Tag Archives: allotment

Allotment Challenge, TV Stuff

Big Allotment Challenge 2015: Epi one

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9pm, a Friday. And the Big Allotment Challenge was back. With baited breath, Britain’s allotmenteering community flicked on BBC2 to see what changes had been made since last years first series.

So I commandeered the family tv, complete with Mama and her knitting needles. I would watch this, on the larger screen, rather than on a portable device on catch up.

Credits rolled, and I could feel myself slipping into observation mode, It’s hard not to be a teacher. There was even my notebook and a pen, I was going to make very close observations.

Plots have changed since the end of the last series, back down to blank canvasses. We saw the series 2 contestants plot and plan out what they wanted to do. One of the opening statements was that these were amateur gardeners. Significant, as a large proportion of other horticultural shows will involve professionals. Important, as amateurs can get things wrong and not necessarily get huffy about it.

Spuds. Spuds, were the first challenge. Can’t say these featured directly in the first series. But with the show being short, the focus was on new potatoes. These would also feature with the eat challenge later with Thane Prince. Okay, so they all grew spuds. What I took umbrage with, was Jim’s dismissive remarks about spuds being the basics of the allotment. why did I get cheesed off? I have issues with my spuds. I plant them, monitor them, and still end up with holey spuds, with the occasional green one. I am clearly failing, with the basics.

What was nice, was there was focus on growing. Advice, techniques and strategies on how to do it. What to expect, and how to do things. There was also experimentation, by Lena one of the contestants. There is nothing wrong with experiments, and if you don’t try, you don’t know. Something Matt was also interested in. Testing the acidity of his soil. I have yet to do that. I am happy knowing I have clay.

And we saw pests! yes, slugs, snails, things that eat your crop before you do. Growing, is not perfect. Things go wrong. Both potatoes, and the zinnia flowers were afflicted by pests. I could have done a small whoop whoop cheer, for the critters that finally got shown to the unsuspecting public. There were twenty minutes of new potatoes, as they went to the show bench. One of the contestants tickled her spuds, I have furtled, but never tickled.

I get that people do grow for show. But the fact that veg has to be perfect, that annoys me. You can see Jamie Oliver’s campaign for ugly veg hit the news here. Perfectly good veg, but not pretty. Is avoided by both supermarkets and consumers. There is nothing wrong with it!

Flower growing, I shall gloss over. I glazed over with that bit. I am not a bouquet or floral basket maker. Glazing and glossing over. I wanted to fast forward to the eat, but couldn’t zap the tv.

Eat. Mustard and another sauce. You can make your own mustard, who knew. Sauces, to accompany a roast dinner. A sacrosanct meal, I tell you.

I wanted to see the reactions of Thane Prince. I like Thane, no nonsense in her approach. There was definitely no nonsense. Holding no punches, Thane gave her verdicts on the sauces. The contestants did appear to have fun in the kitchen, but that didn’t improve the matter. Thane wasn’t overly impressed by some of the sauces. Neither was I, to be fair. Was holding out for jams, jellies, chutney’s and cordials. Think there is syrup next week, insert your own toupee joke there.

Overall, I am not sure what I think. I even had to sleep on it. I may have even dreamt about it. Whilst there are changes. More growing advice, individual contestants who actually get irked with one another. Of course I will watch the next episode. But this still requires improvement.

success, Taking stock

So long 2014, you’ve been interesting

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last_plot2014

On the last day of 2014, that is what the plot looks like. A bit dreary, eh? Wasn’t always like that though.

But the plot has been through a fair bit. Least of all the elements of Great Britain.

Seeds were sown, never at the right time, or in the right amounts. Seedlings germinated, some made it, some gave up the ghost and keeled over. There were slugs and snails, puddles and problem cabbages. The heavy clay was unrelenting. Arid and angry in the sun, it didn’t hold much water. Damp and rained upon, it was soggy and sulky. There were tomatos by the ton, three chillies, just three. Despite a whole poly tunnel of leafy plants.  One whopper aubergine, the rest were all tiddly. Courgettes by the dozen.  Marrows, that you cuddled to carry.

There was a Baby Bruno. His seeds have now dried, and all being well, will go to good home. This was the year of the Hobbit trug, and boy did it earn it’s keep. So much so, one was donated to Gardening Leave to give them a hand. A case of share the love with that trug. Was made by the fab Loldeantimber you can find them here and tell them I sent you.

2014 has not been an easy year. That’s not to say others have been. It has been different, and has presented it’s own challenges. After all, no one plot is the same. And mine, is the worst on the site according to the secretary, in terms of the soil and slope. I have been told several times to move down the site and have a better chance. In my mind though, I think I have a fighting chance. It has taken me this long to the plot this far.

I would like to thank everyone who had read the blog over the last year. Thank you, for all the comments. Than you, for just reading. I don’t call myself an expert, but I do like to share what I learn and experience. If that is of any use to any one, then than that is one happy bonus.

Thank you, and a very happy new year to you all ^_^

Allotment Challenge, TV Stuff

Big Allotment Challenge: It’s Back! 2015

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It’s back! The Big Allotment Challenge is back!

I watched this earlier this year, with a mix of curiosity and excitement. Of all the things to base a reality television game show. An allotment. Remember, we had already allotment wars, showing just the sort of Machiavellian mischief that could happen with mud, manure and marrows.

For the whole series, I was hooked.  A bit cynical throughout, huffing and puffing a little, as to how it didn’t necessarily reflect my experience of allotmenteering. My little 200sq metres, isn’t for example, in the back yard of what looks like a very posh country house. So my viewing, was a bit mud splattered, and fairly closed minded.

There were lessons to be learned though. Or at least nuggets to be taken from it. You’ll have to look through the assorted blogs, for the whole picture. The show inspired me to try aubergines again. I did. And I still don’t know how the contestants managed to grow them. I had diddly ones. Nothing from the seed’s I’d sown. but a few oddments from the shop brought one’s. In a poly tunnel, my crops, didn’t compare. So I am at loss, as to how those lovely people got those whopping big aubergines. I might just sow a couple of them, leave them in pots this time. Then there was the melon. Sown, planted, I didn’t get one of those either. It just snaked itself around the polytunnel.

The growing, seemed absent of wonky veg. Okay, the showbench is about pretty and perfect. Thing is, I don’t have perfect veg on the plot. I have beautifully ugly, a bit bruised, slightly worn around the edges, but still home made and mine, because of it. Don’t necessarily have pretty perfect ones. After all, if it’s edible, it’s going to be chemically and mechanically digested, and possibly taste good with it. If I can grow a perfect cabbage, then yes, I shall concede.  That was the ‘Grow’, primarily for the show bench.

The two things, that I took away from the make section. How to tie a handmade bouquet, when the roses have have thorns. I was glad to see the show have roses, there is something quintessentially English about them being in an garden. I have quite a few, including one that is supposed to be blue. It’s a funny shade of lilac, actually. As far as the flowers were concerned, I became aware of Gladiolus. And planted dozens and dozens on the plot, of all different sizes. High summer came, and the plot looked as though fireworks were going off in assorted directions. As for growing one that was perfect. Nah, it was pretty, that I can live with. And bumblie bees seemed to like them.

Then there was the eat section. And the world was re-introduced to the wonder that is Thane Prince. Prior the show, I have dabbled in the odd chilli jam, the odd chutney. But watching the show, the world of preserves became that bit broader and a bit more colourful. Makes sense really, you do have to eat the stuff you grow. Yet, there is only so many curried courgettes and aubergines that you can take. In watching the show, I learned how you make sure that a chutney was cooked, If you can part the mixture with a wooden spoon, and it stays parted. Then the job’s done. The Thane Prince torch test with Jelly, passing a beam through. Was also a nugget. Though I do intent to make a jelly-santa brought me a jelly straining kit-with edible glitter to see if the beam will bounce. I brought a jam pan, I wanted one anyway, having window shopped it throughout the series. I ended up making a lot courgette chutney, a lot of jam.  My second batch of blackberry jam, set rock hard, I didn’t have a thermometer at that stage. I had faffed with the cold plate test. I found a jam thermometer. My mama was all very excited at first. We had discovered how to make jam. So of course she was going to pick a pound of blackberries, and were going to make jam. But then came the rest. The chutneys. And lots of them. Mama’s enthusiasm has since waned. The assorted handful, yes, a handful -I gave away my experiments- in the pantry are a few too many and clutter the pantry.

Then there was the homebrew.  A case of, now I realise that I can do something with that.

The show did have good aspects. Allotmenteering was having a renaissance. The illusion that it was an old man’s game, was being shattered. Women could do it too, and it wasn’t as sedentary as you might think. In my own allotmenteering experience, I’m quite happy to bust those myths. Happy, to spread it’s assorted messages.

All being well, I shall be tuning in again. Apparently there have been some format changes. It will be interesting to see what these are, and what impact these will have.

 

success, Taking stock

Hot Yellow Sun: The chutney that worked…sorta

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This year I intentionally grew yellow tomatoes. There were large yellow stuffer tomatoes, as well as smaller cherry tomatoes. There was a third plant with a citrus-y name, and the fruit were lemon shaped, but still tomatoes. I had also sown and grow orange habeneros, to join the tomatoes. Alas the habaneros didn’t come off. So we were stuck with the tomatoes, and one home grown chilli.

Compared to the red, white and green courgette and green tomato chutneys, this was a vibrant yellow chutney. The tomatoes held their form and flavour. It wasn’t quite as spiced as I would have liked, but quite sweet. I would definitely make this again, this was a highlight of the chutney and jam making experiments. I think I have the one jar left!

The chutney could definitely do with a bit more spice and flavour to it. I have found that with all of the chutney’s really. That whilst they are quite tart to begin with, on storage they do mellow. I need to figure out how to retain a burst of flavour. Plus, how to keep that flavour and not make it taste as though it was an indian dish and just curried veg.

Experimental Chillies and be;;s

Experimental Chillies: 2015

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Inspired by the lovely not just jam, I have decided to carry out a chilli growing experiment. Chillies require a long season to get productive. This year, despite my best attempts, poly tunnel and all, I failed to get the crop that I wanted. In terms of learning experience, I have never had success with early sowing of chillies. I have tried the post boxing day sowing, the heated propogator sowing, the delayed till late february sowing. But I really did want to start sowing seeds as the frost descends and Britain has the coldest night yet. Plus I had compost in Dad’s shed for that exact reason.

For me, it is really important to reflect on lessons that I have learned previously. Those ‘oh, right, yes’ moments, that make it all worthwhile. Sowing the seeds, I was harking back to when I first started sowing. I have experienced more success germinating seeds on a window sill, compared to using a heated propogator. With the latter, the seedlings germinate, with all that bottom heat. Then they get tall, leggy,and keel over. With the window sill, this might take a little longer, but the germinated seeds send out a slightly more robust seedling.

There are four varieties chosen. These are Apricot, bellaforma, serrano, and cayenne. Cayenne were the first chillies I ever grew. Serrano, I am trying again with. This year, serrano grew well, Had lots of flowers, but not a single fruit.

The seeds have been sown four to a pot. I am not likely to prick them out. I have found that having chillies in cramped quarters is quite useful, and produces a good crop. I think I may have been too kind, in allowing generous space in the poly tunnel. The compost was moist to begin with. I have in past, struggled to maintain the moisture in the pots. These are then placed into labelled foodbags, into a gravel tray and positioned into a warm and light space.

Based upon previous experience, I don’t hold out much hope for such an early sowing. We shall see however! This is all very experimental.

Hobbit homebrew

Hobbit Hombrew: Decanting Day-Festive Finale

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Remember, please drink this responsibly. I have also had intermittent parental supervision as they wondered I was doing exactly. They know, and were watching carefully. That goes for all of you.

With nine days left to the big day, today was the last decanting day of the year. All of which was being decanted was made primarily for the festive season. Most of it will be festive gifts, hopefully. The one batch, was the plum brandy that was steeped three months ago exactly. That was the first to be decanted.  The rest, whilst I remember, was

  • Blueberry Gin
  • Blackforest Gin
  • Cranberries, raspberries and cherries in light rum

Having been decanted for the last three hours, I need to get that list down quickly, I assure you.

I learned a valuable lesson with the gin, from the lovely Thane Prince. She of Big allotment challenge fame, and one of Britain’s preserving Queen. Use coriander seeds in the Gin. Decanting those two, the gin gives a lovely spiced smell to it. No idea yet as to what it tastes like, I was trying to concentrate whilst I still could.

Most of what has been decanted today, is a beautiful pink or claret. The Plum brandy is less attractive. Perhaps it was the plums, the sugar or the spices, basically all of it; but its a very dark muddy brown. I assure you that there is no mud in there.

The gins and light rum have only been in brew for about six weeks. The raspberries had gone all very mushy, and just disintegrated with squishing.

Hobbit homebrew

Hobbit Homebrew: Decant day 3-Blackberries, brandy and pudding!

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On the fourth of September, I harvested the last of the allotment blackberries and put them into a kilner jar. Added to this was some cheap brandy, and probably some star anaise and some spice along with some sugar. The jar was then sealed, and stashed away for three months. I have pedantically been counting down the weeks. Apparently, after three months the berries start to get a bit woody. So that was ringing my alarm bells. I was going to give the jar another week. Anyway,today I have retrieved the jar from storage. The liquid was all decanted off through a muslin cloth into clean bottles. The fruit, was saved and put into a simple crumble. It is cooking through in the oven as I type. This is the type of pudding that you cannot drive after eating. Ma’s kitchen starting to whiff of warm brandy, Probably should get some custard made. I had also saved the berries that were taken out of the dark rum a few months ago. I had secreted them into the freezer for safe keeping. Still have plums in brandy too, that should be done in the next week or so. This was also, yield another pudding. This close to Christmas, what’s another crumble?

Ghost rider, Squashes, success

Bruno 2014: It’s all over

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Here we have it, Bruno has finally met his maker. Yesterday morning, I got up and and with Ma’s help sacrificed Bruno. Bruno the Ghostrider has been sat in the kitchen since mid summer. From green to turning orange, has just been biding his time. Time then arrived for me to actually do something with him.

This is by far the biggest pumpkin that I have grown. Topped the scale at over 6lb’s. I had planned to soup the whole thing. However, there was no way I was going to be able to roast all of that, unless I split the amounts and hogged the oven. The plan fell as thus. Some of it would be curried, the remainder would be souped.

The curried pumpkin:

Sautee some onion, ginger, cumin and carom seeds in oil til the onions are transparent. I added some fresh tomatoes as well. Add squash, add garam masala, turmeric, salt, powdered coriander, chopped chillies and cumin if you wish. Coat all the squash. The pumpkin is quite fibrous, so add some water. Cover, and cook through so that the pumpkin softens. Then, remove lid and cook away some of the water. Can leave some if you want to have a sauce.

Bruno was also souped. I used a handful of homegrown mussleberg leeks for the base, as well as a small onion, ginger and garlic. Bruno in chunks, was roasted in a tin, a gas mark 7 for 40 minutes. In the oil, i had put cumin, chilli flakes, carom seeds,dried homegrown rosemary and a couple of sweet peppers. Once roasted, this was all added into the pan with the base. I then added garam masala, turmeric, a little paprika, lots of salt. I used a lot of salt, as I have previously found that this soup doesn’t otherwise taste of anything. As well as three small red chillies. Only as I didn’t put lots of chilli flakes in the roasting tin. The whole thing was then simmered til the squash was softened and squishy. Once softened and squishy, this was blitzed with a blender. I did have to return to hob to season though. Additional garam masala was added, and salt. You will of course have to taste to test. The seeds incidently, will be saved, dried, and saved for growers next year.

Squashes

Patty pan spaceship thingies

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Last year small pumpkins and patty pan courgettes were grown on the plot. Didn’t try this them this year. Firstly as the seeds failed, and second I wasn’t convinced about the small pumpkins and little gem squashes.

They all grew well, nestled amonst eight stalks of sweetcorn. The sweetcorn didn’t do so well. Grew tall, but the cobs weren’t that brilliant in the least.

So was I too quick to judge these squashes? I think I might try the space ship patty pan things again. Little gem didn’t quite have the flavour, and were beaten in the taste test by roasted sweet potatoes.

Will have to check the seed stasher and see what seeds i do have. The space ship shaped courgettes were certainly a good cropper. Except when you really don’t want to see another courgette.

Ghost rider, Squashes

Belated Bruno Sacrifice imminent

All hallow’s eve has come and go. Yet Bruno the Ghost rider pumplkin is still loitering in the kitchen. Whilst squashes such as these do last for sometime, there will soon come a time where the pumpkin might have to meet it’s maker.

In the coming week, I shall try and soup the thing. Not that I am particularly looking forward to chopping it up. Takes a while, since the pumpkin is about 6lbs, with tough leathery skin. The seeds will be saved and hopefully donated to loving homes for the next generation of Bruno Babies.

In the past, we have have a few bruno babies: