http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/ ...with Deborah James en Copyright 2008 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:23:21 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Apologies to regular readers for my low blog count of late. It's been a hectic few months away from the allotment, which unfortunately has struggled to recover from the summer's heavy rains...causing waterlogging which in turn unleashed a monstrous explosion in the slug population. In fact I have to admit I'm dreading going down to the Vale and finding out just how bad it is ...the last I knew the tomatoes were coming on strong but pretty much everything else had been destroyed - either rotted by mini-floods or munched by the gastropods. http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/10/free_compost.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/10/free_compost.html apples autumn compost exciting times green manure Hungarian grazing rye scrumping Stakhanovite Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:23:21 +0000 Liverpool Daily Post has the details and it also sent a video journalist down to the Allerton allotments - click here to see the results. ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/allotments_just_keep_getting_m.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/08/allotments_just_keep_getting_m.html Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:40:28 +0000 I've taken an executive decision and chopped down the artichokes. I only realised when the sun shone for a few hours yesterday that at 8ft tall they were blocking every last crack of light from the tomatoes - which are having a hard enough time coping after April's drought followed by recent downpours of Biblical proportions. ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/ive_taken_an_executive_decisio.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/ive_taken_an_executive_decisio.html artichokes cold frame drought fartichokes greenhouse irrigation Martha Stewart rain tomatoes top tips Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:24:45 +0000 Well it’s bad – but it’s not disastrous. While three weeks of torrential rain has thrashed parts of the country to within an inch of its life, all we’ve lost is a few plants – including about half the mid-season potato crop (the glass is always half full). In truth, we’re probably among the luckiest allotment holders in the north... ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/and_the_rain_came_down.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/07/and_the_rain_came_down.html beetroot beets blight broccoli fisherman's pie flooded lettuce lollo rosso potato blight potatoes rain rocket shallots slugs snails torrents weather wet Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:10:52 +0000 Down the allotment is off on holiday today – for a week of sun and cultural explorations in Berlin where, a quick Wikipedia search reveals, this impressive photo was taken: The image (right) shows Berliners cultivating vegetables by the ruins of Germany’s former parliament building the Reichstag, in June 1946. ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/dig_for_victory_1.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/06/dig_for_victory_1.html allotment cabbage carrots chillies Dig for Victory mange tout onions pak choi peas potatoes pumpkins purple sprouting broccoli Reichstag rocket squash Tesco tomatoes Walmart Wed, 06 Jun 2007 01:12:39 +0000 What is it with the weather this Bank Holiday? I know one of the boasts of the British allotment holder is meant to be that we are happy to brave it come rain, snow or shine. And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad of the downpours – saves me hours of filling watering cans from the plot's various butts and tin baths. But come off it – HAIL? In May?! ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/bank_holiday_blues.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/bank_holiday_blues.html bindweed Dr Who gales glass greenhouse hail rain shelter weather wind Wizard of Oz Mon, 28 May 2007 10:29:46 +0000 ALL the books warn Jerusalem artichokes are nigh-on impossible to move once planted. True to form, we hadn’t read up on their super-human staying power before we enthusiastically buried about ten tubers last spring. (I'm keen to grow veg that are either elusive or insultingly expensive in the shops, so rocket, mange tout, purple sprouting broccoli, peppers and fennel are also on the list...) After a harvest which should technically have qualified as an EU artichoke mountain this January, we decided to eradicate the crop and re-plant just four or five tubers this time ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/sunchoke_mountain_warning.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/sunchoke_mountain_warning.html recipes allotment artichoke soup bed dig EU mountain Jerusalem artichoke mornay onions plot potato recipe shallots soup Sunchokes tomato windbreak Sun, 27 May 2007 15:52:32 +0000 Oh dear. It’s happened again. I haven’t made it down to the allotment for a few weeks and the nettles have gone completely feral. A metre-high patch around the compost bins has engulfed the rhubarb and spread along the rear path to smother the western-most bed - where later, with burning arms and wondering (once again) how the hell weeds evolved to sting through jeans, I uncover two flourishing (!) rows of broad beans which Lynne planted out last month. ]]> http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/monster_nettles_and_the_realis_1.html http://www.downtheallotment.merseyblogs.co.uk/2007/05/monster_nettles_and_the_realis_1.html allotment broad beans dig good life Mother Nature nettles plot time weeding Sat, 19 May 2007 00:28:25 +0000