Downtime

I should be at the allotment today but I'm not!

I've booked next week off work so I am taking some time to chill. It has been insanely busy at the day job. Designing books for kids takes a lot of hard work you know! We've been prepping for the annual book fair where all our new ideas get showcased to buyers. We spend a good couple of months intensely working on covers to sell these new ideas. Our office is one of 3 - the smallest of the bunch with just a handful of designers, me included - 7 of us. We did about a third of all covers produced (just under 400 this year, I think) which is a big achievement as there are around 20 designers in the medium-sized office, and around 2 or 3 times as many as that in the 'big' office! I've also been in charge of orchestrating the whole thing - keeping tabs on illustrators, commissioning, fees, invoices, designs, feedback from our bosses... all the while getting not one, but TWO books off to print at the same time! No wonder I am pooped. I just couldn't face next week at work and Friday just gone was our official book fair deadline, so I made a break for it!

I am off to see my folks in Lancaster later on today for a while. It is my dad's birthday Monday so we're looking forward to a zoo trip (family tradition!). Maybe I'll make him a courgette cake?! I'm hoping the weather is alright as I've heard whilst we've had a reasonably nice spate of sunshine, they've had rain and gale force winds. Think I'll pack some warm gear and my waterproof! I'll be back later in the week to tend to the allotment - see if the butternut squash have grown much since I last saw them budding up, and dig up my 'rooster' spuds, along with other jobs. I also want to make some glassy goodies too. 'Back to the Future' is being shown at the cinema (HUZZAH!) so I'll be seeing that and out for a friend's birthday meal.

In between all those things, I plan on chilling. I find this very hard to do, getting 'lazy guilt', but I'll give it a good go!

Hope you're well doing whatever you are :) I am now off to make a batch of veg curry with squash, spring onions, green tomatoes, runner beans and a pepper. It will be based on the veg spaghetti curry. Something for the freezer.

Um... what do I do with it all?!

It's been a busy w/e doing my glass work. Sorting out a brochure, sending a company images & info for their website, making new glass, taking & editing photos... So, not much lottie time for me.

I didn't get out 'til about 7pm Sunday and only had a little time to do some weeding before it went dark on me. There was lots to harvest. Look at the silly amount of tommies I have.

Only 2 plants as well, planted directly in the soil with no special treatment - they are 'moneymaker'. Most are still green so I will see if I can ripen in batches - not enough windowsill space to do them all at once! Some are like apples! I am very surprised at how well they did this year after the tommie failure of last year.

Just look at the stupid amount of veg in my car boot! Tomatoes, courgettes, marrow, hooligan pumpkins, patty pans and a bucket o' runner beans. Took me 3 trips up and down stairs to get it all into the flat :P

This pic shows it a bit more organised in the kitchen. Looks like I have a busy week ahead! The runners went into the fridge as they go off the quickest. Next to sort is the tommies I think.

What a lot o' veg :P

Marrow surprise, Hooligan harvest & Bilberry bonanza

I'm a week behind on this post. Bad Steph! Ok, so last Thursday I went to lottie to check it out and harvest the goodies. What a nice view from the car (above)!

It was raining a little so I tried to clear some of the weeds from around my sweet william, red lettuce, dwarf & broad bean seedlings. Then the rain got heavy so I gave up on trying to do that and grabbed the harvest I could before getting super-soaked! You can see at the top of the photo the area I weeded and the mass of weeds at the bottom of the pic :(

My vegetable spaghetti is looking good. Looking forward to trying this. I have waited a whole year as last time it didn't work.

I have LOADS of tomatoes on my 2 plants, but all of them are green and not looking like they'll turn. So I picked a whole bunch to make into various soups, jams and whatnot. They're in the fridge right now. Just need some time to make them - bit busy with 'Handmade Heaven : Funky Fused Glass' at the mo, re-photographing things and making new goodies.

I harvested some tasty goodies - beetroots, green & yellow courgettes another MAHOOSIVE marrow which I didn't even spot growing and was lurking beneath the leaves - it was a bit of a surprise I can tell you!, runner beans...

...patty pans, hooligan pumpkins (both upside down, drying here) and a couple of banana peppers. Alas the peppers were all soft and tasted horrid so they went to compost heaven.

I went to visit my folks and took the MAHOOSIVE marrow with me. I weighed it on my mum's kitchen scales and this made me laugh - 'ERROR' - I think the scales were saying "too heavy! get it off, get it OFF!" :)

So I took it to the bathroom scales. I think it was about 8.5lbs! A monster. 

Look how proud I am of my 'marrow bowtie' ;)

My folks and I went out to harvest some wild goodies. Free food - who wouldn't!? I picked my first ever bilberries. Absolutely delicious! A few may, or may not, have fallen into my face... ;) Hehehe! They're very stainy and quite time-consuming to pick as they only grow in ones or twos, hidden in the leaves of the bilberry bushes.

My mum said they were quite expensive to buy and I now understand why. The three of us were picking for around two hours and got this 700g-ish haul. I looked how much this would cost to buy and calculated it was around £32! Nice :)

We also picked 1500g of rowanberries. Lovely!

I'm at my big bro's place in Kent this w/e. We're about to go for a walk so I'm going armed with plastic bags in case we come across any blackberries or other fruity goodies. He has a plum tree in his garden so I am taking some of those. Just have to shin up a ladder! I've already added some plum jam & chutney recipes to the recipe list. Hope you're making the most of all the fruit & veg ready at this time of year. I really need to get in the kitchen and preserve all my goodies.

Rainbow Haul & Delicious Dinner

Went up to the lottie for a harvest and a poke about today. Lots to sort out there but that's for another day. Picked some goodies and what a pretty, colourful selection. I expect the courgettes will get turned into chocolate cakes (got a bit of an obsession with them now!). The marrow will be ratatouilled I think as I love that taste and texture. The gooseberries have gone in the freezer. They're marvellously translucent now - very, very ripe and sweet. I ate a few that burst in my hands :) The solo kohl rabi is a bit pathetic. If I grow them again, they'll need more water but I don't think I will bother next time. The purple radishes were grown for their colour really - radishes don't really do it for me! Silly eh. The patty pans on the front-left are a slightly different that the other yellow patty pans - paler and taller. There's a normal one in there too. The green beans are prolific, as per usual. But I love them so it's all good :)

The purple radishes are very pretty - almost as if they've been painted with ink.

I decided to roast up the patty pans, radishes, some (supermarket) onions, 

as well as the beetroot that was languishing in the fridge with some oil & rosemary.

Everything took on a lovely pink colour from the sweet beetroot :)

I had a portion with some lottie green beans. Yum yum!

Wigwammery, strange finds & a radish recipe (Sunday's work)

Remember my nursery snaps from earlier? Well, I went ahead and made a wigwam like the ones I'd seen. My join was a bit higher up than the ones I saw but I am pretty happy with the sturdiness of it. Last year the plants pretty much toppled the A-frame shape I made - *pic here*!
I used 8 canes, tying it together with string. I also added some string around the base to stop the canes from moving outwards with the weight of the plants when they get bigger. To support them as they grow, I made this star-shape. It will also guide the 2 black-eyed susan vines out to the canes. I got them to grow with the beans as they're so pretty. Nick thinks it looks a little cult-ish but was impressed with the wigwam itself :) So, there are 8 runner bean plants. Will see how they do.

In front of the wigwam, I planted two rows of self-blanching celery. I gave up trying to get the seeds I had to germinate.

I also planted some 'diablo' dahlias surrounded by celariac. There are 2 identical beds like this.

Whilst I was weeding the 2nd bed to prep for planting, I had a very random find. This rotten egg was in the soil! I wonder how it got there.

So, now the 'road end' bed is looking quite good. I also did lots of raking. It will look great once everything is established. I have some purple sprouting broccoli to go in, spring onions and some leeks. I've read up on how to plant the leeks out as my lot last year just died. I know my error now - not planted deep enough. Gonna get the dibber out :)

I also needed to do something with the 1st batch of radishes I harvested. I thought perhaps pickling would be something to try. I found a recipe and made up a batch.

I have to say, the end result looks disgusting in this photo! I am yet to try any yet. The recipe sounds tasty though :) It's all foamy as instead of getting a bowl to mix the vinegar, sugar and soy, I shook it together in the jar. The proof is in the eating I guess!

• 20 radishes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tblsp soy sauce
• 3 tblsp rice vinegar
• 2 tblsp light brown sugar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
  
  1. Clean the radishes and cut off both ends - make 2 or 3 small slashes on each one to allow the pickle to infuse, but keep whole.
  
  2. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave for 5 mins.
  
  3. Mix the soy sauce and vinegar in a separate bowl, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. (This is where I shook the ingredients together in the jar.)
  
  4. Pour the pickle mix over the radishes and finally dribble in the sesame oil.
  
  Store in the fridge.

Thinning out, planting & harvesting

Last night I popped to the allotment. Just for a little while after work... but then stayed 'til it was dark! That's a habit I am getting into. Too many jobs, not enough time.

My seedlings did pretty well sown directly into the soil in rows, under the cling film cold frame. I took the frame itself off a while back when the frost had gone and almost everything I planted has gone great guns. So much so, I think I have too much! The kohl rabi was my task last night. I thinned out all the seedlings and planted them in-front of the sugar snaps/cornflowers. There was a reasonable amount of weeding to do but the soil is lovely up this (shed) end of the plot and the weeds came out easily. I am very pleased with the kohl rabi seedlings and I am hoping they will now start to swell. I had some seedlings left over so I gave some to a plot neighbour and some to a friend at work. She also got a chinese lantern - seedlings are popping up from one I bought last year which I thought had died a death, and some cosmos - also self-sown from last year's plant.

I also harvested some radishes which look mighty fine :) I thinned the seedlings a couple of weeks ago to give them room to swell. I like this photo :) Anyone know any good radish recipes?

These are leeks I grew from seed. I am going to thin these out too and sow them in place. I ran out of time last night.

I read somewhere you can germinate shop-bought seeds. This is my 'bean experiment' so I will see if anything grows. Just a bit of fun really. Not the end of the world if it doesn't work!

I picked my first ranunculus too. It is a bright poppy-red but looks orange on this pic. Pesky camera!

I also planted out the aubergines, patty pans, butternut squash and marrow plants I bought from Potten Farm in Kent. I did this is the dark though so no photos yet!

I've just been to the nursery near work to get a few more things. As the seeds I planted did nothing and I want to grow them, I bought a tray of self-blanching celery and two trays of celariac. I also got more seeds and some flowers. Photos to follow :)

After saying I wouldn't grow them again, like I did with the tomatoes, I bought a pot of runner beans! Aww, but... there were 8 healthy plants in one pot... it wasn't much money... last year's were super-tasty (but SO prolific!)... ah, I am sure I will enjoy them this year. Note to self - create a STURDY frame this time! No idea what sort they are. It just said 'runner bean'. Hmm!

This season I shall mainly be growing onions

Yep, onions it is. I found these did really well last year - and they were a cinch to grow. Plant, water hardly ever and leave to grow :) I also use onions in my cooking all the time, and they last well. Why wouldn't I grow them again?! Last year I just grew 'Red Baron' red onions and they did really well. I am now down to my last 2 in the store cupboard. This time around I've got more to go with the white onions and garlic I planted before Xmas. The packs in the photo are the varieties I'm putting in this time: more Red Baron, Stuttgarter & Centurion. Yes, I'm the last of the big spenders! ;)

I would like to grow peas again this year, and fine/french beans. Might give the runner beans a miss this time around as they were super-prolific! I couldn't keep up. Hmm, maybe I could try them in a simple wigwam with just three plants rather than the full row I did last year... I mean, I like runner beans, but not that many! They did surprise me though - I'd never eat them raw from the supermarket, but like a lot of things grown fresh, they were nice eaten raw when they weren't too big :)

I will not be bothering with broccoli or cauliflower again - too prone to bugs & netting is a pain in the butt! However, I will try chillies again as they did well, as well as sweetcorn I think - give it another try. BUT NO MORE TOMATOES, that is for certain! And definitely more flowers. It was so nice to pick a bunch for my table :)

I am planning on going to the allotment today after a bit of an absence. Hope things aren't too wild down there!

What are you doing at the lottie at the mo?

Some clearing, rearranging and harvesting

Managed a few hours down the lottie and mainly did weeding. I also moved some stuff around too that was getting swamped by my enormous cosmos and rudbeckia plants. Remembered the camera so a photo-tastic post for you!

spinach is doing well but it has been seriously nibbled! picked loads for my spinach and ricotta lasagne. there is lots left. yummy :)

weeded beds - flowers, herbs and butternut squash. i moved the lady's mantle out from under the cosmos to give it a better chance. i also moved the tree onions and dug out the golden courgettes as they were pretty much done for. i'm pleased the butternut squash pulled through though :)

hooray! the verbena my friend gave me is starting to flower. love these :)

cosmos. just look at it!!

butternut squash starting to perk up and form some fruits :)

the white dry stalks are from the tree onions i have already harvested. it is good to see they are still growing. not tried the onions yet. i was told they are HOT! i moved them out from under the shadow of the cosmos/rudbeckia giants so hopefully they do ok.

pretty rudbeckia. i picked some more for the flat :)

spotted this busy bee on the globe artichoke flower. i love bumblebees, me!

the blueberry still has a few berries on it but the leaves are turning lovely colours so i took this snap.

the sweetcorn is tempting me every time i go to the lottie! not quite ready yet. the taller ones are the babycorn!! the aubergines are still flowering and fruiting.

i dug some leftover spuds out of this patch last weekend. the courgettes are still going strong and the pumpkins are ok. they were looking a bit yellow and sad so i gave them a good water in the hope they perk up. there are still some pumpkins forming.

runner/french/dwarf beans harvested. these are so delish eaten as is :) so sweet!

there are so many runner beans on this frame that they are pulling it over! this is only a few plants too. i will not need more than this next year!!

I also picked some aubergines, some courgettes and the remaining green tomatoes from the shed toms which FINALLY got chucked out! Hooray - I feel liberated.