Hot box

Spent Saturday making a hot box for the grapevine, and rubbing out the new nubs then  creating flower bed with some leftover  lovely bulbs from Katie's work.. 


Sunday: cropping the mint for Sunday lamb, 

Sowed: 
Blue lake French Beans
Runner Beans
Aubergines
Ornamental gourds
Tomatoes- gardeners delight and Cherry 
Cucumbers 
Carnations
Salvia, Blaze of Fire 








Reboot!

A lotta people getting into gardening recently, which is what we need...  Time to reboot 'Here Come the Warm Shoots'....

And right in time too - My favourite time of the year !- Everything's  getting going... Here come the warm shoots indeed!

Take time,....take notice of whats happening,and take care  - of you and yours, and your warm shoots too!
xx


 Cosmos


Lettuce's


 Flowers - can't remember! Monbrisa?

 Onions, shallots, garlic in.






Digging

for dear Tom

Always down the allotment with me, in the past and the future. I started off in the plot 45 next to him in 2005, whilst Maggie was pregnant with Sandy

As a newbie everyone wanted to ask Tom, but he wasn't there to chat, but to work. Best advice he gave me, and the only real advice or steer one needs - 'Aach sure Johnny, what can you do, just tap away' - a total digging machine from the Rebel County...

 'Hiya Johnny, hows the care?' he'd ask everytime, knowing what was important.  We chatted a lot over the years, more when he retired - about gardening, the weather, his war with the pigeons and the rats, trees, nature and Ireland...  I remember Katie introducing me to his son in the ward, saying "they spent a lot of time putting the world to rights"... I'd said immediately, not wanting to make any claim "Well, not putting the world to rights, just passing the time".  A beautiful big Irish Atlantic soul.

I shared this poem with Katie, and with Tom,  in the ward. It's always meant a lot to me, and it means a lot more to me now.. And the message I take, from this and from Tom? 

Do what you can... whilst you can.

For Tom, xx


Seamus Heaney interview | Poetry | Afternoon Plus | 1980

Monday morning


French beans planted out
Peas sown in situ
New brick border made
PSB potted on in greenhouse
Last year broccoli stems bashed
Courgettes sown

Puddling in

Wildfires

King Cobras


Having spent the day with pupils from Hermitage Park up at Lochend Secret Garden, I was desperate to get down to the allotment to tend my own. pat was with me as he was off school with a virus, so the pair of us headed down to catch the last couple if hours of a blazing hot Edinburgh day. Nothing too strenuous, just a dousing of the hose from Patrick, as I cleared/ strimmed a new fire terrace ( that terr-aas, by the way!) for the summer season.

Everything coming on well in the greenhouse: Lettuces, summer and autumn cabbages, purple sprouting broccoli all an inch high. The French beans (Cobra) are doing away so potted them on (see pic). The only seeds that didn't work were the calabrase, as the seeds were too old, so popped along to my wee high voiced pal at New Hailes, and bought myself 9 plants for a princely £1.70. Also relented to Maggie's requests for strawberries...

Meanwhile outside and the late plantings of the broad beans and beet root are comng through... Am up early heading off early to get the calabrase and strawberrys in whilst the sun comes up... A brand new day! Good luck...

Pastures new



This one's for Scottie and Jenny - The back says "There's 60 million odd sheep live in New Zealand - high reproduction rates!"

The tortoise and the hare


Most years, I'll try and get the spuds in between St Patricks Day and Easter - this year though, Easter's early and its been that wet that really the grounds only ready now, so its been a slow start... That plus the herculean task of moving a ton bag of compost from the gate to the plot, using a wheelbarrow with a soft tyre, took up most march energy.   Now thats finished and the ground's turned I'm hoping to plant the chitted tubers this weekend - Pentland Javelins and Maris Peers.  

The wetness has delayed most work on the plots, although have managed to get sowing in the greenhouse...Last Sunday, 12 April, got broad beans in the ground... French beans planted in pots in the greenhouse, and a sowing of lettuces, broccoli's and cabbages - Primo's, Hispi's and Savoys...

Here's the plot plan for this year - wish me good luck!


Been fishin'



It's been over a year since the last entry - last year was a bit of a washout, both blog wise and plot wise... This post therefore marks a new growing year... Good luck to all!

Committed to the year by getting the seed spuds today - Maris Peer (second earlies)  and Pentland Javelins (first earlies)from of all places, Homebase - four 1.5 kg bags for the price of three @ £2.99 each... 

A big weekend

A great weekend for edinburgh - the main crop spuds got planted! I mean, both Edinburgh teams got through to the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1896... On saturday I was all set to spend the afternoon, listening to the Dons trump the Hibees. Colin from The Fruitmarket installation team had called earlier in the day asking if I wanted any wood as they were taking down a wall - I never need to be asked twice...  By 1pm I had a stash of batons, and some 10 roller trays which were also outside in the skip - so I'm settling down, turn the radio on to find it was a 12.15 kick off, and that the Dons were already out.  Maybe it was best not to have listened!

Instead I go to work building some strawberry beds.  I've always found strawberries to take up a lot of room, for fairly limited returns, but a special request from Maggie and the boys, a load of spare plants for Goad next door and the challenge to build up meant that by five I'd engineered a truly allotment response... wasn't even thought of at daybreak!

planting the spuds
Good to also welcome Salah to help with planting.  Salah's a fellow dad from Leith Primary and had done a lot of growing in Sudan, but is interested in getting back into it here... so I took him to the Lochend Growing Project to see about getting a bed, having spent the morning planting out

  • the spuds(Main crops, earlies in sat 7th april)
  • beetroot (Cioggia and Bolthardy)
  • lots of flowers and under cover:
  • the leeks (Musselburgh)
  • courgettes
  • calabrase
  • cauliflower
Planting flowers
Had a great morning together  with Salah getting to know some of the northern crops - not sure what he made of the Welsh prog rock, which provided the soundtrack.  Perfect for growing...The carrots definately 'dug' it - here's them poking their head above the ground straining to hear...


Can you dig it?





Here come the warm shoots!


Spuds going in today!

Fabulous forsythia, fabulous foreground

Was that the clocks changing or did someone turn summer on?

No plot plan just yet, but instead getting stuck into the shed - earlier in the year the winter storms damamged lots of the lean-to and sheds on the site, including my taking the roof off the greenhouse - so spent all day sunday establishing run-off angles and torcs with my dad as we built the new roof of the greenhouse, and now that that has been done, it was to mix my metaphors, like the gardening floodgates opened...


Spent yesterday evening engaged in some heavy tillage and prepping the soil to a folk and blues comp featuring Donovan.  When we and my twin were claiming singers in our teens (we couldn't share - we were brothers!) Donovan was part of my artillery attack on the hippies - fey, boring and not Dylan ( here's his cruel and insecure dismissal of an over-eager Donovan with a stinging tongue in cheek rebuke that 'its all over now baby blue') So it was good to find a live LP from 68 which is making me think again -  featured this gorgeous song -  and good to find the early summer evening to enjoy it...

So I  had to water the ground as its been two weeks with no rain, in order to break up the compacted soil, and then give it another soak - always best to do this at night so the water goes deep rather than evaporating off the surface... which is a nice corresponding opposite to the rule that says to sow early - as the first two hours are most important and therefore its best if its warm... which is what I did this morning...

Got the onions in, intercropped with carrots...


... as well as the Early Onward peas, broad beans (meteor), lettuces (various), cabbages (Hispi, Red Rookie and Primo) as well as the Olympia calabrase.  Pruned the blackcurrants, probably a little too late, but the stivcks will provide cover for the peas... and mulched the gooseberries...


Hungary?


The season starts in earnest with the classic chittin pic!  Although really just a chance to get the date on the blog - a one in every four years chance... This year the spuds are coming into the studio (although shhh don't tell my studiomate haleh) to chit.  After last year's bronze medal, this year I picked up the following varieties from the Bridgend Allotments Potato Day:

The coloured one (good for variety on Judgement Day): Red Duke of York (1st earlies)
The favourites: Maris Peer (2nd earlies)
The Scottish One: Arran Victory (Mains)
The one recommended by Alys Fowler in January, and apparently slug repellant: Sárpo Miro (Main)

The Sárpo story is quite an interesting one (albeit if you like potatoes, but then I'm presuming you have some interest if you're here...).  Firstly - Sárpo is pronounced Sharpo, so that it rhymes with Harpo...

The Sárvári family from the Lake Balaton region in Hungary have been breeding potatoes for high resistance to late blight for over 40 years.  Breeding started when Dr Sárvári Snr was director of Keszthely Research Institute (now University of Pannonia Georgikon Faculty of Agriculture, Potato Research Centre).  His Soviet bosses wanted a hardy strain of potatoes for growing across the USSR which would survive the ravages of climate and disease...

Left to right: Adam Anderson, Dr István Sárvári, Zoltan Sárvári  and William Wedderspoon
The Scottish connection: 

 While visiting potato trials in Romania, Scottish seed potato grower, Adam Anderson observed some plants surviving in a devastated field of blighted potatoes.  The hunt was on and Adam tracked the plants down in 1994 to the Sárvári family.  A company was soon formed to support the breeders, with Adam and other partners, including Scottish potato businessman, William Wedderspoon and the Danish Seed potato group, Danespo.  The company built a small breeding station near the Sárvári family home in the village of Zirc, near Veszprém.  The laboratory, greenhouse, potato store and experimental kitchen is surrounded by trial fields.  
 
Lots more info at the Savari Research Trust

I quite like to know more about how Adam hunted down the plants, and the commitment that required to go all the way to Hungary...








Next door neighbours

The growing year started with a visit from wee Pat and his pals, our neighbours from the local nursery down the hill, who enjoyed both seeing the tadpoles in the pond and scoffing the contents of the biscuit tin.



The biscuit tin was replenished in time for the Lochend Growing Project's visit in November - some pics above. Lochend Community Growing Project is a local project encouraging people to grow vegetables.  I have so far been involved as a local in the group at the planning stage.  The group have got a great site down the road in Lochend, which they are currently reclaiming - putting in raised beds, fruit trees and in the long run a polytunnel. Do get in touch with them if you would like to get a raised bed this coming season, and get involved.  On our visit they were particularly interested in the composting toilet - which may or not bode well!

The final visit was like royalty visiting - the green carpet was well and truly laid out for @gardenergareth's visit in December.  Gareth is a gardener from Edinburgh, well Ratho, living in Donegal.  Not only that but it turns out he's on the radio! I'm a gardener from Ireland (folks live in Donegal) living in Edinburgh, who's not on the radio...

Having met and made pals on Twitter over the past year, when he said he was visiting home for christmas, it was too good not an opportunity to see if his wit was as quickfire in real-life, show him some sites and have a nice hogmanay pint of stout.  Gareth braved coming down to Leith, gave me some tips on a guerilla gardening site I got my eye on, visit the Lochend site and show him the allotment.  Jeez, that guy's #naemonty but he's sure is a professional when it came to the photos - he was like Zoolander!



Unfortunately he couldn't stay for a pint of the panda juice, but next time I'm travelling through Derry, passing Harry's in Burt, to visit mum and dad I'll pop in.  Rumours that Gareth forgot to shut the door when he and Leanne visited the Royal Yacht Britannia earlier that day are just that.  Meanwhile plans are already afoot to twin the growing cities of Leith with Derry, united in our love for good sustenance... Happy New Year all and best wishes for 2012!






Fire in my heart


So the year closes with the burning of the brambles and raspberry canes for bonfire night with the boys, before (ideally) retreating to the fireside at home and hunkering down for the winter months: reminding me of watching the heather burn across the loch at Loch Harport, when we lived in Carbost on Skye.

Life on Skye revolved around the seasons - out all summer, camping and exploring and in all through the dark winter by the fire: reading, listening to music, burning furniture and video cassettes (fantastic firelighters btw - Best use yet found for Jerry Maguire - sorry ozone layer...)

So thinking of renewal and looking forward to the season ahead, some notes on last years cropping:

Garlic - not worth it!
Onions - not great this year, didn't really swell - think they needed more feeding early, more watering and more hot days to increase their size.  Not sure about growing normal french onions this year given their cheapness and local availability - Shallots and red onions though are always worth it!
Broad beans - parked in the shady bed by the greenhouse - cropped but only once but probably need more sun to be truly productive.  3 rows are good though.
Beetroot - finally got some decent beets in October, but need to plant earlier this year.
Red Cabbage - great, finally found out how to get the most from cabbages - pickle them.  Delicious with baked spuds, and of course beef! 4- 6 plants would do us for over the winter (with a couple of jars as christmas presents)
Primo cabbages - didn't hearten - too late out.
Spuds - I always think this and then get overexcited at the Potato day, but 2 beds is enough! 1 bed of our favourite, Maris Peer, and 1 mixed of Pentland Javelin, and others.  Thinking to try the Sapro this year, as it is slug resistant, something which did for the bulk of the Pink Fir Apple this year. All that said, I will be defending my bronze medal this year so lets just say 2 beds for now.

Carrots - I tried building raised beds, I've built frames with mesh and this year I roped Davy into helping me split a barrel in half and drill holes in its galvanised bottom, all to try and beat the carrot fly, and its 13" leaping limit and grow carrots.  This year, I ain't gonna even bother - I'm beat! Always thought the 13" leap sounded like a gardening myth...
French beans - didn't take - planted too late
Lettuces - great, but missed the second sowing out, whilst away in the Hebrides in July, sow [sic] didn't have much in August
Tomatoes - Gardeners Delight very abundant - didn't ripen on the vine but a top tip given to me by John was to put in a brown paper bag on the side in the kitchen sun and they ripen - cheers John!
Courgettes - I'd come to the conclusion that 1 plant provided plenty but now with chutney making three is, of course, the magic number
Broccoli - did really well until in a pique of excitement i took out the heart to promote side shoots - always check the variety before doing anything as rash as chopping your entire crop.
Nero kale - brilliant, coming into its own.
Purple Sprouting Broccoli - have checked pack, and have just picked first cropping, chopped the heads... here's hoping we all learn from our mistakes last year, and use the knowledge this year!







#trammiracleinedinburgh


So I am 37 and a half - which means I've been on this earth for 13,690 days.  Yesterday, my 13,689th day I post a picture on the blog from a postcard that my good friend Matt sent me of the tram that pootles up through the forest where he stays in Saltaire in Yorkshire. Although I've been there, I didn't know what it was called until I looked on the back, and typed out "Shipley Glen Tramway".  Up until that moment - i.e. 13, 689 days I'd been oblivious to it's existence.

Then today, one day later (my 13,690!)in a ruse to get my 4 year old son to swap coats as we are about to leave the house, I promise him one with a badge on it - I scrabble in drawer by the door and pull out the badge above, which I got two years ago in a car boot sale in Edinburgh as part of a suite of train badges, which I thought might appeal to my other  (then) four year old Thomas loving son!
  
I think that's pretty amazing!  And I hope that's an omen of good luck for Matt forthcoming wedding... Ride on!