Cecil says...

I may be a pest, but ain't I cute?

At least I'm not a developer. 

For news of the latest threat to Edinburgh's allotments please go to :

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-craigentinny-telferton-allotments

..and sign the petition


And for the latest from me:

Runner beans:

Scottish strawberries before Wimbledon!

Canadian Wonder Beans planted out today:

and there's the prospect of blueberries to come:

Greenhouse - At Last

I've been a bit quiet lately, and here is a large part of the reason why: I've been building this



I'm proud of my efforts but the project did soak up a lot of time and energy.

Going back a month or two, here's the starting point

Only after taking delivery of the kit did I get to grips with the need for a brick base, and then the need for foundations for that to sit on, and the requirement for rods embedded in the foundation to hold the whole thing down when next Autumns gales arrive. Here's the scene just after pouring the concrete:

As it took so long I am well behind with all my sowing and planting that was supposed to happen inside the greenhouse.  Still I am sure I will be able to fill up the allotment without any problem. 
And next year I'll be off to a flying start.

 And you've got to admit looks a lot better (and bigger) than what it replaced:

Off With Their Heads - Brioches à tête

Our recent Sunday favourite has been Brioches à tête.  It involves a Saturday night mix up, an overnight proving in the fridge and then an early start on Sunday.  They taste fantastic straight out of the oven with a teaspoon of jam. This is how they are supposed to look:

The only problem is that the "tête" which was sitting atop the brioche before going into the oven has an unerring tendancy to slide off to the side during baking. The result is comical:

My daughter describes them as turtles... more hippopotomi I would say!

The flavour and texture are in no way compromised by my infantile herding games.

A Weed Free Year!!!

Last year I tried out Weed Suppressant Fabric (or Weed Control Membrane) where I was growing sweetcorn and squashes.  (By the way, the blue cage is for blueberries which sit on top of an ericaceous pit and cannot therefore be moved easily).  Before planting it looked like this:

 

 

.....and then once, the crops settled in this...



 

 

....and finally this riot of greenery:

 

Now here's the interesting part, this is how it looked yesterday:

The garlic was planted through the fabric last autumn in the same places as the sweetcorn and squash, with some extra holes added. For onions I have cut slits and then weighed the fabric down with bricks to stop the wind getting under it.

Here's another angle where you can see the onions in the forground and the garlic behind.

And do you know what,  last year's brassica patch is not looking to bad either. (This will be rolled back as I get around to sowing parsnips and carrots etc.) 

 

Count me in as a fabric fan!



Reasonable Force

Prompted by other posts about rhubarb this post shows the state of play on the plot today and a year ago. I'm an advocate of blanching (as opposed to forcing where the crowns are lifted and brought into dark heated sheds.)

 

Lifting the lid on the dalek today for a second picking of blanched stems:

 

Here's how they compare to their non-blanched neighbours

And here's how this result is achieved:

And just to prove that the plants recover here is a picture from last year when the dalek was over the clump at the end:

You can see above that this clump is just as vigorous this year. Next year the bin will be going over the clump at the other end and once again we will have a crop of blanched rhubarb a good couple of weeks in advance of the rest of the crop!

First and Last

These forced rhubarb stalks are the first produce of the season, whereas these Broccoli Sprouts are the last crop from last year's sowing.  That's what I call bridging the hungry gap.

The rhubard is about 2 ft long, the broccoli 4 inches. 

The leeks are still going strong too.

For some reason I've been a bit remiss about sowing things this year, but all my potatoes are planted. For the record that's

Duke of York (Red)
Charlotte
Rooster
Pink Fir Apple

I meant to sow Epicure but failed to find any!

Fortification - Bamburgh Castle

Bamburgh Castle

We visited Bamburgh Castle on the NE Coast of England  this Easter Monday.  The fortifications go back to Napoleonic times and beyond (although its present form owes most to the Victorian age).

 

 

 

 

I made some fortified bread for Easter.  Brioche.  Rather rich and traditionally made with crenellations:

 

 

It didn't last long.

 

Warding off invasion from the sea.