Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Well, it’s been a very busy week, and a little unexpectedly so. It was good to get to the weekend though, and to get down to the allotment. If you read my post about the water problems at the site, I’m pleased to report that they have been resolved it seems. The leak has been fixed, and my prayers for rain have been answered, it even managed to rain on the workman when they were trying to sort the problem out.
We’ve had a week of rain at night, and into the morning and then from about mid-morning onwards it’s been bright and sunny, and that pretty much sums up every day this week, until the weekend arrived at it was sunny from the get go!
Plan B for Water
My alternative plan for getting water to the allotment arrived in the post during the week, and although it wasn’t technically needed, I still wanted to try it out this morning. It’s an H2GO bag, [Amazon Link – other suppliers do exist] that sits in a wheelbarrow and holds about 50 litres of water. I was a bit skeptical about whether it would actually work, but it does, and I’m really impressed. You need something large like a big bucket to tip the water into, so that you can then scoop it up into a watering can and 50 litres weighs quite a bit so if you’re a long way from where you want to get the water too, you might want to think about not filling it completely full. If I get a chance I’ll try and do a quick video, so you can see it in action.
Off To The Plot
When I went down to the plot this morning it was with the main intention of getting some more plants into the ground. Things have been getting a little tight for space in the potting shed, and it was time for some to move out onto the allotment. I had Cavalo Nero, Sweetcorn and some Cucumbers to go down, and although it’s potentially too early for the latter two I had a cunning plan to protect them from the nighttime temperatures which are still dropping down into the mid single figures.
Cavalo Nero In. Brassica Cage Full!
The Cavalo Nero plants went into the brassica cage alongside the cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli. It’s now as full as it’s going to be this year. There are some more brassicas to go, but there’ll have to go into another part of the plot
Sweetcorn In Their New Home (With Net Curtains!)
The sweetcorn have gone in as well, and I’ve built a little windbreak / cage for them too. This one made from enviromesh and some old net curtains (because I didn’t have a big enough piece of enviromesh). The cucumbers are just alongside, and have a fleece “dome” over the top of them. I hope both of these slightly Heath Robinson constructions will help the plants establish. The forecast for the week ahead looks good, and nighttime temperatures aren’t too low, so they may be okay. I’ll keep an eye on them anyway, because they’ll need watering in.
And finally I had a great crop of rhubarb to harvest. I love rhubarb and there are many things that you can do with it, including jams, wine and other nice things. However I think that you can’t beat some nice stewed rhubarb. Now I know that sounds a bit like school dinners, but take my word for it and give it a try. Here’s how I go about preparing it:
Take your rhubarb stalks and remove the leaves (you can’t eat the leaves, as they’re toxic, so throw them on the compost heap or in the bin). Clean the stalks and chop into pieces about 2.5cm long.
Place these in an oven proof glass dish, add a small amount of water (you don’t want to cover them, so just about halfway to the top of the rhubarb).
Add ground cinnamon and brown sugar to taste (about a level teaspoon of cinnamon and a level tablespoon of brown sugar to six stalks of rhubarb, add more sugar if you have a sweet tooth).
Add a generous handful of sultanas.
The Rhubarb Mix – Ready To Go Into The Oven
Cover & put in the oven at a 140ºC / Gas Mark 3, for about 20 minutes. At this point, remove and stir with a fork to break-up (shred) the rhubarb.
Return to the oven for about another 10 minutes, and then repeat the shredding process until the rhubarb is soft and stringy.
Serve straight from the oven (it will be very hot!) with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or allow to cool and serve. Works great on porridge or muesli for breakfast!
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
I received an email from the Allotment Site Manager at the end of last week that said owing to a broken pipe the water at the allotments had been turned off, and would stay that way until further notice i.e. until they can locate and fix the leak. Not a major problem for me yet, as I have two large waterbutts which collect water from my shed roof, so I have some water for the time being. However if the weather stays the same for the next couple of weeks that water will be gone. At the moment the seedlings need something nearly every day, and although we’ve had the odd nighttime shower it won’t be enough. I think I have a solution in terms of how I can get water from home to the site if I need to, but I’ll write about that some other time (when I’ve tested it).
It has sent a few others into a flat spin however in terms of getting water to their plots. Very few seem to have their own waterbutts and are reliant on the tap(s) to keep their allotments watered. Most seem to have taken to bringing water to site in camping containers and other portable water systems for now.
In other news the plants that I’ve been bringing along in the potting shed have been doing very well indeed (see above, from left to right; cucumbers, pumpkins, sweetcorn & courgette). I’ve started bringing them out into the back garden during the day now, as the potting shed has been reaching temperatures during the middle of the day of 40°C which is great for getting them going, but not so good if they are to go out onto the allotment soon, so I’ll be hardening them off. They’ll go back into the potting shed overnight.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
It’s that time of the year for clearing out the last of the compost from the main bin on the allotment. I’ve been using this as I dig over the beds, and plant potatoes. It’s mostly last years cleared plants with a little horse manure and other things that will compost well. I have two bins, one that’s “cooking” and one that I’m adding to in the current year. Next spring the one that’s “cooking” will become the one I use for adding to beds as I dig them.
While I was working, a pair of Robins kept coming to check on my progress, and help me by removing centipedes and other insects, I managed to get a few minutes of video of their antics, see below. They seem very focussed, and I think both have nests with young in near by, so I expect I’ll be seeing their offspring in due course. They’re often coming to inspect what I’m doing, particularly if I have the hoe out or any other activity that disturbs the soil a bit.
I went down to the allotment this morning to plant out some leeks. I’ve recorded a little video, see below, because I thought it might be useful to someone. As with many things, this is just the method I use and there may well be other better methods.
While I was there I took an opportunity to weed the brassica bed. It wasn’t too bad but it felt good to be on top of weeding that area. There’s a little slug damage to some of the plants, but otherwise they seem to be doing well, so hopefully we’ll get a good crop again this year.
There are symbolic things that happen on the allotment each year. They mark a particular moment in the growing season, a point at which you know you’ve reached the same point as a previous year, even though the exact date might be different. I suppose in many ways this is a kind of almanac.
This last weekend saw the final harvest of the purple sprouting broccoli from the plot. It’s been especially good this year, and has given us many meals of homegrown veg, at a time when our supplies are growing short and we are more reliant on store bought produce than I would like.
I used this final crop to accompany a slow cooked shepherd’s pie that I made to serve dinner guests on Saturday. The shepherds pie had a little heat and warmth included courtesy of a bit of chilli pepper, and was a fine result, enjoyed by all.
The area that was once the purple sprouting broccoli has now been dug over, and has had some pelleted chicken manure added to it. It is destined to be an area for sweetcorn or courgettes and pumpkins, depending on the exact position of those plants. At the moment these are still seedlings in the potting shed so it will be a little while longer before they are ready to go out onto the plot.
I also recorded a short update video for YouTube, embedded below to watch should you wish.
Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.
Artist Impression of Hinkley Point C: EDF Energy/PA
The UK is full of talk of Brexit and what it might mean for the Country if the public vote to leave the EU at the referendum vote on June 23rd. There are many statistics and arguments being given on both sides. One of the other pieces of news that I’ve been following is Hinkley Point C.
The new nuclear power station that is a combination of British government, the Chinese, the energy company EDF, and the French government. The will it / won’t it tug-of-war as to whether the project will go ahead, seems to change weekly and even daily. The latest news is that EDF are delaying their decision (once again) until the summer, and that’s less than a week after the French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said that the project was going to proceed. Understandably, State Aid has reared its head, and that needs to be resolved.
But what if the UK votes to leave the EU on June 23rd, what of Hinkley Point then? Francois Hollande has already said that if the UK leaves the EU:
“There will be consequences in many areas: on the single market, on financial trade, on economic development between our two countries.”
This was connected to a speech in relation to immigration, but it’s obvious that there could be wider implications, including Hinkley Point C. EDF are clear that they can’t proceed with the project without state intervention, and have alreadylost one finance director. Would the French government continue to back the project and EDF?
It seems that in addition to all of the other issues surrounding Brexit, Hinkley Point C might also hinge on that public referendum.
Lets say that we do vote to leave the EU, there is no Hinkley Point C (an early French government announcement wouldn’t perhaps be a surprise), what are the ripples that might cause? Well if Vote Leave prevails it seems likely that David Cameron will also, and Hinkley Point has been heavily supported by George Osborne, so I don’t fancy his leadership chances, which leaves Boris or A.N.Other.
Whichever way the vote goes, it’s going to be an interesting few months ahead.
[For reference, I’m undecided at the moment as to whether we should stay or go, but I will be voting when the time comes].
The contents of this post are the views of the author alone, and do not represent those of any employer or client that the author is working for, either now or historically.
Electronic Scrapbook 