Work in progress

No photos this time as any view of my plot, at the moment, is a bit dismal.  Still, I've made a start on putting it to bed for the winter.  Met up with my fellow plot-holders Pat and husband Nick over the past two mornings, doing the same thing.  The front of my plot is gradually disappearing under the , fallen sycamore leaves which, until I decide what to do with them, I've swept into a pile at the bottom of the roadway.  The compost bins and messy compost heap (now cascading over one of my paths) need attention, but what to do with the stuff I don't want to compost, such as all the autumn raspberry canes, which I've started to cut down?  I've already got two bags of rubbish, and a further one containing the dismembered scarecrow awaiting disposal but, without a car, what do I do with them?  I did remember to take a mallet down with me, and it was much easier than using a brick, when straightening the leaning arch, and the collapsing fruit cage.

Two jobs need special attention.  I have decided to move the raised water butt which Mike had set up to feed a drip hose, which I haven't used for ages.   As a third butt in a run, filling from the gutter on my shed, I will be able to store even more water.  Then there's the shed, looking rather tired and unloved and in need of a new green coat.  I've got enough shed paint - just waiting for a dry day, and some incentive. 

Before leaving yesterday I dug up some good looking (and hopefully tasting) parsnips and, on the way past Nick's plot I couldn't resist helping myself (with his approval) to a couple of squashes he had for the taking.

Sad news.  Robert, from 3B, called at my house on Sunday, to tell me his partner Fred had died suddenly, at home, on Friday. 

Next job - make some Blue Hubbard squash soup for lunch. 

Autumn at Hillwood, and the AGM

I'm loving the cold, clear and crisp weather and it's an opportunity to take some photos of the trees changing colour.  It's especially beautiful later in the afternoon, just as the sun is going down and low enough to light up the trees at the top of Hillwood Lane.  Blink, and you've lost the moment.

Last night was our Hill Allotments AGM and there was a really good turn out.  This past growing season had been quite a contrast to the previous one.  It appears that many of us were overwhelmed by the amount of courgettes we produced.  Will this be a lesson to grow just two plants next time?  Still, it brought out the inventive chef in us.  Paul suggested that we should submit recipes (not just for courgettes), using our fruit and veg, towards producing a booklet to sell towards funds for the allotments, was a very good idea - courgette curry, cake, fritters, pasta, soups etc maybe?  There were a number of cups and shields awarded to some very well deserving plotters and, as usual, Jason topped the lot, for all his dedication.  The scarecrow competition and the harvest supper are to carry on next year and, hopefully, into the future.  These events brought us all together, and there definitely was more social interaction between the plotters this year.  There were some excellent photos of plotters on their plots, on display.  I loved the one of Hazel admiring her beans!  After all the talking, there was a table full of refreshments to tuck into.  Well done to all the Committee for their hard work over the year.  Well done to us plotters for all our hard work too!



Autumn kitchen

 

There I was thinking I had harvested all my grapes, made lots of grape jelly, juice, and frozen the rest for future use, when I realised I'd missed the vine that grows along my garage wall, bearing not so many bunches as the other, but what there were, were much larger and heavier.  I've no idea what variety this vine is, as it was a 'lost label'.  The grapes look really tempting, but taste far too sharp for eating.  However, they do make good jelly.  Just six large bunches weighed in at 3k.  I had to move a lot of stuff round in the freezer to accommodate them.  I'm gradually working my way through all the fruit and veg I've frozen over the past year - there's not even room for a spare loaf of bread in there at the moment.

 My plot was looking a bit worse for wear when I called down on Sunday.  The poor scarecrow had fallen off her chair, and collapsed in a heap alongside her bottle of wine, looking completely out of it.  I gathered her discombobulated remains and piled them up for future collection.  The arch, supporting my clematis, was also leaning rather drunkenly and it appeared that one of its 'legs' had rotted off so I had to do a temporary repair, supporting it with a wooden post, knocked in with the back of my spade.  Made a note to take a mallet down with me next time, as this wasn't the first time I'd had to use the spade - or a brick. Thought I'd taken down all my bean wigwams, but no, there are still two to remove.  As for the fruit cage over my currant bushes, well that looked even worse than the scarecrow and arch. Looked a bit like someone had taken it out on my various structures, or maybe it was just the wind.  Thinking of calling down after I've blogged, to sort things out a bit, before it goes cold and dark. 

There were lots of ornamental gourds to collect, so many in fact that I couldn't carry them all home, and left some in the shed for the next visit.  I'd already got three smallish, but heavy Blue Hubbard squashes, four butternuts and, would you believe it, the last.....the very last.....four courgettes, to carry. 

Yesterday I roasted two of the Blue Hubbards, and once cooled down, scraped out the flesh to freeze for future soup making.  As there's no room to squash in the squash, I will have to take something out of the freezer first!

It's the most beautiful afternoon, and I've been incarcarated indoors all day, doing this and that, entertaining a friendly neighbour, and have just answered the door to yet another man in a van who has an uncle who may be interested in my caravan.  Are all these people related to each other or something, because this seems to be the standard story.  I've experienced it three times now.  Firstly the so-called interested party asks me if the caravan is for sale (a bit dumb as it has a notice in the window reading 'FOR SALE'), then asks me if it is a Buccanneer (even dumber as that is pretty obvious that is what is called), and finally they ask the price, and then ask what I am prepared to take, so I reply 'the price I have just given you'.   Also, they are all tree pruners, and during the enquiries, suggest that my trees need pruning, so I tell them that I do my own tree pruning - thankyou!  This latest one asked to look inside, then shut all the doors I had left open, and shut and locked the fridge, so when he'd left I had to open everything again.  Grrrrrrrr!  Please, please send someone decent to buy my beautiful, old but perfect caravan, so I can relax from the defensive attitude every time a man (plus, usually a school age  boy passenger) in a van pulls up at the end of my drive.

I'm off!

The new Birmingham Library .........and more courgettes!

View from the rooftop garden of the new Birmingham Library

 

The rooftop garden



 

And another view

 

And as for the courgettes, well I called down to the plot on my way for the paper and, guess what, six more large courgettes were waiting for me.  Now that should be the end of them .....I think.  I also collected more runner beans and the last of the borlotti beans. I took  the opportunity to barrow down a few more bags of horse muck too.  Quite a lot of the veg have gone into a lamb curry which is filling the house with its aroma and making me very hungry, so I'm off now to finish off the meal.  I've also got grape juice dripping through a muslin bag, which I'll leave overnight.





The Big '70'

Well, I've reached yet another milestone in my life this week and don't feel any different.  OK, maybe the joints are creaking a bit, but I'm fairing quite well for what, I suppose, is classed as an 'elderly' person.  I didn't want a big fuss, but enjoyed the company of my family on the day. Yesterday  I had a surprise visit from a good friend, and a day out in Birmingham with another, and there is more to come..........but it's all a big secret, arranged by my family.    I don't know what happened to the weather on the day, as it really let me down this year.  I've spent quite a few birthdays, enjoying the sunshine, in the garden, this time it was pretty dreadful.  Yesterday wasn't too bad at all, and my friend and I were able to wander around the rooftop garden (lots of grasses, sedums, salvias etc) of the new library in Birmingham - a superb building.  We were even lucky enough to meet her son-in-law who is a curator there, and was 'in charge' for the day, so he showed us round.

I've advertised my caravan in the local papers, so if any of my fellow plotters are interested, please get in touch.  It's 20 years old, but in excellent condition and has only had 3 owners (including me and Mike).  At the moment, with the 'For Sale' notice in its window, it seems to be attracting all the passing opportunist types (generally in unmarked white vans or trucks) who are hoping I'll be a soft touch and will let them have it for silly money, but I send them packing.  Unfortunately it's not the best time of the year to try selling it, but it's worth a try.  I may have to give up and start again in the Spring. 

I'm hoping it might brighten up a bit this weekend.  I've made a start on the plot, clearing away the bean wigwams, and weeding.  As I haven't visited it for a week or so, I'm wondering if I've seen the last of the courgettes, or if there are any more, lurking under the leaves.  This week I gave away what I think may be the last of the giant ones.  The jam factory has been in operation again and, fortunately, I've managed to give away some of the finished product, as it looks like I'll have to make even more.  This time it was more raspberry (releasing a bit more room in the freezer) and some grape jelly.  It wasn't a lot of fun, standing on a chair, outside my back door, collecting the ripe grapes in the pouring rain - and there are loads of them still left.  We used to make wine with them, but I really can't be bothered trying to keep it 'going', as there's nowhere I can keep it in a constant temperature.  Grape juice is much easier, and that has been pretty successful.  I can freeze it for future use too.

Must check out the tulip bulbs I dug up earlier in the year, so that I could replenish their permanent flower bed. I'm hoping they are still in a good, dry condition, in the shed.   At the moment it is full of white cosmos, still flowering well, but that will have to come out soon, so I can replant the bulbs.   Then, once again, it's time to clear out the greenhouse, give it a good clean, and fill it up with the tender plants from the garden.  I must say, I've never had such a prolific tomato and chilli crop.

Harvest supper

 

What was waiting for me to harvest, after my return from Scotland - six oversized courgettes, two cucumbers, runner beans, raspberries, tomatoes and sweet peas.

 Look at all that lovely food, produced by the plotters at Hill Allotments!

Two celebrations

 

 

 

Just returned from a week on the Isle of Mull - an early birthday present from my sister and husband.  The weather wasn't too kind but it didn't stop us getting out every day, togged up in full waterproofs.  Occasionally the squalls blew away the rain clouds, the sun came out and the white sand beaches and blue sea looked just as it does in the photo above.  We stayed at The Longhouse (the low, stone building in the centre), Kintra, with this lovely view outside our windows.  We had hoped to see the visiting otters, but we were out of luck (although we did see fresh tracks on one of the beaches), and we only spotted one seal from the windows, but there were plenty of birds, including diving gannets to watch.

 

Dont be fooled by the blue skies because when it did rain, did it rain, and blow, and go cold enough for me to wear a hat (almost unheard of).  But even during the storms, the scenery was quite wonderful

 We were down on the south-west part of the island, so Iona was just a short crossing on the ferry.  Somewhere I have always wanted to visit, and it was everything I had hoped for.

After visiting the Abbey we walked to a beautiful beach, where my sister and I got our watercolours out, only to be caught in another shower of rain, so my attempts got washed away.  Still, I enjoyed searching amongst the wide variety of stones, among the rocks, for little pieces of greenish Serpentine, or Iona Marble.  Back on Mull, we did a walk along the coast one day (the wettest experience) to The Nuns Cave, where the nuns from Iona took refuge when they were banished from the island, for being too much of a temptation to the (sexist) monks!  Entering under a waterfall, the walls had a number of carvings, including crosses, masons marks, and a sailing ship.  The floor was deep in feral goat poo and covered in goat bones and carcasses.  Lovely!

 Back to reality - and my first visit to the plot on my return was a little too productive.  Despite collecting as much as I could before going away,  I struggled home, with frequent stops to rest, with six very large courgettes, lots of runner beans, windfall apples (next job is to pick them all), some rather ugly and marked, large tomatoes (which have made excellent soup) and a large bunch of sweet peas.  Tuesday night was the American style Harvest supper, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Hill Allotments.  It turned out to be very good, with a wide variety of food and drink, made from the fruit and veg we'd all produced over the season, and a lovely display of squashes etc and autumnal flowers.  Successful enough to repeat next year - and hopefully each year.

Back at home the tomatoes are a great success, and the chillis ripening nicely.  But I need to do some serious gardening as I am ashamed of the display in front of my house. Weedy drive, long grass with toadstools and a bed of dandelions in front of the garden wall.  I'm just waiting for some motivation.



Harvest time

  It was harvest time, across the road, a few days ago - a rather hazy photo from my bedroom window, but the air was full of dust from the activities.  Unfortunately, if I am not mistaken, next year's crop should be the disgusting (but apparently very profitable)   rapeseed.  Still, I would much prefer that to a field full of houses, as threatened! 

 

  Came back from the plot yesterday with a large container of raspberries, plus a few blackberries I spotted hanging over the fence as I walked back up the path, even more courgettes, three bunches of sweetpeas, three lovely, white gladioli (to give to my friend Debbie as it was her birthday), and 'Sweet Aperitif'' tomatoes and a cucumber, from the greenhouse at home.  In the greenhouse the garlic is drying off, ready for plaiting together - it's very fat and juicy and much better than last year's.

 

 



 

 

 

The two grapevines at the side of my house are looking very promising for a good harvest in mid October.  I must do something with last year's grapes in the freezer before then though.  There are just about enough for some more grape jelly.  As well as the tiny, and very prolific 'Sweet Aperitif' I am also growing 'Pomodoro' tomatoes in the greenhouse (and on the plot), and this morning I enjoyed the first ripe one, sliced, with a little salt and olive oil, on toast.  It made me think of Mike, as this was one of his favourite breakfasts.  Delicious!

Last Monday A & R took me to see their forthcoming wedding reception venue, where we met up with R's parents.  What a delightful place, and something to really look forward to - can't wait.  Then we all came back to my house for a meal, which I had prepared earlier.  Using one of those sneaky courgettes, which hide under the leaves and grow into mini marrows, I sliced across it, into four pieces and then, by scooping out most of the inside, but leaving a base, I basted them with a little olive oil, and left them to soften up in a hot oven, while I cooked down a mixture of mince, onion, garlic, tinned and fresh tomatoes, the scooped out remains, oregano, basil and paprika, and some stock and thickening.  Then the little 'cups' were filled and returned to the oven for a bit longer.  When we returned home, after our day out, I grated cheese on the tops, and returned them to a hot oven while I prepared and cooked some new potatoes (must grow some next year) and french beans from the plot.  After our meal, the R & S and our grandchildren turned up, and we all caught up wedding preparation talk, and holiday experiences.  A lovely evening.

Wednesay's walk with Mollie and Frank was from Lyth Hill in Shropshire, with panoramic views towards the Welsh Hills.  The hedgerows were already full of ripe blackberries, with lots more to come, sloes, damsons and crab apples.   In one of the little villages, Mollie took us to look at these interesting buildings, complete with old petrol pump.  Whilst most of the footpaths were well marked and used, there were one or two which gave us the distinct impression that the local land-owners were not too keen for us to find them, even though they were marked on the maps. Fortunately, on their first walk in this area, had persevered down these unmarked and overgrown paths, in their efforts to find their way, according to the map, but I had to agree with them, that if, by lack of signage these paths were missed and unused in the future, they could possibly be lost for ever.

 Yesterday I actually got round to a day of of jewellery making, and feeling quite creative (sometimes things don't go well) I produced quite a few items.  The creative feeling is still with me today, which is a bit unfortunate, as I really ought to get some gardening done, as planned.  I'll never get anything done if I keep blogging, will I?  And now I have to catch up with the jewellery blog!



Having a lazy day

I'm not out walking, as usual today, as I have been feeling a bit under the weather over the past few days, so I decided to have a day off.  Last week Mollie led a walk from Repton, in Derbyshire and we stopped off to look at St Saviours at Foremark.   Luckily for us the doors were open, as there were men cutting the grass outside.  What a little treasure.  Consecrated in 1662, St Saviours was one of the first churches to be built in England after the Restoration of the Monarchy, and the estate church of the Burdett family of Foremark Hall.  Inside is very simple, with box pews, a triple-decker pulpit, and a period screen with some interesting, old glass.

It was a delightful day, walking in perfect conditions, through fields of ripening barley and wheat, with lots of butterflies and birds.

Here we are, just stopping for lunch, on the edge of a track.

 

 



Hill Allotment Show

Our annual allotment show was held on Sunday, and this was to be a rather special one, to celebrate the centenary year of Hill Allotments.  Apart from a little, light drizzle early on, we were lucky with the weather, and the plots were looking neat and tidy and very productive, and decorated with bunting and a selection of scarecrows.  Inside the social club, tables soon filled up with competition entries.  There was a BBQ outside, and live music in the clubhouse.

 



 

 

Flowers and plants were set out in the conservatory, where the sweet pea entries soon filled the air with their perfume.   I just happened to have a little jug which matches the colours of my sweet peas perfectly but I forgot to present my flowers 'to full frontal effect', unlike the deserving winner.  Mine was more an 'all rounder'.

 

 Here are my 2nd prize beans.  Not a bad result, considering Jason (who wins multiple prizes each year) came 1st!  My beetroot were a bit pathetic, but I am enjoying eating them.

Outside, there was a BBQ and inside the clubhouse we were entertained by Martyn Brown and his very talented family of musicians.

It was good to see so many visitors 
wandering around admiring the plots, which are looking pretty good at the moment.  After all, we did come 2nd in all Birmingham (and 1st last year).



Apologies to Brian and Pauline, as I cannot work out how to rotate the photo of your beautifully dressed lady detective (forgot her name) scarecrow, so she is lying on her side at the moment.  Tips please.  And here are some others, including Hazel's 'Grumpy George' complete with gold balloon, and my own entry 'Party Lottie from the Plottie'. 

 















 Visited the plot this morning to harvest more veg, and took a few photos.  The wild life is pretty interesting at the moment.   At the front of one plot is a clump of ragwort, which is considered as a real problem where horses are grazing.  However, this clump is, at the moment,  alive with bees and cinnabar moth caterpillars.  I'm looking forward to seeing some of the moths.

 On my own plot, the runners are doing very well.  I have no idea what variety they are as the seeds were originally from plants grown by Rhubarb Brian (he'd bought them from a nursery at Canwell).  I just call them 'Brian's extra long beans'.  They taste very good and are not at all stringy.

As mentioned before, there will be no cherries (the tiny cherries all dropped off) and only about 4 or 5 plums on my trees this year.  The  plum tree is covered in aphids and a real attraction to ladybirds (what is going on here, with two different types of ladybird, apparently mating?), and lots of wasps taking advantage of the honeydew produced by the aphids.l
 

My apples (variety 'Queen Cox') look pretty good at the moment though.  I hope they aren't full of grubs etc, when I come to harvest them, as I don't take any precautions against pests etc.   I must make more effort, next season.  It seems very quiet at the bottom of the hill, without John Badger around.  He used to call Boula, who took over his plot, his 'little butterfly' which is an apt description, as she flits back and forth between her plot at The Hill and her other one near Kew Gardens.  When she turns up, with her cheery smile, we catch up with all the latest, then both settle down to our work on our plots.  John was a lovely man but even he would agree that his plot was a bit like Steptoe's yard and quite hazardous at times.  Now Boula has made her mark on it, and filling it with enough beans of various varieties, garlic and coriander, to feed half of Thailand!  Nothing goes to waste - she uses lots of wood prunings to support her beans, and has even provided the grape vine with something to climb along, at the side of her shed.  She's been missing for a while, so I expect I'll meet her down on her plot soon. During her absences she never depends on anyone else's help, altho I do like to keep an eye on things for her.  Once she is back, and within a day or so of hard work, her plot will be back in shape, as usual.  

 

.On the other side of my plot is Scotsman, Eric or, as I call him 'Farmer Eric'.  With little fuss, he just appears occasionally and sows his veg seed, and before you know it he has wide swathes of perfect looking vegetables.  Just look at them!  Then next to him is Brian, aka 'Rhubarb Brian' by Hazel, prob due to the fact that when he took over his plot he had a vast quantity of rhubarb growing at the front of his path.  In fact, this has now been replaced in the main by a large brassica bed, protected from the pests and predators with plenty of green and blue netting.  I couldn't resist a photo of the ripe aubergines in Brian's greenhouse.   Brian (as already mentioned in Hazel's Blog) has very kindly filled my rather bare and patchy paths with lots of new bark chips, for which I am very grateful.  Looks so much better now.

 

 

Opposite the gate we are welcomed with a colourful display of flowers and hanging baskets,



and further up the hill,  I just had to take a photo of Julie's beautiful lilies.

 And to finish off, this Veronica was covered in bees.  There is plenty of wild life at The Hill - and that includes the slugs and caterpillars that are eating away my brassicas, the blackbirds nicking the first of my autumn raspberries and as for the pigeons ....................

 

Meanwhile, back at home, the cakes made for the show are quickly disappearing, some of it to my sons and family, and the rest.......to me.  Hazel did suggest that maybe that was why I was feeling under the weather.