Tag: peas

Summer is finally here

Summer is finally here

It finally feels like summer is here. We’ve been harvesting plenty of fruit and veg from the allotment and took our first holiday of the year to Cornwall.

We managed to have our first dinner where all the vegetables on the plate were picked fresh from the allotment just hours before. There’s something satisfying about knowing where the food comes from and the effort it took to grow it.

We had chicken cooked in sweet chilli sauce, accompanied by a medley of freshly harvested potatoes, courgettes, carrots, spring onions, and sugar snap peas. It went down a treat and reminded us why we love our allotment so much.

Chicken with vegetables from the allotment

Onion harvest

A couple of days before heading to Cornwall, I spent some time at the allotment to ensure everything was in order while we were away. One of the jobs involved harvesting some of the onions. I pulled up half my onions and left them to dry in the greenhouse. There’s something so wholesome about the smell of freshly pulled onions; it’s one of my favourite times of the year. The remaining half was pulled up when we returned from our trip, and they are currently drying out in the greenhouse, waiting to be stored.

Harvested onions

Our Cornish Adventure

Cornwall was a breath of fresh air. We stayed just outside Lizard and spent a lot of time exploring the local area and Cornwall itself. I’ll let the pictures do the talking here:

Mullion Cove
Sunset at Lands End
Fishing Boat at Lizard Point
Lizard Point
Kennack Sands

Back to the Allotment

When we arrived back from Cornwall, I popped down to the plot for an hour; first to feed the chickens and second to see if there was anything to harvest. To my pleasant surprise, the allotment had thrived while we were away. I harvested runner beans, more peas, beetroot (one of my favourite vegetables), raspberries, tomatoes, cooking apples, and some of the onions that had completely dried out.

Another allotment harvest

Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time, so I had to head back home, leaving quite a bit still to harvest. This week, I plan to spend more time at the allotment to gather the remaining crops.

 

Spring to Autumn We've missed a season

Spring to Autumn: We’ve missed a season

I woke up yesterday, and it felt like autumn. In fact, I had to turn the heating on in the house. It feels like summer passed us by completely and autumn arrived abruptly.

Plot-wise, things are growing slowly. The cooler weather certainly isn’t helping. My potatoes look okay, but my first early potatoes are a hit-and-miss. Only four plants are growing in the bed, although I planted eight. The second early potatoes are fine though, and all of these are growing. The potatoes in my containers seem to be doing okay, and I harvested some last week for dinner.

potatoes grown in containers

Unfortunately, pigeons have battered my second batch of peas, and most of the leaves have been eaten. I’ve covered them with netting and gave them a feed; hopefully, they will recover and produce a crop. However, my second sowing of peas looks amazing and has been planted out. I start my peas off in some old guttering, and once they are 4-6 inches high, I slide them off the guttering into the bed. It makes planting out a lot quicker and avoids disturbing the roots.

The peas eaten by pigeons
Peas grown in guttering

Elsewhere, I’m glad to report that my onions are starting to bulk up and look really healthy. These were sown in the autumn and put on a lot of growth before winter set in. It’s only in the last few weeks that they’ve started to perk up.

My onions in June

The strawberries I planted in late winter are doing really well. I bought 10 plants off eBay to create a new small strawberry bed. When they arrived, I honestly didn’t think they would do much, but they’ve put on a lot of growth and have started to produce fruit. I really need to net them before the birds and other animals eat them before I do.

I had a little win last week—I spotted the first fruit on my tomato plants. They are tiny, but they are producing fruit. Hopefully, the plants won’t get hit by bacterial wilt like they did last year.

Until next time….

Allotment Tour May 2024

Allotment Tour May 2024 – Grow Harvest Eat

May started out with hot sunny weather and you could tell summer was on the way. However, the last couple of weeks, the weather has turned and we’ve had a lot of rain. Most plants (and weeds) have loved the rain and putting on a load of growth. Join me in this months allotment tour.

Mid-April Musings Spring is on the way

Mid-April Musings: Spring is on the way

April has brought a flurry of activity to my plot; I’ve started to sow my seeds, and they’ve started to poke their heads through the soil. My fruit trees are in blossom, and the weeds have started to grow. Spring is around the corner. However, it’s taking its time, we have a couple of days of warm sunny weather, followed by rain and cooler temperatures. I’ve felt like it’s been a long autumn and winter, and I really can’t wait for summer.

What I’ve been sowing

I planted my first batch of broad beans into their final positions, and they are looking really well. I sowed a second batch in pots in the greenhouse a few weeks ago, and they’ve started to come through.

I sowed my tomatoes in mid-March. Until the beginning of the week, there was no activity, and I thought none of them had germinated. Because of this, I bought three plants from the local garden center as a backup last week. Oh well, at least I’ve got some spare.

I had sown some peas directly and covered them with glass to aid germination; unfortunately, the slugs have eaten them. I sowed a second batch in the greenhouse using some old drainpipe guttering. Once these are big enough, I can simply slide them into the beds without disturbing the roots.

I normally plant my potatoes Easter weekend; however, we were away in Wales on a short break. So last weekend, I planted them in the beds. I had some left over, so I planted them in large containers. I like growing potatoes in containers; it makes them easier to harvest, and you never miss any. The only downside I find is that they require a lot of watering. This year I’m only growing two varieties; Swift and Acoustic, both early varieties.

I’ve yet to sow some runner beans, courgettes, or sweetcorn. I’m seeing a lot of people on Facebook sowing these, but I always wait until May before I sow them. They germinate and grow quickly, especially in the greenhouse. The last thing I want to do is plant them into their final positions and be caught out by a late frost.

Until next time…