The Yellow Cherries that make a beautiful almond flavoured jam
Anda picking the yellow cherries for more jam making.
Peas, purple sprouting and potatoes
Sunfloweres, butternuts, pumpkins and courgettes.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Photos from the last week
The Yellow Cherries that make a beautiful almond flavoured jamAnda picking the yellow cherries for more jam making.Peas, purple sprouting and potatoes
Sunfloweres, butternuts, pumpkins and courgettes.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Andrew has invited John and Anda to "allot" with him, and we are delighted to accept! The prospect of having super-fresh produce is worth diamonds. So we are now learning how to grow gardens English style. Mind you, with this hot summer, it is no different from the Tsitsikamma. ANd the "lawn" at the Matchbox (our house) looks exactly like a Transvaal winter garden. The only difference is that we are used to having our own necessary water on tap, and not one tap for umpteen allotments!
This is a first attempt to post something to the blog site. Tomorrow I will take photographs and see if I can post them too.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
More help with the plot - Mom & Dad have arrived!
Mom has asked me to post this as she has not been able to set up as an author for the site yet. I'm sure the allotment and the site will benefit greatly from this injection of care, attention and labour! Great to have you with us Mom & Dad!
July 6, 2010. John and I pottered down to the allotment in the early-ish evening, coolish and cloudy, a blessing as we have been so very hot and dry. Everything is struggling. John set to to clean round the old strawberry bed, which is raised by planks. I started to take the bindweed and other weeds out of the raspberries which are putting all their energy into getting their fruit to seed stage. John prefers weeding with the soil dry, but I found I had to be careful not to disturb the raspberry roots - so John got the water and then it went easier. ANd the raspberries enjoyed the water. I also picked and ate three gooseberries on the plant away from the general goosegogs, and very sweet and juicy they were too. The black currants and gooseberries are really good this year.
We cleared the strawberry bed a few days ago, and I have taken some of the old strawberries and soaked them in water, hopefully to find a few still alive and able to regenerate. They are now soaked in small pots. I also raised a whole lot of shallots, and they are busy being pickled even as we speak. There will be three big bottles of them, mildly pickled because of young sensitive tastebuds.
The peas,purple broccoli beans and chili plants are going a treat. Spinach has shot (too much heat and dry again) the bush beans are flowering, we have picked one golden beetroot and we are waiting for ANdrew to give his verdict, the courgettes are doing VERY well, looking very pretty with their huge leaves, yellow squiggly flowers and bouncing baby marrows.
John thinks the potatoes are maybe ready for lifting.
I am going to ask Andrew for a Sunflower to take to my botanical drawing course.
July 6, 2010. John and I pottered down to the allotment in the early-ish evening, coolish and cloudy, a blessing as we have been so very hot and dry. Everything is struggling. John set to to clean round the old strawberry bed, which is raised by planks. I started to take the bindweed and other weeds out of the raspberries which are putting all their energy into getting their fruit to seed stage. John prefers weeding with the soil dry, but I found I had to be careful not to disturb the raspberry roots - so John got the water and then it went easier. ANd the raspberries enjoyed the water. I also picked and ate three gooseberries on the plant away from the general goosegogs, and very sweet and juicy they were too. The black currants and gooseberries are really good this year.
We cleared the strawberry bed a few days ago, and I have taken some of the old strawberries and soaked them in water, hopefully to find a few still alive and able to regenerate. They are now soaked in small pots. I also raised a whole lot of shallots, and they are busy being pickled even as we speak. There will be three big bottles of them, mildly pickled because of young sensitive tastebuds.
The peas,purple broccoli beans and chili plants are going a treat. Spinach has shot (too much heat and dry again) the bush beans are flowering, we have picked one golden beetroot and we are waiting for ANdrew to give his verdict, the courgettes are doing VERY well, looking very pretty with their huge leaves, yellow squiggly flowers and bouncing baby marrows.
John thinks the potatoes are maybe ready for lifting.
I am going to ask Andrew for a Sunflower to take to my botanical drawing course.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Picking started
Got a bag full of black currants and gooseberries today (thanks Mom & Dad for the hours of picking). Also lifted the shallots and onions. Broadbeans already finished - suffered from blackfly. Beetroot, peas and carrots ready for picking too. Looking forward to trying the Golden Beetroot. Going to have to start jamming soon. Still not lifted any potatoes.
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