Harvests etc

Hello peeps, sorry I haven't been here in a while, sometimes I forget, sometimes I'm too busy and sometimes there's just not much to blog. While I've been away I've had a bumper crop of tomatoes, so many in fact I've been giving them away to friends and family. About 5 medium sized punnets in all, they ripened pretty late this year it was September when they all seemed to redden at once. Really tasty though there's nothing like the taste of proper organic tomatoes, in the supermarkets they're far too watery.

I've also had a few tasty raspberries off a very small plant and some strawberries too, I am currently raising rhubarb too but they are quite slow growing and even though I set them off indoors in August they probably won't be ready till next August and even then only a light harvest should be taken from the plants, in Yorkshire we have a tradition of "forcing" rhubarb which means growing it in the dark to make it grow faster and sweeter, it grows so fast in these conditions it can be heard growing. It's grown in a place called the Rhubarb Triangle in between Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford mainly around a town called Rothwell. I am undecided whether to give it a go, it might be a good idea for my smaller garden as it doesn't get any sun anyway. On a small scale the rhubarb just needs growing under a bucket.
Anyway that's all for now but I'll be back a little more regularly now hopefully.

Rhubarb + Seedling Update + New Bees.

Well Spring is well and truely under way and I'll begin this blog by letting you know I have now discovered Rhubarb, I know it's practically criminal but until the other day I had never tried rhubarb. I was put off by rumors of it being sour and strange but last week I was offered some from the onsite allotment so I picked a few stalks out of politeness more than desire to try it. When friends came to stay last week I bit the bullet and made them rhubarb crumble with a packet of oat crumble topping. It's so easy just boil rhubarb with sugar and water for 10 minutes, drain and add the topping and bake for 20 minutes. The results were surprisingly tasty but the rhubarb was not pick and attractive as the supermarket ready meals would have you believe but mainly a greeny colour with hints of pink. Just goes to show. Anyway I have now planted some rhubarb and am looking forward to my own Yorkshire Rhubarb in a years time (don't pick the first harvest the plant gets tired).

The seedlings are now moving along well and we have multiple money maker tomato plants, a sunflower, cucumber, lettuce, peas, mini peppers and very surprisingly a butternut squash seedling. The butternut squash was a experiment I planted 6 in all but squash prefer planting in Autumn and have a long growing period. After 2 months and out of 6 seeds just 1 has shot straight up so fast it must have took less than a week for it to touch the top of the propagator. In not very long many of the seedlings will be big enough to be grown on outside in the ground I an currently preparing for them.

Also after missing my little tree bee friends at my parents place I today discovered new neighbors on my patch. These critters were paying particular interest in the little holes made by old screws in my wall. My friend has suggested these are masonry bees, a solitary bee which lives in brick mortar. I believe they were carrying little clumps of mud to their new homes and arranging it, however I have sent this photo to the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust to confirm it for me, more info when I found out. If you want to do something to help bees in the UK sign the Soil Association's Petition to make the government listen to bee's plight and don't use un-natural pesticides and herbicides in your garden. Bees love fruit and veg plants but if you prefer lawns keep a unkempt corner of your garden where wildflowers can grow for bees. Bees are important to ALL life on Earth look after them.

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