. Just not as substantial as usual.

The same can be said of the French climbing beans – we didn’t harvest them today as we’ll save them for the show.

On the other hand, the yacons (Peruvian ground apples) are looking good:

And the autumn raspberries are out in abundance – even some red ones this year, which for some reason the birds haven’t taken yet!

Here are the dahlias and lilies, both of which are having a difficult time in this up and down weather at the moment, I think.

Still, at least we didn’t have to water the plot today, due to the heavy rain during the week and also more is forecast for tomorrow, hurrah. So there’s a minimal harvest this week – small but perfectly formed …

Here are the vases:

Have a lovely weekend – and stay safe at home!!

Anne Brooke Books

First Sunflower of the Season

Hurrah! We have the first allotment sunflower in bloom and I just love the colour.

The gladioli are doing well and don’t seem to be bothered by the dryness and heat.

The lilies are a bit slow, however, though perhaps I’m being too impatient. They’re going to have to get a move on if they’re going to have any blooms this year, though if the heat is going to last till November, which I heard on the news last week(!), then maybe I don’t have to worry …

The French climbing beans continue to give a good and tasty crop. I do love topping and tailing them at home, as the noise of the snap is just perfect – like snapping a nice crisp Kitkat in half, LOL! Hmm, how weird does that sound …

The autumn raspberries are starting to crop very early now – and yes, they are supposed to be yellow. We’ll leave it before harvesting any though – as the birds never take them as they don’t respond to the colour.

Here is the harvest, which includes a few mangetouts, the French climbing beans, beetroot, courgettes (spaceships!), potatoes, and flowers.

Here are the flowers at home – the gladioli have been a party venue for the allotment ants all summer and today has been particularly bad. I now spray the flowers before we leave the allotment, sort them into the vase outside (to avoid ants in the house), spray them again, leave them a while and only then do I bring them inside. A bit of a palaver, but they’re worth it.

Have a great weekend!

Anne Brooke Books