Lilies and Mangetouts

Once again, the lilies are the outright queens of the allotment and look simply amazing this week.

In addition, the gladioli appear to be heading for the bloom and the first one to come will definitely be red!

The sweet peas have finally decided to bloom as well, which is great news:

And the wonderful K has managed to fool the pigeons/squirrels/mice (or whatever they are) by surrounding the coreopsis with a cat’s cradle pattern of string. Let’s hope it continues to work!

There’s good news on the sweetcorn front too – there’s been no more nibbling since K added the wire cage around them, hurrah:

Meanwhile, we have one autumn raspberry just starting to mature – I hope there might be some more to follow it at some point …

And we have a marrow in the making, hurrah!

The mangetouts are still going completely crazy:

Here they are at home, after I’d washed and trimmed them – we’ve only just finished last weekend’s bowl! However, we’ve found they’re very nice indeed in a stir-fry with spring onions, mint, mushrooms and even some crystallised ginger – or any combination of these that takes your fancy!

Here is today’s harvest – which is mangetouts, a lettuce, lilies, coreopsis, cosmos, carnations, verbascum, sweet williams and sweet peas:

Here are the vases at home. First, the lilies:

Now, all the vases together:

Have a lovely Sunday.

Anne Brooke Books

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The Allotment Snake Whisperer!

Never say allotment life is dull! I managed to rescue a female grass snake who was totally tangled up in some fruit netting on the allotments today. Luckily, I LOVE snakes and this was one absolutely beautiful. It took me about 5 mins or so to cut her free and then, after K had taken a quick snap, I let her go in the hedge. She slithered away quite happily. Just call me the Allotment Snake Whisperer, LOL!

In more normal allotment news, everything is growing fairly well, probably due to the whole week of rain that we’ve just had. However, some wicked creature has eaten all my lovely coreopsis, sob! I suspect a rabbit or a pheasant, but either way I’m not impressed …

However, the carnations have survived the onslaught, as have the cosmos and the verbascum.

There are more lilies in bloom this week, and the sunflowers have grown taller, hurrah!

The autumn raspberry area has now grown so thick that I can’t get in to weed any more. I just have to rely on spotting any tall weeds and pulling them out if I can reach them.

The lettuces are doing well and the mangetouts have exploded!

This week, we planted cabbages – which we’ve never grown before so this will be a voyage of discovery for us. We netted them which should keep off the butterflies and pigeons, we hope …

We’ve also planted out two courgettes – a green one and a round yellow one (which is already in flower!):

We brought leeks to plant but there is no room! So we have planted them under the climbing beans for the time being – though I suspect it will be too shady later on for them, so we may have to rethink it.

Here is the harvest of mangetouts, verbascum, lilies and carnations:

And here are the vases at home:

Have a lovely Sunday, and watch out for snakes, LOL!

Anne Brooke Books

 

 

 

 

Nibbly Creatures

Lots of nibbly creatures both on and off the allotment this week … here is the sweetcorn section where the middle is all but missing. Pigeons? Mice? Who knows. But we are not amused!

We also struggled with lettuce planting last week as the pigeons (or mice!) had had a good go at them before we even arrived at the allotment – you can just about see them here, still hanging on – just – at the bottom left of the really lovely lettuces (hurrah!):

Anyway, the beetroot section is doing well, and we even have one or two mangetouts lurking amongst the leaves, well gosh:

The autumn raspberries are growing well:

And the flower crops are doing well too. We have the first of the lilies out:

The carnations are still being totally amazing and I picked 128 of them – which is only about half of what I picked last week!

The verbascum is still blooming:

And the sweet peas we thought were a goner near the shed have a sudden lease of life:

Today, I planted the rest of the gladioli bulbs so that’s filled up a bed nicely. I also planted some coreopsis (which I picked flowers from before taking it to the allotment). They are a type called Golden Sphere:

Plus I thought I’d plant some annual flowers for the first time so here are four new pelargoniums – which again I picked before planting. I’m astonished about how beautiful the flowers are in a vase (see later) so will definitely do this again:

Here is the harvest of three mangetouts(!), verbascum, lilies and carnations:

And here are the vases at home. The pelargonium flowers are on the right between the carnations and the verbascum – I think they’re gorgeous. And the coreopsis are on the left.

Have a lovely weekend.

Anne Brooke Books

In Praise of Green

The allotment is really getting a lot greener at the moment, which is lovely to see. Even the flowers that are over have amazing leaves – just look at the tulips:

I also think the carnation is just beautiful without flowers – why do mine never form a lovely mound like this at home?? It’s a mystery …

Plus just look at the lilies – a simply gorgeous green:

Meanwhile the gladioli are coming along, and I planted another row today. I have two more rows (ie 20 bulbs) still to plant but I may well get more:

And look! The first pom-pom dahlia is pushing its way through the earth:

The autumn raspberries and currants are enjoying the weather (though it is a bit nippy today!) …

Sadly, some of the currants have rust fungus on them so K gave them a good spray today. It’s not a serious disease for currants and won’t kill the plant – we just thought we should give them the best fruiting chance we can.

The mangetouts and shallots are coming along nicely:

And there’s enough rhubarb for another crumble, hurrah!

Here is the harvest of asparagus and rhubarb, alongside two tulips and some sweet williams:

And here is the vase at home:

Happy Bank Holiday, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

Rhubarb Season

At last – it’s rhubarb season on the allotment and we’ve eaten the first of the crop today, hurrah. That said, I suspect we’re the last to harvest our rhubarb in the village, probably due to the fact we’ve not mulched it for a couple of years, wicked us … Will try to remember to add mulch some time soon!

Meanwhile the mangetouts are hanging on in there, and we’ve put slug doom on them today to give them a fighting chance:

Today we’ve planted lettuces and onions to add to the range of crops we’re growing. K netted the onions to give them some protection as there appears to be a secret onion chewer at loose throughout the plots – possibly rabbits, grr!

Meanwhile the autumn raspberry area is coming on well, and I’m trying to keep the weeds seriously at bay as it saves so much angst later on when I just can’t get in.

There are still a few daffodils about:

But it’s the tulips who are queen of all they survey right now. I do so love the striped ones – they’re amazing.

And even the lilies are looking hopeful.

I’ve also planted another couple of rows of gladioli that we bought yesterday, and I have another thirty left to plant over the weeks ahead. If I run out, I’ll get more as it’s nice to have some later blooms. Plus one of the earlier gladioli is already on its way!

Here is the harvest of rhubarb, tulips and daffodils:

And here are the vases at home:

Anne Brooke Books

Scented daffodils and tulip bulbs

The daffodils are really hitting their peak on the windy allotment today – and the first of the small scented ones are out, so that’s just amazing.

And the tulips are getting bigger, with some of them even showing buds, which is very exciting!

The rhubarb is growing:

Meanwhile, the soft fruit is showing the first signs of leaf, both in the autumn raspberry area and in the currant zone.

Not only that, but I’ve finally remembered to dig up the lupins for home and here they are with the daffodil harvest:

For now, we’ve planted the lupins in the cold frame in the back garden until we can work out where to put them but here is the daffodil vase – which is filling the kitchen with scent (bliss!):

 

Anne Brooke Books

The Windy Allotment

Very windy down at the allotment today – I thought the daffodils might get blown away when I was taking them back to the car, but they survived the journey, hurrah. Here they are in their beds:

The tulips are also doing well and have definitely grown:

But – guess what! – I’ve STILL not brought that poor lupin home – I will do it soon, really I will!

The rhubarb leaves are getting bigger:

And there are more leaves coming in the autumn raspberries, which is good news:

Here is the harvest of daffodils only:

And here they are in the vase – the colour is just so amazing.

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Anne Brooke Books