Last night’s dinner at the allotment - all home produce.
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This time last week, I trudged off to a meeting wrapped up in a scarf in the teeth of a brisk north wind, the temperature struggling into double figures. Yesterday it was 26 degrees and I paid the price for not using sunblock as I cycled to West Bromwich and back.
The warm weather has made the asparagus burst into action so we went to the allotment to have our evening meal. We keep a little camping stove stashed in the shed for making cups of tea in the winter and al fresco dining in the summer. I picked a selection of salad leaves from the garden and selected the biggest freshest eggs that the chickens could muster and we cooked up a storm. The huge pile of asparagus was steamed and poached eggs sat on top, the deep yellow yolks mixing with the mustardy dressing. We cracked open a couple of microbrewery beers from Cornwall reserved for such an occasion and toasted the summer and more of it.
It was a beautiful evening, still and warm, a rare thing here in the UK at the best of times, never mind as early as May. We have a “vintage” table and chairs left behind by some short lived tenants and we’ve strategically positioned it under the little apple tree that actually contravenes allotments official tree height policy but so far, no-one has mentioned it. The blossom is all out now and the tree was full of bees. We were also half deafened by bird song, with a particularly impressive performance by a song thrush a few feet above our heads. We sat until it was dark, listening as the birds dropped out one by one, watching a huge orange sun sink down over the city, then wandered back through the lane, scented with wild garlic.
Finally, the weather has improved and everything is growing like mad in the glorious sunshine. These squashes and courgettes are heading for the allotment to harden off for a few days before I plant them out at the weekend. The greenhouse has been so crowded, I can hardly get to the back door and Lavender has been deeply unimpressed that we took the chairs out to accommodate more plants because of the cold, windy weather. Now the plants can go outside and the chairs back in, she can resume her hectic summer snoozing schedule.
The perfect spot to unwind after a long day at work. This is what summer’s supposed to be like.
One of the cats that wander round our allotment. He really has a great time and I sometimes see him quite a long way from home. It’s nice to have a visitor and he helps keep the wildlife at bay. We also have a pair of foxes but they’re a bit camera shy.
Sunday on the allotment was less cold and the sky a paler shade of grey than we’ve had of late. The forecast is for this dismal spell to lift later in the week and it can’t come soon enough for my greenhouse and poly tunnel that are bursting with plants that I thought I’d be planting out by now. I’ve planted cucumbers, basil and tomatillos in the poly tunnel but the trays in the picture are full of the beans I sowed a while back. It’s too cold and windy to put them outside so I’ve been putting them outside on still days to start hardening them off. Before I had the allotment, I grew beans in my garden which is south facing and surrounded by trees. The allotment is on a west facing slope and very open site so much more exposed than my garden despite just being a few hundred yards away.
The first year I grew there, I was caught out by frost and wind damage to crops when my garden was untouched. It just goes to show how important it is to work with your situation and not force things - I’ve begun to sow beans a couple of weeks later. Hopefully the weather will settle so I can put the beans out next weekend, but next year I think I’ll sow them even later still.
Grilled halibut with asparagus and chervil beurre blanc.
Our first crop of home grown asparagus has been such a revelation, it deserved to be served with an equally delicious piece of fish and a delicate sauce using one of my favourite herbs. Thanks to Mr Satchwell on the Bullring market for recommending such a perfect accompaniment.
I’m based in a school for part of the week, which despite it being on one of the city’s busiest roads and a stone’s throw from the city centre, has a great outdoor space for the children. There’s even a little woodland area with rope swings and places to make dens. Last year, one of the teachers started this little veg patch. Unfortunately, it’s not been looked after this year because the teachers are so stretched. One of the problems with school projects is that they come to fruition during the summer holidays.
I’m thinking of talking to the head teacher to see if I can plant it up with strawberries and things that grow in the spring and autumn. The school has a large hearing impaired unit to I’m thinking herbs and sensory plants too. Anyone who has experience of school gardening projects please get in touch as I’d be very interested to know how you got on. Many of the children’s families are asylum seekers so tips on traditional Somali or Yemeni foods also appreciated.
I’ve been waiting for this moment for three years. One of the main motivations for getting an allotment and dealing with monster weeds and a massive pile of bricks was to grow my own asparagus. English asparagus in season is a true delicacy that knocks spots off the insipid imported stuff we get year round, even before you take into the horrendous environmental cost of flying it half way round the world. It’s one of the things where growing your own really makes sense as the flavour deteriorates quickly after picking. But you do need a lot of space and patience.
We got the allotment in 2009 and it took us a year to clear just half of it. I planted 24 asparagus crowns in a carefully prepared raised bed in March 2010, digging deep trenches and arranging the roots over little mounds before back filling with soil and compost. For two springs, I’ve watched the spears emerge and then let them grow tall and put out leaves and berries. Mr Shah on the next plot thought I was mad and advised me to grow more potatoes.
This year, I can finally start cropping it. Our first taste came a few days ago when we had just enough spears to make a small portion that was steamed and eaten within half an hour of picking. And was it worth the wait? Most definitely.
I’ll be cutting the spears as they come through until early June, a little later next year as the plants get bigger. I feel particularly pleased with myself as this year’s weird weather has severely damaged the commercial crop in many areas, with flooded fields and the cancellation of the British Asparagus Festival. At least with an allotment that sits on a old brickworks, I have decent drainage.
The garden always looks really neat and tidy this time of year. New seedlings grow in straight rows or as individual transplants and the wooden edges of the raised beds make everything look regimented. But as the peas scramble up their twig supports and the parsley fills out, the edges will soon soften. Add to that the various self seeded marigolds and nasturtiums I allow to run riot wherever there’s a gap, it will be its usual jungle by July. I’ve decided to relocate the courgettes to the allotment though because their huge leaves and sprawling habit make it really difficult to see where to put your feet and I’ve nearly come a cropper no end of times. As my gardening activities are still somewhat restricted following a spinal injury last year, I’ve decided I don’t want to tempt fate.
