A grand entrance

It has to be said that the approach to Hill Allotments is not the most attractive introduction to what is in store beyond the entrance. But for some months now, visitors and plotters alike, have been welcomed by the most magnificent display of colourful flowers (and the veg are pretty good too), thanks to Wendy and Carl, whose quarter plot opposite the gate, is an absolute delight. Talk about the wow factor! Thanks for making me smile each time I come to visit my plot. As I approach my own plot, it is the oranges and reds of the marigolds and nasturtiums that stands out, from a distance. OK, perhaps nasturtiums are also very attractive to blackfly and caterpillars, and their distinctly rampant nature needs some control, but their vibrant colours set against the dark (in this case) foliage just can't be beaten. I also know that they'll be popping up on my plot for ever more.

A & E came over for Sunday dinner, and we enjoyed some of the freshly picked vegetables. It was noted that the French beans in particular, (which I admit could have done with a minute or so longer in the pan) were rather squeaky when eaten, but they tasted pretty good. The variety of beans are coming thick and fast now. The back problem has more or less convinced me that next year, as far as French beans are concerned, I will only grows the climbing variety as they are so easy to pick. 'Cobra' is a good French bean, both for flavour and length of pod.

I was out with the walking club again yesterday, up high on the Waseley Hills. I told our leader, Judy, how 'homesick' I felt when we first moved down from Derbyshire. Neighbours kept asking me if I wanted a lift "up the hill" from the shops. Where was the hill? After a while I missed the real hills of the Peak District so much that Mike drove me to the Lickeys. I was so disappointed, I never even got out of the car. "Is that it?" I asked. Well Judy, the walk was good and we certainly did climb some real hills. The climbs and the views were quite breathtaking. Once home, and after a welcome cuppa, it was back down to the plot for some rhubarb and, yes, more beans.

Almost back to normal

The results of the best plots in Birmingham are in, and I'd like to congratulate fellow plotholders at Hill Allotments - Haydn (3rd) and Julie (13th). According to our Newsletter, there are about 7,000 plots in all. So well done you two! We are now awaiting the results of the Best Allotments.

The only advantage of having a bad back is that I have had more time to sit (which hasn't been that comfortable) and watch the bird and bees. As far as the bees are concerned, the garden has been a hive of activity and is positively buzzing with happy bees, especially around the bottlebrushes. I have four of these in all, grown from seed about 25 years ago, and by now they are fairly substantial. The bees are also enjoying the lavender, heleniums and buddleia, which is now in full flower and attracting butterflies too. I can't miss out the hoverflies, all around the fennel flowers. Strangely enough, I only managed to catch one bee (and that is a bit hard to find) between the two photos.

As for the birds, well I can only blame the tree rats for the fact that we have had to move the bird feeders from their previous position, where they were demolishing everything we put out, due to easy access from the fence. Now the seed feeder is actually closer to, and in full view from the conservatory, and as a result we can sit in comfort and watch the comings and goings of green and goldfinches, among others. Yesterday my favourites, the long-tailed tits, arrived en masse. For a few entertaining minutes they fly from tree to bush, from bush to tree, hanging upside down, feeding from insects on the leaves. One young bird did land on the fence and take a fleeting interest in the feeder, but instantly joined the others as they flew off elsewhere.

The back is improving slowly. (What a bunch we are at the bottom of the Hill. There's Eric with his foot and John with his leg!) Still, I was just about fit enough to dig up a few more potatoes for our evening meal. This time I decided to try some Vales Emerald instead of Rocket. I also harvested the remainder of the 'Stereo' broadbeans. I haven't been to sure about these, as the pods are quite small (and grow upright) and not as easy to pod as 'Aquadulce Claudia', but the beans themselves are of a far superior taste - very sweet, almost like peas. The young pods are, in fact, mange-tout. However, I'd ignored this fact as I had earlier been using up the 'Aquadulce', by which time the 'Stereo' pods had gone past the mange-tout stage. As for the mange-tout peas 'Sugar Ann', I don't think I'll bother next year. As sweet as they were, they weren't as productive as the regular peas 'Rondo' (which are just about over too). To accompany last night's meal (chicken cooked in a creamy sauce) we had cabbage 'Golden Acre/Primo', climbing 'Yardlong' and purple-podded (Ian) beans, along with Vales Emerald potatoes, which are far superior to 'Rocket', with a really good flavour. The sauce contained one of last year's shallots (I've still got a few left) and a couple of cloves of 'Marco' garlic. This year's shallots have been a failure, but the garlic (and I've yet to harvest the 'Solent White') is an outstanding success - fat, juicy and tasty cloves. The very last of the redcurrants and tayberries were collected yesterday too. From now on it will be beans with everything! As well as the previously mentioned varieties there are two types of runners, 'Red Rum' and some grown from Brian's saved seed (don't know the name, but they were very long), dwarf French and yellow Brittlewax. I can't see the point of growing too many runners as, in my opinion, they do not freeze well. However, I do enjoy them fresh (as long as it's not for every meal) and they do look very pretty!

I would like to be 100% fit again asap, so if anyone spots me lifting heavy weights (such as bags of horse muck!) please tell me off.

A bit damp in Leek

We returned from our second adventure with our 'new' caravan, yesterday afternoon. This time we went a little further afield - not much - but as far as Leek. The campsite was good, and now we've got the hang of things, we settled in very quickly (Friday afternoon). The first photo was taken at gritstone edges The Roaches, just up the road, Friday evening, and the second, nearby, shortly after as the sun was just going down. We were returning through Upper Hulme when I risked taking the third photo, although by now it was becoming rather dark. Earlier, we had driven through Flash which, at over 1500ft is claimed to be the highest village in England, and once known for prize fighting (often held at Three Shires Head), which continued long after it had become illegal. Flash was also a centre for counterfeiting (coins made by using button presses), and hawkers, known as badgers, once squatted on the nearby open ground, travelling from fair to fair selling their wares.

The Roaches (sometimes 'Roches' from the French for rocks) have only been known by this name for less than 100 years or less. Upper Hulme is a small settlement around what was, up to the early 1970's, a silk dyeing works.

We chose Leek as we were meeting up with our friends from Merseyside, and it was more or less half way for all of us. What a good choice it turned out to be, despite the rather dismal weather (with a few breaks between the rain). Although I have been to The Roaches with the walking club, we'd never been to Leek itself, nor explored the general area and now I'm asking myself 'why?', especially as it isn't that far away. What a lovely town, with so much interesting architecture, friendly people and beautiful surrounding countryside. We were lucky enough to hit on the monthly food market (worth visiting alone) taking place alongside an excellent antiques market. We had a good meal in The Cock Inn then on to Compton Mill, which is like an aladdin's cave, full of antiques, with a fabric showroom on the upper floor. Leek is renowned as an antiques centre and certainly lives up to its reputation, and we thought the prices were reasonable.

Our friends C & D arrived on Sunday morning. They'd booked in at The Three Horseshoes, just up the road. We'd took took them for a drive around The Roaches and had a good meal in Ye Olde Rock Inn at Upper Hulme, which was full of happy diners. The people on the next table had heard us talking about our holidays together in Greece, and it turned out that they too were Grecophiles, so we swopped a few stories before we left, for more exploring. C & D agreed that this was an area well worth revisiting. They called to see us on Monday morning, before we left for home and they went on to enjoy a bit more of the local countryside.

Unfortunately my back 'went' on Saturday evening (for no apparent reason) and I'm still shuffling round in the manner of Quasimodo. Tomorrow I should be travelling by coach to Winchcombe for a walk up Cleeve Hill, but I'm afraid I wont be joining them. So there'll be no work done on the plot, for a bit, apart from a little harvesting, as long as I don't have to bend too far.

Staunton Harold

For various reasons I'd not been out with the walking club for a few weeks, so it was good to be back with St Mary's long walkers as we set off across the fields from Staunton Harold on a warm and slightly cloudy Wednesday morning. The walk took us through parts of the National Forest, where there was a wide variety of trees and wild flowers, attracting plenty of butterflies. I was quite blown away by the mass of willowherb and grasses below the tall trees but, unfortunately, as we brushed past the plants the pollen sent me into paroxysms of coughing. It's a good job I took the photo beforehand! Thanks to Brian, it was a very enjoyable day, ending with tea and cakes in the courtyard at the Ferrers Centre.

Much as I like this hot and sunny weather, I'm wondering how long it will be before we have a reasonable downpour to freshen everything up, water the gardens and allotments, and re-fill the empty waterbutts. As we are on a water meter at home, I'm rarely use the hosepipe to water the garden, although there is a self-watering system (running for only 2 minutes in the morning and the same in the evening) for the tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and cucumbers in the greenhouse and a few plants around the side door. However, after the daily slog up and down my plot with two watering cans (I've never counted before, but it was 30 cans in total the other day), I arrive home quite exhausted (especially in this heat) to see the flowers in front of my house, in the window box and pots, are all flagging, as are some of the taller perennials in the back garden. My three water butts at home are now empty. There's nothing for it, but to get out the hosepipe occasionally and give all the plants a good drink. The way things are going, though, I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a hosepipe ban in general, and not just on our allotments.

The watering takes some time, and on top of this, everything is cropping so well at the moment that I seem to be spending even more time on my plot harvesting the bounty. Despite the drought, the weeds are flourishing too but, if I am to lead a life other than gardening, they must wait. Thanks goodness I left the flower bed at the front of the plot to its own devices. Apart from re-planting the gladioli, and putting in a few ornamental gourds, the self-seeded marigolds and nasturtiums are a blaze of colour, and need little attention, and are rarely watered, unlike the wonderful sweetpeas (which really do appreciate a good soak) continuing to provide me with bunches and bunches, to be shared with friends and fellow plot-holders.

I've decided that the 'on trial' blackcurrant bush will stay. It has produced little fruit since its rather drastic and necessary pruning last year, but what it has produced is of good quality and the currants quite large. Over the past two days I've returned home with potatoes, peas, broad beans, broccoli, turnips, carrots, courgettes, tayberries and blackcurrants - and even more sweetpeas.

Last night our lovely grandchildren came for a sleepover and what fun we all had. It's the simple things that give the most pleasure.

Phacelia tanacetifolia

Earlier in the year I scattered a few mixed annual seeds (purchased from the 99p shop) around my apple and plum trees. Apart from a few field poppies (which I love) and one or two marigolds, only one other variety of plant appears to have germinated, and until today I had no idea what it was. It is a most attractive plant with a good perfume and the bees and hoverflies love it. Incidentally, I had noticed a few of these plants at the front of another plot. Today I mentioned it to my neighbouring plot-holder Boula who had no hesitation in identifying it as 'green manure'. I've just checked out the various green manures, and can confirm that Boula was spot on. The plant is Phacelia tanacetifolia (Scorpion Weed, or Lacy Phacelia), and rates amongst the top 20 honey-producing flowers for honey beas, and is attractive to bumblebeas and hoverflies, so much so, that it would be a mistake to plant it too close to anything else which would require pollination by these insects as they would go straight to the Phacelia rather than the veg. The plant has an extensive root system that improves the soil structure, can be dug in before flowering, or cut down late and composted, and it seeds freely. As a cut flower it has a strong stem and lasts well in water. The flower form is very interesting and quite complex, and the leaves are fern-like. I'll be saving some seeds, when they are ready, so if anyone is interested, let me know. Well done Boula!

Surprise, Surprise!

Down on the plot, I've been picking plump and juicy strawberries almost every day, but it looks as if they are coming to an end now. Fortunately there were only one or two that had slug or snail damage, and the netting had kept the birds off, so all the fruit was in perfect condition. I spent two long sessions picking the redcurrants, some of which have been frozen for future use, and the rest enjoyed in fruit salads, along with the first tayberries. Now the blackcurrants are ripening up well, but I'm not expecting the bush to produce many this year. As for the fruit trees, newly planted about 18 months ago, there are 10 apples on the Queen Cox and about 7 plums on the Victoria Cross, so I'm hoping I don't lose too many and will get the chance to sample some of my first fruit from them this year.

We are enjoying plenty of broad beans, peas and sugar snap peas, and the first new potatoes, plus container-grown carrots. So far, so good. But just when things were going so well, along came the blackfly on the broad beans, which I'm reluctant to spray with anything, however 'green' it may be, as the ladybirds and their young are out in force too. I don't think they'll demolish all the blackfly, however much they gobble. So the only alternative is to cover my hand with a small plastic bag and rub the critters off. Disgusting! As I cut my first broccoli, I disturbed a number of whitefly. Nasty things! The cabbages are hearting up well, but there are the first signs of slug or snail damage on them too. But more good results, for after sampling the first garlic of the season, it looks (and tastes) like we'll be enjoying an excellent harvest. The courgettes and squashes are also doing well, and we've tested the first round courgette.

The front of the plot is colouring up as the gladioli, nasturtiums and marigolds come into flower. I had intended to completely change my colour scheme this year, but had second thoughts, as I suspected, quite rightly, that the nasturtiums would re-appear in force, from last year's seeds. This year I've added a few ornamental gourd plants, which are beginning to climb up their wigwams. It's been sweatpea heaven. I'm returning home with three or four bunches at a time, and sharing them with friends and neighbours. The house smells wonderful.

To spend an morning or afternoon (or sometimes both) on my plot, in the sunshine, seranaded by the birds, gives me so much pleasure, and more so when I can return home with a basket full of produce and an armful of flowers. So, to find out that I 'd come joint first 'Best Half Plot' was not only a surprise, but an added bonus. I'm honoured to be sharing it with Brian & Plum, whose plot is a delight. I certainly was surprised, because I was just thinking how good the majority of plots at the Hill were looking this year, and how well the new plot-holders have done. Well done to all the other winners. Let's hope we do as well this year as we did last!

Mike and I returned today, from two days away with our first caravan. We had a test run on a camp site on Cannock Chase, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I can confirm that we passed the test, and can't wait to be off again. Over the years Mike and I (and our two sons) have camped with a variety of tents, and a trailer tent, but now feel we could do with a little luxury. Our caravan is 17 years old, in perfect condition and beautifully appointed with even, would you believe it, a drinks cabinet, which was put to full use over our short break. So, as one door closes (no holiday in Greece this year), another one opens (lots of adventures in Great Britain)!