Potatoes and Piccalilli

 I am on plot 121 here and as you can see my potatoes are REALLY full of overgrowth which includes weeds, brambles & bindweeds from the plot next door.  You can see just behind my bike trailer that there is a mound. Well that mound is actually a compost bin from the next plot that is covered in brambles and bind weed, so that's where it's all come from!

I managed, on my first day back from sickness, to dig out 2 rows of Cara Potatoes.

This is them coming out of the ground. Thats the most exciting bit - digging them out!!

I then put them into a large tray and into the greenhouse to dry out as it's still damp out there!

These are my 2 marrows which I am entering into the Twitter Marrow Competition

As I was digging up potatoes, I dug up a couple of parsnips too, as we were having roast chicken - Mmmm - they were delicious!

This is my harvest (mid illness) which I decided looked like a good Piccalilli crop!

 So I chopped it all up

Add some Celery from the fridge

 And hey presto - Piccalilli will be ready in December

Return from Holiday, Tomato Glut & Gastroenteritis!

Where do I start? From the begining I suppose would be a good place.

OK, so I return from Marrakech on Wednesday, but had a very dodgy tummy, so I didn't make it down to the allotment until the Thursday & when I got there, I found this lot!

Brian from 144a helped me to pick them all as I was rather "delicate!"

 I spent the next couple of days making batches of Tomato Sauce -
The Fiorentino tomatoes made tomato & aubergine sauce and the Roma tomatoes were turned into tomato & courgette sauce - I just used what I had to hand at the allotment!

Unfortunately my tummy bug turned out to be a little more serious than first expected.  I was so ill by Sunday morning that I phoned NHS direct.  They were obviously concerned as they got the "on duty" doctor to call me, who in turn sent another doctor round to my home to see me.  He then wrote a letter and told me to go to the hospital as soon as I could, so I was there within the hour.  I was put on a drip (one of 6) and was kept in. The good news is that I am now home (and itching to get to the allotment, but I am not allowed until next Monday)

The foxes at the hospital, sunbathing!

I am proud to present......

My certificates from the London Borough of Sutton 

Sutton in Bloom 2010 &

From London in Bloom 2010

The accompanying letter reads:

"Thank you once again for entering this year's competition which  continues to be an excellent way to encourage residents, businesses and schools to improve the appearance of the Borough.

I am pleased to say that you have been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the London in Bloom judges, as they feel that you have made a significant contribution to gardening and the floral enhancement of the Borough this year.

Your support of the competition is much appreciated, and I hope that you will continue to enter the competition in year to come. "

I must just add that I am THRILLED to have these lovely certificates which I will frame and put up on my wall. I will also copy them, laminate and pin to the shed door at the allotment !!



Today's Harvest & the FROG!!

Today's visit was mainly to de - erect the Sweet Potato Suite as the wind had blown it over yet again, so with the help of a pair of scissors to cut through all the many, many cable ties that were supposed to be holding it all firmly in place, I got to work, snipping here and snipping away there.  I managed to salvage the green plastic which formed the main body of the polytunnel, but the plastic used for both ends was really flimsy and just got torn to ribbons, so in the recycle bin it went.

I then set about harvesting the sweetcorn - the ones that I grew in a block.  There were only about 4 left so I put the corns to one side and pulled out and composted all 12 stems.

Unfortunately the branch holding the pears on the pear tree (well it wouldn't be an apple tree now would it) had completely broken off under the strain so I picked off all the pears to bring home and hopefully ripen up a little.  I also harvested som salad leaves, a couple of small leeks which looked too good to resisit and my Sweet Pepper from the Greenhouse - all to be used (not the pears) for tonights dinner.  Not too sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I have some Chicken Breasts, so possible bake them with the leeks, some tomatoes & the pepper in the oven, serve with salad and some 1st Early (pentland javelin) potatoes - cheap dinner!!

Now, if you remember, I reported a FROG sighting in my GH not so long ago, see   http://alithefrog.blogspot.com/2010/07/fruits-frogs-flying-ants.html and lucky for me he or indeed she showed up again today!!  I don't know if it is the same one but the markings do look similar.  Lets hope he or she is there to stay a little longer.

More Tomatoes, Chilli's, Hangings & a good tidy up

I had a bit of time on my hands today (Saturday) so I decided that after a few household chores, I would spend some "proper" time at the allotment.  I desperately needed to get rid of the onions that have been drying in the Greenhouse, give the said Greenhouse a jolly good tidy up and re- arrange and stuff like that.

This was my first "sighting" when opening the GH door - and that's just one of them!

Another ripe Fiorentino tomato ready to pick

And this is the result of more pickings from the GH and outside.  Outside, there are so many Roma, Cherry & Fiorentino tomatoes still to ripen - lets hope they do before the blight comes.

These are the "hangings" - I actually had another lot but I gave one away to a fellow allotment holder that didn't have such a successful crop.

 She was very reluctant to take them but I told her of my 5 strings of the over wintering onions currently hanging in my store room at home and I convinced her that she will have some crop more successful than mine so we can swap then!

Now for the big GH tidy up - as you can see the onions are well and truly gone!  I inspected all the tomato plants and if they didn't have anything much left on them I composted them.

 This means that I can now actually walk into my GH with more ease and I have re located the Sweet Peppers in their growbag from the middle of the floor to the very end by the vents as in this picture to the right.

 As you can see, the Sweet Peppers are looking really good.  I have 3 Sweet Pepper plants outside too, but they are not doing so well - alot smaller but they will catch up.












And now for my Chilli Plants - next year I won't be going so mad on the quantity of Chilli Plants I grow - I have far too many for only 2 people to consume.  I might ask the local curry house if they will do me a swap - a dozen chilli's for a chicken madras - it's worth a try!








 This is one of several aubergines thriving in the GH - sorry about the picture - it's sideways and not your vision gone funny!

And last but not least is my favourite Sweet Pepper - my only one that's turning a slight shade of red.