Bank holiday weekend was a bit of a blur, it went by so quickly. I didn't spend it on my allotment I'm rather sad to say, especially as the weather was so lovely.
Bank holiday weekend was a bit of a blur, it went by so quickly. I didn't spend it on my allotment I'm rather sad to say, especially as the weather was so lovely. But I did get lots of fresh air and exercise, and talked allotments with Laura, an old friend who has a plot in the heart of the city centre.
Like lots of allotmenteers, she lives in a flat with no garden, so her plot is always a riot of colour, with spring plantings of tulips, daffodils and wallflowers, followed by cottage garden favourites like nigella and clarkia. She also grows masses of vegetables and some fruit – a short row of Autumn Bliss raspberry canes and a couple of blackcurrant bushes are all she's got room for.
Laura's very much a self-taught gardener. Over the years, she's learned from trial and error, though she keeps The Vegetable Expert handy too! We had a good chat about generalities such as last year's rain and the prospects for this summer, then finally got on to more meaty topics like favourite varieties and Laura's latest experimental vegetable. She likes to try growing something new every year and this year it's cauliflowers. They're coming on really well and starting to form little curds already. The curds should swell and grow over the next couple of months, but they are prone to cracking in the summer sun. "It's easy to protect them though," I told her, "you just cover the curds with their own leaves, fixing them with a clothes peg." Laura was rather taken with this idea. "Brilliant!" she said. "I'll use some colourful pegs and they'll really brighten up the plot and look pretty wacky too."
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