There’s something pretty magical to arrive at the allotment early in the morning with the dew still on the grass and the sweet smell of fallen fermenting apples in the air and encounter a regal fox making his up the path with just a lazy turn of his head to make sure I am keeping …
Pottering around on the allotment always lifts my spirits, particularly at this time of year when everything is so abundant. There’s nothing quite like harvesting something in the morning and then dishing it up for supper the very same day. You can almost taste the vitamins! And reading in the papers today about the nation’s …
Enjoy a ‘blooming’ good day out at Old Palace Lane Allotments in Richmond on Sunday 9 July – and help raise money for good causes too. The 33 plots, which are believed to lie on the former moat which surrounded the Old Richmond Palace, will be opening in support of The National Gardens Scheme with … Continue reading
Holly from the allotment. Happy Christmas everyone. Continue reading
My recent sowing of winter salad leaves are romping away and now ready to plant outside. I’ve got a mix of hardy varieties, Mizuna, Rocket ‘Dentallata’ and Mustard ‘Green Frills’ which the seed packet promises will do well even when the weather turns really cold. I’ve had quite a lot of success with salad leaves … Continue reading
Recycling has long been a tradition on allotments, harking back to the movement’s roots of providing food for the poor. As well as saving money and saving the planet, it also allows a bit of creative expression, which often seems to be aimed at raising a smile. Take these ‘potty pansies’ I spotted on a … Continue reading
Discovered this little minx sunning herself in the greenhouse yesterday afternoon,warming her bottom snuggled down in my metal window box. Gave me quite a shock as I didn’t notice her at first. Maybe that’s why the resident family of mice seem to have disappeared. But then I haven’t seen my favourite lady robin recently either! … Continue reading
Just returned from holiday to this amazing harvest – 5 kilos of beans (runner beans and French beans), 9 cucumbers (minus the seven given to friends and allotment neighbours), a riot of salad leaves and herbs, a bucketful of dazzling dahlias and a punnet of raspberries and blackberries. And we’ve only been away for a … Continue reading
The allotment is finally reaching its abundant best, with rich pickings of French beans, courgettes, cucumbers, runner beans, blackberries and dahlias Stars of the show this year have been the cucumbers ,Burpless Tasty Green, (what a strange name!). The ones in the pic are the runt of the litter as I sold the best at … Continue reading
More than 200 people came to our allotment open day yesterday and helped raise an amazing £1,181 for the National Gardens Scheme’s charities which include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carer’s Trust, the Queen’s Nursing Institute and Parkinson’s UK. So thank you everyone for coming along, it was a brilliant day. And thank you all … Continue reading
Let the Great British Allotment Bake begin – just three days to our allotment open day, so time to get baking! The tea and cake stall is always a highlight and this year I am experimenting with some different recipes to really show off the versatility of the produce from my plot. Here’s the first … Continue reading
This is a wonderful time of year on the allotment; the runner and French beans are scrambling up the poles, the raspberries and blackberries are slowly ripening in the sun, the cucumbers and courgettes are flowering their hearts out and my dahlias are providing bucket loads of magnificent saucer sized blooms for the house. We … Continue reading
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