November harvest and planting

I went to the allotment today, to enjoy the sunshine, pick some food for the week (or the freezer!), and plant the garlic and onions - plus some lettuce plugs I got from the garden centre in the morning. The lettuces I planted some weeks ago are doing very well under the plastic tunnel,I have three types doing well and this in the photo is only one I picked today, 5 more still in the ground! The spinach plant is also doing very well, I picked this pile today and it's barely made a dent.

Hoy fui a la huerta, aprovechando que hacia sol, y me lleve cosecha para la semana y de paso plante los ajos y unas cebollas, y una bandeja de lechugas que compre en el vivero por la manana. Las lechugas que plante hace unas semanas se estan dando muy bien en un tunel de plastico, aqui en la foto veis la cantidad que cogi esta manana (tengo tres tipos), y esta es solo una de las 6 lechugas que habia! La planta de espinaca tambien se esta dando de maravilla, mirad cuanto corte hoy y casi no se nota.

The kale is doing fantastically well, and the colourful chard looks great. But the thing I'm looking forward the most is the leeks! I planted them too close, but even so they're thickening. I picked my first today and I'll eat it this week in a quiche, I think.

Las berzas italianas (las de hojas largas y oscuras) estan espectaculares, y las acelgas multicolores. Los puerros son una revelacion, los plante demasiado juntos y no pense que se fuesen a dar, pero a pesar de todo estan engordando! Hoy me lleve uno y lo voy a cocinar esta semana en un quiche.

I thought the cabbages were done, after I picked six two days ago. But I discovered today there's two more forming!

Los repollos morados son una sorpresa continua. Hace dos semanas me lleve seis y no pense que se fueran a formar mas, pero las dos plantas que quedaron estan formando cabeza:

And another surprise: another purple broccoli (or lose cauliflower?) coming up.

Y otra sorpresa: mas coliflor morada! No se si es una coliflor suelta, o un repollo apretado:

Finally I also picked some flowers:

Y por ultimo tambien me lleve a casa unas flores:

These are the onions I planted (a yellow type on the left, and one called radar that looks bigger on the right):

He plantado dos tipos de cebollas: a la izquierda una cebolla amarilla, y a la derecha otra mas grande que se llama 'Radar'.

And the garlic ('Marco', same as last year I think):

Y por fin, los ajos (una variedad llamada 'Marco'):

Halloween party

We had a Halloween party at the allotment last Saturday, complete with bats, hanging spiders and other scary things. It was freezing, but the barbeque, and later a bonfire of old rubbish and pallets, made all the difference - not to mention the food and drinks! We had a great time. Here are some pictures.

El sabado hicimos fiesta en la huerta. Hacia frio, pero lo pasamos genial! Fotos aqui:

The communal greenhouse

Some one dug the wrong kind of compost...!!

The communal shed looked lovely, with all the lights

October birthday roast dinner vegetables

For my birthday last night I made this roast chicken with vegetables for my family. The chicken lived a happy previous life in a farm somewhere, but the veggies... they all come from my allotment!

I dug up the main of my potatoes yesterday, and I was very pleased to see they survived underground perfectly well for more than two months, even after they lost the foliage in July to blight. I can't roast potatoes 'properly' yet so I made them into a mash.

The black (or Tuscan) kale is doing extremely well at the moment, so I picked a bunch of leaves. After months and months growing, the plants ate finally in full production.

But the purple cabbage is the revelation. It appears my clay-ish compact-ish soil is ideal for brassicas!
There are at least three more round cabbages in the ground, and the purple sprouting broccoli plants are having a second wind and producing some more shoots! So I should be eating homegrown greens ('purples' ?!) for a while yet!

Next challenge, Christmas! :-)

Purple cauliflower success

At last! A purple cauliflower! I've no idea how this perfect beauty managed to grow, with the bad weather summer we've had, and the little time I've spent at the allotment this season. But defying all odd, here it is. Isn't she beautiful.

Summer salad (at last!)

Because of weather and social commitments, I've been away from the allotment most of July. In the meantime the bad weather brought the tomato blight, and today I had to pull out all of my tomato plants - now I have a basket full of green tomatoes for chutney, hooray! But a handful managed to ripen before doomsday: see photo below. My lettuces all went to seed since I last seen them, a shame because they were looking good at the beginning of last month and earned me compliments from my allotment neighbours. But at least I have managed to get this handful of lollo rosso and rocket leaves. On the plus side, the cucumber was a total surprise: I thought I had bought courgette plants, and I didn't think thy would have survived the slugs and snails!

If the weather had been better, I would by now have sowed more salad leaves to have a succession, but since it's been so wet I don't have anything to replace the dead lettuces (and tomatoes). I may sow some autumn/ winter quick crops, or buy plugs; I haven't made up my mind yet. Guess it depends on whether I get another dry-ish day to go digging! 

Meagre results from the wettest summer ever 

Esta es mi unica cosecha del verano, de momento. El tiempo ha sido penoso, y he estado fuera varios fines de semana, con lo cual hace cosa de un mes que no voy. Los tomates cogieron una plaga y los tuve que levantar; estos de la foto son los unicos que tuvieron tiempo de madurar (con Los verdes hare conserva, yuju!). Las lechugas y la rucula echaron todas semilla y se pusieron amargas, solo se salvaron las de la foto. Pero lo que ha sido un exito es el pepino: yo pense que las plantas que compre eran calabacines! 

El problema que tengo ahora es que no tengo nada con que responer las lechugas y tomates. Si el tiempo hubiese sido mejor, tendria un semillero que transplantar, pero ha llovido demasiado. A Lo mejor compro plantitas para el otono/invierno, ya vere.

Sages transplanted

I've had this variegated sage plant in the garden in a pot for nearly two years, and yesterday was the perfect sunny day to transplant it to my newly created herb bed. Not only does it look great (to my eye at least!) among the other herbs and flowers, it also means fewer pots to move to the new garden! La salvia planta mas alta del medio es una salvia verde jaspeada que hace dos anos que tengo en una maceta en el jardin. Ayer hizo bueno asi que aproveche para transplantarla con el resto de las hierbas aromaticas: queda bonito y es una maceta menos que transportar en la mudanza!

This one is the other salvia I've had in a pot for two winters now. I think it looks good against the green of the mint plant. Behind it you can see the raspberry in flower already! Esta es la otra salvia que tenia en el jardin. Queda bien junto al verde de la menta. Detras esta mi frambuesa, que ya tiene flores!

Sowing and planting in early May

I was busy at the allotment this bank holiday. Hoy fue festivo en Inglaterra y lo pase en la huerta, plantando y sembrando.

1. More raspberry canes, the green netting is to stop the cats climbing the fence at this particular spot and snapping the new branches (it happened!). Mas canas de frambuesa, la red es para que los gatos no trepen justo ahi y rompan las ramas nuevas!

2. A patch of parsley seed. Un rincon sembrado de perejil.

3. I filled this raised bed with more compost from my garden (before I sell it), and transplanted some lollo rossa I sowed in a tray last month. And next to the lettuces I sowed radishes. Rellene la jardinera con compost del jardin y plante unas lechugas que sembre el mes pasado en una maceta. Y al lado de las lechugas sembre rabanitos.

4. Chinese cabbage grown in a tray and transplanted today, something I'm growing for the first time. Behind it, few purple sprouting broccoli plants in between two rows of beans (not sowed yet, still a bit cold), to make more use of the space (psb will be in the ground till next spring). Aqui transplante UNOs repollos chinos (una novedad para mi), y detras voy a plantar dos filas de judias pero aun hace algo de frio. Mientras tanto he plantado unas plantitas se brecol morado, que van a estar ahi todo el verano hasta la primavera proxima (asi se aprovecha el espacio mejor).

5. I bought some tomato plants the other day and today I planted them out, three next to the lettuces (see above) and three in these pots. Behind the pots are my peas, and I sowed a row of purple mangetout. The raised bed at the back has my spring onions, garlic, and in between I sowed a patch of rocket today. Compre seis tomates el otro dia, tres los plante con las lechugas y tres en estas macetas. Detras estan los guisantes, hoy sembre una fila de una variedad morada. Y al fondo se ve la jardinera donde tengo los ajos, unas cebolletas, y un rincon que sembre hoy con rucula.