Clairesallotment's Blog

More weeding and watering. Tried a pea pod and they getting there. I’ll be picking some in about week I should think. Everything’s growing, even though we haven’t had rain since….. I can’t even remember it’s been so long. The greenhouse is nearly full, tomatoes, chillies, melons and aubergines are starting to flower, and I’ve got several small cucumbers growing. Exciting stuff.

Made Gooseberry jam today. Yummy. I made 1 jar in my bread machine, so if you have a bread machine check if it has a jam cycle, and if it does they should have a jam recipe, just change the fruit to whatever you have. It usually takes about 1 hour. Otherwise here’s a link to Delia Smiths Gooseberry and Elderflower jam. To give it a try, click here.

Picked some purple radish today and had a couple for lunch. Wow they were hot!! But very tasty. Apparently we were supposed to have rain today. It’s 4.41pm and so far no sign of any. It’ll miss us again. More weeding and watering today. It’s looking good and I’m feeling happy now that most bits are in and the weeds are under control. This afternoon I potted up more tomatoes for growing at home, still more to pot up, hopefully I’ll get them all done this weekend.
Have a great gardening weekend, and get it all done on Saturday, as we’ll be watching the tennis on Sunday if Andy Murrey’s in the final. Fingers crossed.

Can’t believe how fast the year has gone. Cycled again to the allotment today. Mark had the car again! Very energetic of me. It’s only a 15 minute walk away though, so not far. More raging war on the weeds. Managed to weed and water another big chunk of the allotment. It’s looking good, and everything’s growing well.

Cycled to the allotment today as Mark had the car. I picked all my broad beans, podded and froze them when I got home. They managed to get black fly on them. Next year I’ll plant them in January/February, and hopefully they’ll be too big when the aphids are about. Must remember to remove the new shoots when the flowers appear, as this deters them. I’m working through each bed at a time, raging war on any weeds. Once the bed has been de-weeded then I water thoroughly. I managed to do half the plot today, so a good day.

We had rain this morning wow!! Didn’t last for long though and wasn’t really hard enough to do anything. Went down the allotment this morning and as there were clouds about it was much cooler. I picked the rest of the gooseberries (mind their thorns), raspberries and mangetout. Strimmed more grass and weeded. Everything is growing well. Spent some of the afternoon in the greenhouse potting up more tomatoes. I’ve got so many don’t know where to put them. I’m sure I’ll find space.

Another hot day at the allotment, so I took is steady. Filmed harvesting your Gooseberries, that should be on next week. Ooh they’re yummy, can’t wait to make jam. I’ll put the recipe on the blog if you want to try it. Picked more mangetout and courgettes. Will have the mangetout tonight for dinner and the courgettes tomorrow. It’s all growing well, but needs a load of rain as the soil is getting very hard and digging any weeds out is tough. I’ll be up there again tomorrow, no rain is forecast for this area in the immediate future. It should be raining as Wimbledon is on!!

Spent most of the afternoon in the greenhouse. I popped in the house every now and then to see how the football was going, or to have a drink. Very hot in the greenhouse, but I managed to pot up all my various chillies, my melon, all the cucumbers, some of the tomatoes, and a few more strawberries. I think that was about it. Had to stop as dinner was ready.

Phew!! Another hot and humid day. Getting hotter over the weekend, but Monday looks slightly cooler. Picked enough mangetout for dinner tonight, can’t wait to eat them. Boil for 2 minutes, so they are still crunchy. Also picked the first of the strawberries and raspberries. So much flavour, fruity, very sweet and warmed by the sun. Checked the gooseberries, I’ve got loads this year. Tried 2 and they’re ready, will pick on Monday and make jam. Planted more tomatoes, but have run out of space in the beds, so need to get more cardboard boxes and tyres next week. Enjoy the weekend.

Picked my first 3 courgettes today, and there are loads of little ones growing. Best to pick them smaller rather than larger, much easier to deal with and no big seeds and they don’t taste bitter. Will be using them this weekend when we have a BBQ. More weeding, it seems never ending. The ground is so dry and hard at the moment some places are quite solid. Apparently it’s been the driest year so far since 1927! I don’t remember that though as I was born in 1974. I expect we’ll have a hose pipe ban this year. Never mind, hopefully the tomatoes won’t get blight.