Lottie and Dottie Sow Pumpkins

Posted on December 8, 2015 by clairesallotment

I’ve just got all the pictures through for my next Lottie and Dottie book from the wonderful Marijke Van Veldhoven. They are absolutely amazing and I love each and every one of them. Marijke is so brilliant at capturing everything so brilliantly and making what I’ve written so much better. Lottie and Dottie Sow Pumpkins is out on 5th May 2016, but you can pre order it now if you like, just by clicking HERE.

Here’s a little preview picture to get your green fingers twitching!!

Lottie, Dottie and a mystery bot all growing Pumpkins in their next adventure.

Lottie, Dottie and a mystery boy all growing Pumpkins in their next adventure.

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Friday 4th December 2015 – My plants are very confused.

Posted on December 8, 2015 by clairesallotment

Now it doesn’t take much to confuse me, as I’m sure you’d figured out over the time that I’ve been blogging and so forth. But it seems that the weather is really confusing my plants as well. I was up the allotment today digging over beds and trying to sort out one of my compost heaps. The weather is still about 10 degrees warmer than it should be and this mild weather is really confusing my plants. As I was weeding over the Asparagus bed I noticed some new spears trying to grow. Now at this time of year they should be dormant and having a big sleep to get all the energy they need to grow next year. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. If this weather continues what will that do to next years harvest? Will we get a bumper crop, or if they start to grow now and we have lots of harsh, late frosts will that mean that everything is ruined? Now I know I’m not that old, but, when I was younger I remember 4 seasons at the correct time of year. Not 4 seasons in 1 day. Well I guess only time will tell what happens. I’ll keep you updated on what happens. I’ve still got lots more to do before it’s all ready for winter (whenever that decides to come). All I hope is that we don’t them get a load of snow and it lasts until May, not that would really annoy me.

New Asparagus spears growing in December!! This isn't supposed to happen.

New Asparagus spears growing in December!! This isn’t supposed to happen.

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Allium Leaf Miner

Posted on December 3, 2015 by clairesallotment

Oh the horrors that lurk in your Onions, Leeks and Garlic!! You may remember that a little while ago I pulled up all my Leeks. If you don’t remember, well I did. I bought them home and gave them a quick clean off, and then put them in the greenhouse to dry off a bit more before I finally took their outer leaves off and got them ready for the freezer. I’ve spent the last hours swearing in the greenhouse (if you have delicate ears, I hope you didn’t hear what I said) and I was getting very cross, because as I was removing the outer leaves of my Leeks, on practically all of them I found some “Allium Leaf Miner Pupae’s”. I’m not amused!! These little buggers have only been around since 2002 and usually in the south of the UK! I’ll see what I can salvage from my leeks, but it’s not looking good. There are no sprays to prevent them, the only way to try and stop them is to use very fine mesh. Let me know if you’ve been having similar problems where you are. This is the second year I’ve had them, but last year wasn’t that bad. I may have to re think as to what I do when I grow them next year.

The horror of Allium Leaf Miner!!

The horror of Allium Leaf Miner!!

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Claire’s Allotment part 267 – Harvesting Horseradish

Posted on December 2, 2015 by clairesallotment

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Wednesday 2nd December 2015 – It smells so good!!

Posted on December 2, 2015 by clairesallotment

There are certain crops that you harvest that smell fairly nice, and then there are other crops that smell so good!! I harvested one of those today. About 4 years ago now I planted a small Horseradish plant which I got from Victoriana Nursery. It came in a 3 inch pot. It was so very tiny and small and looked like a baby in a king sized bed. Over the years it’s grown bigger and bigger. I’ve never harvested any of it, but have been meaning to. But today was the day. I nearly broke my large fork in the process, but didn’t, which is good. But I harvested my first piece. Horseradish you eat the root, which I know sounds a bit odd, but that’s the way it is. I love horseradish, and so does Mark and my dad. I am very proud to announce that after lots of pushing, panting and straining, out popped this little bundle of joy!!

My first Horseradish harvest. I'm so proud. Note the worm photo bombing!!

My first Horseradish harvest. I’m so proud!!

I’m assuming it’ll be rather hot, but will let you know when I eat it. I also harvested the penultimate cabbage, and some more kale for the chickens. Once this was done I started to clear the strawberry bed of debris. It’s good to cut away all the dead and dying leaves every year and give the bed a de-clutter. We all like a bit of space. Then it was home for lunch. I just missed the drizzle we had, so that would handy. I also managed to clear the bed where the Pop corn was growing this year, so that was also a bonus.

The old Popcorn bed all ready for winter. That's another one sorted, only a few more to go.

The old Popcorn bed all ready for winter. That’s another one sorted, only a few more to go.

Now it’s just mainly clearing and weeding, with the odd bit to harvest, but that’s basically it for this year on the allotment. Don’t worry, I’ve still got more bits to let you know about, so you can’t get rid of me that easily.

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Amazing discounts from Victoriana!!

Posted on November 30, 2015 by clairesallotment

I received an email from Victoriana Nursery Gardens today and thought I’d share it with you all.

20% off Fruit Trees & Soft Fruits – 10% off Everything Else!

Now is the perfect time for planting Tree Fruits and Soft Fruits – even more so this season considering the awful weather we have had in October and early November. And so as a ‘seasonal something extra’ you can claim 20% off Fruit Trees and Soft Fruits until the 6th December – by example that brings a single apple tree down to just £15.60. To claim this discount use the offer code AUT15 between now and the 6th December when shopping for Fruit Trees and Soft Fruits.

But if it’s not Fruit Trees or Soft Fruits you’re currently after you’ll be pleased to know that AUT15 will also give you 10% off everything else we sell! Just remember though that the code is only valid until the 6th December!

Giving a gift is, by far, one of the easiest ‘cheer ups’ there is (as is receiving!). It can often be difficult to find a gift that is just a little bit different. And so we have put together some really special seed packs that will bring a smile to any recipient’s face – whether they be a novice gardener or a seasoned pro. With packs for children – to budding chefs – to ‘herbal tea nuts’ there really is something for everyone, and definitely something for the person who thought they had everything! The full range of gift packs can be found and purchased from Credit Crunch Gifts

Not only are each of our seed gift packs unique, they are also discounted – making them perfect for those on a tight budget! Starting at under £6.00, even the most expensive of them is under £15.00. And if you order before 6th December AUT15 will give you a further 10% off!

For those who really want to take the hassle out of buying and giving presents, we can deliver direct to the recipient (and even add a gift card with the customer’s personal message for a small extra charge).

So that’s it for now – lets hope the weather holds out so we can all get on at this busy time of year. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Victoriana_NG for daily updates on what we’re up to at Victoriana!

They all look so wonderful and they are such wonderful people at Victoriana as well.

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Can you guess which ones are mine?

Posted on November 30, 2015 by clairesallotment

Now, you know when you go in the supermarket and all the vegetables and fruit look all so perfect. They’re the same size, shape and colour and there’s not a bad mark on them. What happens to those ones that are not the perfect size, shape and colour? Well the answer is that they get thrown away!! I know it’s just the worst thing in the world. Tonnes and tonnes every year go straight into landfill. All those people starving and we just throw away something that looks just a little bit odd. Whatever they look like, they all taste the same. In fact I have a theory that, the weirder they look the better they taste. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. So I’ve taken a couple of photos for you to have a look at. They’re parsnips, and one photo are supermarket ones, and the other photo are my parsnips. To be honest it won’t take a genius to figure out which is which, but have a go.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit B

Now I know what I prefer. They may not be as pretty and perfect, and they may have a few blemishes on them, but by God they taste so much better!! Come on, let’s bring back the wonky vegetables and the bizarre looking fruits!!

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What did I get up to on 23rd November 2015?

Posted on November 23, 2015 by clairesallotment

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Monday 23rd November 2015 – You’ll never see parsnips like THAT in the shops.

Posted on November 23, 2015 by clairesallotment

I was very pleased to be able to return to my allotment again today. I’ve been working for the last 3 weeks so have been unable to go. It’s surprising how much you miss it. Now that work has practically finished for this term, I’m able to return to continue where I left off. So I wrapped up very warm with layers, a woolly hat, scarf and gloves on and off I went. There was still frost on the ground when I left, but that soon went. It was only about 3 degrees and wasn’t going to raise much more today, but the sun was shining so that was a massive bonus. I’ve now harvested all my Pop Corn, so will strip all the outer leaves off and then store the cobs in a frost free place and away from where any mice can get them, for about a month or so. This will dry them out before I flick off all the corn and store it in the house. They’ve done fairly well this year, so that’s good. Much better than the normal Sweet corn, which to be honest was very pants!! I then moved onto harvesting the Celeriac. Now this went in very, very late this year, so I wasn’t expecting great things for it. And I didn’t get great things from it. I ended up with about 5 reasonable sized ones. Never mind you can’t win them all. Then it was on to the Parsnips. These I sowed in March I think, just as it was getting warmer. The germination rate varies year on year, but it’s not how many germinate, it what size they grow to. Now if this is anything to go on, then I’m very happy. The first one I pulled up was what I would call, proper sized, I had a couple of small ones, and then some huge ones.

The first Parsnip of the year. And the only normal shaped one!

The first Parsnip of the year. And the only normal shaped one!

One that looked like an alien, and one that decided to be a bugger to dig up. The reason being, it had decided to do the splits. But all in all a very good harvest. One had Canker, but I’m not worried about that one. I’ll clean them off and then cut them into shapes ready for roasting and then freeze them. Then when I need some I’ll just take them out of the freezer and roast them. After a couple of hours I came home because I was getting hungry and my toes were getting cold. I was wearing 2 pairs of socks, but clearly for my delicate little toes that’s not enough. I’ve got a couple of pieces of glass to replace in the greenhouse on my allotment due to storm Barney last week. I am please to report that the greenhouse stayed put, and just 2 panes blew out. I think with it being so exposed that would pretty good going.

Oh Barney you naught little storm!!

Oh Barney you naught little storm!!

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Claire’s Allotment – Part 265 – All sorts harvested!

Posted on November 13, 2015 by clairesallotment

Here is my latest video:

When I’m talking about Jerusalem Artichokes, see if you can spot my frog (bottom right of the screen).

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