Allotment Happenings

The allotment is a lovely place to be at the moment. I try and get there in the evenings after work - the thought of it makes me grumpy after a long day, but once I am there I love it.

 

 

 

I had such a late start because of the wet spring and our late spring holiday, but things seem to be catching up. Apart from the potatoes -I dug one up and the new potatoes were the size of marbles, despite the flowers being open-usually a sign that they are ready for harvest. I think this is due to the dry spell, so I for one am doing a rain dance and hoping for a few downpours. I don't water potatoes as  there are too many and the tap is miles away from my plot.

 

 

 

 

 

I picked the last of the strawbs - almost a kilo! Far too many to consume in one week, so I have frozen 2/3 and plan to make either jam or strawberry fro-yo.

 

The dahlia's hung on over winter from last year - they are just for fun, and the way this beautiful salmon pink-yellow one catches the late evening sunshine is stunning.

 

The pumpkins, butternut squash and autumn squashes are growing away nicely. We made such good use of last years' squash - six very large ones did us all winter as we made squash and spinach curries, roast squash, squash and sage risotto and even mashed it with potatoes for a bit of a change. I may have more than 6 this year but they also keep weeds down, so that's fine with me.

 

And finally a vegetable harvest - the first of the broad beans, still small and sweet. These will be eaten as part of a meat and two veg meal, put in a risotto with goats cheese, probably blended into hummus if I get desperate and perhaps tossed with some pasta and mint.

I am keeping a record of how much money my allotment saves me this year (see the tab at the top of the page). So far I am still in a deficit, but hopefully now the courgettes are nearly ready and the runner beans are coming, it will start earning it's keep.