Pressure canning a curry sauce base: UK canner
Planting garlic to overwinter
It’s March; what are we sowing?
peas Today we made a few more sowings of early crops. In an earlier post we discussed our planting timeframes. Our main sowing spree is a good few weeks off, but we do have some things on the go. For crops to be sown now they need to be quite hardy to resist the low overnight temperatures which can be below zero celcius even in the greenhouse. We don’t have heat in the greenhouse.
Happy New Year: Reflections for 2019
Things never stand still in gardening. Every year, we plan to change structures, build new things and try new plants. The creativity of gardening is one of the things I really love. 2019 was no different! Developments have included, fitting an IBC tank for water storage, building polyhouse cloches over beds to grow heat-loving plants, installing another pond, building a brick bbq, a rockery and the latest challenge of completely taking apart the summerhouse to recycle and rebuild a larger structure. That last project is still underway!
1000L IBC tank 
Summerhouse build in progress 
Tadpoles in the new pond
Creamy Garlic Courgette & Cucumber Soup
Courgette and Cucumber may not be your first thought when thinking about making soup, but they have a great texture and absorb other flavours well.
Chilli & Garlic Jam
Yesterday I recieved a lovely email from a fellow plotholder who had been sampling one of my preserves.
Obviously I replied with the recipe, but after posting on our Facebook group I had further requests to share the details.
Garlic storage
This year we had a great crop of garlic. Here I demonstrate how I have prepared my garlic for storage, using tights! Yes, ladies hosiery! Breathable to ensure the crop doesn’t rot, cheap and recycle those tights that have ladders in! Win win!
How to store garlic in tights! Cheesy beans on toast ‘Allotment style’
Everyone loves beans on toast, but I have given this an allotment upgrade: Allotment beans in a garlic tomato sauce topped with a bit of cheese of your choice.
