Green Sunset?

 A whole patch of the sky went green at sunset this afternoon. By the time I stopped driving and found a vantage point it had diminished somewhat  but was still visible at the centre of the shot above.  

The phenomenon of the green flash refers to the sun going momentarily green at sunset and I guess this related as the sun's refracted light is being projected onto some clouds in addition to the red, orange and yellow light frequencies that are more usual.

 In a less analytic sense - it was pretty weird!

Festive Baking

 

Lebkuchen

Candied Peel

Chelsea Buns

What to do when the weather turns and allotment visits are off. Do keep well fuelled this Christmas!

Brassicas - Not Pretty But Productive

 

It's that time of year when the gardener gets respite from the frantic summer months.  Nothing is growing anymore - weeds included.  But beside uniformly earthy former potato patch and the skeletonised pumpkin patch there are green patches still.  This is when the brassicas come into their own!  Late cabbages, Brussel sprouts, kale and sprouting broccoli are approaching their prime.  The purple sprouting broccoli will not start producing until next March, but has plenty of leaf already.

The other green area is more of a remnant offering leaf beat, beetroot and leeks.

(Under the net is more kale and some Chinese cabbage.  Despite the net the leaves have been pockmarked by some pest).  So end of season is here but there are still harvests to look forward to.

Fffrost

 Looks like I harvested the winter squash in the nick of time as the first frost struck last night.

Willow Domes and Dead Hedges

 At the School Garden the wigloo has been given a haircut, but the willow  archway is awaiting some tonsorial attention...

...while the newly arrived 'dead hedge' has been gaining all the attention.

Who knew how adaptable willow could be?

Tops Off

 

No longer green but brown, the potatoes have been shorn of their shaws.  I do this as soon as the first sight of blight arises.  At an allotment site you will never be able to avoid blight being blown across from other plots, but cutting off the haulms ensures that the leaf blight doesn't descend to the tubers.  Commercial growers only harvest three weeks after they have cut off the tops as they say it toughens the skin.  So not a pretty sight but the crop has been secured.  (Slug damage will be the next worry if the weather turns wet before they are all lifted)

Still a Sea of Green

 

But lurking beneath there are splashes of colour.

These Petty Pan have galloped away, along with the Uchiki Kuri, Turk's Turban and Shark's Fin Melon.  

Now if only the carrots had been an equal success.  This year they have just refused to get going. I have sown and resown, bought in new seed - to no avail.  I am beginning to think it is the lack of sufficient sunlight this summer that has put them off.  Any suggestions?

Green July

 Green is, without doubt, the dominant colour at the plot.

Admittedly weeds as well as cabbages are green.

But at least one area is brown.  The carrots have now been sown three times! The first two showings didn't survive the drought conditions in May and June.

Sleepy Time Interlude

 It's sleepy time at the pond:

But what is this?

It's a duck race...

Looking for an exit...

Disaster averted

The Shark has Jumped...

Been a bit busy since my last post. Too much gardening, and especially weeding to do. The school had a plant sale to be prepared for. To add to the mix I was allocated a place "on the shelf" at our allotment site just as the growing season got into full swing. Happily there have been family events too. The shark is a visitor to Alnwick Castle Gardens - a great otherwise safe place to take grandchildren without foregoing horticulture! (Mind you they do have "The Poison Garden" behind a closed gate.) Excuses aside, here is the current state of play at the plot:

Pride of place goes to the potatoes.  Here's the maincrop

and here's the earlies:

The soft fruit has only recently been netted

This shot takes in the broad beans, cucurbits and bean wigwams. (There are two Shark's fin Melons amongst them!!)

And here is the reverse view of the broad beans with Jerusalem artichoke, rhubarb and peas in front

This picture shows the end of the spring cabbages with short rows of parsnip, celeriac and celery beyond

And on to the brassicas hiding under their protective netting.

and the alliums all grown from seed.  (The bed to the left is going to be carrots now that the rain has finally arrived.)

 

Hope you enjoyed this brief tour.

Macro Greens

Microgreens have taken off in a big way. Here is one stand at the local garden centre

Amazing to think that none of these was marketed in this way 5 years ago. All you got was mustard and cress hidden away with the salads. I am always on the lookout for overwintering plants that can survive Scottish conditions. Miners lettuce, lambs lettuce and spring cabbage have all worked to some extent. Well I now have a new addition to the list in Mustard Greens. (I have only included the pulsatilla in the frame to give a sense of the season)

The mustard greens were sown on 10th September last year and were not protected from the birds, slugs or weather. They didn't do much and I was prepared for failure (as with the Little Gem lettuce in the adjoining bed which sadly deteriorated being caged from the birds and protected with fleece from time to time). But these held on looking green and small. Then they put on a spurt from March to April. With the first signs of forming flower heads I harvested them in two batches and we ate them as Chinese geens. The mustard flavour was not overpowering (by my reckoning) and the greens tasted geat raw too. One consideration in their abrupt harvesting was that they now towered over the new spring salads in the bed which will soon provide delicate thinnings - or as a marketing agent would call them, microgreens.

Willow on the go

The willow arch in the school garden is up and running with a flush of green leaves. So reassuring to know it must have put down roots.  And the dome next to it isn't doing badly either!

 

Spring Beauty - Claytonia perfoliata

 

Also known as Miners' Lettuce this green is having its spring flush just now.  It is an introduced plant that has escaped into the British countryside.  I have grown it as a vegetable crop on my allotment for a couple of years now. Here I am sure it has not been sprayed with herbicide.  It looks rather straggly throughout winter, as below, but then it takes off in advance of everything else. Stalks, leaves and flowers (probably root too) are edible. To my surprise it is still mild in flavour after flowering, bot raw and cooked like spinach or lettuce. High in vitamin C it is said to have been used to combat scurvy.

It is worth growing an overwintered row. Like any overwintered crop it is also worth making next year's sowing plan before sowing!

HXB

In time honoured tradition it is time to bake the hot X buns!

 

It's All Kicking Off

Now we are into April we are hitting the sweetspot for sowing just about everything.  Already in March the broadbeans and first early potatoes have been planted out.

The broadbeans were looking strong before and after planting out.

The potato variety is Epicure. We like floury potatoes and these fit the bill.  Also they are about the hardiest potato variety known to me and will shrug off any frost damage. (Famous last words)

 

Parsimonious with Parsnips

 

Parsnips are one of the first seeds you can sow direct out of doors.  They are notoriously slow to germinate and also slow to reach maturity. The slow germination means that by the time you notice they have failed it is too late to sow again - unless you are monitoring them very closely and keeping the weeds from overtaking them.  One suggested solution is to sow radishes and parsnips together.  In theory the quick growing radishes mark out the row and are harvested well in advance of the parsnips which then grow on without competition.  I have not tried this as radishes are brutes and their harvesting would necessarily disturb the parsnip roots in the process.  Another strategy, which I have tried, is to sow groups of three parsnips at regular spacings along the row.  This has the advantage of providing an expected pattern to look out for amidst the germinating weeds.  The only problem is when none out of three germinate.  

A renown feature of parsnip seed is its short viability. Many old hands advise that you need to buy new seed each year.   Seed suppliers are generous with the quantity  (800 in the packet above).  20 well grown parsnips is more than enough for me. It is a good idea to share your parsnip seed with your neighbours.

These considerations explain my interest in the "fluid sowing" method suggested by David Gray  in Know & Grow Vegetables (1979).  The idea is that you pregerminate your parsnip seeds before adding them to wallpaper paste which is piped into drills.  (Given that commercial wallpaper pastes all have fungicide in them I use cornflour paste).  In theory, using this method, you know that your seeds are viable and have germinated.  You can also sow accurately to a desired density (by spreading the paste with the given number of seeds along a given length of drill).  

Today I have wetted the seeds. By next weekend I hope they will be ready for deployment outdoors.

footnote: I did try this system two years ago but the whole project failed when a well meaning neighbour deposited a barrel on the bed which repeatedly rolled back and forth across the bed during a windy weather before I discovered it. Last year I sowed conventionally, three times, and still failed to produce parsnips bigger than carrots.  

Sights of Bruges

 

A weekend interlude away from the allotment.

Canal view

Step gabling

Volkskundemuseum

City Hall at dusk

Dune Bridge

Old St John's Hospital and the Church of Our Lady

Minnewater with Swans

Begijnhof Ten Wijnngaerde

The Belfry

The Gruuthuse

Now it is back to the spring rush with warmer night temperatures and longer daylight.