A mini sprout harvest

Not much happening on the allotment this week though as a plus point we once again didn’t need to do any hoeing due to the frost earlier on. We did cut down the lily stems and add them to the compost bin, however. And we also brought some mulch from home and put this on the dahlias to see them through the winter:

And in exciting news, we have our first mini-harvest of sprouts! Just a handful to add to the beans at lunch but it’s a start. Sprouts of course are my favourite vegetable so my season has just begun!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone.

Anne Brooke

Perennial bed glory

Lots of flowers continuing in our perennial bed this week, especially those glorious dahlias:

We’re also pleased that the courgette flowers last week have turned into actual fruits:

We harvested some of the crop but left others to grow into marrows next week, LOL! The French climbing beans continue to do well though we didn’t pick as many as last week:

And those late peas actually have a flower on them!

So today’s harvest is: courgettes, French climbing beans, blueberries, alstroemerias, dahlias, roses and a few gerbera:

And here are the vases at home:

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend, everyone!

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Sprouts in August and traffic-light veg

We were on our own at the allotment this morning, so not a clue where everyone else is. And it was a lovely day to be there too – perfect weather. Mind you, I nearly got knocked out by a bit of our shed falling down very close to where I was standing, LOL! It missed me by inches …

I have placed it, nail-side down, near the perennial bed for mending at some point:

Meanwhile our asparagus bed has become a forest as we let them grow out until the end of the season. They gather strength for next year this way:

There’s more excitement in the courgette area now as, with this week’s rain, they have put on a bit of a growth spurt:

And my husband comes up with a whole new allotment game of making traffic lights with vegetables! My, how the long winter evenings will fly by, LOL …

It’s a beetroot, a courgette and (yes!) a sprout!

The gladioli bed still has some life in it and what a gorgeous colour this one is:

Though I fear our one surviving cosmos has been beaten down with the rainstorm and is now simply lying across the ground …

Today’s harvest consists of sprouts (in August, yes!!), the last of the French beans, beetroots, a couple of shallots left over from last week, a few blueberries, gladioli, one dahlia, that one sad cosmos, gazanias, sweet williams, and a couple of small echinaceas (at least I think that’s what they are):

And here are the vases at home:

Have a lovely bank holiday, everyone!

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Soft Fruit City

Got the last of our soft fruit planted in our new area today – three blueberries this time:

As you can see, we’ve watered them in well. So here is the new soft fruit area all planted up now:

I was a bit disappointed with the daffodils today, but there is definitely signs of growth in the rhubarb patch which is great:

For the rest of the time, we cut up more raspberry canes to put down on the weediest path, and I also did more composting in the bins.

Despite the daffodils not being in bloom, I did pick some which I hope will flower after a couple of days. Here is the harvest:

And here is the vase at home:

Have a great weekend, everyone! And Happy Mother’s Day for tomorrow.

Anne Brooke Books

The November Allotment

A very brief note today as I wrote it all and then it vanished, grr!

Here is the harvest:

And here are the vases at home:

I hope everyone is okay – or as okay as possible. I know November won’t be the month we were expecting but we’ll get through this – hang on in there, everyone.

Anne

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

Needing the rain!

The allotment is still needing the rain, though we did have some yesterday. Apparently, we should be getting rain all day tomorrow (hurrah!) so that will be wonderful if it happens. Nonetheless, the autumn raspberries are looking the saddest and driest I’ve ever seen them, so I hope they can hang on until tomorrow …

Anyway, in better news, the French climbing beans have even more crops than last week – it’s strange how they look so sparse, with hardly any leaves to speak of, and yet we keep getting those lovely beans from them.

Speaking of plants drying up, the sweet peas are nearing the end, but are still producing some flowers which is great.

The dahlias and gladioli are still going strong.

And the sunflowers are getting taller!

Here is this week’s harvest – which doesn’t include another white courgette, as I put it in the trug just as we were leaving:

And here are the flowers at home:

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books

The Dry Allotment

Very dry this week at the allotment. But the plants are bravely struggling on, go them!

Here is the beetroot, still producing a crop in these difficult times:

And the courgettes of course just won’t stop, LOL.

The gladioli are also doing well.

However, the sweet peas are really on their way out now, and I nipped off quite a lot of peas this week just to encourage them to flower a little bit longer.

The sunflowers are growing and one of them even has a flower head, hurrah.

Meanwhile, the scented lilies are on their way, just …

Here is this week’s harvest:

And here are the flowers at home.

Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Anne Brooke Books