Growing food

Reviving the rhubarb

September 6, 2011
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We did something at the weekend that was long overdue. We finished cutting down the dead ivy that had been smothering one of our trees, and in the process discovered what a good thing it had been for the rhubarb. Our rhubarb has never been particularly happy where I planted it alongside the chicken run. [...]

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This year’s crabapple harvest

August 9, 2011
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The crabapple tree has really come into its own this year. Last year it gave us enough apples to look good when in fruit and to make a small quantity of jam, but this year it really went to town. The top branches were bent right over with the weight of the delicate pink and [...]

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Struggling to keep the potatoes under control

May 19, 2011
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I‘m still digging up potatoes from last year’s crop. They’re giving themselves away by starting to sprout, and shooting long stems and thick green leaves up through the soil. It’s a bit galling pulling them all up as they would have made good eaters if they hadn’t started shooting, and I can’t help wondering how [...]

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Eating the first lettuce of 2011

May 15, 2011
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We’ve just eaten the first of this year’s crops. Admittedly it was only lettuce, but we celebrated by pulling up three whole baby heads, dousing them with some dressing and eating them with half a lunchtime pizza each. Sadly no tomatoes to go with it yet.

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We’ve transplanted our tomatoes

May 10, 2011
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Already, our tomatoes were starting to look cramped in their little 9cm pots. It’s only a couple of weeks since we moved them from the kitchen windowsill out into the greenhouse, so I didn’t think we’d be doing this so quickly. Nonetheless today we transplanted nine of the finest specimens into the larger pots where [...]

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The artichokes are rising… and so are the errant potatoes

May 7, 2011
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We’re growing artichokes for the first time this year. Why? Because we had them when we were out for dinner a few months back and loved them. Neither of us had ever eaten them before, and we actually thought they were potatoes when they turned up. Not surprising, really. They looked like potatoes in the [...]

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Our rhubarb has made it through the winter

March 4, 2011
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Our first crop of rhubarb could be on the way as our roots made it through the winter and are shooting up their first spears of the new season.

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I’ve re-planted the strawberry plot

February 13, 2011
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Our strawberries have made it through winter stronger and more numerous than ever, so I took advantage of the dry weather to replant all the free children plants.

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End of the season

November 23, 2010

As winter approaches, we’ve been tidying up the plot and the greenhouse, and were surprised to find some new tomatoes growing on our vines.

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We’ve harvested our main potato crop

October 27, 2010
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The tops of our potato plants have died down, so we dig up the crop and found 135 potatoes waiting under the surface. A bumper crop that should see us through to spring.

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