Posted in Allotments, Harvesting on Mar 31st, 2010
… brassicas. Another rite of passage for the year: I’ve been clearing my brassica beds. We ate the last of the Brussels sprouts several weeks ago (‘Maximus’ and ‘Trafalgar’: minimal crop as I’m not very good at growing Brussels and yet again succumbed to the temptation to plant those little itty-bitty seedlings too close together - but [...]
Posted in Allotments on Mar 28th, 2010
Now, there I was, happily ambling along doing a bit of digging here, a bit of weeding there, sowing a few seeds and daydreaming about what they might one day become. Then…. whumph! The temperatures shoot into double figures, the sun comes out, I suddenly notice the grass has started to grow, and then everything [...]
Posted in Allotments, Rogues' Gallery on Mar 24th, 2010
Aaaaargh! Nooooo! It’s spring! This may be the season all things begin to sprout and burgeon and generally leap into life, but to the gardener’s disgust that means the weeds are revving up for action too. In my front garden, where vegetables like chard, kale and leeks are woven in among my ornamental plants, there is a nasty menace [...]
Posted in Recipe of the month on Mar 21st, 2010
Leek and Bacon Pasta Bake This will sound immodest, but I’m famed for my leek and bacon pasta bake. I cobbled it together one evening when I was in a hurry and hadn’t had enough time to do the shopping, raiding the fridge and adding leeks and salad from the garden. It’s been a firm [...]
Posted in Allotments, sowing on Mar 17th, 2010
I don’t know why all the gardening books tell you sowing seed direct into the ground is the obvious and therefore, presumably, easiest option. When I first started veg growing, I followed the general assumption that there’s no other way to do it. This meant I lost my entire first year’s seedlings to marauding slugs: at the time I [...]
Green cabbage, leeks, purple sprouting broccoli, salad leaves (from greenhouse), seakale (forced), spring greens
