I’ve spent many hours this weekend picking, preparing and turning fruit – strawberries and blackcurrants, into jam and jelly. I must say that I’m close to having enough of strawberries, something I never thought I would say. But yesterday, even though it rained while I tried to gather the last few ripe berries, it was a delight to wander around the allotment site admiring everyone’s hard work. Unfortunately not all the plots are well tended, some are totally overgrown and I wonder why when there is such along waiting list to acquire one.
Anyway here are a few phone pics I took while I was wandering around.
It isn’t just veggies!Weekend over, now I’m taking my ant bitten self to work.
A couple of years ago, after being on a waiting list for years, my friend acquired an allotment, ‘Lindy’s Lot’. Since then I have been helping to tend it whenever I can. I grew up knowing about growing plants, from digging and pulling weeds, along with some ‘not weeds’, with my granddad.
Lindy’s lot came with a mini orchard of old apple and pear trees, which have the makings of an abundant crop in a few months time.
Apple cake?
Future pear chutney
The birds will get these!
Tonight I’ve been watering, I must have carried a hundred watering cans the length of the plot. A standard allotment measures ten rods, and the tap is out on the grass path. My arms and shoulders ache but the strawberries make it worth it.
There are many to come.
Hoping the birds won’t get too many
I watered potatoes, onions, beetroot, cabbage, courgettes etc.
My favourite crop last year was the blackcurrants, they made fabulous blackcurrant jelly.
Promising a good crop
The raspberries have a long way to go.
But the blueberries are looking very good.
“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.”
― Joel Salatin
This post was inspired by Tish, who has a very productive allotment and has Obsessive Compulsive Compost Disorder, and Rachel’s Facebook photos of her glorious veggie patch!
Lucid Gypsy 