Don't play with fire.

At the top of the plot I have my strawberries and raspberries well 4 plants out of 12,the bed was covered in weeds and thistles and quite tall. Most of the thistles still had loads of seeds left to blow over the allotment,so I decided to burn the buggers and get rid of them. If I'd tried to pull the weeds up all the seeds would of gone all over the place ,so it was easier to burn the seeds then pull them up. I've pull all that I can and left them to dry out before I compost them,some of them did snap while pulling out so will have to dig out what I can. I'm going to remove all the bark covering the bed and leave it open to all elements,then sort out for next year might use as a flower bed. 

On the strawberry bed I weeded it again and cut back most of the plants to the new leaves,then I'm going to cover in leave mould and hope it acts like a mulch for me. Last year I covered it in leaves and it was ok apart from losing some in the wind,this year I'll cover up with a little netting to stop losing them all. 

Only harvest I did was pick a few beetroots and marrows up,some beets will be eaten and rest will be made into wine. The marrows will be made into wine as no one will eat them,so instead of wasting them i will drink them hoping anyway. 

Even more brew

Still getting carried away in making homebrew and wine,this time I've bought a IPA beer kit which I've never tried before i will have to get a bigger shed. Also going to make some more beetroot wine which didn't take the first time,but that might of been a error on my side so hope this one works. 

Lovely swedes.

I picked a few swedes up last week a couple for tea and freezing ,then 4lb of them to make wine. I heard the swede wine is supposed to be sweet,but takes a while for it to a drinkable state (12month) I think blood ages. If it works then at least   I can eat it and drink it, multitasking swede can't be bad. If I carry on growing to make brews then we will all starve,but at least I'll be tipsy at the same time. I got the recipe online but forgot the site,will post the recipe up and add link to the site later. 

Swede Wine.

 

Ingredients:

4 lb of Swedes

6 pints boiling water to each gallon juice add :

2 to 2½ lbs sugar

juice of 2 lemons

juice of 1 orange

½oz yeast

 

Method:

1. Wash and slice Swedes - do not peel.

2. Pour over the boiling water and leave for 4 days to infuse.

3. Measure the liquid and add the sugar and juice. Activate the yeast and add - or - spread live yeast on a piece of toast and leave to float on the top.

4. Leave in a warm place to ferment.

5. When the bubbling has ceased the wine should be stirred.

6. Leave for a further 3 days to settle.

7. Strain through flannel or very thick muslin, into a cask, cork and leave for 6 months.

8. Pour into bottles, if not clear then clear as for other wines before bottling.

9. Cork and store in a cool dark place.

That's gone quick.

Well that's another week nearly over with the weeks are passing so quickly,I've been a couple of times to the plot to get a little done. I have finished digging another section I was a tad tired after I'd finished it,I had to sit down and have a cuppa. 

With me not having much luck over the last few years with raspberries,Nigel had trimmed all his rasps down and gave me a few cuttings. So I have it a quick weed and planted about 20 cuttings,I know it's a lot but some of them may not grow. I have a few more to plant so just have to sort some space out. 

So now I have my rhubarb / strawberries and rasps all in the same spot,think I might even plant some brambles all for wine making next year.  At the beginning of the plot which I'd weeded a few weeks ago, I was going to cover it in gravel just to tidy it up. But I've not had chance to pick any up so I've covered it in wood chipping's,some one had dropped them at the allotment for anyone to use. If and when I do get the gravel I can move the chipping's and replace with gravel,all I've rested the chipping's on is some old carpet tiles .

Elderberry wine update.

Last week I decided to make an elderberry wine all from the allotment,we have a few bushes at the back of my plot and along the footpaths. I've never tried them in the past so hoping it tastes ok when done,if it is nice i will have to collect and freeze for future wine making as well as brambles. 

Just a little done

I've done some bits down on the plot but not as much as I wanted,but at least I got some bits done. Well at least I got more done than sat on my bottom all day,I do try and update every time I go to the plot but never do. I end up watching TV /reading /or making wine,I know i said it all before the same reasons why it takes ages to blog. Anyway I got most of my onions dried and dead skin peeled,just a few left to do then I will bag them up and bring home. 

A little while ago I planted some aubergine seeds hoping i would get some,I have some but not big enough to bring home and eat. 

Over the last few days while it's been dry I've done a little more digging,I've done more digging than I did last year. It's a been ok digging due to the little rain we had,also the soil I dug over was mulched with leafs last year. Another thing I've been doing is trying to make more wine from things on the plot,I've done some more bramble and elderberry wines. Going to do some swede and marrow wine once I get some bits together,will have to remember to bag and freeze brambles next when the bushes are full of them. 

Making tea.

Trying to use as much veg from the allotment as I can,even if it's just for me to eat and no one else will try. So I decided I would try and use some bigger courgettes that I have,had a quick check online and found some recipes for courgettes. So I decided to make some courgette burgers and had some beetroot chips to go with them, I tell you these little buggers are lovely and will do them again. Mine turned out ok and got better after I'd done a few,even the beetroot chips were lovely should of done more. 

Butternut Squash soup.

Made myself some Butternut Squash soup all fresh from the plot,it's the first squash I've had. Can't wait to pick the next couple and make some more,just used a simple recipe from www.mycookinghut.com

Latest harvest

The better half was out at work so I decided to pick some bits up from the plot,then cooked myself a little cooked dinner. I was stuffed after eating it all and feel a right pig,but at least it was all from my plot apart from the meat. 

Even more booze

When I went to the plot the other day I had loads planned but ended up doing nothing,thought i would weed a little and dig a little over. But what I ended up doing between a few showers was string some onions up,then spent the rest of the time picking elderberries and brambles. I got about 6lb of brambles and 3lb of elders, so I've squashed and added bits to the elders and now it's in a demijohn waiting for it to mature. The brambles are in the freezer because I didn't have enough barrels to start the wine. I've already filled a demijohn up last week with brambles and have it a little taste,it tasted beautiful and hope it stays the same once the yeast does it work. Only small problem I had I filled it up a bit much and it overflowed in the cupboard,it was like a mini volcano so i had to remove a little and gave it a clean. 

That's one demijohn with brambles in and two DJ with elderberries in,the first elderberry had brambles in because I didn't pick enough and the second just elderberries. Just have to clear some space to do some more brambles,I might even go out and get some more. Even if I freeze them it's all good stuff either wine of pies,oh Ive forgot I've even started making some beer. I'm hoping it turns out ok only started it on Saturday,need to check on it in a few days. 

While I was brewing the beer I bottled up some ribena wine,i got 5 bottles out of the DJ and a glass full and it tasted ok. 

Another week wasted but.

That's another week gone and not a lot done down on the plot,well it has been quite warm so but hard to play out. So I got on with sorting both greenhouse out by trimming a few plants down,so all tom and cucumber plants are a bit naked now. So now all the plants can breathe a little  better now and get a little light in,so things should start to pick up a bit better. As I was sorting the greenhouse I out I noticed I have a red chilli,whoop whoop that's the first one Ive had yeah baby. 

I did notice down at the bottom of the plot the caterpillars had eaten my sprout leaves last week,but they have moved to my swedes now and all I have is twigs now. Looks like most of the plot holders have been hit by the little buggers,you can see them crawling from one plot to the other. 

All my onions are up now apart from about 3 I think,so most of them are drying out and need to be stored. I hung a few up to dry in the shed,it's my attempt at stringing them up but if it works that's fine. 

Found a new mate

Found a new mate and his side kick hanging around the plot,big one always pops his head out when I start to water. 

More brambles

Going to try and make some bramble wine with a few that I collected,I did get 4lb in total so not bad for free. It does take a while for it to be any good,not good if you want to drink it. All I've done at the moment is put them in a tub and put boiling water over them,then squashed them a little and added some bits and bobs. Just have to leave for a little while then add sugar,then put in demijohn till its time to bottle it. It does smell nice.