An allotment wonder list...

I got to spend some quality time on the plot today and spent most of it just staring at things with a mix of awe and bemusement. The autumn flowering raspberries confused me because I'm pretty sure it's only July but there's definitely fruit on it already...not that I'm complaining!

 I have no idea how my borlotti beans that only a few days ago looked like they just might not bother, have suddenly shot to the top of their supports and now look pretty annoyed that there's nothing for them to get to the moon on...

       

My pea plants have literally fallen over themselves with the number of pods. It's been lovely to be able to give them straight to small boy to eat like sweets though I'm still not sure he'd choose them over chocolate:)(what am I saying.. of course he wouldn't, he's 4 and he's my son!)

I got very excited when I saw this beautiful thing...it's quite small still and the leaves have been got at so it's not perfect, but to me it is...my very first Romanesco broccoli. Think I might be growing it for the wrong reasons...I don't want to eat it....just to admire it's spiralling symmetry;)

This is also a first for me...my first artichoke starting to form on a plant that I grew from seed last year. I have 4 plants and they are all getting huge. I knew they were big plants so I've given them plenty of room but it's like when you realise your children aren't little any more when they invite their friends round and suddenly your house is filled with teens, they take over and their shoes in the hall are just enormous. My artichokes have become teenagers, they just don't talk to me any more!

My asparagus peas which I have brought home proudly then realised quite quickly that I haven't a clue how to cook them and neither has any of our vast collection of recipe books! If you look up recipes online for them you get recipes for asparagus and peas...not helpful! I'm just going to simply steam them I think and have them with a tiny amount of butter.

Ladybirds...so many ladybirds! I can only think it's why the blackfly that had just discovered my broad beans suddenly, mysteriously disappeared. It's like when I was little in the summer of '76...sounds like the start of a song...don't worry it isn't;)...all I can remember (because I was quite young...honestly) were the ladybirds, they were everywhere, literally because I loved to collect them in jars (to the horror of my grandmother) so they were in the house, my bedroom at school...everywhere....I sometimes forgot to put the lids back on. I'm really happy to see them on my plot and they are the ladybirds from my childhood...little black legged, 7 spotted ones, not those enormous harlequin ones with the brown legs. It amazes me how those funny ugly little juvenile bugs become the instantly recognisable adults. Every time I lifted a leaf today I found the remains of the pupae sometimes with the adult newly emerged right by. I still find them fascinating but I might just keep my empty jars for jam;)   

My beautiful but spikey Borage...I wouldn't be without it, even though brushing passed it to get to the peas is not such a lovely experience! You can eat the flowers, I'm quite tempted to freeze them into ice cubes...they'd look great in a mojito;) Lots of flowers, lots of ice, lots of mojito...what's not to love?

My celeriac was a bit of a disaster last year, they just never formed the bulbs and I left them for such a long time ever hopeful. In fact I've left them so long that they have turned into celery...no, not really but they look very similar and now they have flowered. They look quite spectacular actually and they are buzzing with all kinds of insect life so I will leave them until the flowers fade. They might not have fed me but they are now feeding plenty of others, not such a disaster after all;)

Picnics with tea and...frogs...

I had one of those days yesterday which just make you happy. It started with a picnic on my allotment with all the people I work with. I'm very lucky to work with a great team with the added bonus that they can all cook really well too:) so we had some great food, not a dry cheese sandwich in sight! Must admit I was a bit worried when the idea was first suggested about having a picnic on the allotment...where are they going to sit without getting stung by nettles or throttled by bindweed? Shouldn't have worried, we smothered the weeds with Chelle's beautiful quilt (there's no way if it was mine that I'd let it out into the dirty outdoors!) They were also lovely enough to be very complimentary about my little plot that has been quite seriously neglected lately (it needs more than the few snatched hours I've had recently). It is bursting with peas an beans though which made me very happy, they obviously don't mind a bit of neglect...and my first asparagus pea pods are forming which I'm ridiculously excited about trying. There is one bonus of having a bit of a wilder plot...the wildlife, in a past post I excused my long grass as being a haven for frogs, and what should I find today in my long grass but...baby frogs!

We went from our picnic to a tea tasting session at the truly fabulous Birdhouse Tea Company in Nether Edge and had a great time tasting some loose leafed teas I would never have considered trying, I'm just ever so slightly suspicious of flower petals in tea. It's a lovely shop and Rebecca knows her tea...she's got me drinking something called Milk Oolong, pretty sure not many people could do that and it's delicious;)

As we were leaving Amy just happened to look into her bag...and found...a baby frog! He must have crawled in thinking it was a great place to hide out of the sun, not sure he was as impressed with his unexpected journey and ending up miles from home in a shop of tea. So me and daft dog had a great excuse to go back to the allotment and release him by his pond. He jumped so quickly out of sight I never got a photo of him but I'm glad to know that there are most definitely frogs on my plot even though they've got a bit of growing to do before they can help tackle the slugs!

Lessons from a Botanical Garden rediscovered...

On Father's day we ended up walking through Sheffield's Botanical Gardens, probably more of a pleasure for me than Chris:) I haven't been for ages and was happy to find it in absolutely beautiful top flowering form, the sun being out helped too:)

 I remember this place from being very young, it wasn't the garden that it is today. When I was little the glasshouses were in dire need of renovation, I remember vividly that one housed an aquarium whilst the main part was a birdhouse. The aquarium was the stuff of nightmares for me, it was pitch black inside and the fish would loom at you from their various tanks like the creatures of the deep that some of them were, prehistoric and scary. I still remember the sound of the various pumps bubbling away and (worryingly) how the ground was always wet and how I would leave the piranhas until last for that moment of pure, joyous horror that all children seem to love. Fish with teeth, all kinds of wrong surely?..I would run screaming from them into the daylight every time...my dad no doubt following behind me shaking his head.

The birdhouse was pure joy for me, it was full of noise and colour. I was fascinated by the various shades of the raucous budgie flock and trying to get the mynah bird to speak to me (never managed a meaningful conversation with it!). I still don't quite understand whose idea it was to place 2 large macaws on stands on either side of the doors as you entered, they were terrifying and would reach out to peck at you as you tried to pass unless they were distracted by food.

The fish and the birds are long gone...who knows, those macaws could still be around today somewhere else terrorising someone in their old age...I kind of hope so;) Anyway, the glasshouses have been beautifully restored and returned to their former glory to show off plants from around the world. Small boy loved the huge cacti but strangely enough didn't want to try and sit on one...as his evil mother suggested;)

Walking down the main path from the glasshouses, the herbaceous borders were rich with colour, shapes and scents. I got quite lost in the beauty of it all...quite literally, Chris and the kids had to wait ages for me to catch them up;). I've never seen a gypsophila so huge and it looked stunning next to the apricot foxgloves. The allium, I think it's 'Summerbells' looked like little clusters of fairy turrets (yes, it's exactly what they would look like) amongst the backdrop of the seedheads of 'Purple Sensation.' The colour combination was so perfect, it wouldn't have worked as well had they been in flower together but the muted colour of the seedheads made for a perfect mix. Bees were going mad for the catmint...I think it was catmint anyway, it was one of the plants not labeled frustratingly, probably because they expect people to know what it is! There are so many ideas for planting combinations to borrow, and I for one need all the help I can get on that one:) I somehow forgot that that's one of the joys of botanical gardens, it's like walking through the pages of a very lovely gardening book. I have promised myself to visit more regularly from now on even though I still really miss the fish! 

Magical musical moments...

My sister lives on one of those rare streets where neighbours actually know each other by name and also seem to genuinely like each other too:) They have street parties where the road gets blocked off and the children can come out to play safely without the worry of traffic. Cakes are baked, photos taken, outdoor games and toys are scattered (much to small boys delight) and the musicians of the road play through the smoke machines of the BBQ's. The band that was playing kindly allowed my Chris to play with them even though we were interlopers on the street;) It's not a widely known thing that Chris is a great guitar player (yes I'm biased, but he really is..) he just doesn't get the chance to play and his children have never seen him play properly, plugged in and loud! It was actually quite a special moment watching them watch their dad for the first time. I am a  hormonally driven girl at the best of times (it's an age thing) but it was enough to make anyone cry...it was the scene from that film where you know you are being emotionally manipulated but you just can't help yourself;)  

I am in awe of musicians generally, I haven't got a musical bone in my body...I can play a passable rendition of London's Burning on the recorder if pressed (who on earth is going to demand I do that!) but that's about it. I do however know good music when I hear it, music that makes you completely forget what's around you and just stop dead. A man with a violin began to set up quietly as we were still hugging Chris and generally behaving like he was some sort of rock god...ha! Usually when I see a violin my heart sinks, I have memories of my middle son learning to play it at school (why do they torture us parents!)  his rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is still scratched painfully into my subconscious...sorry darling but it was awful, think you're old enough now to face the truth:)   This violin music was so removed from that it might as well have come from another planet. His name is Matt Howden and if you ever get the chance to see him play please, please do he is completely mesmerising. There is something amazing about having a talent that allows you to express yourself so honestly and so beautifully and I felt (embarrassingly enough) compelled to thank him afterwards for being so...well... great.

A little street party with drizzling rain and an hysterical broken tug of war rope (there are few funnier sights than lots of people falling over at the same time!) and music to make you cry... turned out to be a very special Sunday, just a shame I was too busy enjoying the moment to take any decent photos!...sorry.