Summer in the City
It's not quite summer but today, I hope, gave a taste of what we can expect in the next 3 months or so. This is a great time of year at the allotment. The potatoes survived a surprise late frost last week, although not all of the runner beans, nor the new vine.
We have planted out some of the tomatoes, the brassicas ( a mixture of caulis, brussels and broccoli, but having lost the labels I can't tell what is what), and the carrots which were munched into extinction last night by our slugs and snails. No nasty slug pellets for us; it's fill them full of food 'til they're fed up and move onto someone else's plot.
I'm feeling rather a failure at the moment. Our allotment is, how can I put it, rather amateurish. It's more a town garden with feelings for the wide out-of-doors. There are no straight lines of beans,peas or onions. We have onions, tons of it growing happily; except they're in wiggly lines. The salad greens are scattered hither and thither as are the peas; which having spent many a happy hour growing in remarkably straight lines as far as the eye could see - have disappeared. Now there are inconsolable outcrops of early peas climbing dreadfully exposed up twigs and sticks. I became so embarrassed - fellow gardeners would stare at my patch of orphaned peas and tut; then walk on scratching their heads - I interspersed them with mini - rows of beetroot. I love beetroot; especially the pickled variety - I've about 4 demi johns of last year's harvest maturing nicely - but I tend to plant far too much. It's its own fault. It's so bloody easy to grow.
Anyway, that's not what I want to tell you; or more correctly show you. I took my camera down to do a bit of photo journalism. On the front line in the allotment trenches - that sort of thing. But frankly it's so peaceful and relaxing down there, there was very little in the way of hard action snippy snappy around. So instead I snapped a few of nature's glories. Hope you like them.
First up...I'm not exactly sure what it is... must be some sort of allium surely
Now this is something I do know: a primula?
Right, I know this one, I know this one. It's the flower head of angelica. You know the stuff you get candied and put on cup cakes.
The whole thing. It's pretty impressive don't you think?
If you look very,very closely you'll see a ladybird on a globe artichoke leaf. 
We have planted out some of the tomatoes, the brassicas ( a mixture of caulis, brussels and broccoli, but having lost the labels I can't tell what is what), and the carrots which were munched into extinction last night by our slugs and snails. No nasty slug pellets for us; it's fill them full of food 'til they're fed up and move onto someone else's plot.
I'm feeling rather a failure at the moment. Our allotment is, how can I put it, rather amateurish. It's more a town garden with feelings for the wide out-of-doors. There are no straight lines of beans,peas or onions. We have onions, tons of it growing happily; except they're in wiggly lines. The salad greens are scattered hither and thither as are the peas; which having spent many a happy hour growing in remarkably straight lines as far as the eye could see - have disappeared. Now there are inconsolable outcrops of early peas climbing dreadfully exposed up twigs and sticks. I became so embarrassed - fellow gardeners would stare at my patch of orphaned peas and tut; then walk on scratching their heads - I interspersed them with mini - rows of beetroot. I love beetroot; especially the pickled variety - I've about 4 demi johns of last year's harvest maturing nicely - but I tend to plant far too much. It's its own fault. It's so bloody easy to grow.
Anyway, that's not what I want to tell you; or more correctly show you. I took my camera down to do a bit of photo journalism. On the front line in the allotment trenches - that sort of thing. But frankly it's so peaceful and relaxing down there, there was very little in the way of hard action snippy snappy around. So instead I snapped a few of nature's glories. Hope you like them.
Right, I know this one, I know this one. It's the flower head of angelica. You know the stuff you get candied and put on cup cakes.
If you look very,very closely you'll see a ladybird on a globe artichoke leaf. 
What I call "Bill and Ben" flowers. Possibly only means anything to someone who saw Elizabeth II's Coronation live on black and white TV.
Where did he come from?
Aren't they sweet? The flower of the strawberry. The fruit is beginning to show, and I swear the bloody magpies are running the ruler over them. Neither they, nor the mice, slugs, pigeons or neighbours, will get a sniff of these beauties.
That's it, I'm bored now: takes so bloody long to load the pics - So much for mega fast broadband you lying VirginMedia.
By the way did you know that Jupiter has lost one of its stripes? I know I couldn't believe it myself - amazing. Will let you have all the news on that later!
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