Allotment itiniery part 4 - Leaves & 'unusuals'

One of my favourite part of the plot is the cut & come again salad boxes. These are old wooden storage boxes, dismantled & painted, each one holding a selection of leaves that compliment each other - i.e. 'Oriental leaves' & 'Seaside'. Here's my list:

Oriental/Asian:
Ruby mustard & gold
baby purple pak choi
okahajiki

Continental:
Agretti
Verte de chambray mache
sorrel

Olde English:
Watercress
Sweet oakleaf
Webb lettuce

Seaside:
Oysterleaf
Rock samphire
Marsh samphire

l did at one time start a caribbean box, but only got as far as sourcing callaloo for this, which l found not so tasty as the above..

Allotment itiniery Part3 : The 'juicy' bit (soft fruit)

Obviously, some of these are in the tunnel, but here's what l hope you will find a mouthwatering selection to start with :-)

Strawberries:
"Mara du Bois"
Alpine
Fragrant Musk
White
**
Raspberry
Blueberry
Rhubarb (*thanks to Jim'll & Tanya!)
Black grape (inherited!)
Brunswick fig
Passionfruit (passiflora edulis)
Melon (charentais)
Pear (comice)
Apple (falstaff)
**
Currants:
Black
White*
Rose (Gloire de Sablon)

Hopefully, once the plot gets more established, l will have room at home for a longed for conservatory citrus selection & maybe even peach or apricot.. ;)

Allotment growing list Part 2: Bee garden/medicinal/sacred herbs

Alkanet
Agastache
Bugloss
Clary sage
Digitals (purple)
Feverfew
Golden Rod
Heartsease pansies
Sweet dame violet
Soapwort
Vervain
Watermint
Wormwood
Watermint

Of all the categories, this one needs to be expanded the most. I hope to add witch hazel, palma rosa, southernwood, mandrake & many more eventually. My idea is to create a 'senses' part of the plot, to relax, unwind and enjoy nature at her loveliest whilst also encouraging & helping our beautiful bees.

My growing itiniery 2012 Part 1: Culinary Herbs

Anise
Bay
Bergamot
Burnett
Borage
Basils (sweet, lime, Thai)
Chives (garlic, fine)
Corrianders (lemon, 'confetti')
Chamomile (wild)
Celery cutting leaf
Dill
Fennel (bronze)
Hyssop
Horseradish
Khella
Lavenders (english, cotton)
Lemon Balm
Lemongrass
Lovage
Mamang
Marjoram
Mints (garden, spear, grapefruit, chocolate,           morrocan, apple)
Parsleys (flat leaf, curly English)
Rosemary
Sages (purple, variegated)
Savorys (winter & summer)
Saffron
Tarragon
Thymes (english, lemon, orange)

These are all the herbs l currently have growing, but l have so many more l want to add later in the year/early next :)

New beginnings

I've always thought that one of the greatest bonuses of being a keen gardener/veg grower is the fact that the winter months seem to pass so much quicker when there's so much to plan and look forward to in the new year's garden/plot.

I know of few gardeners who do not relish the sight of the new seed catalogues bursting with glorious colour and the promise of bounty to come!

Last year was our first full year at the new plot and most of that was spent attempting to transform the meadow into a semblance of order. We have always implemented a bed system which makes for easier rotation & planning, also several nearby plots unfortunately suffer with club root, which we are naturally, hoping to avoid - so far, so good.

Having managed to organise the general shape of the plot & start the bed system off last year, this year is all about improving our soil (fine, sandy) and looking to improve our mulching in case of another very dry summer. We now have almost two full compost bins full of leaf mould on the go as well as our newly aquired pile of well rotted manure.

Also, we intend to carry on adding to what l term the more exotic/rarer veg, fruit & herbs as well as the fabled "seaside" raised bed which will feature a selection of veg/leaves which l feel compliment fish dishes. I will blog about this project in February.

Finally, the front of the plot features two smaller beds which are the designated bee, wild leaves & herb areas. Again, these will be listed in more detail in February.

Happy gardening!

Adam

As well as being on Twitter, l also have a Facebook account. Mostly l connect with old work colleagues, but also l follow a page "Urgent part 2". For those animal lovers amongst you, it's truly a mix of the best and worst l honestly consider humanity has to offer; the animals (mostly dogs, but also has been known to feature five week old kittens) are all on a 'death row' roll call in a shelter in the US due for euthanising the next day. The list is issued just hours before these animals are doomed, in a last, desperate attempt to save their lives.

Each list posts photographs of beautiful, wanting dogs & cats with no other crime than being abused, abandoned or dumped to die. Photographed in a little room with the slogan "adopt me" emblazed on the wall, the race is then on for the truly remarkable team of fosterers, non kill shelters etc to network through the night, to "pull" these tragic creatures before the carnage can begin, the next morning.

I mentioned at the start that the page showcased the hell so many animals have and will face in this place. To see the list is heartbreaking, gutwrenching...but to then see the frantic crossposting, sharing, donating and physical contacting that ensues by the caring, compassionate souls who are prepared to stay online right through the night if they have to, to shorten and eliminate, if they only can, the entire list before daybreak, reduces me to tears. Every time without fail. So much so, that l was inspired several weeks ago to paint one of these dogs.

His name: Adam

- and this is his portrait - as l work on it.

My mini trial "seaside" garden featuring rock samphire seedlings (crithmum maritimum). I found out from extensive web searching that rock samphire grows wild on cliff edges and is mentioned in Shakespeare's King Lear. Not to be confused with marsh samphire (salicornia europa) this little plant has an interesting and unusual taste - supposedly great for aromatic pickle and a rather fine and unusual garnish for fish - l think this could work well with scallops.