Alan's Allotment

So I'm appreciating the scale of the task in hand now! I decided that the old tool shed had to go... the bottom slats and the base had gone rotten all the way round to the point that the outside was coming through to the inside! Once the roof was off, it literally crumpled. With half an hour before the dump closed I managed to get half of the old shed away. The rest is propped up ready to go next weekend.  I started putting up the new shed yesterday and got as far as levelling the base and putting the 4 sides up. This evening after work I've managed to get the door and roof on. Hopefully the felt will go on later this week. Now, I'd initially thought that I might be able to do something with the old shed and turn it into my new chicken coop over the winter, but alas it's not going to happen. I'll need to go back to the drawing board with that plan for the spring. The local DIY store managed to only deliver part of my hard landscaping order so a...

Well, my plans to become a serious and regular blogger didn't really take off... but I'm back now! I still have the allotment, and its been really successful but this autumn will be my last. After 12 long years, I'll be  saying goodbye. Why? No, I haven't realised my dreams of buying a smallholding and becoming self sufficient. nor have I opted out of the system and found myself living in a field surrounded by chickens. In the 6 years I've been away a lot has happened. I'm now married, and have just moved into a new house. we've been here a week now, and its got the most fabulous garden, in which I will be able to grow away to my hearts content. In the week I've been here I've already moved my compost heap and wormery to the new home, I've started on my powertool crusade and my belated birthday present of a greenhouse has been ordered. I'm so excited after living in a flat for 14 years with no outdoor space, to be in my element. I hope ...

So my autumn sown onions and garlic are all now a couple of centimetres tall, and my Broad Beans have started to poke through this week which is all good news. Unfortunately, with the mild weather we're having, a lot of weed seeds have germinated too so this week I'm going to have to get the hoe out and give the plot a good going over. All the compost and top soil we carted and spread was full of weed seeds. At least they're coming through now while some of the soil is bare and it's easy to hoe off. I've started pulling my first parsnips this weekend which, whilst being exciting, was also a bit of a disappointment as they were quite small (in comparison to those wehad last year which were as big as your arm!). More like long carrots than parsnips but still great flavour all the same. I'm still thinking about which potato varieties to grow next year. In looking at the catalogues, I think I might go for the £2.99 bags from Thompson and Morgans, rathert than th...

So as my 'To Do' list starts to dwindle as we approach November, I've got to thinking about projects for the winter. As much as I love the general potter around over the winter months, there are a couple of things I'd like to achieve before the hustle and bustle of spring. Project 1 and 2 I've got four currant bushes which are a little close together and really could do with a bit more space. I've got an area earmarked for them, and after a year of not using the old compost bin, I'ts time for it to become my new fruit bed. The old wire bin is going to be cut down to provide support for the path/bank area. The plot is on a slope so the bank is somewhat eroded and I hope the mesh should provide a little more support. I freecycled some roofing tiles to edge the new bed which will make it look quite smart when finshed. Project 3 I've got the bug for topsoil and I think I'm going to try and fill my last raised bed. Well it's not really a raised ...

After much anticipation, I've just sat through the first episode of Mr Fearnley-Whittingstalls new series. In preparation for the event, I prepared and cooked a shoulder of lamb using the recipe in his Meat book for our Sunday Roast which I can wholeheartedly recommend.  Cooking time was spot on - 30 mins at 230oC followed by 18 mins per 500g at 160oC. The shoulder was prepared with 8 garlic cloves and several sprigs of rosemary pushed into the meat. After the first 30 mins, a glass of white wine was poured over the joint, and 10 mins from the end a glass of water added to deglaze the roasting dish. I also threw in a handful of redcurrants for the gravy. I didn't need to add anything else to the gravy - it was delicious! I thoroughly enjoyed the programme and it was great to see one of the recipes I posted from his previous book making its debut on the programme. Although, I do think my version looked slightly more colourful than his if I say so myself....

After pondering a thread in which fellow allotmenters were discussing 'lessons learned this year' I got to thinking... Coriander seems to be one of those herbs you either love or hate - a bit like Marmite. Angela Hartnet has named it 'The Devils Herb' and this view is subscribed to by Tim Lovejoy on Something for the Weekend too. I must agree with them...I hate it too. But I have a very strong contender for second place - What do you think of giving second place to the Jerusalem Artichoke? To be honest, I think the only reason anyone chooses to grow it is because they are given a few tubers from a 'friend' and they stick them in. Does anyone actually buy tubers? Once they're planted, one feels quite proud as they shoot up, give a lovely yellow flower, and all from those couple of gifted tubers. But then what do you actually do with them when you harvest the hundreds that come from that small handful you were given back in the spring? A nice recipe is fou...

Monty Don advocates that any gardener worth their salt shouldn't need to purchase a gym membership. After the number of wheelbarrows I carted to and fro over the past week, I don't think I'll need the gym in a hurry. We had a delivery of manure yesterday at the allotment. As it never lasts more than a week after it's been delivered, I had to work quickly to secure my haul. I dutifully put several beds 'to bed' for the winter all tucked up under a thick blanket of manure and mulched the raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries and rhubarb. All in all, I made it about 24 barrowfuls that got put down. I know putting down a manure mulch is a contentious issue...but ours has a lot of wood shavings in and isn't too concentrated so I go with it. It keeps the weeds down over the winter, adds humus and nutrients to the soil and the fact I get a good harvest the following year means it can't be doing that much harm. Now it might have been OK if my b...