Well the second weekend in April is now over and now is the time I think for a quick look back. Sunday had me sowing a few flower seeds and I also purchased 2 blueberry saplings to plant out in pots later next week once I obtain enough ericaceous compost to fill two large pots . It would seem that this year I've sown more tomato seeds than usual some of which I've imported from America because they have long been extinct in Britain . I've spent several evenings pricking out tomato and pepper seedling with still more seedlings to be pricked out in to individual pots but has the evenings are still bringing frosts I'm limited o

It's been quite a while since I last updated my activities on plot 44 and that has been due to a whole range of issues that allotmenteers deal with from time to time - life . My grown up children are now studying in London & Liverpool , the dog has recovered from last year's spinal injury but still needs to lose weight . Allotment wise I've spent quite a bit more time than I would have liked on setting up a proper association on the site and for my sins ended up as chairperson this year . I've been sowing seeds since the start of February whilst also getting my plot back on track . There's still a long list of improvements/repairs that I would like to complete and I have been steadily carrying out improvements since the beginning of March replacing the fence and I've even managed to c

Starting your own garden seeds indoors in late winter will save you money and give your garden plants (vegetables or flowers) a head start when the weather warms up in spring. The price of wholesale seeds and potting soil will be far less than the price plants, plus you will have a more plant varieties to select from when you start with seeds. Buying vegetable seeds and starting plants indoors will also provide you with a unique opportunity to share seeds and seedlings with fellow gardeners or bring in some extra cash by selling plants in the spring. If you have the land space, consider growing more vegetables and flowers than your family needs and selling the excess during the summer for additional income. Save money (and possibly make money) by vegetable seeds in the summer sales a

With the heat outside it's nice to eat a cooling soup. No spending time behind hot stoves either! done in 5 minutes means more time at the allotment ;-) or garden or beach or... Serves 2-3: 2-3 yellow or orange (bell)peppers 2-3 teaspoons of Harissa paste (some pastes are spicier than others so to taste) 150grams of Greek style yoghurt 1 cube of vegetable stock and some hot water to dissolve it 6-8 spring onions (white and pale green parts only Salt and pepper Optional: 1 chilli pepper to decorate Chopped spring onions to decorate     Method: Dissolve the stock cube in a little hot water and let it cool Cut a few nice rings off the bellpeppers for decoration, chop  the rest into small cubes Cut up the spring onion. P

As the days are now getting considerably warmer, it is time for BBQs and Lazy days. Kicking back and enjoying your gardens, watching the Bees go about their business, the ladybugs help clean your beans of greenfly and hopefully, await the arrival of a hedgehog or two for the nightly slug patrol! As we indulge for a moment, why not throw the slow cooker on and add some luxurious homemade pulled pork to your BBQ menu? It is so simple to make and you probably already have some if not all, of the ingredients in your cupboard already! Here is my take the American Pulled Pork. Pulled Pork in a Crock Pot Ingredients 3 tablespoons paprika 1 tablespoons salt 2 teaspoons black pepper ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon dried thyme ½ cup honey ¼ cup re

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I had planned to catch up on my sowing this week and kicked it off with beans . I rehydrated some of the coco coir and I then used the hydrated coco coir to fill used toilet roll tubes and sowed various beans in them. On Sunday 10th May the following were sown : Runner Beans ( Streamline , Firestorm & Scarlet Emperor ),Dwarf French Beans ( Ferrari & Tendergreen ) , Climbing Beans ( Blue Lake , Borlotti (Lingua di Fuoco) & Cosse Violet ) as well as a Broad Bean . The Broad Bean , Borlotti and Cosse Violet (purple podded French Bean) were from seeds I had collected and saved from last year's harvest.                       On Monday 11th I finished sowing the following beans :

Due to incidents on May 2nd when our pet standard poodle fell down the stairs at home injuring his spine I was unable to spend any time at the allotment this week . Luckily for me the weather hadn't been favourable for outside work either . I did manage to pay a brief visit to the allotment on Friday 8th May and this was just to check on the seedlings were doing in the polytunnel. This year amongst the many "new to me"  vegetables that I'm trying to grow are Mexican Tree Spinach and Red Orach which I'd previously seen being recommended by Alys Fowler during her Kitchen Garden episode of the Great British Garden Revival series on the BBC back in 2014. Today I potted on these seedlings as they were getting too crowded for the seed tray that they germinated in.  It had to be noted that s

Firstly apologies for the long delay in my updates . My allotment has had to take a back step whilst we have been nursing our standard poodle who suffered a severe spinal injury after falling down the stairs at home on May 2nd. Thankfully against the odds he is making slow but steady progress with quite a way to go before I can walk him to the allotment but that is our target for this autumn. In the meantime I have six weeks of progress on the plot to write about so I shall have to pull my finger out this week and catch up on one week each day . The week began with me recycling plastic pop bottles and turning them in to windmills for use around the plot as the pigeon population seem to wait in the neighbouring trees for my departure before raiding the plot . There are vario

The weather has been very mixed indeed these past few weeks , scorching hot some days and hailstones falling the next . In the early hours in the north-west where I am we are still getting ground frosts which have slightly scorched the leaves on my early Winston potatoes. The plot is still not totally 'up to date' as I still have a long 30 point 'to do' list of maintenance projects and improvements that I would like to complete before the summer arrives time and weather permitting . During this fortnight I have been harvesting rhubarb , swiss chard , spinach and leeks from the allotment whilst at home I have been harvesting chives , rosemary , parsley , bay leaves , thyme , sage , lemon balm and purslane  . Hopefully this time next year I shall be harvesting more varieties of vegeta