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Winter on the Allotment
Hello Although Winter is still with us, Spring is beginning to show herself through the snowdrops, daffodils, and crocus pushing through the soil and flowering – oh and not forgetting the first signs of edibles – wild garlic! I’ve been busy most weekends on my plot, digging over beds, preparing them with manure, and building new – wonky raised beds. I take lots of...
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November on the Allotment
Its November already and although its the time to start planning for next season on the allotment, there is still a variety of produce to be harvested, including kale, chard, beetroot, and cabbage. On Sunday I was chatting with someone about growing potatoes in bags, and the next minute I was holding a handful of perfect spuds – not one had been nibbled! The...
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Hawthorn Ketchup
Hawthorn is one of my favourite trees, full of magic, and history. These ones grow alongside the Rae in South Birmingham, and belonged to a long lost a field boundary. I have collected hawthorn berries, also known as haws, from these trees for a number of years now but this is the first time I have made haw ketchup. There are plenty of recipes for...
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October on the allotment
October is finally here which means I am eager to get ready for the next growing season, including putting some money aside to pay the rent! I can’t believe another year as an allotment holder has flown by so quickly. It’s been a mixed growing year with it’s fair share of failures and occasional successes. A week ago I picked my first courgettes and summer squash. Although they are...
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Dark days, Jerusalem artichokes and beetroot
Working outside when the skies are grey and the wind is blowing can be a real tonic. The last few weeks I am back into the gentle pattern of spending my weekends on the allotment, and it feels like a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders. Although the mild wet winter has meant I am a bit behind with digging, and preparing beds for...
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A bag of soot and some borolotti beans
Oh look an old post I forgot to publish! Back in the autumn we were lucky enough to experience a few hazy dry days working on the allotment, before the grey, wet winter kicked in! My Dad and I – well mainly Dad – finally constructed my secondhand allotment greenhouse. Its 6 x 8, so quite large, and will be a vast improvement on...
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The first days of Autumn
A friend and I took a gentle walk into the country other day. We enjoyed the sense of freedom you can find in being just a little bit lost. Within an hour we’d left behind suburbia and found ourselves crossing field boundaries, and waterways, walking along winding single track lanes, and letting the landscape be our guide. I collected handfuls of wild fruits which were growing abundantly...
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Lincolnshire potato cheesecake
I love to cook but I have a terrible habit of not reading recipes properly. This potato cheesecake is a case in point. Not only did I read it as potato pie, I also assumed it was savory! All I can say is, its been a long week, and my enthusiasm for a potato based pie got the better of me. I came across...
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The perfect weather for making marmalade!
On the last day of the first month of the year, I woke up to dark skies, snow-covered roofs, and a chilly wind fighting with the trees – ah ha I thought ‘the perfect weather for the ritual of marmalade making!’ Marmalade making is one of those seasonal food rituals right up there with ramsons pesto, steaming the first, first early potatoes, and covering...
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A flurry of activity in the kitchen: Elderberry, thyme and rose hip cordial
My little oven has not seen so much activity in weeks. I made two bottles of a cold and flu remedy, just in time for well the cold and flu season , a bottle of iron tonic, as well as dinner all in a couple of hours. I was introduced to the wonders of elderberry by Sarah Head and have since made elderberry cordial many...
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