Losing the plot, in more ways than one...

On top of the churning of the site there came, last week, news of changes in management. The site is currently run by a foul-mouthed woman and a couple of gay absentees who take the money and promise the world but who actually never deliver. Previous ideas included buying everyone a spade and fork, installing water and providing a toilet on site. None of which has ever come to fruition. Now there's trouble at t'mill as a group of three or four have taken firm steps to take over the running of the site and find out where the rent money has gone.

I've pretty much had enough and, while I will play along for now, the long-term plan is to slowly extricate ourselves from the whole situation. The bees are moved and slowly we'll take off what we've planted and not replace it. So far there are spuds in, King Edward and Charlotte, but no sign of any growth yet. I did plant them deeply and it has been chilly so I'm not surprised.

The garlic has been in for a while and looks good, with the lovage making a comeback in the distance. Lovage is great chopped and added to soups and sandwiches and has a celery hint without being over-powering.

Onions are also in now, planted on a wet Wednesday morning. The sets were from Edwin Tucker and are, I have to say, not the best. Out of just over 100 that arrived, I planted about 80, the rest having gone mouldy or failed to sprit. Still, we have no room to store many, so I should stop wingeing!

Cold cures and seasonal sniffles...

The week before Christmas saw Agnieszka take to her bed in what was an unprecedented bout of coughing, cold and fever. I have never seen her so ill and it's the first time she ever took sick days while here. I was lucky and have so far managed to avoid anything worse than a sniff and slightly clogged nose, which a hefty hot whiskey saw off.

I think one of the reasons I am staying healthy is the thought of having to take some of the myriad Polish 'cures' that are bandied about, usually from tesciowa. Below are two:

On the left, a chopped onion to which has been added sugar. Leave overnight, then drain off and drink the juice. I tried this one, more out of curiosity than anything and I can honestly say that sugary onion is not something I could get a taste for. The jar on the right contains the mother of all cures and has a potentcy far beyond it's ingredients. To make, crush ten cloves of garlic and put them in the jar with the juice of a lemon. Add cooled boiled water and leave for 24 hours to infuse. Drink a couple of teaspoonsful before bed. This one stinks, and so far I have resisted the urge to try it. Agnieszka has been taking it for the last few nights but it doesn't seem to be shifting the cough.

Here she is, all bundled up trying to keep warm in our draughty and damp house. No wonder we get ill.

Yours are bigger than ours...

The weather at the moment is strange. For one or two days the sun is cracking the flags, then it clouds over, goes chilly and rains for three or four days before going back to being sunny again. Last weekend, with my parents away, we spent the day weeding, tidying and watering on their plot. The previous day I went to our plot and had only been there a few minutes before the heavens opened and I got soaked to the skin picking some spinach for tea. Saturday, however, was completely the opposite: hot, sunny, dry. We spent ages watering all the plants and baskets, pots and beds and then later that evening, and all the following day, it rained almost constantly.

One thing I have noticed is the difference in size and quality from things grown on our plot, where the soil is crappy, shallow and devoid of nutrients, and my parents' plot onto which tons of muck has been shovelled over the years. Our plot will catch up, but it takes time. These onions are on the good soil and are twice the size of the ones on our allotment, despite them both being planted around the same time last year and despite both sets sitting through the extended snow-filled winter.

The lettuces are doing really well, started off at home in a tray, potted on and then planted out a couple of weeks ago. We can probably start tucking into them in the next week or two.

Finally, a strange occurence in the garlic bed. It appears that the single bulb has added a few siblings which have now decided to make a break for it. I have never seen this before and wonder if anyone else has. Is it caused by the extreme cold followed by warm days? Too much / too little rain / watering? A genetic malfunction? Any thoughts are most welcome.

This week it is time to pot on the ogorek and some Romanesco Calabrese, a new type we're trying this year. I also need to find out why my dwarf French beans won't germinate. I have tried several batches of a dozen but so far only have five plants. What am I doing wrong? Answers on a postcard please...

O stony grey soil...

This winter has been an interesting one. Plenty of snow led to plenty of problems as people realised they didn’t know what to do in it, councils ran out of grit and airports were closed. For us, the poor road conditions meant we haven’t been out and about as much as usual and working on the allotments hasn’t been possible for some time.

However, last weekend was the first time in what seems like ages where we had some watery winter sun and bright weather. I was so looking forward to being out on the soil but, as it turned out, the soil was too frozen to do anything. The onions and garlic will just have to wait until it warms a bit. Knowing this country that could be next week.

So to keep warm we cleared the raspberry canes left over from last year, and hacked down the growth of sunflowers that grow permanently by the fence. The fence is in need of repair so the sunflowers must be moved before we can do that. It was so nice to be out, wrapped up, and working. I am finding my day job a real strain at the moment and to go out and cut and clip, hack and snap, was great therapy.

We also did a bit of forward planning, and realised that once the potatoes are in we are going to have very little room for anything until the winter onions come out. So this year will be a delicate balancing act, trying to get plants ready to go in as soon as something else comes out. I find I am excited at the thought of it in a way I never get excited at work. More proof, not that I need it, that I am not only in the wrong job, but wasting my time in an office.

Digging the dirt...

Last weekend’s visit to the allotment left us with plenty of foodstuffs and severely extended stomachs. We picked 2kg of blackcurrants, which are now sitting in eight jars in the kitchen,

some raspberries, which disappeared almost as soon as we got in, and some spinach, which I made into a pasta dish on the Monday. We also dug a few potatoes and got some beans off the straggly plants – both spuds and beans tasted fantastic.

Other jobs included lifting all the onions and garlic, which has started to get mildew and had to be taken out so we didn’t lose it all. Some of them haven’t fattened up but there should be enough for a couple of months and the garlic looks very tasty. That won't last long at all in our house.
The radishes, which were planted three or four weeks ago. These are grated and then mixed with plain cottage cheese for a tangy breakfast treat.

My planning has gone a bit awry, however, as we now have nothing to plant for autumn cropping which made me a bit mad, but we'll try and get some winter veg in before it's too late.