Dovecot Chives, Lilac and Alum Plant Sale

Dovecot Lilac and Alum Plant Sale, a set on Flickr.

Bought a few plants from the allotment sale and put them in Dovecot garden. There's so much more going on in the garden now and in a few weeks time its should have more colour. Put in a Lilac tree or bush, no one is sure which one, a gorgeous poppy plant, an alum which I've never heard from some cosmos and William chose a chive plant. I love this garden.

Pitville Plant Sale

Pitville Plant Sale , a set on Flickr.

The scarecrow competition took a creative twist for the better with a take on the Sea Odyssey giant girl story that came to Liverpool. This scarecrow girl has moving parts and is just brilliant. Very hot today and too many burgers. Bought a Lilac and a Allum Lilly for the Dovecot project. Just a lovely day with family.

26C in Dovecot

26C in Dovecot, a set on Flickr.

The plot is almost under weed control. Everything now is coming up because of this heat wave. It's been in the upper 20's all week and this is my only day off so Ive made the most of it. I got to the plot for 9am because by mid day you can't work in it and then off to sisters to do Deovecot project and the lawn now is starting to do well. It really is barmy British weather. William had kids water fight today, thought it might all end in tears but it seemed to be okay. Work tomorrow and then plant sale of Sunday, sis and kids coming to have a look round and enjoy the barbeque.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Purple Sprouting Broc , a set on Flickr.

I love purple sprouting broccoli. Grown from seed this plant has taken almost a year to bear its sprouts but it is well worth the wait. We first created a little nursery and grew from seed planting on when ready – almost a foot tall. At first they fared well, and then many of them started growing club root so they were yanked out. At one point I lost hope and another row got yanked out. I’m now left with 5 plants dotted around the plot and as a result of just leaving those alone have as much broccoli as we can eat. It’s gorgeous too. The first big handful I completely over cooked as I didn’t realise how fresh it was and delicate in taste. It has a slight bitterness but with it a real sense of eating greens. I now feel that I have a real sense of this amazing plant and understand that the sprouts would eventually come.
I harvest by cutting down the stem and then leaving two or three little shoots to grow and it seems to be working – the more I harvest the more I seem to have every time I go back. In fact I think this is the trick to growing certain veg, you need to make room for new growth. One of the plants has club root and is growing but not as good or as big as the other 5. I use a different set of shears to cut those sprouts off as it is easy to transfer club root to other parts of the allotment. And I wasn’t sure about eating off this plant but its fine. I just won’t grow any brasiccas in that area next year. What I will be doing though is growing this very generous and giving plant with no real hard work associated with good grief I would be missing something if I didn’t have this on the plot. And yes some of my friends who know me would be gob smacked at exactly how much PSB I have eat in the last 3 or 4 weeks. So a good veg to grow for those fussy kids.

Dovecot Green Lawn

Dovecot Green Lawn, a set on Flickr.

The incredible edible Dovecot project is starting to take on a shape. The grass is actually growing now that there has been some sunshine. The big learning curve for me was having enough seeds to put down in the first place. However, it has given us time to rethink the patio at the back. We are now grassing this and I think all that lovely green lawn will be very easy to manage. We need a good year for the apple and plum trees and all the little plants which will get bigger. There is hope for this garden and I think these photos are signs of that.