Tomorrow, we move house.

This blog post should really have come before the one about my little walk along the River Ver, because this is my usual walk home from the allotment, and it is by no means less picturesque!

St Albans is a green place, and I find most walks round here a real pleasure.

It's historic too, and the town centre is dominated by our cathedral - I love the way it pops up over rooftops and between buildings everywhere you go:

Our walk takes us past the old Ryder seed nursery - a beautiful art deco style glass building, now a Cafe Rouge. The packing plant for Ryder's seeds was the brick building next door (on the left) - now a Comfort Hotel!

Samuel Ryder was a big figure in St Albans' history - he was not only a major businessman here, but he was a councillor, Mayor, and he was instrumental in the building of one of our biggest churches. And of course, he was captain of the local golf club and sponsored the international 'Ryder Cup', donating the gold trophy.

Then we walk right by the cathedral itself on Holywell Hill. (Legend has it that Saint Alban was beheaded on the site of the cathedral, his head rolled all the way down the hill, and a well sprang up where it stopped, hence the name!)

I don't really know as much as I should about the cathedral's history, but I do know how I feel when I stand in its shadow. It's timeless and permanent and just so... present. Like the great foot of God planted in the earth and stretching up to heaven!

Just beyond the cathedral, we pass the Abbey Gateway and St Albans School - previously a prison, previously a printing press, previously a monastery. Apparently a lot of notable people were schooled here, including Nicholas Breakspear (AKA Pope Adrian IV) in the 12th Century, Stephen Hawking more recently, and many others.

Oh, and I must mention my favourite tree, in the Abbey grounds. It's so huge and perfectly formed!

We live very close to all this - virtually in its shadow - and there's more history every way you look.

But there's a reason I've been getting all soppy over my lovely hometown recently. Tomorrow, we move house. We're not actually leaving St Albans - just going a few miles out to the edge of town - but I have come to really enjoy living in the town centre and I'm sad that it won't be on my doorstep any more. I won't be doing this walk any more. I won't be able to tell the time by the abbey bells any more. I won't be able to walk round the lake whenever I feel like it any more. I won't be able to nip to the shops at the drop of a hat any more. Instead of history and intrigue everywhere I look, there will be 1960s semis and neatly trimmed lawns.

We are moving back in with my parents; the 'granny annexe' adjoining their house is now vacant, and we're taking the opportunity to live there for cheap and save up some money. We will have even less space than we do now, and the allotment will be a 15 minute drive rather than a 15 minute walk (or a 50 minute walk, but I'm not doing that laden with bags of vegetables too often!). Of course, we don't drive yet - we have always been rather pleased about not having to pay car insurance or road tax or petrol or parking or repairs - but now we are learning.

Don't get me wrong - I'm fond of the area we're moving back to as well - it's where I spent most of my teens - and it will be lovely to be closer to the family again. And it's a total no-brainer in terms of the money we will save. But change is scary and emotional, and, well, I just can't wait 'til it's all over and we're settled down in the new place!

Easy Courgette Risotto

Nah, this isn't a 'real' risotto, where you have to buy special rice and watch it for ages and never stop stirring. I can't be bothered with all that stuff. It's a variation on something my Mum used to make, and feels fabulously healthy with loads of vegetabley goodness. But what really makes this dish is the sprinkling of good cheddar cheese on top, and the crunch of the toasted sunflower seeds. Next time you need yet another courgette recipe, you have to try it.

Easy Courgette Risotto

• Put rice on to boil - 50g per person - with a veg or chicken stock cube in the water.
• Dice onion, courgette and mushrooms, and pan-fry in a little oil for 5 minutes, then cover, lower the heat, and let the veg steam in their own juices. You don't need to add anything - the stock will provide all the seasoning you need.
• When the rice is just cooked, drain well and stir into the vegetables. Remove from the heat and let it soak up the vegetable juices.
• Toast a handful of sunflower seeds in a dry pan until just turning golden-brown. (Cashews are good with this too.)
• Serve the risotto with toasted seeds on top and a generous sprinkling of grated cheddar.
  

Success!

I have grown my first crisphead lettuces!

For one reason or another I have always failed with these before - they never heart up for me. But now I have six or seven lovely crisp heads getting bigger. Hurrah!

Meanwhile though, my lollo rossa has gone brown and crispy. Why? Too dry maybe? The middles are still green so maybe there's still hope. It's difficult to make time to water everything as often as I probably should in this hot dry weather. I'm doing my best!

Peas

Allotments have one major disadvantage, I think. With so many yummy veg growing in one place for such a long time, and with so many gardeners trundling along the same footpaths and dipping their watering cans in the same water tanks, they can be a haven for pests and diseases. If I had grown these scrummy sugarsnap peas on the allotment, they'd be rife with pea-moth caterpillars. But growing them at home, not a single one is damaged. Hurrah!

Of course, there is still one major pest to contend with; I evicted a whole family of snails from under my plants while I was harvesting these.

I have perhaps let them get a bit over-developed before picking; life is hectic at the moment and I can't keep up! But despite a few stringy bits they were delicious, and we ate them in this; another lovely summery couscous recipe.

Herb-crusted Salmon on Vegetable Couscous
(serves two)

• Whizz together two slices of bread, lemon zest and a little juice, fresh parsley, chives and tarragon, and seasoning.
• Spread this crumbly topping generously over two salmon fillets, and bake at 180C for around 20 minutes.
• Pan-fry diced courgette and sugarsnap peas in a little oil with a glug of lemon juice. When softening round the edges but still al dente, add 100g couscous, some more lemon juice, a knob of butter, and boiling water. Cover and let the couscous do its thing.
• Serve the salmon on top of the vegetable couscous. Garnish with finely chopped sugarsnaps!
  

Fight Against Blight

My allotment association has just alerted me to Blightwatch - a free service from the Potato Council that sends you an email or SMS whenever 'Smith Period' (the humid conditions which encourage blight spores to germinate) hits your postcode area, so that you can take the necessary precautions. Sounds like a great idea to me! Now I shall have a milk spray ready whenever conditions are right. I'm getting some Nome-grown tomatoes this year, dammit!

June is St Albans Festival time, when there's a big focus on community events, theatre, music, outdoor concerts and all kinds of stuff; and my favourite festival event was last night in St Michael's village, just a few minutes walk from our house. They close the road for the evening, the pubs (there are lots of pubs) spill out into the street, there are several barbecues to choose from, folk dance groups perform in the street until dark, local bands play in the pubs until closing time, and a lot of ale and cider - and fun - is had by all.

We enjoyed such silliness as this:

and this:

and lots and lots of this:

It wasn't all English traditional stuff though; the local Flamenco group got a look in too:

And this Cuban-style covers band pulled the biggest crowd!

It's a bit of a local secret, but I'm glad it's not more popular - I don't think the tiny street could take many more people!