We're jamming. . . . .

Welcome back to our allotment retreat. Two updates in one day - Crikey!As detailed earlier , I set off this morning to forage for some more free fruit. Armed with a couple of cloth bags, i never imagined that i would collect what is probably 20 pounds of yellows, And 20 pounds of reds! The bag pictured here is a "Tesco Bag for Life" , and its about 6" deep with fruit! Probably about an hours worth of picking. There were a lot of fellow foragers there today, one guy in his late seventies telling me he's been collecting this fruit there for more than 20 years!
This bag(Iceland version) is also about 6" deep with fruit. There was a greater demand for these, and I had to jostle with others to get a good spot. I found one after a short break, and collected this haul in about 30 minutes. The branches were literally overloaded with fruit. After nipping in to town to buy sugar, and a couple of other treats for wifey, we headed home to the stove. Thats the royal "we" of course. Jen made a 5lb batch from the yellow plums first, as these are the most ripe. The aroma was sheer bliss as they boiled on the stove, and the finished jam was a lovely golden yellow in colour.

When buying the sugar, we found good old Tate & Lyle granulated at 80p per Kilo in Wilkinson's, that's the cheapest we have found. Let me know if it can be bought cheaper - we need rather a lot!

Wilkinson's have also started their seed sale, and we picked up all these packs at half price. These will be stored away for next years planting, the plan of which is forming in our minds !

Thats all for now, but pop back soon to find out what else we concoct with our haul of free fruit!

Take care all, and enjoy your gardening.

TTFN.

Tatties on order ! 06.10.08

Welcome back to Reads Allotment Retreat, our new diary blog created for you to track our progress on the new 10 Rod plot, as we start from scratch!

There's many good reasons for joining an allotment society, not least the massive discount you can get as a result.
Yersterday I ordered my seed Potato's, and was amazed at just how cheap they are compared with shop prices.
Browsing the catalogues from Marshalls, Suttons etc, you could reasonably expect to pay around £6.00 for a 2Kg bag. I ordered the following for my next years planting:
First Earlies - Rocket - 3Kg for £2.90
Second Earlier - Maris Peer - 6Kg for £4.30
Maincrop - Cara - 3Kg for £2.90
Salads - Charlotte - 3kg for £2.90.

To me, this is a considerable saving. All spuds are Scotch, and graded to size. What more could i want ? From previous purchases over the last few years, I know that a 2Kg bag will easily fill a 25' row, so I can now work out the spacings and sizing of the raised beds required on the plot.

All I need to do now, is get the plots readied. I will be buying the timber soon for constructing the raised beds, as well as stocking up on manure to work into the soil, before it is all top dressed with GP Compost, which will create the tilth required for planting.

I'm hoping to get some planting underway quite soon. We recently visited the Victoriana nursery at Challock in Kent. It was great to find an outlet that is not full of Christmas decorations and expensive gifts. Instead, you are greeted by the knowledgable staff who work there, and they were only too happy to stop and talk. Whilst there I purchased a mixture of plug plants to grow on at home, ready to plant out when the time is right. These included Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Cabbages etc, and are just what i need to get a head start.

We've also been pouring over seed catalogues ready for next seasons crops. I've found various outlets for what i need, not least a company called Premier Seeds Direct, operating on ebay. Their costs are well cheap compared to the high street, and all i can do is recommend them to you. Regardless of how many varieties you choose, you only pay Post and Packaging on the first item. How good is that !

We're still without computers at home, so for the forseeable future, updates will continue in print form only.

Come back and see us again soon. Till Then

TTFN.