- allotment
- allotment supper
- asparagus
- bees
- borage
- chard
- compost
- courgettes
- golden gooseberry jelly
- golden sweet mange tout
- gooseberries
- gooseberry jam
- greenhouse
- hanging basket
- lemon apple cucumber
- lemon verbena
- no-dig allotment
- onions
- purple basil
- quince
- radishes
- rose de roscoff onions
- shed
- snowdrops
- strawberries
- sweetcorn
- sweet peas
- tomatoes
- yellow raspberries
- zinnias
Author Archives: Ruth Paris
spring cleaning the shed
Tardis-like, my modest shed had somehow accommodated a massive jumble of ‘stuff’, much of it dirty from muddy winter days when tidy cleaning up was secondary to getting home to the Aga. But yesterday, the time had come! Here it … Continue reading
Posted in Allotment
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vintage terracotta pots
I was so happy to find these treasures at the Saturday market at Farnham Maltings this weekend, provenance an old manor house sale. The teeny ones are over 100 years old; auricula pots. They had all been stored safely in … Continue reading
bean structure, pea weevil & asparagus
Busy busy busy… so much to do at this time of year. On the plus side, seedlings are germinating in the cold frame, broad beans established in situ, all the beds dug and fertilised – and I’ve even managed to … Continue reading
Posted in Allotment
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secret snowdrops
I love it that the allotment plot is ‘hidden in plain sight’; right in the middle of an urban roundabout, yet completely invisible unless you know to look. Just inside the 5-bar gate the two trees I planted early last … Continue reading
back in action
Due to a mixture of laziness, other priorities and a pusillanimous reluctance to engage with the chill dampness, I have been sadly neglectful of the huerto over recent times. However, a delightful array of gardening Christmas presents filled me with … Continue reading
P.S. I did it again
… broke the fork, that is!! As my daughter Clara observes, “Mummy is insanely strong!”…
autumnal bounty
This year’s extended fruiting season has been an unexpected pleasure, with all sorts of wonderful produce, including a good crop of quinces on the tree planted just 3 years ago.
lablab purpurea rampicanti
Despite my dismal failure to get the remainder of my hyacinth bean seeds to germinate this spring, the lone survivor is making up for its lost brethern by taking off in spectacular fashion, putting its neighbouring sweet peas to shame. … Continue reading
dahlia, blackcurrants and red kuri squash
See the recipe page for blackcurrant jam – not including the dahlia (‘Juliet’), although apparently the tubers are edible… The red kuri squash has taken off and is madly climbing up its bean pole tripod, fruiting brightly.
Posted in allotment recipes, dahlia, preserves
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the long view
My friend Gill recently remarked that she had not appreciated the extent of the allotment plot. So here’s my attempt to show the length; there are 12 raised beds, six on either side. And at the far end the shed … Continue reading
and sometimes disaster happens…
I was overtired. You can see for yourself the consequence of delusional thinking that strength would prevail, despite an excellent start entailing a newly harvested pink French onion (the triumphant very first), yellow and green baby courgettes and my friend … Continue reading
Posted in Allotment
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summer delights
Early morning at the allotment, picking whatever was beckoning to be made into lunch for friends later this morning. All to the accompaniment of a song thrush, invisible yet so present, hidden in the green depths of the background trees. … Continue reading
Posted in Allotment
Tagged alpine strawberries, BMW, chard, courgettes, raspberries, song thrush
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purple podded peas
purple podded peas growing with sweet peas, borage and calendula
ladybirds and box trimming
Awake early, I was at the huerto by 6am and breakfasted on my first cucumber and precious three hanging basket strawberries (Temptation, you manifest in my neighbour’s big juicy strawberry bed!). Delicious, but hardly sustaining. The task du jour was … Continue reading
aawwwwww
Oh dear – my fear was actualised; the branches broke under the massive weight of gooseberries!! What a dismal sight. I had to do some major prickly surgery and it still looks sadly lopsided. And now I have tons of … Continue reading
Posted in gooseberries
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roses and goosegogs
Suddenly there are roses in abundance. And bees. And an embarrassment of gooseberries, such that I fear the branches may break…
where are the bees?
Isn’t this an enchanting welcome to the Shepherd & Flock allotment site? The grassy path leads through cow parsley and ox-eye daisies, until you emerge into the 12 plot site. You’d think that the bees would be equally delighted and … Continue reading
blog tour
When my friend Gill How asked me if I would take the baton in a ‘blogging tour’, my immediate impulse was eek, no! Then I reflected on my habit of shying away from anything remotely public, and decided instead to be … Continue reading
Posted in blog tour
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