We’ve been so busy in the greenhouse for the past few weeks that it’s almost reaching maximum capacity…
Tag: squash
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Plot #59 Update: June 2018
Right, we’ll take it as read that it’s too damn hot and drier than a teetotaller’s liquor cabinet. Otherwise, things aren’t looking too bad down on Plot #59. As long as we can keep on top of the irrigation requirements, we ought to be able to keep everything alive long enough for the temperatures to […]
This year we’re growing three Andean tuber crops down on Plot #59: Oca, Yacon and Ulluco. It could also be the last year that we grow the third of that trio. DEFRA – the government’s Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs – have issued a biosecurity warning, because some Ulluco tubers imported into the […]
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2017 Winter Squash Report
I’m a huge fan of the whole Cucurbitae family, but particularly squash. I love their savoury-sweet flavour – especially chopped into chunks, oiled, seasoned and baked in the oven until the edges start to caramelise nicely – but also the longevity of the fruits; picked at the right time, well-cured and properly stored they can […]
A year has rolled on by since I posted the first Year in Review piece here on Notes From the Allotment, and a lot has changed down on Plot #59. After three years of hard graft, we’ve finally reached the point where almost the entire plot has been transformed from a weed-choked, debris-strewn nightmare into […]
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New Seeds: Heritage Seed Library 2017
A couple of weeks ago, we took delivery of our annual selection of seed from Garden Organic‘s Heritage Seed Library club. The H.S.L. aims to maintain and distribute heritage, or non-commercially available varieties of vegetables and herbs, encouraging its members to save their own seed and keep these varieties going as long as they can. […]
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Plot #59 Update: October 2016
October was another mild month – the ongoing legacy of the El Niño phase of the ocean temperatures in the Southern Pacific earlier this year, most likely – which meant we were able to put in a fair few sessions down on Plot #59. Here’s where we’re up to, as Summer is banished to the […]
Autumn is in full swing down on Plot #59 and we’ve got the seasonal veggies to prove it. A few weeks back we harvested our squash and were quietly impressed with a decent showing in our first year of semi-serious squash growing: We also called time on our single, lonely tromboncino squash. Not worth entering […]
Earlier this year I decided to have a go at growing tromboncino squash with a view to entering the Sutton’s Cup competition to grow the country’s longest / largest fruit. Well, the closing date was September 30th, and I took a photo of my best effort on that day: As you can see, it barely […]
September turned out to be a really good month, weather-wise, so I ought to have been down at Plot #59 for most of it, working my backside off to finish a few infrastructure projects, clearing the last few patches of stubborn weeds, sowing a few winter crops and prepping for next year’s growing season. Instead, […]