Spade Work : From Plot to Plate

Stern Stuff

The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, predicting environmental apocalypse if we don't act now, is big news over here.

With everyone being urged to do their bit (how many are doing so in India or China, I wonder?) when will the frickin' water companies in the south east lift the hosepipe ban so I can water my additive free, almost zero food mile veg and do my bit?!

Its galling to know that I can power wash my patio and fill a swimming pool, if I had one, but it's a no no to water the garden with a hose.

Sense please.

Animals In War

I pass this memorial to Animals In War several times a week.

I'm always struck by the frequency with which it's decorated with floral tributes. Most days there is a new bouquet of flowers or container plant expressing thanks.

Yesterday the bouquet remembered the contribution of Irish Terriers.

We  spent Saturday evening trying to calm our dogs driven mad by fireworks (early Halloween celebrations and we expect more tonight, Tuesday). For animals in war, let alone the soldiers and civilians, conditions must be brutal.

It's a Pig!

I should have guessed - it's a pig - when I saw it being built for the Thomas Kilpper exhibition PIG IS BACK at the Pump House Gallery.

I was pretty skeptical about the allotment that went with it and the promise to feed everyone who came to the exhibition. Either the frost was going to get it or the vandals sooner or later.

But you'll see from the pic that its doing well.

And it was then I saw this notice. Free entry and free food - a winning combination. The leek and potato soup was very tasty and the baked potatoes still warm. If I'd been half an hour later then the scones that were being prepared would have been straight from the oven.

Just where they fit in with the allotment theme I don't know but I'm sure they were delicious.

Hats off to him  - the allotment survived and the visitors are being fed!  The exhibition closes on 29th October. If you're in the area drop by - maybe you'll get a free lunch. Sadly no pork products.

Autumn Clean Up

Over the next while I'm going to spend some time tidying up the Spade Work page, deleting links that haven't posted in a long time (except those who've said they're hibernating) and adding others I've come across.

So if you check in and find you're not listed but are still active let me know and I'll put you back!

So English

This was taken on a walk through Friday Street on ...er...Saturday.

Very autumn English I think with the red post box at the end of the lane (inscribed GRV - dating from 1910 and the reign of King George V), the cottage and a table outside with plum jam, damson jelly and apple chutney for sale and just the faintest hint that the leaves are turning - autumn is a long time coming this year and there's been no hint of a frost at least in this part of the South East.

A Little Light Relief

On a rainy weekend and making a change from barrowing in compost on the allotment I spent a few 'once in a while' minutes tidying up the succulents, alpines and grasses I've potted up. This is my idea of low maintenance gardening and very rewarding too.

They get a little weeding every know and then - the gravel mulch takes care of that - water sometimes if its very dry like this summer and other than that they just get on with it.

Not my usual type of gardening but  a little light relief from the heavy stuff.

As well as the gravel mulch any broken china, glass or bottles I find on walks in the woods gets used. Click on the pics to see what's turned up.

So far they've overwintered outside - north facing - for two years with only occasional die back and this keeps them in check.

What No Gloves?

Look, no gloves! I'm always doing it - promising I'll wear them and then just getting stuck in and by then it's too late.

This chunky clove of  German Extra Hardy was planted on Saturday along with Red Toch and Polish White which I got from Patrick at Bifurcated Carrots

I also put in several lines of Thermidrome and two lines of Radar onion sets plus two rows of broad bean, Aquadulce Claudia, in another bed.

It was the first time in three weeks that I had been able to get to the allotment and it wasn't  looking too bad.

The asparagus foliage is beginning to turn and the kale is coming into its own. The parsnips are doing well; the Autumn Bliss raspberries are still putting out fruit and the dahlias continue giving a good show, while the leeks after an unpromising start are bulking up nicely.

A View From the Hills

I'm just back from a bike trip to Tuscany and trying to remember the wonderful food, sublime landscapes and grand gardens in between coping with the worst stomach bug I've had since I was laid out for 72 hours in India a few years ago.

I've no idea what it was - too much excercise maybe, those hill towns are a long way up; too rich food, that cucina povera is anything but bland;  or was it that fountain I drank from.........?Who knows.

Anyway, before I'm forced to leave the keyboard here are a few more photographs. For an area overwritten, overfilmed and overrun by Brits, Americans and general tourism (and I plead guilty on several counts ), there are still some fine places. Just don't expect to be on your own.

The first two are from the Botanic Gardens in Siena - a calm retreat for a few hours in a town that seems to have a flag waving party for any reason - like it's Tuesday or Wednesday or we won the Palio.

And these are from La Foce, the estate of the late Iris Origo in the Val d'Orcia - she's written an excellent account of her WW II years here hiding POWs, rescuing displaced children and generally turning around land holding and agricultural practice in what is a barren and harsh landscape.

And one from Horti Leoninni in San Quirico d'Orcia, a 16th century Italinate garden right in the centre of town.

Brapple: A Different Kind of Yorkshire Pudding

Some of the mountain (or should that be lake) of apple and blackberry summer pudding mix in the freezer got used up recently in a very simple pudding; basically a Yorkshire pudding batter with a twist.

Combine four tablespoons of flour with one large egg, two tablespoons of sugar, slowly adding just under a cup of milk and beat to a thin batter. Add eight ounces of apple and blackberry (I've used chopped plums in the past; you may have raspberries, you could try raisins, prunes...just experiment) and stir in.

Pour the batter mix into a greased loaf tin or ovenproof dish and bake for about 30-40 mins at 180 C. If it's still a bit watery give it some more time.

Allow to cool a little; in fact this is lovely next day for breakfast!

Enjoy.

The Month Ahead

Just when I thought things would be easing off in the garden the stern Victorian tones of The Culture of Vegetables and Flowers convince me that I'm being a slacker and should get out and clean up the vegetable plot;

"Weeds and leaves are the plagues of the season...Keep all clean and tidy...The accumulation of rubbish anywhere, even if out of sight, is to be deplored as an evil altogether. The injury to the vegatation is as great as that inflicted on our own health when dirt poisons the air and damp hastens the general dissolution."

I'm not sure I'd do it to their high standards. Sure, I clear away fallen cabbage, kale and sprout leaves and give the plot a good weeding before spreading a thick layer of compost on the cleared beds. But that's about it. I leave tree leaves to overwinter and most find their way into the soil adding to the mulch.

What I've never done is to sow green manures. Has anyone done this and how hard is it to dig in come Spring? Is it easier on the back than spreading compost like I do now? Do they encourage weeds?