This week I finally plucked up the enthusiasm to work out the plan for our allotment…
Allotment
In December 2015 I was lucky enough to secure a 125 square metre allotment, which later expanded to 250 square metres. Here I’ve been documenting my progress as I explore the world of fruit, vegetables and herbs, and seek to become as self-sufficient as possible :)
How to grow onions and shallots organically from seed
Growing onions and shallots organically from seed is easy, cheap and fun. In this post I…
Allotment plan 2023
We took on our new allotment in Yorkshire in February 2021 and, with almost two full…
Allotment plan 2022
In our first year on the smallholding in some respects I should have done nothing but…
How to grow chillies and peppers from seed organically
Chillies and peppers are a really easy to grow, easy to use and easy to store…
Allotment Month 61: December vegetables with winter salad, kale, roots and squash
My allotment needs a good weeding. It’s looking fairly overgrown in parts because I haven’t been…
Gardening in southern England’s changed climate
Where are we now, into the fifth summer on my allotment, and despite going into this…
Come into my world: haphazard
On my allotment two years ago I started increasing the number of ornamental plants because I…
Allotment Month 55: vigorous legumes, squash and pumpkins, tomatoes
Do you ever have the feeling you’re being left behind in gardening? You think your tomatoes…
From plot to place: allotments benefit from a bit of character
Words can’t describe how much I love my allotment this year. It feels to me as…
A right hodgepodge
Regular readers may recall that about two years ago I started planting spare cuttings, divisions and…
Allotment Month 52 – March: hunt for the best purple sprouting broccoli, forced rhubarb and colour like no other!
I’m looking at my desk (on which I’m typing) thinking crap, where AM I going to…
A year in vegetable, fruit and herb photos
We’re taught not to play with our food but WHATEVS, I love arranging veg to show…
11 steps to a wildlife friendly allotment
I love all life and I’m sure if you’re reading this you don’t need any explanation…
Allotment Month 49: growing up
My fourth year on the allotment has whooshed by and during the very wet start to…
Allotment Month 46: tomatoes, edamame, apples, raspberries and sunflowers!
At some point I really am planning to sow my salad crops for winter, I’ve been…
Allotment month 45: salad harvest, colourful potatoes and rainbow tomatoes
Yesterday I was busted sighing while hoeing weeds on my plot. I’d just mown everything and…
Wild patch: the challenge of a wildlife friendly allotment
My allotment is not like most, I don’t have raised beds, I let weeds grow because…
Allotment Month 43: priorities, supports and progress
Going into the fourth season on my allotment I’ve been pleased with how it’s shaping up.…
Allotment Month 42: weeding asparagus and carrots, potato, chilli and artichoke update
On Sunday I had the chance for a proper sesh down the allotment and it was…
Future Meadow: Winter One
The race to grow is primal in all living things. One of the challenges of planting…
My allotment plan for 2019
Hello vegetable fans! Recently I wrote about why I practice crop rotation on my allotment in…
Allotment month 38: don’t beat yourself up if things go wrong
I’ve just had the best day on my allotment for a long time. Zero degrees Celsius,…
Allotment Month 36: sowing garlic, broad beans, peas and my new compost bins
I’ve hit month 36 in my allotment journal which means I’ve now had it, almost unbelievably,…
Living on a prairie (part 2)
It’s been two years since I started a prairie experiment in a small border on my…
Allotment Month 34: happy herbal, apple disaster, persistent prairie
Often I beat myself up about the state of my allotment, it never quite looks as…
Why I just chopped off every single dahlia flower
Oh no! What have I done?! Just as my dahlia trial beds on my allotment were…
Allotment Month 33: today is a good day
This was the best day on the allotment all year, a breeze and drizzle, the air…
Allotment month 32: cool as a cucurbit, hot as a herbal
2018 will go down as one of the most challenging years for gardeners, the freezing late…
Allotment month 31: here come the crops – gherkins, kohlrabi, edible flowers and more
After months of hard work, today the allotment is starting to give up its bounty with…
Allotment Month 30: a close look at 2018’s plan
How I’m into month 30 on my allotment blows my mind. I’ve made reasonable progress in…
50 Dahlia photos from my garden and allotment
As you may have heard, I love Dahlias (see more Dahlia posts here), they rock my…
Allotment Month 28: harvesting parsnips, beating weeds, sowing seeds and signs of spring (at last!)
Currently I feel I have the measure of my allotment, how long that feeling will last…
Allotment Month 26: sprucing and rearranging
Toward the end of autumn I find the battle against couch grass and other weeds relentless…
Add some zing this summer with the unnatural flowers of Zinnias
Zinnias are odd. Almost unlike any flower I’ve come across before, they just do not look…
Allotment Month 25: planning for the year ahead – parsnips, cauliflower, kale, carrots, apples
Can you believe I’ve had my allotment for two years?! The excitement of taking ownership still…
Allotment month 22: wasted produce, autumn flowering apples and snails
I’ve barely spent any time at the allotment in September. Bad Wallington. This has been a…
Have you ever seen popcorn flowers?
The popcorn plants on my allotment are (later than normal) finally flowering and I thought I’d…
Allotment month 21: release the Dahlias! Black tomatoes, Zinnias, Brassicas and Pumpkins
You know that moment in sci-fi films when the warp drive or mega lazer is powering…
Allotment month 20: it’s in the flavour – new potatoes, carrots, Florence fennel, beetroot and more
Monty Don always says it’s important to pick only what you’re about to eat to reduce…
Allotment Month 18: a visitor, weedageddon, cutflowers, vegetables and perennial produce
Who knows how the laws of the universe work. Across the entire site my allotment is…
Allotment Month 17: dahlias, prairie and produce
It’s year two for my allotment and the layout I created for it originally is really…
7 easy pickings for grow your own keenos
I’m being thrown head first heading into my second season on the allotment and this year,…
Allotment Month 16: surprise, surprise
Today I’m talking surprise appearances, broccoli and rhubarb starting to crop, my new cut flower bed…
Allotment: weed suppressant membrane – beating weeds organically
Month 13: my allotment has expanded a bit this year as I’ve taken on some unused…
13 tips to help allotment newbies… by an allotment newbie!
Taking on an allotment for the first time is exciting and scary. I know because I’ve just…
Allotment propagation and storage – potting shed, polytunnel or greenhouse?
We had a cold frosty day at the end of November – the coldest night in London…
Why I’ve fallen for cut flowers
I used to be a foliage boy. I’ve changed (well, a bit). In the past I saw…
Allotment month 12: proof is in the potatoes
It’s been a year since I was given my 125 sq metre allotment and what a…