Allotment Update

We spent some time at the allotment today, for the first time in a good week and a half, and we were dismayed to find it looking rather sorry for itself. The hot dry weather has left everything looking a bit droopy...

...the pond terribly dry (spot the frog - I don't think he minds!)...

...and most of the lettuces and some beetroots threatening to bolt. The potato plants are rather small and pathetic, and the strawberry patch looks like this:

Do strawberries just attract weeds or what?

The brassicas - despite their cage - have managed to develop a serious aphid infestation...

...although there are plenty of ladybirds doing their best to deal with the problem, and we relocated more while we weeded and watered.

The runner beans, too, are suffering from the dry atmosphere - thanks Matron for clueing me up to what's going on here!

The flowers don't set beans when the air is too dry - misting with water regularly can solve the problem. I won't get the chance to do that, what with the plot a bus ride away, but I watered the foliage and flowers generously today in an attempt to help a little.

Of course, it's never all bad news. Here are some young squashes which are doing well despite the dryness:

We also managed at last to plant our 'everlasting' cauliflowers, protected by a cage of strings and canes, although this won't keep the butterflies off and I'll have to keep a close eye on them. We won't expect anything from these until next spring, but I can't wait to see how they do!

We got our first harvest of potatoes too - though they were just bite-size - a few little carrots, some broad beans and some diminutive onions which looked like they had given up for the year.

Ooooh, I feel a stew coming on...

Nome Makes Pickle!

Yes, I have had my first go at some proper preserving. Well, semi-proper preserving - I mean, this isn't going to make it to winter or anything. Must buy some decent bottling jars...

Having picked a huge armload of courgettes before moving, I've been doing all I can to make sure that none go to waste this year. And this courgette pickle seemed a good way to do it.

There are dozens of variations of this recipe on the internet, so I don't really know who to credit it to, and my variation is slightly different to all the others anyway. It's really simple so there's no excuse not to give it a go!

Courgette Pickle
(makes about 1 litre)

• Finely dice 500g courgettes and a small onion. Place in a bowl with 2 tbsps sea salt and just enough cold water to cover. Keep chilled for one hour.
• Put 500ml cider vinegar in a pan with 120g sugar, 2 or 3 cloves of crushed garlic, 2 tsps mustard seeds, 1 tsp mustard powder and 1 tsp turmeric. Simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.
• Drain and dry the courgettes (in a towel in batches), then mix into the pickling liquid and pour into jars.
• Leave for a couple of days before eating, for the flavours to combine and the veg to soften.
  

When I started looking for a pickle recipe, I guess I was really looking for a chutney recipe - more of a spreadable condiment - whereas what I got was courgettes floating in vinegar: pickled courgettes. I had not thought about the difference - after all, you buy sweet 'pickle', Branston's 'pickle' and ploughman's 'pickle' in the supermarket and they are all chunky spreads, not things in vinegar!

Still, the pickle is delicious and went down well with the whole family. We've been eating it mostly in ham sandwiches, and with cheese. I expect it will last a good few weeks in the fridge. Next time I will make more and give some away!

Garden Update. With Cucumbers!

While we have moved to a much smaller home this week, the garden pots and tubs have moved to a much bigger one! Not that there's much spare room - Mum is a keen gardener too and prefers a wild, woodlandy look (in a good way!) - but we have squeezed them in for now and will tidy them up later. Our shady little concrete yard was never ideal for growing... well, very much at all, really... but my parents' garden is pretty big and gets sun for most of the day. And the plants certainly seem to have enjoyed the change...

The cucumbers, which seemed to have all been stuck at an inch long for ages, have multiplied many times in size (four or five times in length) since the weekend. I can't wait to pick these babies!

The chilli buds have bloomed. Although I'm concerned to see there are no signs of flowers whatsoever on one plant (out of two). At the same time, something has started eating little holes in the leaves. There are no bugs to be seen, at any time of day. What eats chilli plants?

And the bergamot, which was getting weak and spindly in the shade of the old garden, has flowered too. The bees love it! The bergamot on the allotment is far behind this one - I wonder why.

The rocket, mustard, mizuna and cress has not fared so well; what with the incredible heat over the weekend, little watering (to avoid making the pots too heavy to lift) and the move itself, they have all gone to flower. No more of them until the autumn, I think.

Two or three weeks ago, I planted six tomato plants in growbags on Mum's patio - so that I wouldn't have to try moving growbags without disturbing the plants. I hadn't seen them since then, but now I am pleased to find they have formed their first little green tomatoes. Woo!

Tuna Nicoise Salad

We have been picking the first of the beans! French beans are the number one veg to grow at home, in my opinion; they're easy, prolific, versatile and scrumptious! I love Delinel - they're a teeny bit hairy on the outside but the flavour is just delightful. I am only growing a few this year; neglect of the plot last year meant they got completely drowned by weeds and the beans mostly went to waste, so this year it's an easy-to-manage trough in the home garden, and I'm kicking myself for growing too few...

One of the plants keeps growing beans like this! How funny!

The night before our move, we enjoyed the first of our beans in a tuna nicoise salad - with the first of our crisphead lettuces too, which was sweet and crunchy and delicious.

I love this salad - so many glorious complementary flavours. Just dress some salad leaves with a little oil and vinegar and a touch of garlic and mustard, and add some sliced onion, plenty of cooked green beans, boiled new potatoes, black olives and a hard boiled egg or two. Top with tuna - grilled steak would be perfect but we used canned. It's a fab summer supper!

Rubbish!

We are moved. And not too far off unpacked too. I have relearned the bus routes to and from work. (I got on the wrong bus home today but the driver took pity on me and kindly explained which number buses go in which directions at what times. I'm sure it doesn't really have to be so complicated!) Even Samson seems fairly settled, and has been eyeing the other local cats through the windows...

Moving in to a new place is fine - it's moving out I really hate. After a long Saturday toing and froing in my brother's van, and a long Sunday removing the leftovers destined for car boot sales and the tip, Mum and I still spent seven hours on Monday cleaning the old place and packing up the last of the crap - stuff I'd forgotten about in corners and cupboards and sheds, some of it for years.

It's amazing, and a little depressing, how much stuff we end up having to throw away, even though we try so hard not to. However, I'm always so impressed by our local tip. Ahem. Sorry. Household Waste Recycling Centre. It's open 7 days a week until 6pm; waste is sorted into dozens of types; it's always well manned so that if in doubt you can ask where to put something (and if you haven't sorted your waste properly, someone will make sure that you do!); and even after dumping, your waste will be sorted even more carefully into different materials before sending off for recycling. I actually wished I had taken my camera so I could show you better!

Anyway, enough of this rubbish. Normal blogging service will be resumed tomorrow (or Thursday at the latest) with tuna nicoise salad, mutant beans, and an update from the garden (because Lord only knows what's happening at the allotment this week...)