Welcome to our plot!

I'm Hazel, and in Nov 2006 my friend Jane and I took on a half plot at Hill Allotments, Sutton Coldfield - we want the satisfaction of growing and eating our own fruit and veg, and to improve our diet (and fitness!).

This is the story of what happened next...........

Monday, August 04, 2008

Preparations...

I’m going to have to change my posts from ‘I just nipped to the Hill…’ to ‘I slogged my way on my bike to the Hill where I had to go & have a little sit down to get my breath back…’ if I keep up this cycling lark! Phew!

So tonight (once I’d had a little sit down), I dug up the majority of the red onions, & I will now have to go & look on the internet as to how to present them to show – my main question is how many scrobby layers of onion can I remove so that the onion looks really good? (Rather suspect that the answer to this is ‘none’.) Anyway, they are drying on the mesh now, & I’ll see if they are fit to enter later in the week.

I would have brought them home with me, but once I put them in the front basket I realised that I had a bit of a logistics problem with retaining forward visibility whilst riding home. I also needed to make room for the Coleus which I had just dug up & stuck in a 2 litre pot to take home to make ready for the show.

I’m on a bit of a learning curve here – I’d never heard of a coleus until treasurer Mike said ‘here’s a free coleus which you grow on & enter in the show’ – sounded good to me, so I took it in it’s dinky pot & planted it out by the sunflower.

Then I found out that it’s a pot plant & you pot it on, pinch it out, feed it & generally pamper it. Well, it takes its chance round here, so it’s had a happy time in the open air for a couple of months, & now I’ve potted on, fed it & given it new compost, & we’ll see on Sunday from the others what they are supposed to look like. Live & learn.

I planted out four more CAULIFLOWER (all the year round) that I’d bounced around in the front basket, then picked some FRENCH BEANS (tendergreen) – I do feel somewhat in limbo at the moment as I don’t want to eat any potential prize winners ahead of Sunday! Mind you, there isn’t a category for squash, so I had one of those for tea once I had cycled home…

6 comments:

  1. The worst thing about the week before a show is - you daren't eat anything. The following day, of course, you are coping with a glut.
    Good wishes for the forthcoming event - I'm sure you'll do well.
    (BTW, your coleus looked great to me!)

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  2. Hazel, perhaps the best idea (trying to be tactful here) would be to definitely use the car on Sunday when taking the Dundee cake, coleus and other treasures to the ''''Show''''. Good Luck from Bri and Plum.

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  3. I'd be a menace to myself and everyone else if I had that lot stacked up in the basket, wouldn't I?!

    You've not told me what you two are entering yet - presumably sweet peas and jam are at the forefront of your list...?

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  4. Them red'uns looks hugely better than mine. I'm almost embarassed to eat mine, let alone show them!! Good luck lass.

    By the by, did you see my Love in the mist? Thanks to you and you b-i-l (I think?).

    Have you thought about a periscope for your bike? Easy to make, I saw them on Blue Peter once...

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  5. Haha, Wayne - imagine the menace of Hazel, pedaling for all she's worth, only able to look straight ahead through her periscope, in her yellow waterproof capey jobbie with all her prized show exhibits in the basket:-)

    Seriously though, good luck for Sunday luvvie - not that you need it. Looking forward to a pic of all those rosettes.

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