Allotment Tour

We finally made it to the allotment this week, after having not managed to go at all during December, and did some much-needed catching up.

Here it is:

Of course, it doesn't look like much at the moment, but there's plenty going on, and considering what a battle we've always had with couchgrass and other perennial weeds we're pretty pleased with it. But it's been a long time since I took or shared any pictures of it, so let me give you the tour...

It's split roughly into seven sections, more by accident than design, with woodchip paths in between them, lined with bricks and some cheap weedproof fabric that isn't quite doing the job any more.

Section one, above, is where our compost bins are. We built them last spring to replace our old ones, in another spot, which were falling apart, and we relocated them here because it's under the shade of an elder tree and the soil is full of roots - everything we've grown here in the past has struggled a bit, so it's a good spot to use for something other than plants! The area covered in weedproof fabric over there has also been problematic, but we're determined to get it under control this year and plant a new fruit patch here, mulching heavily between the plants to try to beat the couchgrass!

Section two is the first of our three rotation beds. Last year we grew potatoes here - now the near half is covered in a phacelia green manure (and quite a few annual weeds) and the far half has rows of spinach and chard (again with the weeds...) There's also a row of scabiosa I planted out too late to flower, but it seems to be coming through the winter a treat! After we clear this patch in late spring we'll grow squashes and pumpkins here.

Section three (our second rotation bed) is where our root crops were grown, though it's beginning to look a little sparse now. The spring cabbages in the foreground are at a variety of stages - we picked our first this week but others are not ready yet, and one has rotted! :-( Beyond that is a small row of calabrese which should produce in the spring, some carrots, parsnips, swedes, celery and leeks. We've just finished the beetroots. When this patch is clear in early to mid spring, we'll plant our potatoes here.

Section four (our third rotation bed) was pumpkins and squashes last year, but now it's bare, which is pretty disappointing because I sowed most of it with field beans (a green manure) and broad beans in November. (The cardboard is there to protect a patch I left unsown, intending to make a second sowing in March.) I guess I left it just a little too late; they say early November is the latest you should sow but we did it near the end of the month. Still, never mind, there's plenty of time to sow more broad beans, and our root veg and leeks will go here from March onwards.

Section five is what we call our perennials bed, though it's not the only one! We planted it last year with asparagus (along the left hand side) strawberries (in the raised beds) and globe artichokes (far end, under little mounds of woodchip mulch and black plastic to protect the crowns from frost), as well as some parsley, sage, lavender and lemon balm. It's done okay so far but the plants are still getting established - hopefully they will be even better this year. I'd also like to plant some perennial kale among the sage - supposedly sage keeps cabbage white butterflies away, but we will see!

Section six is home to our pond (far end), two columnar 'spur' fruit trees, and our old strawberry patch (this end) which is now under a mulch of thick cardboard until we can dig it over. There used to be a really nice herb garden planted around the pond and the trees, but over the years it's become swamped with couchgrass and very few plants are left, so this area is up for redevelopment this year... We will replant the herb garden - perhaps through a membrane to keep the grass down - and the old strawberry bed will become a flower patch! We'll also be giving away the pear tree - we don't like the fruit! - and we need to right the very wonky apple tree before it goes over! We'll have to do this soon while the trees are still dormant - they won't like having their roots messed with.

Finally, section seven is where we keep our tools in our storage bench, and it's where our old compost bins were (on the right). That spot is now a lovely fertile patch where we'll put a plastic greenhouse this year for a few tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. We've also got a little comfrey patch here which we use to feed the compost and make plant feed, and at the far end is a little bed which used to grow asparagus, though it's almost all been choked out by grass - another redevelopment project for this year. I think it's just big enough for a couple of bean teepees... or I might decide to grow the beans at home and grow sweet peas here instead, or some more fruit! I'd also like to narrow this path a bit to maximise the growing space in section six on the left.

You'll notice there's not much space here for summer fruiting crops like French beans, courgettes and tomatoes, nor salads or brassicas. A few years ago we decided we were better off only growing reasonably low-maintenance veg at the allotment, since we struggle to get here enough to look after them. It's working out really well, and we can still grow those things at home where we can keep an eye on them and pick them regularly! We don't grow many brassicas simply because we find them so problematic (what with flea beetles, whitefly, rootfly, slugs, three kinds of caterpillars and pigeons all wanting a share!) but we are adding them to our repertoire gradually. And we don't grow onions or shallots because we have dreadful white rot in the soil which destroys the crop, but we manage a bit of garlic and plenty of spring onions at home, and I'm sure we'll return to onion-growing at some point...

During our trip on Monday we pruned the apple and pear trees and made a good job of weeding and tidying the perennials bed, cutting down last year's asparagus ferns, herb flower spikes and sunflower stems. Here's a 'before' picture!

There's much more weeding to be done before things start growing again in spring, and we need to make a start on that digging very soon too. We're all crossing our fingers for no flooding this year, so we can keep at it!

Allotment Week, Part Two: Goodbye Digging!

Think about allotments or growing-your-own, and digging is probably one of the first activities that comes to mind. But digging, it seems, is not the best choice for the soil, and more and more gardeners are giving it up. I've been following the work of gardening author and teacher Charles Dowding, who promotes no-dig gardening, and the efforts of Roy and Tanya from Pushing up Dandelions, who created a wonderful and productive no-dig plot from scratch last year by bringing in mulch, manure and compost from offsite, and the advantages are clear:

• It preserves and protects beneficial soil life: the six legged kind, the wriggling kind and the oft-forgotten complex fungal organisms that weave their mycelia through the dirt.
• The soil develops a more stable and open structure, which admits air and water, drains well and can be walked on (carefully) without compacting.
• The soil surface stays loose and is less likely to harden into a crust.
• Leaving roots and other organic matter in the soil to decompose naturally adds structure and nutrients.
• Regular digging means old weed seeds in the soil are constantly brought to the surface where they can germinate and grow.
• Most crops actually establish better and grow faster in undug soil, thanks to its improved structure and microlife.
• Digging takes a lot of time and can be jolly hard work!

(For more about no-dig gardening, check out this handy leaflet from Garden Organic.)

When we started out with our plot, I don't think we could possibly have avoided digging: the couchgrass problem was severe, and we couldn't have afforded to ship in enough compost to just cover it up - and anyway we wanted to grow in the fertile allotment soil, not shipped-in compost from goodness-knows-where! But now, having dug annually for a few years and finally gotten rid of most of the grass across the main growing area of the plot, we're making the big switch to no-dig gardening...

The two beds in the foreground of the pic above have only needed hand-weeding for the last year or so. We helped the third one along last year by basically digging all the soil out of it to about a foot deep, lining it with a couple of layers of thick cardboard to smother the grass, and putting the soil back minus the grass roots! Our squashes grew well here last year and again, it only needed hand-weeding. The cardboard will decompose eventually, but hopefully it will take long enough to smother and kill off any remaining perennial roots below.

Our card-lined no-dig squash bed!

The fourth bed, way over near the compost bin, is still chock-full of grass. We're planning to grow potatoes there this year and Eddie has started to dig it, but those plans may yet change to no-dig plans...

You will have noticed we've put in some (hopefully) permanent paths now, too, lined with weedproof fabric, edged with bricks and filled in with woodchip. This added structure will really help us keep control of things better, I think, and provides something of a barrier to any remaining weeds and those creeping in from the sides.

Taken last summer

So anyway, now we've got a big weed-free area, we're giving up on our thoroughly weed-ridden strawberry and asparagus beds, and planting a new perennials bed was our other main task for 'allotment week'. Below you can see how our old strawberry bed looks right now, and the asparagus bed is in the same state. Hand-weeding them every year when the couchgrass is obviously still so established is just soul-destroying. We were obviously very naive about how long it would take and how hard it would be to get rid of the perennial weeds!

Our old strawberry bed - yuk!

Our new perennial bed has 24 strawberry plants in two raised beds (Florence, Mae, Lucy and Albion runners transplanted from the old bed and from home) and two new rows of asparagus (10 x Gjinlim and 10 x Backlim). Eventually we'll also plant some globe artichokes, a perennial kale or two, and some herbs!

Asparagus crowns going in the ground

So here it is: our new perennials bed (with fox protection on the far raised bed, as we keep finding decomposing animals and bones in it!). There are still a few swedes and leeks here too, but we're getting through them fast now. It won't be long before the asparagus is popping through the soil and the strawberries start leafing up again!

In the meantime, I've taken some cuttings from our perennial Daubenton kale to go here...

...and I'm raising Green Globe artichokes from seed at home. They say you get a lot of duds growing artichokes from seed, so I started by sowing 20 seeds, and culled the weaker ones from the 16 that germinated, so now I have ten. I'll be sure to get rid of any others that don't keep up, and if there are still more than I can handle, I'll take the surplus to swaps! I have bought artichoke plants before but they struggled and died (they were in the troubled bottom end of the plot, where the compost bin now is) and they were expensive! Seed is much cheaper!

Of course, there's still some digging to do: we need to start from square one on the remaining grassy areas now, including the old strawberry and asparagus beds. But it's great to know we can now start to say goodbye to that back-breaking chore we had to get through each season before we could start the fun stuff, and I know the plot's going to be much more productive for it!

Perfect Paella

There's no cuisine quite as summery as Spanish food, packed with spice and summer vegetables such as peppers, green beans and tomatoes, and in my recent - and ongoing - efforts to feel summery no matter what the damn weather's doing, I've been cooking quite a lot of Spanish food lately. I've long been a fan of tapas, but one thing I'd never tried to make before was paella, so I gave it a try.

This is my first attempt. Meat and veggies plus short-grain rice, cooked in stock, with smoked paprika and chilli. What could be wrong? It was nice, but... it wasn't exciting. It was lacking something and I couldn't put my finger on what. So I made it my mission to find out a bit more about making the perfect paella... And three or four paellas later, I think I've cracked it!

The Pan
Paella must be cooked in a wide, flat pan, to make sure the rice cooks in a shallow layer and the stock reduces effectively. But if you don't have a proper paella pan, another large flat pan will do just fine - I made the recipe below in a 28cm saute pan (though a few cm larger would have made life a bit easier).

The Rice
Authentic paella rices are Spanish and include Bomba (the best!), Bahia or Calasparra, but you can use any short grain rice and Arborio - the Italian rice commonly used for risottos - is a pretty good option. (In fact, I preferred Arborio to Sainsbury's 'Paella Rice', the variety of which is unspecified.) These types of rice hold their shape by remaining firm in the middle, whereas long-grain rice goes soft throughout, and they absorb a great deal of flavour as they cook, increasing drastically in size.

The Sofrito
This is simply a paste of chopped onions and tomatoes, cooked down to a dark, rich reduction. It adds so much to the flavour and really transforms the dish - paella isn't paella without it.

The Saffron
I've never been much of a believer in buying massively expensive foodstuffs that don't last very long or go very far... But I was really glad I bought saffron for my paella - there isn't really a substitute for the subtle richness and aroma it adds. (And I hope to be growing my own saffron in the garden starting this autumn - woohoo!) Use it.

The Soccarat
Now here's something I really didn't know, and which many of the recipes you'll find online don't seem to know either; you mustn't stir paella after adding the rice and stock. This is for two reasons. First, stirring encourages rice to release starch, go gooey and lose its shape, and in paella you want each grain to keep its shape. And second, you want the bottom to brown lightly; the crispy browned layer of toasted rice on the bottom is called the soccarat and is considered the best part of the dish - and trust me, it really is good. To get a good soccarat, add the right quantity of liquid (just over one-and-a-half times the volume of the rice) and turn the heat up high for a few minutes after most of the liquid has been absorbed, until you hear a light crackling at the bottom of the pan. After this, the paella should be covered and allowed to rest for five minutes, to allow the rice to soak up the last of the liquid.

The 'Fillings'
A traditional Valencian paella is made with chicken, rabbit, butter beans and green beans, with a seafood mix replacing both meat and veg in coastal towns. But mixed paellas using virtually whatever ingredients are handy have become popular across Spain, and across the world, so while many Spaniards will scoff at the addition of, say, chorizo, if you fancy it I say chuck it in! However, paella is primarily (traditionally) a rice dish, so try not to go so overboard with additions that the rice fades to insignificance! As well as meat, I like to have a green vegetable and a 'meaty' vegetable, such as butter beans or artichoke hearts, plus peppers for that summery sweet flavour. Or of course you could go for a veggie paella with peppers, a variety of beans, peas, fresh tomatoes, aubergines, artichokes, and even some olives. (If you're not going to use chorizo in your paella, I'd recommend adding more garlic, chilli and paprika than in the recipe below, as chorizo adds sso much of these flavours by itself.)

Nome's Perfect Paella
(serves 5-6)

• Heat a little oil in your pan and add 2 or 3 diced chicken breasts. Cook until they're just lightly sealed all over, and stir in 225g chorizo, diced or sliced, and a green and a red pepper, diced. Cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes until the oil starts coming out of the chorizo, then push it all to the outside of the pan or, if you don't have room, remove from the pan and set aside for a few minutes.
• Add a large onion, finely chopped, to the pan, cook a couple of minutes until translucent, then add a 400g can chopped tomatoes, keeping a little of the liquid back. Keep stirring and cooking until it reduces and darkens, but don't let it burn. This is the sofrito and adds loads of flavour to your paella.
• To the sofrito, add 2-3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tsp mild chilli powder and 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika and stir in. Then stir the chicken/chorizo/pepper mix back in to the pan.
• Add 300g short grain rice (see 'The rice' above) and stir quickly through the contents of the pan. Now put that spoon away - you're not going to be doing any more stirring.
• Add 250ml dry white wine, 500ml light, quality chicken/fish/veg stock and about 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked in a little hot water. Sprinkle on 200g frozen/fresh peas or chopped green beans. Give the pan a little shake to even things out, and bring to the boil.
• Taste the stock to check the flavour, spice and seasoning. Adjust if necessary, but try not to disturb the rice too much. 
• Reduce to a simmer and leave uncovered to cook. It should take around 20 minutes for all the liquid to absorb/reduce - check at around the 15 minute mark and if it's still very wet, raise the heat, or if it's dry already but the rice isn't tender add a little more stock. 
• When the rice is tender and almost all the liquid is absorbed, arrange 225g cooked king prawns and a can of artichoke hearts or butter beans (or 100g dried butter beans, soaked overnight then simmered 40-60 minutes until tender) on the top of the paella to heat through.
• Raise the heat to brown the bottom. When you hear popping and crackling it's happening - stick a fork down there and keep an eye on it as you want a good layer of brown but no black! When it's done, turn the heat off.
• Cover the pan with a lid, foil or a clean towel, and let the dish rest for five minutes.
• Sprinkle the juice of half a lemon and a couple of good handfuls of chopped fresh parsley over the paella, and serve, remembering to scrape the lovely soccarat off the bottom!

Allotment update. Gah!

I'm finally starting to face up to the fact this is a bad, bad year for growing. Between torrential rain and scorching sun, and thanks to weeds thriving through the mild winter, we still haven't cleared enough earth to plant out our sweetcorn, beans, sunflowers and squashes, and they're languishing and potbound at home. Grass is taking over everything and slugs are eating everything else. We've had the worst asparagus crop ever, and the spring hail that blasted blossoms off fruit trees and bushes is going to mean a pretty poor fruit crop too. All my cucumbers and gherkins (at home) yellowed and died for reasons unknown - I suspect they just couldn't take the prolonged cold, wet, dull weather - cutworms (or something) mowed down 90% of my broad beans, and my shallots have inexplicably gone straight to flower without swelling to any kind of decent size.

At least the potatoes are doing okay.

The garlic is looking good and the onions are doing all right, albeit with rather liberal applications of (organic) slug pellets to try to keep it that way.

And despite a lot of slug damage and a few weeds as always, we're picking plenty of strawberries, which are always a joy.

We've achieved one of our allotment goals at least - we've finally planted up the corner patch we hardly ever use (hard, root-filled soil) with some artichokes, perennial cauliflowers and heritage kales - all planted through weedproof fabric to try to keep things under control...

I'm gradually covering it with stones to protect the fabric (it's gonna take a while!), and plan to plant some sage between the brassicas to try to keep caterpillars at bay - apparently cabbage whites hate the smell. I'll believe it when I see it...

At home, our tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, herbs, mangetout, chard and French beans are doing all right, I've resown a couple of cucumbers, and I might actually manage to grow some aubergines this year - they're loving the extra warmth of the plastic greenhouse - so all is not lost.

But I'm gonna have to accept we're just not going to get everything done on the plot this year. Sigh.