So glad the bees are arriving… they have not been much in evidence until now.
And a pretty new visitor enjoying the scent where the nepeta had just been cut back.
Daily harvest, with an early tomato, Noire de Crimée; not a beauty, but wonderfully tasty.
Here’s what happened to those blackcurrants! Very short pastry. Delicious, if not elegant.
At the huerto at 6 this morning; chilly but happy-making. Berry picking and watering, accompanied by birdsong.
Today’s first picking of potatoes (second earlies), garlic dried in the greenhouse now ready for use – and delightful baby broad beans, so tender they are even delicious raw.
The recent warmth has prompted massive growth – all around, the plot thickens 🙂
Various squash here (kuri, munchkin, crookneck, crown prince and zappho).
And here are golden chard, beetroot scarletta, dwarf french beans cupidon and purple queen, then outdoor tomatoes attended by very vigorous tagetes and then roses beyond…
This is a cool corner, with rose James Galway against the shed and teardrop peas from the Basque country, “Guisante Lágrima“, which are finally taking off – just about managing to keep the massive nettles behind the deer fence at bay.
And a quick view of a corner of the garden at home (can you have too many roses?…)
The bird (buzzard?) was serendipity.
Next week all the allotment sites in Farnham will be visited by the town council judges, so I’ve been busy making sure the huerto is looking her best. It’s rather like being reluctantly but compulsorily entered into a beautiful baby competition; in love with your own idiosyncratic wayward darling, yet recognising that others better match the judging criteria. Wanting one’s own at least to be wearing her prettiest frock – and to be clean and smiley! So here we are:
The brightly coloured Tibetan prayer flags are traditionally used to promote peace, loving kindness and compassion; blown by the wind to the world (including I hope to the local pigeon population, encouraging them to find alternative sources of food to my carefully tended peas!).
I came across this photo taken on the first day I acquired Plot 10, in April 2007. Amazing to contrast it with how it is now; a lot of my blood, sweat and tears shed during that time!
… here is the view now, photographed from the same spot:
And here is the “shabby chic” garden seat (French??) I was delighted to uncover in an unlikely corner of the wonderful Stamford antique centre, and destined now to live under my quince tree 🙂
There’s nothing like a bit of sunshine to spark a frenzy of spring cleaning/clearing. This weekend I finally managed to finish the new structure, doing away with the last of the horizontal grass paths. Just a bit more work to be done, spreading compost on top and the plot will be ready to start planting. Other exertions included cleaning the greenhouse and tidying out the shed; the “before” photos below show just how crowded it was – now happily restored, at least temporarily, to cleanliness and order. (Special thanks to Clara, whose Mother’s Day help was very much appreciated by her mummy!)
“… makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Fed up with perpetual cold wind and rain, I’ve just ordered (yet another!) David Austin rose, a new variety with the wonderful name Eustacia Vye. She is destined for the rather crowded rose/flower bed where I trust she will establish her space and be happy. I certainly will!
Meanwhile, to remind ourselves that warm days will come again, here’s a moment of hope realised last summer when the divine R. Boscobel first flowered:
It’s hard going, but worth it; I’m now consolidating the second row of individual raised beds into larger areas, working around the fruit cage and flower bed which remain enclosed. The advantages are more space for planting and quite a lot less grass to mow in the summer. The removal of the old rotting wooden sides will also make it harder for slugs and snails to hide 🙂
I’m disobeying the rules of ‘no-dig’, lifting the turf, removing perennial weeds and stones. The ground beneath the paths is heavy compacted clay, full of flint stones, so all this clearing work will create a good foundation for future no-dig cultivation. I am bagging all the weedy turf which will eventually break down into nice loam.
And I’m pleased to have now aligned the flower/herb beds where the width of the outer path permits. Much smarter (for now at least) than the higgledy squiggles of yore.
The snowdrops transplanted from my mother’s garden are thriving at the foot of the fruit trees along the path leading from the five-bar gate to the 12 ‘secret’ plots beyond. The bare root gage I planted last year to replace the stricken Victoria plum tree seems to have taken, attended by its own little clump of snowdrops.
The past two days have been busy clearing and mulching the allotment. The dear man who has the adjacent plot to mine is bearing the sadness of losing his wife and comes to find some solace in nature. We work alongside each other in quiet endeavour. Tender times.
A cheery newly harvested cabbage to add to the christmas dinner table tomorrow…
With all best wishes for a happy festive break and a fruitful year to come in 2019…
“It is a sad moment when the first phlox appears. It is the amber light indicating the end of the great burst of early summer and suggesting that we must now start looking forward to autumn. Not that I have any objection to autumn as a season, full of its own beauty; but I just cannot bear to see another summer go, and I recoil from what the first hint of autumn means.” Vita Sackville-West
Perfect weather – not too hot, not too cold; just right for pottering and doing all the little things that needed to be done this weekend. Mowing, trimming, shredding cardboard for the compost heap, deadheading, weeding, sowing coriander (‘cruiser’), radish & spinach seeds – and, of course, harvesting. With restful pauses for nibbling and gratitude…
Huerto 
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