What do you make with allotment fruit and vegetables in July?
We've only just inherited our allotment, the soil is so very dry I'm surprised anything has grown there but it has. The black currants have been thriving, everything else needs a lot more work.
In the two weeks we've had the allotment plot we've had a huge glut of black currants which we made into black currant cordial and a whole load of black currant jam. I've also frozen some berries whole to use in smoothies and baking. I am now longing for a cellar where I can neatly store rows and rows of chutney, jams and pickles. There are still a few more on the bushes that I may try to dry.
The rhubarb was looking pretty sorry for itself, its been very hot here recently and I don't think the plot had been watered for a while. I managed to salvage a few stalks and stewed them down. I froze them into a large ice cube tray which is just the right amount for on top of yogurt in the mornings.
There are a couple of gooseberry and logan berry bushes and two rows of raspberries but they were very thick with bind wind. We've probably only had a handful of berries from all of them so we ate those right off the bush.
There are a lot of potatoes on the plot but they seem to be green a full of holes. Could it be that they are last seasons? I'm itching to make a lovely potato salad. There's another patch of potatoes at the bottom of the plot still flowering, perhaps we'll have more luck there.
We've also had a few mange tout. We weeded around these when we got the plot to see if they would come to anything. We've been diligently watering them and they've shot up. We've had the mange tout raw and steamed a few for a stir fry. They didn't go very far but we may still get a few more from them.
What is an allotment?
After the first allotment video I realised the concept of an allotment seems to be a British thing so I just wanted to briefly cover what an allotment is.
An allotment is an area of land that you rent (usually from your local council) to grow produce on. We live in a flat in the centre of town and have no garden or outdoor space which is why decided to get an allotment. Some people have gardens that are too small, not suitable or they need space at home their children to play.
There are around 100 other plots in our allotment. Anyone can apply for an allotment plot and they come in varying sizes. Ours is 15m by 8.5m and costs just under £30 a year. There are around 100 other plots in our gated allotment community. We were on the waiting list for 3 months which I think is a relatively short space of time to wait for a plot to become available. I've heard some people wait up to two years.
What have you been harvesting this month?
We've only just inherited our allotment, the soil is so very dry I'm surprised anything has grown there but it has. The black currants have been thriving, everything else needs a lot more work.
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| Black currant jam |
In the two weeks we've had the allotment plot we've had a huge glut of black currants which we made into black currant cordial and a whole load of black currant jam. I've also frozen some berries whole to use in smoothies and baking. I am now longing for a cellar where I can neatly store rows and rows of chutney, jams and pickles. There are still a few more on the bushes that I may try to dry.
 |
| Frozen blocks of stewed rhubarb Thawed and served with over night oats |
The rhubarb was looking pretty sorry for itself, its been very hot here recently and I don't think the plot had been watered for a while. I managed to salvage a few stalks and stewed them down. I froze them into a large ice cube tray which is just the right amount for on top of yogurt in the mornings.
 |
| We had very few raspberries |
There are a lot of potatoes on the plot but they seem to be green a full of holes. Could it be that they are last seasons? I'm itching to make a lovely potato salad. There's another patch of potatoes at the bottom of the plot still flowering, perhaps we'll have more luck there.
We've also had a few mange tout. We weeded around these when we got the plot to see if they would come to anything. We've been diligently watering them and they've shot up. We've had the mange tout raw and steamed a few for a stir fry. They didn't go very far but we may still get a few more from them.
What is an allotment?
After the first allotment video I realised the concept of an allotment seems to be a British thing so I just wanted to briefly cover what an allotment is.
An allotment is an area of land that you rent (usually from your local council) to grow produce on. We live in a flat in the centre of town and have no garden or outdoor space which is why decided to get an allotment. Some people have gardens that are too small, not suitable or they need space at home their children to play.
There are around 100 other plots in our allotment. Anyone can apply for an allotment plot and they come in varying sizes. Ours is 15m by 8.5m and costs just under £30 a year. There are around 100 other plots in our gated allotment community. We were on the waiting list for 3 months which I think is a relatively short space of time to wait for a plot to become available. I've heard some people wait up to two years.
What have you been harvesting this month?