After a wet August and September October has been a pleasant surprise. We’ve still had plenty of rain, but it’s been balanced by a reasonable amount of sunshine and I’ve certainly enjoyed plenty of time away from the allotments. The plants have enjoyed the weather too and everything is now...
October, like September, has been a challenging month in the garden. High winds, lots of rain and not much sun. I even had to put cold-frame lids over new plantings of lettuce to protect them from the gales and hail! It looks like everything has pulled through though, the squash...
August, like July, has been a challenging month in the garden. High winds, lots of rain and not much sun. I even had to put cold-frame lids over new plantings of lettuce to protect them from the gales and hail! It looks like everything has pulled through though, the squash...
June has been a crazy month, with a few days colder than February and then blazing hot a fews days later followed by gales and heavy rain. The beans have suffered the most, hardly climbing at all. Hopefully July will get things growing again, there’s not much I can do...
In this video I talk about how we planted our early broad beans, the wonderful harvest we’ve just completed and how we will continue to harvest broad beans into autumn and then bean tops through winter and into early spring. If you are new to my allotment videos you might...
I don’t generally like to make ‘hot to’ videos, because everyone’s needs and circumstances are so different. However sometimes I make a “how I do” video, and this is one of those. I explain my philosophy about the use of containers in the polytunnel and greenhouse and show examples to...
This video is the finance update for spring. I go through the value of our harvests, how much we’ve spent, how much we’ve saved off our food bill. I also talk about why this year has been so much better than last year and some plans for the future. If...
May has been a much more relaxed month than April, sowing just a few seeds and a leisurely planting schedule. Almost all of the summer planting is complete now, with about half of the autumn/winter brassica’s in too. The focus now switches to preparing for an abundant winter and spring,...
In this short video I talk about how and what we harvested in spring, the joy of seasonal eating, what I do with all of the fruit and veg and how I calculate the value of our harvests. Harvest highlights at the end of spring If you are new to...
This is just a quick video to introduce some of the books and TV shows that shaped my journey to self-sufficiency, or perhaps self-reliance. The self-sufficiency dream that started when I was 13 isn’t realistic of course, but we have achieved it in some important, perhaps the most important...
A couple of recent harvests as we achieve spring abundance, we buy the tomatoes in March! #Digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
Back harvesting again after a few days off #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
Cycling and walking today in between the showers #notjustgardening
Golden hour on the beach this morning, before harvesting #sunrise #loveukweather #beachlife #beach #gooutside #scenery #views #thegoodlife
Autumn harvest #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
I was suffering over the weekend, so I just did a little family harvest to keep us going. Normal service will resume next weekend #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
Yesterday’s allotment haul #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
It’s our allotments open day on Saturday, Debbie and I will be on our plots if you want to come along and say hello #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
First post COVID harvest and the first time it’s felt like we have an abundance of summer fruits #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
We’ve had a great first half of the year, grown way more than last year from the same land. The bumper harvests are over now as I turn my focus towards autumn, winter and spring abundance. While harvesting ‘just enough’ over summer #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
Broke another harvest record this week, brining our total for the year to £4,000 close to a 20% increase on last year from the same land with more increases to come, especially in autumn and spring. I’ve increased close to 20% every year so far #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife
Weekly harvests are just as we like them now, not too big, not too small, just right. We let the table be our guide #digforvictory #selfsufficient #backyardgarden #kitchengarden #allotment #allotmentlife