What We’ve harvested and eaten We harvested a ‘grand’ total of £52 worth of veg this week, excluding anything from the store. We had 19 meals with ingredients from the allotment. It’s been a good harvest week, the plots have recovered from being picked hard for the big Christmas...
Let’s get this out of the way immediately: there’s no desperate need to sow in January. I’m doing it for some very specific reasons that I explain in the video, but normally sowing in the autumn and mid-February onwards are the best times. That said there are a few things...
This is a new monthly video where I will do a quick run through of the seedlings that I’m sowing and growing on and planting out during the current month. I will try and do it early in the month, in case I inspire anyone to do likewise, but remember...
One of my new years resolutions is to get my a bit more balance in my activities. Specifically I want to spend more time writing, to complement my reading and video making. My writing topic of choice for this year is a new blog focused on my allotment and it...
This is a long video, but then it’s on an important topic. I explore my approach to self-sufficiency and then spend quite a while illustrating how I put it into practice through successional sowing, choosing different varieties that mature at different times, choosing veg suited to different seasons and season...
In this video I do a full tour of the three allotments, the polytunnel and the kitchen garden and store. It’s a long video, but it’s worth it because it finally feels like not only has spring arrived, but warm weather has arrived too. The word on the allotments is...
Big update on the progress of my super early potatoes and how I’ve planted in the ground this year. I’ve planted lots of Charlotte and Arran Pilot in tubs on the patio at home and on Jennie’s plot. I’ve also planted Charlotte in the ground (with some chits removed) for...
It’s been another challenging week on the allotment. Hail, sleet, light frosts and plenty of rain and wind. As a result we’ve had a bit of downy mildew rearing it’s ugly head on some of the lettuce; ironically the variety that’s meant to be most resistant! I’ve picked off the...
Well it’s been a challenging end to winter, with the coldest weather anyone around here can remember. The wind chill has been particularly challenging, so anything tender that’s not under cover has suffered, the chard and broad beans being good examples. Under cover though nearly everything has survived well. I’ve...
After a couple of weeks wait, we finally got the stumps ground out on the plot. The whole process took about half an hour, saving we a week of back breaking work doing it manually. It’s been really cold this week, but the worst is still to come so I’m...