An experiment in peas

I read about how the Victorians used to grow things out of season by using hotbeds filled with manure, this gave off sufficient heat as it decomposed to keep plants warm and growing at times where normally they would suffer.

So, I thought I would give something a try. Unfortunately I don't have any horse manure at the moment, those Victorians had it in mountains in the days of horse drawn travelling! But I have plenty of compostable fruit and veg peelings and skins, as well as some guinea pig manure!

Into a wall-mounted tub goes some compost, followed by a deep layer of compostables, then a layer of compost on top for the peas to get stuck into while the decomposing gets going. The peas had been grown indoors and are about 3-4ins high right now.

Location is also important, our yard wall is in direct sunlight until about 2pm, and the corner where I have put the peas is the last to go into shade, but actually once the sun has gone round a bit, in late afternoon, that corner comes back into sunshine again (our house is east/west facing). The wall absorbs heat during the day and thus acts as a retainer, releasing heat back into the environment during the evening and night.

I put some twigs in for the peas to climb up, and we'll see what happens. I can always move them into the lean to greenhouse when the tomatoes have finished. Or put a clear plastic bag over them.

If I can get them to grow fast enough and we have a mild autumn we might well get peas this year. We'll see!

Blackberries

It's time to get thorns in your fingers and nettled as you strive to read the awkward blackberries that hide in the most awkward places!

The blackberries do seem to be doing well this year, perhaps the cold, long winter has done them good.

WARNING! If you happen to own a Blackberry, please do not try and make jam with it, it will invalidate the manufacturer's warranty, this is unless the manufacturer invalidates its own warranty by going bust first....

We freeze them until there's enough for jamming (which my wife does to Bob Marley on the Walkman...there's a link there I think...), so it is always as well to check for little caterpillars and spiders before doing so.

Once they've fruited they will get pruned right back, and any stray plants tamed or dug up.

My mum saw blackberries on sale in the supermarket the other day - is there seriously anyone out there that would consider buying blackberries, let alone for nearly £2 for a punnet! Have they not got a hedgerow or patch of waste ground near them or something, or have they become so brainwashed by the supermarkets that they don't even know that blackberries are all over the place and can be picked pretty much at will!

Tasks for August

It feels like all we need to do just now is pick and eat!

However, there's still a few things that need to happen to keep the allotment in good order:

1. Weed - some weeds are vaguely useful, for instance we let the poppies grow on as plenty of insects and bees like them.

Some are edible, I have tried Good King Henry but don't like it, however it may surprise you to know that I don't like a lot of salad plants either (others in the family do, as do the guinea pigs!).
I have made dandelion root coffee, and coffee made from the seeds of goose grass, both dried and roasted, crushed and infused. Acorn coffee's good as well, but no oak trees in the allotment!

2. Bordeaux mixture and other sprays - I spray the potatoes with Bordeaux mixture roughly once a fortnight from the end of June, to protect against blight. I use an organic garlic spray on the peas to keep pea moths away and prevent maggots. I have had to use Diphane on the black spot fungus on a pear and an apple tree, even though it's not organic, but I understand it is the only thing that gets rid of it.

3. Water - depending on the weather of course, July was very dry and I think even though they got plenty of watering the potatoes have suffered, and the onions aren't as big or as prolific as last year.

4. Put straw under courgettes, pumpkins and squashes, to protect them from the ground and getting nibbled.

5. I will possibly be putting some late beetroot and carrots in, and it will, by the end of the month be time to think about putting over wintering onion sets and some more broad beans in, as well as garlic.

Harvest time

Some of the vegetables we have been harvesting recently:

Recycling in the Allotment

Allotment owners are known for re-using and recycling otherwise throwaway items in the plot.

As well as the items below we have an old bath for rainwater, and old kettle for watering and some large plastic tubs for rainwater/comfrey feed.

These are some of the things that we have either recycled from our own redundant items or salvaged from other people's:

Swing frame for beans

This old swing frame was given to us by a friend and we use it to provide an ideal structure for beans to climb up. In the middle we have added some canes to give extra support and climbing opportunities!

Compost bin

This compost bin was made from old fence panels from the garden. The fence kept blowing down so we replaced it with a hedge and used 4 panels to made a large compost bin.

                            This kneeling mat was made from an old cool bag, the advertising is unintentional!

Kneeling mat

              

New season fruit and veg

Will do some photos soon, but the fine weather, coupled with a little bit of overnight rain is really bringing on the allotment.

The first new season veg were broad beans and lettuce
Next up some strawberries (must be Wimbledon then!)
and blackcurrants
and some very nice calabrese
and, just when we're down to the last 3 onions in store, the first onions and garlic - so all year round onions!

Was a bit worried about the mildew on one of the apples (I think the Falstaff) and a bit of black spot fungus, but with the application of Diphane945 it seems to be clearing up.

I try to do as much as possible organic, but as Diphane945 is the only think that will cure black spot fungus I have to use it. 

Wine tasting and bottling

Today was wine day! After three months of sitting in the bedroom very very slowly bubbling, it was time to see whether the parsnip wine was actually wine at all rather than a demijohn full of what seemed to be pretty clear liquid and a small layer of gloop at the bottom.

So, the first thing was to try it

It actually tastes of wine! Quite a bit of a kick to it as well! (I was warned about this by a local farmer I met recently!)

The next stage is to syphon (or rack in wine parlance) the wine off the sediment into another demijohn. Now, syphoning isn't something I have tried very often, so this was going to be a challenge. 

With the demijohn containing the wine on the table, and an empty (but sterilised) demijohn on the floor, and a length of tubing (which had a little tap control on the end) between - again sterilised, here goes...

The first couple of attempts resulted in the wine not quite going over the top of the loop of tube, but then all was flowing nicely - the trick was to get the wine into the length of the tube, quickly stop the tap, wipe the end (as it had been in my mouth) and then drop into the neck of the demijohn. 

As the level in the first demijohn goes down, it is useful to tip up very gently to get the remaining wine out. It is better if you can have help with this whole process, otherwise you would end up trying to be in two places at once. The idea is to make sure none of the gloop ends up in the wine, if it does another racking would be required. 

Having successfully got the, now quite clear, wine into the second demijohn, it was time to bottle the wine. 

I had saved a number of bottles of different sizes (as I just want to have a glass or two rather than having to open a full bottle each time), so again the process of racking was repeated, this time into bottles.

Now the tricky bit is not getting the liquid flowing into the bottle, it is stopping the flow in time as the liquid approaches the neck of bottle, or in my case, overflows and ends up on one's trousers!

However, 9 bottles later, including two normal sized ones, and all the wine is then corked up (I use plastic topped screw corks, again sterilised) and laid to rest for another 3-6 months to improve the quality. However, it is drinkable now and I may just have a bottle or two before then!