Revisiting the Vegetable Challenge?

Last Christmas, supermarkets had a special on certain vegetables, much cheaper than usual;  this has happened for a few years in a row and we knew to stock up.  So for about four days, we went in and bought around 10 kg of various fresh veg;  we froze some, dehydrated some, and kept the rest for fresh eating.  It was mostly carrots, parsnips and swede, but a few kgs each of potatoes, cabbage and Brussels sprouts too.  So obviously, 10 kg a day for four days was about 40 kg in less than a week.  We were in production mode for several weeks afterward, keeping the dehydrator and freezer trays going.

But here's the thing:  we still have nearly all the dehydrated carrots, parsnips and swede in the cupboard.  It's not that it's inconvenient to use;  on the contrary, it's so easy to just tip some into a stew (and we eat plenty of stew!), curry, stir fry, whatever.  And I haven't forgotten it's there either--it's just that this year I've had so much fresh veg from the garden, my dehydrated veg hasn't been needed.

In past years I've done a no-buy vegetable challenge for several months at a time, eating only veg we grew ourselves, were given/traded, or otherwise got for free.  The longest we officially went without eating bought vegetables was seven months (however, I did buy some veg at the six month mark, which officially broke that challenge).  This is something for myself, setting and keeping my own rules;  I stopped doing it after Brexit because of food security worries (luckily unfounded, at least so far).

So this year yet again, no official challenge, yet we really have gone nearly all year without buying much veg;  the only vegetables I've put on the list are onions, something I still haven't succeeded with yet--and one weekly carrot for the small daughter's lunchbox (somehow I didn't buy carrot seed until too late for this spring).  

We really could have gone without these two, although I would have missed onions, as I use them every day (I'm trying again next year).  My freezer is a third full of garden/allotment veg (the other two thirds are meat and berries); I have two shelves in my cupboard full of dried, pickled and preserved fruit and veg;  and my fridge is half full of jars of fermented vegetables/kimchi.  Not to mention the fresh veg still standing, waiting for harvest at both the allotment and garden.

Will I restart the Challenge next year?  Can I officially go the whole year?  I'm not sure!  But maybe 2025 will be the year to try.

Harvesting, cooking and eating; and a goodbye, December 2024

Thanksgiving was a success;  we had a green vegetable medley with fresh cabbage and leek and frozen green beans;  I also made my pumpkin pie recipe with our own eggs and squash, and a cherry tart with the last of the freezer cherries (which were more than a year in the freezer).  Along with our turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes and our friends' three delicious side dishes, we even had a glass of home brewed currant wine.  I ate and ate and ate...

On Sunday (the only day I can usually collar the son) we went up to the allotment to pick all the remaining beets, mostly small but a few big ones left:  about three pounds altogether.  Once home I immediately dumped these into my big slow cooker to cook for later pickling.  I also brought home five or six turnips, another big mini daikon (I need a better name for these--mini implies small, but they aren't small! How about just white radish?) and a nice big leek.  I also cooked and seasoned the turnip greens (the chickens got the frostbitten radish leaves);  the roots are for cooking during the week.

At school the daughter learned a song about Five a Day (she's four years old).  I try to serve her and the son five veg a day, and most if not all is homegrown;  she really enjoys counting out our daily veg, and often it's even more than five.  Sometimes she says she doesn't like something, but almost always eats it anyway.

But on a sad note, we lost one of our rescue hens last week;  we adopted her cohort of four in September of 2023, so she was with us for just over a year.  She and the other three we christened the Specklies, as we gave up individually naming hens many years ago;  we were sorry to say goodbye to this Speckly, and hope the rest of her flock mates will stay with us for a good while longer.

After the snow, looking forward to Thanksgiving

The daughter in the garden, November 2024

Our first cold snap lasted almost a full week, with daytime temps just a few degrees above freezing, and snow still lingering until Saturday afternoon when it finally washed away in a rainstorm.  It looks as though most of my lettuce, cabbage, radishes, pak choi, komatsuna, cauliflower and fennel in the kitchen garden survived.  I had to rearrange the netting covering the cauliflower and komatsuna as it had been knocked down by the weight of the snow--also one piece of wire at the edge of the bed (chicken and duck deterrent) was also dragged down--but no lasting damage.  

Most things standing at the allotment were actually laying down when we visited on Sunday.  While the purple sprouting broccoli and leeks looked much the same, the leaves of beets, radishes, turnips and artichokes had all flopped over, looking a bit sad.  The son and daughter cleared away the last of the cherry tomatoes and achocha vines, then the remaining corn stalks;  these all went into our composters.  I, meanwhile, pulled some veg for the week:  beets (plus extra for a friend), radishes and a big leek.  The roots were undamaged by the frost and I was able to still salvage some of the radish greens for eating (chickens got the limp beet greens).

It's Thanksgiving this week!  What are we making?  The husband is in charge of the turkey and mashed potatoes (both bought this year), and our friends are bringing a vegetable dish (possibly including the beets I gave them earlier) and a dessert.  We are definitely serving something from the allotment/garden but I don't exactly know what--possibly some green beans out of the freezer, and maybe some squash puree as a vegetable dish too;  there is potential for a fresh (small) cabbage, some radishes or turnips.  The son is in charge of stuffing which will use some fresh thyme and sage, both still leafy.  I will also use some herbs in the gravy and I am in charge of my favorite pumpkin pie, using one of my beautiful squashes.

Before the frost

I saw that we were due for a cold snap, our first real frost of the season;  though I've seen a little frost on cars and at the park, none of it had touched the allotment or garden yet.  So with this news in mind, I've been gathering in the last of the autumn harvest over the weekend.

At home the only thing left (the only thing I'm not confident about, that is) was the lettuce;  accordingly, on Saturday I picked every large-ish leaf I could find, soaked them and put them in a container in the fridge, loosely covered.  We ate these within a few days.  The plants still remain in situ;  maybe they'll survive the frost to grow a few more salads.

On Sunday the son and I trekked up to the allotment with two big bags and filled them:  the last of the cherry tomatoes, green and red;  all but the smallest achochas;  every ear of corn (all baby corn, the kind you might find in a stir fry);  and the last few artichokes.  

We also came home with some more beets, radishes (black and white) and three huge purple topped turnips.  I'm proud of those turnips, never having grown any larger than a golf ball.  I have quite a lot of all of these still growing, but I'm not too worried about them as they are somewhat frost hardy.  I considered bringing home a leek or two but thought I'd wait till next week as they actually improve after a frost.

And I cleared away all the climbing bean vines, purple- and green-podded, and stashed them in our little allotment shed for drying;  these will hopefully be seed for next year, so long as the rats don't eat them--they did once when I left some pea vines to dry in our garage.

I can rest safely now, knowing I got everything in on time, and that I have plenty of standing veg to come.

Tidying up

On Sunday our family walked up to the allotment with some sheet mulch materials, quickly dropped them off and walked back across the street to the war memorial to attend the Remembrance Service there for half an hour.  Afterward, the daughter and husband had a quick tea and biscuit at the village hall before joining the son and I already at work.

The son and I started by pulling out all the plum tomato plants and their supports;  we collected the last couple of pounds, mainly green but a few orange and red;  these I later blended up with onion, garlic, chili flakes and salt to make 2 L of fermented salsa.  Once cleared away, we laid down some saved waste wool sheets (from the insulated boxes our monthly milk delivery arrives in) and on top of these some cardboard and thick paper feed sacks. 

Once we used up all our cardboard--though it wasn't enough to fully cover the bed--the son and daughter walked up to the stables on site to collect some manure and straw to mulch over the top;  they both have their own wheelbarrows, a big and a small, and they made three trips.  

Meanwhile the husband was busy clearing the old pallets and bits of board at the very back of the plot, sorting out the rubbish from the keepers (mostly rubbish I think).  And I tidied up the paths all the way up one side of the plot and halfway up the other.  I pulled up the old carpet and rubber/plastic sheeting from the paths and put it back down, laying it over the edge of the beds, on top where the grass and weeds were creeping over (I flipped over each piece of carpet too, to smother any weeds growing in it);  I try to do this once a year, as the grass from the beds tries to take over the paths, which the carpet and rubber are there to prevent!  The son and husband had to help with one particularly big piece which we relocated to the back where the husband had cleared away a very grassy space;  which we will leave covered probably a full year at least before trying to grow there again.

We left with a big sack of tomatoes, some more nice big radishes, beets and achocha*.  Later at home, after making and bottling the salsa, I also chopped and cooked all the radish and beet greens (separately);  I've read that radish greens can be made into kimchi too!  But this week we're eating them boiled, cooled/drained/(well squeezed) and seasoned with oil, vinegar and soy sauce.  

*And to my complete surprise, I found two more squashes:  I originally had eight, then ten, and now twelve! 

Cooking and preserving radishes

Last week the kids and I were off school/work (I work at a school) for half term, and we did some harvesting at the allotment.  The tomatoes are still going, though slowing, and we also brought home some beets and a few more achocha (just when I thought they'd finished);  but the main event was a big bag of cooking radishes. 

I know, I know, no photos;  I'm a pathetic blogger.  If I was trying to make money off this blog I might try harder!  But that's not me;  I'm not in it for the clicks.  You'll have to believe me when I say we brought home about 8# of radishes (and 2# of toms and another 3# of beets--the son heroically carried home those heavy bags)!

Most were black Spanish radishes, the smallest of which were only slightly smaller than a tennis ball (bigger than a golf ball) and the biggest about softball size (huge!);  I couldn't believe the size of them actually, considering I only put the seed down in August.  I pulled just two of the so-called "mini" daikon radishes as my bag was full by this point, but both were like extra-large white carrots.  Normal daikon radishes can be several feet long so the mini description is accurate in comparison, but they came in at about 1# each including the tops--hardly mini in my book.

All but the three smallest black roots (these will be for cooking in stew) went into a new batch of dongchimi, a type of water kimchi.  I peeled the black ones--white on the inside--but didn't bother with the daikons and then sliced them all thinly with my mandolin;  together they filled my spare 1.8 L jar and are fermenting happily on my kitchen counter.  I still have about a quarter left of my kohlrabi dongchimi from August;  I love it so much I've been making it last but now I have a new batch I can go to town on it. 

The lush and full radish tops I cooked and seasoned similarly to my beet tops and we ate them with dinner for several days running;  these were about half of the total radish weight.  While tasty, they were a bit more fibrous than the beet tops;  in the future I will remember to cook a bit longer to ensure tenderness.

The radish bed is still pretty full and is next to a bed of turnips destined for the same treatment.  It's shaping up to be a kimchi-filled winter.

Year round fresh veg?

 

I finally took the net off my cabbages, October 2024

I went up to the allotment after work on a rainy day last week and was not expecting to see my allotment neighbor (or anyone in fact);  we exchanged hellos and I expressed my surprise.  He remarked that he's there every afternoon (I'd been going in the morning) and hardly ever sees anyone now it's the end of October.

Where is everybody?  We can grow year round in our climate, and I certainly do.  It's true I'm not visiting the allotment every day any more, maybe twice a week, but I notice that many people have few or no winter crops growing.  Not like me!  At my allotment I have a bed each of turnips and radishes, two beds of beets, one of leeks, and one of purple sprouting broccoli (for spring harvest).  I also have a bed of garlic newly planted and not yet sprouted (for a summer harvest).

And at home I have Savoy cabbage, pak choi, radishes, komatsuna (another brassica), fennel, lettuce, and cauliflower (for spring harvest).

(Also at the allotment I'm still harvesting cherry and plum tomatoes;  I won't clear these away until a) they're done, or b) we have a frost.  If they go before mid-November I might get broad beans sown in their place.)

It takes planning to grow over winter however so I should really cut my fellow growers some slack.  Because I wrote out a plan for both garden and allotment early in spring, this is probably the most I've ever gotten in on time before;  seeds had to be sown in summer or even spring for some varieties.  It's not something I did much of when I only gardened at home (not enough space, also not enough experience), and I'm not growing to my full potential at the allotment either.  However, I'm learning and hopefully improving every year.  Along with my preserved summer harvest, I look forward to eating some fresh winter veg.

At the allotment, October 2024

As we get deeper into autumn, my allotment visits are growing further apart;  now the chickens are back in their yard at home, the son has again taken over their daily care and I'm only going to the allotment a couple times a week instead of every day.

Last week the daughter and I went up twice before school (on Monday and then on Friday) to pick tomatoes and beets;  I've been enjoying the beet greens even more than the beet roots themselves.  I learned a new way to cook them:  separate the stems from the leaves and cut them into bite sized pieces.  These will be cooked in boiling water until tender, then cooled in cold water for a few minutes.  The leaves are treated the same, but won't take as long to cook.  Once cooled, drain the stems, and drain the leaves and squeeze out all the extra water.  I combine them in a bowl and season with soy sauce, a little vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  Serve room temperature or chilled.

At the weekend, the whole family (self, husband, son and daughter) walked up in the wind and rain to plant out the garlic harvest.  We cleared away most of the squash vines, and in the process discovered two more squashes (one fairly big--how did I miss them?);  then lightly dug rows in the bed for about 120 garlic cloves.  I'd saved the largest heads from my garlic harvest in the summer, and there is still plenty in the pantry to last me (hopefully) till next summer.  The daughter and I planted them and the son collected a couple of wheelbarrows of manure-y straw (from the on-site stables) to mulch over the top, in the hopes of preventing weeds germinating.

While we were there, the husband also picked another pound and a half of tomatoes, and the son found a couple of artichokes to go with the handful of green beans and two squashes I picked.  Still lots of veg!

The Big One

The giant and siblings, September 2024

I had eight good sized squashes (and two small but still edible) this year.  One was damaged on the vine so got cooked right away;  the others are still curing in my living room.  We actually ate our last 2023 squash in July of 2024!  I saved seed from that one to plant in 2025, but I'm also planning on saving seed from that big orange squash too--which also came from my own saved seed of course.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my big squash had its two minutes of fame:  it went to my work (a school) for a "guess the weight" contest.  It's 15.2 kg!  The farthest left squash in the photo above is the next biggest (but unweighed as of yet) and a similar size to my biggest squashes last year.  All these grew from the seed of one squash I'd saved, and I got those three colors:  orange, dark green, light green.  I grow them at my allotment where the bees are free to pollinate with everyone else's squashes, and I suspect that last year I got some pollen from someone else's Atlantic Giant variety to get that prize orange one.

A colleague organized the contest on a whim, though she'd asked me initially to bring it in for her harvest display (I also brought in some beets with greens and purple podded French beans).  We had the weighing scales out for something else and I suddenly thought we could weigh my squash.  We were both amazed by its weight;  then she said, we should hold a contest!  She printed the slips of paper for all the kids (and adults) to write down their guesses and a box to put them in, and afterward we went through the box to find the three closest.  Those three got a toffee apple each, which my colleague kindly bought, and the head teacher announced and presented at an assembly.

Below is the daughter giving it a hug;  when I brought it home safely from school (I had several moments of trepidation during its week at school), I gave it a big hug too. 

Squash love, October 2024

Bringing in the harvest

My tomatoes are still rolling in a few at a time, though the husband warned it might frost later this week.  I hope it doesn't--not yet--our usual first frost is November or later.  If my tomatoes do bite the dust I'll make some green tomato pickle or salsa with the remainder.  Or both, depending on how many I have left.  Most of the red ones have gone into the freezer for future sauce;  the cherry toms have gone on lots of salads and also into lots of soups and curries.

I've stopped picking purple podded French beans in the hopes for some seeds, though I'm still picking a few of the green podded beans--still got a lot of these but I'll want seeds off them too.  Also pulling up beets as and when they are needed;  most are a good size by now.  The cucumbers are done, having picked the last pickling ones a few weeks ago and the salad ones this week;  I'll be transplanting my cauliflowers, komatsuna and winter lettuce into the salad cuc bed as soon as I can.  I also picked the last zuc at the weekend.

All the squashes are in, and my famous big one is also safely back at home, having survived all 200+ children and adults at my work (a school) for a "guess the weight" contest.  And the weight is:  15.2 kg!  My own old fashioned kitchen scales are in pounds and ounces;  the conversion is 33 lb 7 oz!  Last year my biggest one was about 17 lb, and I thought that one was enormous.

My batch of lettuce from late summer is producing nicely now, hopefully for a few more weeks, but the achocha has mostly finished;  I'll probably let it develop and drop seed.  My leeks look good despite the grassy sward they are growing in, and the radishes and turnips (sown in August) look lush and leafy, though not ready to pull.  I have about half a dozen cabbage heads forming, but also not quite there yet.  I plan on eating lots of fresh veg over winter, as well as eating from the freezer, pantry and fridge.

Eggs, flowers, frost, squash and kimchi

 

Dahlias blown over the veg patch, September 2024

I'm rather shocked that we're still getting three or even four eggs a day from our faithful hens.  Two of the eight are no longer laying, and two more are four and five years old respectively (but still laying once or twice a week).  At this time of year, as the days are much shorter, I'm actually surprised to get any eggs at all.  All the hens are at their small yard in the allotment;  Girl Duck and Boy Duck are currently at home, free ranging on and off (off when the grass gets too poo-y).  No duck eggs for at least a month;  she doesn't have a dedicated nest so I don't always find them but I don't think she's laying this time of year anyway.

My big sunflower finally blew over, but as it wasn't uprooted, I just went out and tied it up to the tree it was growing next to (a medium-sized pyracanthus).  Hopefully its seeds have enough time to mature for next year's plants.  My beautiful red dahlia also got too top heavy and fell over, but again I was able to prop it up;  it's up to my shoulder:  pretty tall.  Its pink and white neighbor is just as tall but still standing unassisted thankfully.  All three of these are still flowering beautifully in my veg patch at home. 

There was a touch of frost at our local country park at the weekend, though it didn't touch the garden and the allotment looks all right too.  I went out for my run at 7.15 in the morning and while I didn't see any frost on any cars or lawns I passed, I did see it on an open section of grass at the park.  To be on the safe side, when I saw the forecast, the son and I went and picked all the squashes from the allotment the day before.  I took my chances with the remaining beans and tomatoes.

Speaking of squashes, I lent my biggest one to my work (a school) and we're having a "guess the weight" contest.  My squash is famous!  And huge!  Seriously, I won't publish the actual weight until the contest is over (later this week) but I will say that it is at least twice the size of my biggest one last year--and I thought that one was a giant.  In total there are eight squashes this year, plus two small immature ones that might not be worth eating (picked them anyway).  The big one is coming back home with me after the contest, for lots of pumpkin pie.

What else?  More kimchi of course!  Of the twenty or so pak choi from my first sowing, I was able to make a liter of kimchi at the weekend, now fermenting for a few days on my counter.  I still have a 1.8L jar of kohlrabi kkakdugi and half of a 3.3L jar of kohlrabi dongchimi in my fridge.  So not lacking in kimchi just yet--though I do go through it pretty quickly.  I have a small tub of the leftover kimchi paste in my fridge at the moment and am considering giving beet greens/stems the kimchi treatment with it, I mean why not?

Keep it coming, September 2024

It feels like summer barely began and now it's finishing.  It certainly began late this year (I was planting out some of my summer veg in mid to late June even) and while we've had some warm days, and a few hot ones, there have been a fair few cool ones too.

I cleared away my main kitchen garden bed, home to kohlrabi (mostly they went into kimchi).  After hoeing and raking, I replanted with fennel, winter lettuces, pak choi and a few komatsuna (another Asian brassica).  The son helped me cover it loosely with another piece of netting, more for pigeon deterence than butterfly--I think cabbage butterfly season is over.  

He and the daughter also helped me move our motley collection of fencing materials and wrap them around the perimeter of the veg beds, excluding them and the patio from our two free ranging ducks (chickens are still at the allotment for the present).  Actually I locked the ducks back up too, to let the rain wash away some of their poo off the lawn for a few days.  When they're allowed back out they'll get the whole of the lawn and back garden but not the veg beds or, critically, the patio--they love hanging out on the patio and it gets poo-y quickly.

So even though we are now officially into autumn--equinox was on Sunday--I'm still hard at it.  Not only am I still planting out (got more winter lettuce, komatsuna and cauliflower seedlings), I'm still harvesting a lot of beans (both green and purple podded), cherry and plum tomatoes, and a steady stream of salad cucumbers, beets and lettuce.  I'm not ready to finish yet:  keep it coming!

Caterpillar carnage

Cabbages still got leaves, September 2024

When I pulled up all the caterpillar-y kohlrabi, I trimmed and left the leaves laying on the empty bed;  it was near enough the mini daikon radishes that several caterpillars were able to crawl underneath the netting and discover it.  At least they didn't discover the pak choi and cabbages further on.  I don't know if the radishes will still have time to grow more leaves in order to make roots--though luckily I have another bed at the allotment (not pictured) which is completely covered and untouched;  this one I buried all the edges of the mesh, not just weighed it down with bricks.

Poor broccoli, September 2024

The purple sprouting broccoli right next to the cabbages (cabbages in the first picture, broccoli above) were unnetted and have suffered the consequences.  Though I made my best effort to de-caterpillar, it was not enough.  I am hopeful it will leaf out again;  harvest won't be until next spring and I've had this happen in the past and still got a good harvest.  And again, my allotment broccoli (not pictured) is in much better shape than my garden, despite it also being unnetted.  Why?  Not quite sure, but maybe fewer butterflies?  I did pick caterpillars off the allotment ones too, but all the plants there still have leaves, unlike at home.

The caterpillars are pretty much past now;  only a few stragglers remain.  The rest are no doubt happily tucked up in their cocoons, dreaming of next summer.

Fruit and sunflowers

 

One precious plum, September 2024

We have had very few plums on our Czar tree this year, and most of them are out of reach.  Maybe 20 or 30 on the tree at the very most.  The daughter has had what few we could pick.

The Kumoi pear also had a grand total of one fruit, which we picked two weeks ago.  It was crisp, juicy and sweet;  a truly delightful pear, somewhat like a European pear but also not.  If a European pear is crisp, it's usually not juicy or sweet--the texture is what I love about Kumoi.

Sparta apples in their glory, September 2024

Last week I picked the Sparta tree clean, harvest shown in its entirety above.  Not a lot, but at least all are excellent size (unlike my Laxton Fortune).  It's meant to be a red apple, but most of these matured in part-shade so only a couple are fully red;  though as you can see it's really dark, almost purple.  Like the Kumoi pear, Sparta is crisp, juicy and sweet.  A very good eating apple.

And to complete the set, in my weighing bowl in the above photo is also a glimpse of a Brown Turkey fig.  So far I think I've picked three off my tree.  Now mid-September, while still a lot of green fruits of various sizes, that may be it. 

Self seeded sunflower at the back of zucchini and netted pak choi and radishes, September 2024

And look at my huge sunflower!  I usually get a handful of these sprouting up every year in this spot, where they drop the seed the previous autumn.  I had two others, both no more than waist height, both now finished.  This one is probably twice my height or more and showing no signs of stopping.  I'm hoping for lots of seeds for next year's show.

Zucs and cucs, August 2024

Di Nizzo zucchini in the garden, August 2024

Last year I was overloaded with both zucchini and cucumbers, with around 50 and 40 pounds respectively--what a great year.  This year, it's shaping up to be a much more modest harvest.  Though I got a lucky few free ones (of each) from other allotmenters to supplement my own too:  I never say no to free food, especially vegetables.

I grew so much zuc last year that I still have some dehydrated in my cupboard so this year we are mostly eating it fresh, but I have also made a jar of kimchi with it.  I mean, why not--I'm on a roll with kimchi.  It's crunchy and spicy and may not last very long, the way I'm eating it!  I also made a couple of batches of tortillas with cooked mashed zuc:  just keep adding flour to the mash till it makes a rollable dough (mine was still a bit sticky) and cook in a hot pan about a minute each side.  They were a hit with the kids, even the son who dislikes zucchini.  The cooked mash was a bit watery so I left it to drain in a sieve for a few hours first.

With my little pickling cucumbers, I've filled a 1.8L jar of refrigerator pickles, and am 3/4 of the way through another.  Some of the smaller salad cucumbers have found their way in the jars too.  I saved seed from the pickling cucs last year, and have another couple left overripe for seed this year too (I've already bought salad cucumber seed for next year but who knows, maybe I've missed an overripe one of these too).  Apparently these can be made into kimchi too...

Marketmore cucumber in the garden, August 2024

Half the apple harvest and bonus bamboo, 2024

Laxton Fortune apple tree, August 2024

It's a very short window for my Laxton Fortune apple tree, which I believe is considered a dual purpose fruit--both a cooker and an eater (aka culinary and dessert apple).  The son tried one about two weeks ago, still somewhat flavorless;  then last week we tried another with enough potential for me to pick a couple of baskets and make some apple preserves;  then a few days later we yet again tasted and I made the executive decision:  it's time! 

We were warned a branch might break (one small one did), August 2024

I picked half of them one day, then after a very windy morning, the son picked the rest.  If left on the tree, they will continue to ripen and become a little too sweet and somewhat mushy.  We got them at the perfect time:  not too sweet, nice and crisp with a tender skin. 

I didn't thin any apples this year, though there was some natural fruit drop in June;  to be honest, I was expecting the fruit to be smaller.  Some of it is a bit too small, but most of it is around "lunchbox size" or bigger.  I've made applesauce and one bottle of apple halves with the first round but the rest are still hanging out in my kitchen in cardboard boxes;  the daughter is faithfully plowing through several a day, and the son and I are doing our best too.  I don't actually know how long these apples will store;  since they are an early variety, I suspect not that long.  My other tree, Sparta, should be ready in September and those apples store at least a month (we generally eat them all by that time so I'm not sure how much longer they'd last either).

I haven't weighed or counted my apple harvest either!  I am good about vegetables, but my rule is to weigh them after preparation, i.e. trimming/peeling/etc.  This throws me off with fruit sometimes, so I don't often weigh it.  Maybe I need to set a different rule for fruit, to help me count it in my totals.

For beans at the allotment, August 2024

My bamboo in the perennials section (the duck yard) has really taken over its space so I got the son to cut it back by 75% this summer and many of the canes, while narrow, are still acceptable for garden stakes.  I've taken quite a few bundles up to the allotment for my beans and cucumbers, and have portioned them out a bit among the garden cucumbers too.  But I still have so many, some of them may end up as kindling.

Kohlrabi, 2024

 

That time of year again, August 2024

The parasitic wasps got these ones but a bit late, August 2024

Pak choi coming along nicely, Aug 2024

Lettuce fortress in the kohlrabi bed(protecting against pigeons and ducks), August 2024

 

Like a purple alien, August 2024

Well, the cabbage caterpillars are out in force, though I'm doing my best to keep them off the cabbages, pak choi and purple sprouting broccoli--the only other brassicas I have now are kohlrabi, and they are covered in caterpillars!  I've harvested about a quarter of them very recently (mainly for dongchimi and kkakdugi, another type of kimchi) and replanted the emptied space with lettuce seedlings.  At least the caterpillars don't eat the actual kohlrabi, just the leaves--up until a week or two ago, we had been enjoying those leaves as a kale substitute.

However, it's just about time to clear the rest of the kohlrabi anyway, as I'm going to replant that bed with more lettuce and pak choi, hopefully some fennel, and maybe cauliflower to overwinter.  I'll probably break out my other piece of insect mesh for this;  the first one is spread over the first pak choi, mini daikon radish and a few cabbage--and I have two smaller pieces covering radish and turnip beds at the allotment.  

I've already picked the biggest of the kohlrabi, and have begun on the medium-sized ones;  there are quite a few tall thin ones too, probably not worth bothering about.  Peeled and grated it also makes a very nice coleslaw (kohlslaw) and I use it cut into matchsticks in a stir fry too.  Last year I tried both freezing and dehydrating, but wasn't much pleased with either.  I think I'll carry on with the kimchi, a much better option.

Making water kimchi

So, remember when I posted that I wanted to grow my own kimchi?  At the time it felt like a distant possibility, but I actually made some last week!  I didn't make the usual cabbage kimchi as my cabbages are still growing, and I'm checking them religiously for caterpillars to keep them that way.  My pak choi is also not ready, but actually looks pretty good and might be within a few more weeks (this is fully enclosed in netting).  No, I made dongchimi with kohlrabi.

I'm a newbie to Korean cuisine but I enjoy watching cooking videos on youtube, and Korean cooking is one of my favorites;  it seems to be heavy on the vegetables--my kind of food.  And I'm particularly intrigued by the fermented foods, which are described as different kinds of kimchi.  Dongchimi, sometimes translated as water kimchi, I gather is made with daikon radish, but I figure kohlrabi is similar enough, so armed with that thought I made kohlrabi dongchimi.

I harvested 12 kohlrabi from my kitchen garden at home, and I might add I hardly made a dent in the bed (though I need to harvest more to make room for lettuces, fennel and the newest pak choi).  These 12 weighed in at 4.5 lb, a good haul I thought!  I peeled and sliced them thinly before packing them in a 3.3 L jar with onion, garlic, ginger, salt, fish sauce and chili flakes.  The jar is now bubbling away merrily on my counter (and the brine already tastes amazing).  I hope to start eating it in the next week or so.

Last year I was running out of jars because of cucumber pickles, maybe this year it'll be kimchi.

At the allotment, August 2024

At the allotment I'm still waiting for my climbing beans to flower, though luckily the sugar snap peas continue to produce in the meantime.  Also harvesting a couple of beets per week, the very first of the tomatoes (both cherry and plum types) and I've started my first pickle jar with four small cucumbers.  Last year I  discovered I actually prefer them cornichon size: one or two bites;  I'll be picking them much smaller this year.

I've picked all the artichokes now, bar a couple very small heads which I'll let go to flower.  The raspberries are also completely finished, and while I've been pretty diligent at recording all my veg harvest, I didn't keep a faithful record of these:  we ate a lot, froze some and gave a good amount away. 

My squash vines are taking over one climbing bean frame--I built it from odds and ends and it's very flimsy--making it hard to get to the beans;  the other frame is better accessible.  I have at least one big yellow squash growing and one big green.  While I don't think I need 21 big squashes like last year, I'm hoping for more than just the two.

My leeks are growing well in their bed but so is the grass, and there's no way I can pull it up without pulling up leeks too.  I've got several large purple sprouting broccoli plants that seem to have some new growth on them, after the shock of transplant;  these and the leeks are for harvest in late winter/early spring.

Somehow I got some achocha volunteers growing in a couple of my bigger containers;  I've not grown them on purpose for years as they keep self seeding, but this is the first time they've done so at the allotment.  I can only assume I put some seeds in my kitchen waste tub after harvesting at home (normally I give this waste to the chickens but for a short period last summer I was putting it in my allotment composters).  They are just starting to form little flowers.

It looks like my corn isn't going to produce this year;  it's still below my waist and even though we've had a few weeks of warm weather now, it's only inching along.  Oh well.  I may give it up and next summer grow something else instead.  However, my newest beet beds look great and I've got a newly sown bed of radishes both white and black, all fully enclosed in insect mesh to hopefully keep out the slugs, bugs and birds.  I've started one more new sheet mulched bed with plans for turnips and/or swedes in the next day or two.  Got to keep growing while I can.

Direct seeding experiment

My direct seeded beet experiment at the allotment seems to have worked!  I prepared a fresh sheet mulch over the very grassy/weedy garlic and broad bean beds once they were harvested in June:  a layer of cardboard topped with several cm of compost.  I then marked rows, sowed beet seed, and enclosed the whole thing in fine insect mesh;  I even buried all the edges so in theory nothing could access the bed from the outside.

Both beds (sown about two weeks apart) had the same treatment though I had less seed for the second bed--it's not as thick with leaves as the first.  Beets are not particularly attractive to most of my local pests except as very young shoots;  the first bed is definitely past this stage and the second bed is also probably safe by now however I'll not take its net off for a little while longer just in case.

But on the strength of this start, I'm attempting a slightly more slug-attracting plant:  radishes.  In particular, mini daikon and black Spanish radishes--both bigger than the typical red salad radishes, and intended for cooking.  I've already started the newest sheet mulch and I'll take the net off the first bed of beets when I'm ready to sow.  Now is a good time for radishes as they prefer it a little cooler but are pretty quick so will still have time to make roots.  I had some success with both kinds in my own garden last autumn so we'll see if I can get any at the allotment too.

(I keep sheet mulching my allotment in order to keep the grass at bay, but it's starting to emerge through the beet beds already--I've been sheet mulching for years now and it's enough to get a crop growing to harvest, but not enough to kill the grass.  Without sheet mulching, my plants can't compete with grass, even if I've dug over a bed thoroughly.)

Planting for kimchi

Though I did not post any official garden goals for 2024, I did write a couple down in my personal notes;  for one, I want to grow my own kimchi (a recent delicious obsession).  For me, the ingredients I can grow will be: cabbage, daikon radish, leek, garlic, apple (I will buy ginger, chili flakes, salt and fish sauce to complete my recipe).  I've got all of these going, though I have a somewhat disappointing amount of cabbage this year.

But I recently found a recipe variation calling for pak choi instead of cabbage, and this may be the answer to my problem!  Pak choi is much quicker to grow, doesn't take up so much room, and is softer/crisper than the ball headed cabbage variety I have--authentic kimchi is made with Napa cabbage, closer to pak choi in texture and shape (I wasn't able to find Napa seed).

The half-empty cabbage bed has now become the pak choi bed, planted out with about 25-30 small seedlings, and the very end of it has three short rows of daikon radish (actually a miniature daikon variety, carrot size rather than those full sized monster roots).  The whole of the bed is fully netted, thanks to the help of the mother, here for a short visit.  We carefully enclosed the entire bed in insect mesh in the hopes of protecting it from cabbage butterflies, pigeons and ducks alike.  So far so good.  

If I get acceptable cabbages, they will go into kimchi, and hopefully I will get some nice pak choi for it too.  Here's looking forward to some excellent kimchi.

Cool weather: bad and good

After a promising start to May, summer has rather fizzled out, turning cool and wet again.  It was cold and wet in spring, and my plants are still behind schedule because of this--the cold meant everything got a later start than usual. 

It doesn't look so good for my corn, squash and zuc;  and my tomatoes look a bit iffy as well, though these I've been growing and saving seed from these for years so I think they might still pull through for me (being somewhat adapted to a cooler summer).  My cucumbers are also doing their best and putting out some tiny flowers but the vines are still very short.  Last year (hot but not excessively dry) I got a bumper crop of all of these, greatly increasing my year's grand total of veg--it looks like it will not be repeated this year. (Note: at least half of 2023's squash were eaten in 2024, and will go on the record for this year's grand total.)

Conversely, my cool weather crops are loving it: including my lettuce, sugar snap peas, beets, kohlrabi and other brassicas.  The pea plants were so small and spindly when I first put them in--I didn't have much hopes for them actually--and now they are cranking out about two pounds of peas per week with no sign of stopping.  Maybe they'll keep it up all summer.  The beets and kohlrabi are bulbing up much more quickly than last year, and the lettuce just keeps on coming no matter how much I pick--we're eating a salad pretty much every day.

My perennials produce whatever the weather;  whether hot or not, the raspberries, currants, rhubarb, artichokes, figs and herbs are pretty reliable.  The other fruit trees are affected but obliquely, such as if the bees are out when they flower, or if the cherries get sufficient rain in spring before the fruit matures. 

I'm used to a washout summer though--it happens frequently on this soggy island.  I've learned to plant for both scenarios:  hot and dry or cool and wet.  This way I'll at least get something!  My preference?  I like both kinds of crops really, but when it comes me personally I'm not good with heat.  I'm more of a sugar snap pea than an ear of corn.

Finished yet?

Little cucumber plants with even littler zuc between, July 2024

Pretty much every seedling in trays and pots has now been planted out, barring one small tray of late sown beets.  I've only just planted out the Savoy cabbages--not as many as I'd hoped--and the second batch of lettuce at home, leaving me just about half a bed unplanted.  Although it should have been all cabbages, never fear, I still have a plan for this:  the pak choi (broadcast into a large pot and just newly sprouting) and daikon radish (to be sown directly) can go in this small space. 

Houseplants having summer vacation (I put the rest out later on: aloes and spider plants), July 2024

Up at the allotment I've newly sheet mulched over the spent broad beans bed, with the son and husband's help.  I've put down one last sowing of beets, and like the bed next to it, have completely enclosed it in insect mesh including burying all the edges.  This is in the hopes of excluding slugs and bugs long enough for the beets to sprout and grow a bit.  

I've also planted out the very newly sprouted cucumber seedlings (four in total) in containers to replace ones lost to slugs.  Not only did I take the precautions described in my previous post, I even took a tub of vaseline with me and smeared the rim of the pots with it to be doubly cautious.

Self-seeded in my veg patch, July 2024

But I'm not finished yet.  I'm done with the spring and summer sowing/planting, but now I'm moving on to autumn and winter.  Luckily in my climate I can have veg growing year round;  while it's somewhat limited in winter, if I want anything growing then I have to get it going now--in fact the window of opportunity is gone for some things already:  Brussels sprouts for instance (I decided against them this year but may try again next).  My other long season crops are in now:  leeks, cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli.  Now it's time to start daikon radish, turnip and fennel, along with regular sowings of pak choi and lettuce.  And later on it'll be cauliflower and spring cabbage too.  No rest for me yet--winter's coming, and that's when I'll rest.

A tour of my allotment, 30 June, 2024

Let's have a look at my allotment.  Photos to follow!

At the very top of the allotment (not pictured) is a small bed of beets, some of which have been harvested already.  But it's also getting weedy/grassy again so the empty parts of the bed have had some cardboard laid down in anticipation of more sheet mulch.  I just keep on sheet mulching!  There is also a stack of semi-usable wood and other bits of allotment detritus at the very back against the perimeter fence, and to one side is the very grassy/weedy raspberry bed;  we've been picking plenty of rasps over the past week, mostly to freeze.

Then further on is the chicken yard (seen obliquely in a couple photos below), currently not occupied.  I was excited to see some self-sown squash in it but that disappeared about a week later--so disappointed.  I was going to plant it up but maybe I should just put the chickens back in instead.  There is a small bed on the side of the chicken yard, newly sheet mulched and planted with some purple sprouting broccoli.  Slugs love this, but they don't love the new sheet mulch, so I'm hoping it'll grow enough by the time the slugs work out where it is.  Also on the same side (at the very edge of my allotment) are a couple each of:  redcurrant, gooseberry, rhubarb (shown below: broccoli at the very top left in rings, leafy rhubarb top right).

Snap peas at the very front, small squash and corn in the bed, rhubarb and raspberries at the back right, June 2024

The bed pictured above is towards the middle/back of my allotment and has been newly sheet mulched.  The plastic rings are surrounding some of the corn seedlings to protect them from getting stepped on (as they are still pretty small) but also to keep them a little moist and warm as they grow on.  I really like putting one of these rings around all of my transplants if possible, to ease the transition from pot to ground.

Leeks and grass, with climbing beans to the back right, June 2024

This is the other side of the same bed, now fully planted with leeks.  The furthest rows of rings I only just planted out at the weekend;  the ones around the other three perimeter sides are there to prevent us accidentally stepping on them, as these are even smaller than the corn.  This bed has some grass growing through the sheet mulch but I can't deal with it as it will disturb my precious leeks.  I do know through experience that most of my plants will still grow reasonably well while swamped with grass, so long as they get a good foothold before the grass takes over.  There are also my climbing beans at the top right, some starting to grow up their supports.

Broad beans to the front, a climbing bean structure behind (and the chicken house and yard at the back), June 2024

Moving on.  Closer to the front of the allotment is this bed of broad beans which I've been picking every day for a week, but think they're about done now.  I'll sheet mulch over it as soon as I've got every bean.  Next to it (to the right), where it looks so grassy, is a smaller bed of snap peas which have also come into their own.  We've been eating these (and freezing most of the broad beans) and they are still flowering/producing well.  

At the very front of the photo is a bit of insect mesh covering a newly sheet mulched bed I sowed with beet seeds at the weekend.  The son helped me lay the mesh and bury all the edges in the hopes that no slugs and bugs will penetrate it.  I've found they don't care much for beets--even smaller seedlings--but will eat the shoots just as they emerge;  I hope my fortifications are sufficient to keep the beets alive long enough to pass this stage.

Lots of artichokes, all of them tall with small heads, June 2024

Again moving forward (the other side of the broad bean/snap peas bed are more squash, climbing beans and corn, not pictured) is my row of artichokes, stretching across the width of the allotment.  I think there are about 12 plants?  They are very tall:  the artichoke heads at the top are out of my reach entirely and I have to grab the lower stems and bend them over to cut them.  These are coming in at about ten heads every two or three days;  I expect this sort of production over the rest of the summer.  But it's not much to get excited about:  these ten heads give about 3 oz total of edible hearts--not a lot of produce for a whole lot of plant.  Luckily I like the flavor and I have a fairly quick method of extracting the hearts (don't bother washing, just dump in slow cooker and when soft: let cool and peel);  and it's free food after all, being a perennial with basically no maintenance other than harvest. 

Cherry toms and pickling cucs, June 2024

And last on my tour is the front of the allotment, sporting my collection of motley containers and shed.  There are more containers on the other side of the shed (slightly visible behind);  also beyond are my black plastic composters.  The other side of the bed itself has my in-ground plum tomatoes (one white tomato support is just barely showing at the top left corner).  Some of these containers lost their first planting of cucumber seedlings to slugs.  I will be replanting them with a later sowing:  the son emptied out the old compost (and mounded it around the toms, so as not to waste it), gave them a very thorough spray with the hose inside and out--and we moved them to a new spot just to be on the very safe side.  I hope to replant by the weekend.

Back in business (after all the setbacks)

It's been disappointing, with such a long cold spring, that I've lost several of my transplants at the allotment to slugs.  If the plants are growing well they can outgrow most slug damage, but some of them need warm weather for this:  cucumbers and squash for instance.  I've lost about half of my transplants (so far) before they've even started growing.  The weather has finally warmed up again to above 20 C, and they seem to be growing a bit now.  I have a tray of late sown squash just emerging, so hopefully when I plant them out they will just keep going (have another tray of cucumber but no sign of it).

I have other warm weather plants--corn and tomatoes--that the slugs don't like to eat, so at least they are still all right.  The corn only got transplanted last week anyway--really late--but with a pot shortage, I couldn't sow them any earlier.  Maybe I should focus more on these two for next year, with squash and cucumbers lower down on the priorities list.  

Also late to sow and hence transplant:  two varieties of climbing beans (a green podded one and a purple).  I've lost of couple of these too, but as they got planted out late it looks like the rest might be able to shrug it off. 

The broad beans and snap peas were planted out relatively early, before the slugs were too active;  finally they are producing pods for me.  I'm also getting the first of the beets, another one unattractive to slugs except as new shoots.  None of these are warm weather crops however--if it stays hot, they will go over quickly.

It's not all doom and gloom, even though I like to keep it real here and talk about failures as well as success;  I am still writing down my harvest every day.  Lately it's been lettuce, broad beans, kale, artichoke hearts, garlic, beets.  The son made a deluxe allotment crumble on Sunday with our own rhubarb, gooseberries, raspberries (and some strawberries we picked from a farm).  Even with all the setbacks, we're back in business again.

Harvest 2024: begin!

I can't believe that I've still not yet planted out everything (still got some climbing beans, corn, and late sown cucs and squash) but the harvest has begun.  I dug out half my garlic harvest on Saturday--it started raining so I gave up--and brought it home to cure the heads and dehydrate the stalks/leaves for powder.  As I stood at my kitchen sink for 20 minutes I thought:  it must be summer now!  Harvesting and preparing a large amount of veg from the garden or allotment is a near-daily task every year from summer until late autumn. (It still doesn't feel like summer though, with temps barely making it to 15C during the daytime.)

Every other day we are having small side salads from my first batch of lettuce, mostly recovered from its initial pigeon damage.  I have a second sowing on the go--just need to get it transplanted.  I'll plant it next to the first sowing, under the netting.  I've also cooked some young nettle greens and young kohlrabi leaves, sauteed with onion/garlic/ginger/sesame oil, to go in our sushi wraps alongside the rice, cucumber/carrot and salmon.  I've got some young kale too, not quite as leafy as the kohlrabi, but closing in on it. 

The daughter has been watching our few strawberry plants like a hawk and pounces on them as soon as they are red;  the son managed to get one, but she's had the rest.  She's also found the first couple of red raspberries but I'm not too worried--no way she can monopolize that harvest, there's too many.  The Morello cherries are ripening too but like last year have very few;  I've left it and the other cherry trees unnetted and the birds can have them.

The broad beans at the allotment now have some excellent pods on them, just coming ready.  They are always such a treat, as they're one of the very first fresh veg of spring and don't last long.  Another early (but much longer lasting) veg is artichoke.  It's such a lot of plant for such a little harvest, but the first ones are ready now and they should last all summer if I keep picking them.  Which I do!

State of the flock, June 2024

And now for something completely different.  I've been so focused on the allotment this past month I've not been paying much attention to my own garden or my poultry.  The son is the main caretaker for both chickens and ducks;  he's 14 now and is fairly responsible when it comes to their care.  I sometimes have to remind him to collect eggs still, but he remembers to feed and water them every day thankfully.  The chickens are laying around four eggs a day, from eight hens.

The chickens and ducks are both locked up in their respective yards at home for the present.  Some of the chickens got to make a pass of the lawn in their tractor for about two weeks but it's growing too quickly for them to efficiently graze now.  So we're mowing and giving them the clippings.  The ducks have had periodic free range (usually for a day or two at a time) but I'm still putting in new plantings and I don't want the ducks dabbing them out--I lost a few small marigold transplants this week, so back into the yard went the ducks.  And I can't let the chickens free range at all while my veg patch is in growth.

Boy Duck is maybe calming down a bit after the spring breeding season.  He gets very protective of Girl Duck (who doesn't seem to notice) but if he tries it on me, he better watch out--I've been known to send him flying.  Thankfully he can't jump and is not sharp anywhere so his attacks are pretty ineffectual.  He's been spotted chasing pigeons out of the garden (hilarious) and won't share his patch with chickens either.  He's a big duck and stands fairly upright with a long neck and short legs, surprisingly (and comically) fast.  Once he starts to molt in summer I think his hormones ease up a bit.  Girl Duck is smaller and has the more usual duck silhouette--also short legs--but doesn't do a lot of running.  She just sort of waddles around, with Boy Duck in her wake like her security detail.  Girl Duck does lay the occasional egg, but not in a dedicated place:  I don't always find it in time.

Still so busy at the allotment

Still pushing to get it all done:  it's truly the final stretch.  Despite the slow start, my allotment is looking a lot more populated, though it also has a couple of really grassy sections too.  I'm still sheet mulching bit by bit--it's a never ending process:  as soon as I reach the bottom I have to start at the top again.  

For the first time since I've been growing there, the local council has provided a couple of tons of compost for members, deposited into one of the bays by the on-site stables.  I've been using the stable bedding in my own compost and as sheet mulch since I started back in 2018, really improving the soil, but obviously it has to compost first (usually there is composted stuff--if you dig it out of the bottom of the pile).  This I have used in sheet mulch and also to fill up about half my planters, as my own compost has run out (I top dressed those planters with the contents of the last bin).

The past weekend I got in all the squashes, some very small still (fingers crossed).  I actually made one more late sowing last week too, in trays, to act as zucchini as my other zuc sowings didn't sprout;  however, I recently sowed a different zuc variety which has begun to sprout--perhaps the late sowing of squash will still have time to make actual squash.  They taste zuc-like when immature--and sweet when mature--so I'm ok either way.

The husband, son and I have all donned gloves several times in the past week to pull out nettles, filling up a couple of emptied compost bins in the process.  This isn't as persistent as the grass and is easier to remove too, despite the stings;  but like the grass, there are a lot of of them.  Makes good compost at least.  I really don't bother trying to dig up the grass except in rare cases where it has sprouted in a new sheet mulched bed. 

At the weekend I also planted out the first tray of green climbing beans and erected a couple of bamboo canes for them to climb, and have been trimming some longer garden prunings to fill in the gaps.  I have several more trays of climbing beans, both green and purple, mostly sprouted and almost ready for transplant.  I'll continue sowing the purple beans (run out of the green bean seeds) probably until the middle of this month.

I even staked most of my tomatoes this weekend;  I've had to pinch out the first side shoots and tie them in already.  My cherry toms are indeterminate--and in planters, not the ground--so these I have just let get on with it.  Most of the cherries are flowering, though not as tall as the plum toms.  And I've put in pea sticks around all the peas now, most of which are now growing a bit better, though not as tall as I'd like.

And finally I got in all my pickling cucumbers (also small, like the squash), though I'm wondering if I should make a late sowing of them too (probably).  I did a late sowing last year--early June--and they had enough time to fruit.  I finally have reached the tipping point on my trays/pots situation:  I've transplanted enough stuff to have some empty at last.  But we are still saving plastic cream pots from the fridge for the future:  next spring I will definitely have enough pots!

Failure and success, May 2024

So it's still not all planted.  Yet.  I've got a lot of trays on my patio in various stages of emergence, though I think I'm going to have to give up on the last 35ish pots of peas, as they are dated from April and still haven't sprouted.  I've had this problem with everything so far this year:  seeds go into little pots and a large proportion of them just don't sprout.  This is for indoor sowing and outdoor sowing, so I'm really not sure what's going on.  I don't have a single butternut squash or romanesco zucchini (indoors), and I'm still waiting on my corn too (outdoors).  Maybe it's my potting compost.

In slightly better news, I do have about half a dozen self-sprouted squash seeds growing in the chicken yard at the allotment--we moved the chickens back home earlier this month.  I generally give my chickens most of my kitchen scraps, which obviously included some squash seed (we still have two left on the living room windowsill, looking good!--and just finished the third to last one).  Hopefully they grow well, as my tray-sown seeds are also very patchy:  only about six I think, from around 24.  These are the big round Kuri squashes from last year:  tasty and good keepers.

Also at the allotment, I've got in the first small leeks, sown back in March.  I have a second sowing just coming up now.  I also got in the next batch of beets, and resowed the tray after I'd emptied it.  The first beets I planted out have really grown, but the peas look kind of puny and sad still.  I wonder if the soil is too rich for them--it's mainly well-composted horse manure that all the other plants seem to like.  My tomatoes look really sturdy, and the broad beans--though a bit short--are covered in flowers.

The husband spent about an hour at this weekend and the previous one making us a new little tool shed at the allotment, using a large wooden shipping container given to us by a fellow allotmenter.  The son and I wrestled it into position onto some old sleepers first (and I dropped one on my foot in the process--limped around for two weeks).  The next weekend the husband bought some wood preservative and painted it inside and out;  and this weekend he fashioned a door for it using a panel (from a deconstructed shed) we'd scavenged from an abandoned allotment a while ago.  It's not quite as tall as me, but is a good size for our shovel and fork, and holds the watering can and still has quite a lot of room.  However it's not quite tall enough/wide enough for our rusty old wheelbarrow.  But that's ok, I can't imagine anyone wanting to steal it--or our tools either:  they're all a bit rubbish.

And now on to planting

Only one Kumoi pear on the whole tree, May 2024

As far as seeds go, I'm on the final stretch.  Everything that needs to be sown before summer has at least one tray sown so far, even bottom-of-the-queue corn.  Why was corn last to be prioritized?  Everything else either takes up less room and/or gives a bigger harvest:  corn takes up a lot of space for very little edible return--we love it as a luxury, not a necessity.

And so now I'm on to a transplanting frenzy.  Every day for more than a week I've been taking up trays and pots to the allotment to get things in there: mainly peas (nearly done now) but also beets and I've moved on to the tomatoes too.  There is still a lot of space to plant at the allotment but because of intense slug pressure, I really can't take up a lot of things.  For instance, I tried four extra lettuce seedlings when planting them out at home;  they went into a newly filled container, with a thick layer of eggshells surrounding them and a bit of chicken wire over the top--these lasted one day.  

Because of the ongoing pot shortage, most of my warm weather crops--squash, zuc, climbing beans, corn, pickling cucumbers--got sown later than I would have liked.  Some of these aren't even sprouting yet--to think I actually transplanted most of them out in May last year.  However, they should still succeed with a later June transplant, which I sometimes have to do anyway if mid/late May is still chilly or very rainy (though it's not this year(.

The view from the back door, May 2024

At home I'm about halfway through planting my kitchen garden beds.  I do have a fairly big garden and could convert quite a bit more of it to beds--and perhaps I will do so in the future--but we like having a mixed garden with trees, ornamentals and a bit of lawn.  I have mostly brassicas here at the moment but also this weekend I transplanted some parsley and marigold seedlings, pricked out from a large pot I'd broadcast them into.  I'm also preparing a newly sheet mulched bed (mainly covered with last winter's contents of the chicken house) for salad cucumbers.

The lettuces, cauliflowers and direct sown cabbages seemed to have been badly damaged by those pesky wood pigeons so I erected a piece of insect mesh over them; while it won't completely exclude cabbage butterflies, it should keep out pigeons, ducks and chickens.  It looks like those rotten pigeons completely nipped off all the little cabbage seedlings so I transplanted out some purple sprouting broccoli instead and will later transplant some more cabbage further along that bed.  Luckily I had already broadcast another pinch of cabbage seed into a large pot (now sprouting up) just in case the direct sown ones didn't succeed.