Sunday, 3 August 2008

Chutney is made & Derek strikes again!!


These little jars are the results of my chutney making efforts
Don't they look pretty and quaint?
I have put them in the store room to mature for a few months,
and I have posted a jar to my "virtual" friend Ralph who has a lotty in Notty(Nottingham)
as it's his birthday next weekend, so I hope he is a good boy and doesn't open it straight away!!


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As I arrived at the allotment gates this morning I was immediately arrested by the fantastic banner that Kirsty's husband had made to advertise the open day next Sunday 10th



Isn't it just FAB? I love the flowers - so pretty.

On arrival I was greeted with the sound of spade hitting soil - yes, you guessed it, the bramble fairy / digging fairy - the wonderful Derek was on plot 144 again, clearing brambles and digging away for me - bless.

As you can see from the picture below, he dug me enough of a space to not only put in some spring cabbages, which Olga my Russian Lotty neighbour gave to me that very morning, but there is also now enough room to put in the next installment of peas that are still growing happily in my cold frame at home.

I protected the cabbages with some netting

So that the birds and pigeons don't attack them. Do you like the idea of putting up turned bottles into the soil to create a little "roof" for them? Obivously as the plants grow, the bottles will have to go onto canes & fortunately for me - the netting is double the width so as the flowers grow the netting protection can expand! Clever eh?

This is my favourite Tomato so far - it is huge - almost the size of an orange and it's grown a little arm!

George and Perry said it didn't look like an arm to them - what could they mean???? I wonder what it looked like to them????????


Finally - My surprise this visit was the amount that the runner beans had grown - on my last visit on Thursday, they were mostly half way up the canes and now - just look - all the way to the top!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ali, the chutney must be really good, even the labels look yummy!!Your garden is coming up well; using bottles to support the netting (initially) is a wonderful idea! Happy gardening!

Una said...

I love the music! I put plastic bottles over my peas as well, but the other way up. It meant I had to cut off the bottle ends though. I removed them today as the peas have grown bigger than the bottles. The couple of pea plants that I didn't cover have been nibbled by birds (?).

john and nic said...

Nice to know were not the only ones putting peas out now. Your neighbouring plot holders sound lovely, and your allotment looks great :)

Unknown said...

Yes, still putting in peas. I put my first lot out about 1 month ago and they are just starting to produce peas!! The second lot went in around 2 weeks ago and are thriving into little plants now and the last lot, which are still in the cold frame I hope to put in just before the weekend, in time for our open day. Thanks for your comments - I did visit your blog earlier today but I haven't had time to comment yet!! will do later.

Anonymous said...

I think it's a fabulous idea using plastic bottles as part of the protective shield for your cabbages. It also reminds me that I had better run down to the nursery and get some plants for myself!

Now as for the tomato.... ;-)

magiceye said...

namaste!

am glad you liked my blog!
love the enthusiasm in nurturing plants on your blog! you exude so much positive energy! lovely!

Anonymous said...

Yes it's chutney and pickle time again. The recipes are fast coming out to deal with the inevitable glut of vegetables. Got to keep on top of things!

Eve said...

That is put up in such a pretty way. It would seem like a shame to open it.
The tomato is looking good. I had a few with "extensions"...men are just gross, ignore them.

I wish I had used netting on my cabbage. I had to throw a lot of my outer leaves away because they had holes.

Mandy said...

I love the music, so have pinched your idea for my blog and most of your songs...:) I really hope you don't mind, it just made me laugh so much that I Had to have it..

Love the pickle, it made me feel hungry just looking at it.

Ralph Mills said...

As the proud and salivating recipient of a jar of Ali's chutney I shall report back in November as to its culinary charms!! It will take all my willpower to wait that long though...