Prepping for the FEDAGA allotment show

There’s been a few days of good weather in Edinburgh, and today’s been sunny as well. After handing over the daughter when her mum got back from Motherwell, I nipped down to the plot to retrieve my secateurs, then home to prepare some garlic for FEDAGA’s 57th annual flower and vegetable show. I’ve also entered some blackcurrant jam (27/07/09) and the rhubarb and ginger batch from Beltane. All 3 categories seem competitive, so I’m not expecting to win anything. I’m just chuffed that I’m able to exhibit in 3 categories (up from 1 last year).

For my first year growing garlic, I bought a hardneck variety pack from the Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight to see which would work well. I chose hardneck ‘cos they’re more suited to harsher climates. The Purple Moldovan and Chesnok Wight went in at the end of October and the Lautrec Wight went in in March.

I had no experience of what garlic looks like as it grows, so it’s been in the ground too long. And with the wet Summer, most of the October-sown heads swelled so that the outer layers of skin have burst, or even rotted in the ground. I’d say this first year has been a qualified success: it’s worked out at about 50 pence per head, I’ve not got any plaits of garlic (you’d need softneck for that, anyway), I’ve now got to deal with a garlic glut, and I have three small, well-shaped heads of Lautrec Wight to exhibit at the show.

For tonight’s tea we had apple and blackcurrant crumble. Apples from a colleague’s tree had a good fresh flavour and low acidity. Add a few blackcurrants from my plot, let the daughter help measuring the crumble ingredients and you have a perfect dessert… Does that bode well for the allotment show? Hope so.

The Knock at Crieff

The Knock is a small hill to climb at 278 metres, made smaller by starting at Crieff Hydro Hotel halfway up its side. It’s quite steep.

The hill is covered with lovely mixed woodland. There’s lots of beech, birch and oak; some pine and larch; rowan on the upper slopes with bright red berries; elder lower down; and a rather windswept apple tree near the summit, which probably sprung from a discarded apple core. There’s not many young trees on the hill, and I saw some introduced juniper just down from the summit. The grandest tree I saw was a fantastic beech, broad and eminently climable judging by the graffitti high up on the trunk.

About 100 metres from the summit, the slope levels off and the mixed woodland, bracken and grasses are abruptly replaced by moorland: heather covers the ground, broom and small birches are dominant. This gives a good introduction to the view from the top, North past the Highland boundary fault and into rugged country. To the West are more highlands, but to the South lies the fertile Strathearn Valley.

On Saturday the sun shone over Strathearn and 15 miles away the windfarm on the Ochils was turning at quite a pace. These interventions in the landscape are, to my mind, no more intrusive than the fields and villages. Looking from the summit, I could see straight lines of trees all across the valley marking field boundaries from way back. But these fields are relatively new, and would have been viewed as intrusive to the drovers moving South from Crieff in the 18th century. I think there has to be a recognition that no land in Britain is untouched, and one only has to scratch the surface of an idyllic scene to find human intervention, change and displacement.

Benchonzie and Comrie darkened and light rain came in from the North, but nothing that penetrated the woodland canopy on my walk back to the hotel.

The visitscotland website has a good write-up of the walk

google maps, centred on The Knock

13 heads of garlic

Quick trip to the plot today while the daughter was at playgroup. Sowed some winter spinach and the last lettuce for the year. Dug up the last of the garlic, and was very sad to see that a couple of the over-wintered ones had rotted in the ground. I’ve managed to get 5 of them and 8 of the Spring-sown Purple Moldovan today, and they’re now in the wee greenhouse. I’m hoping that the Spring ones will be OK for the allotment show in a couple of weeks.

In total, I’ve probably had two dozen heads of garlic. Could have got half a dozen more if I’d pulled the over-wintered ones out at the right time. Might have some bigger heads for the Spring ones if I’d left them in the ground a wee bit longer, but one of those had already rotted. Maybe that’s just the luck of the draw for this year’s growing season.

Here’s some photos of the previous batch of garlic that been drying. The two small ones look good, but the over-wintered ones have been in the ground too long and have split. Doesn’t bode well for the 5 old ones I’ve got drying…

small and perfectly formed garlic

two small and two big garlic heads

Allotment help needed, Friday 28 and Monday 21 August

Got a final warning from the allotment offficer today: the plot’s not up to scratch and I’ve got 14 days to get it sorted. After the euphoria of the shandon food event, this is quite a come-down. I still think I’m doing OK on the plot, and I was chuffed to be able to use garlic and peas in my dahl at the bring-and-share, but I do need some help.

If you’re available on the afternoon of Friday 28 August or Monday 31 August, I would very much appreciate a few hours digging, clearing and fixing. Rain or shine, I’ll be there. Please wear work clothes and boots, and I’ll bring food & drink.

If you let me know beforehand, I can plan for the days. Friends and family welcome!

THANKS!

Local food event success

80 people turned up to yesterday’s bring and share! What a resounding success, and many thanks to everyone who particiated. There was fantastic food, sympa folks and enough activites so that the kids didn’t get bored. Maybe the formula is facepaint + colouring-in + food + other kids + a steep slope = occupied children. And good weather, of course.

Photos from the event, thanks to Callum

Next thing for the Food Group: decent forum software that’s built with PHP or Perl and MySQL. Any recommendations?

Shandon Local Food Group Bring and share

shandon local food bring and share, 22 August

The bring and share food event is today. It’s going to be a busy day as I’ve still got some shopping and baking to do and the Midmar allotments have their open day this afternoon.

Scotmid have been very generous and sent a £25 voucher to help provision the event.

scotmid voucher and shopping list

STEPS centre gives balanced view of GM technology

On my way to Mark Thomas’ show at the Pleasance, I stopped off in the central library to have a quick skim through the periodicals. Just as I went in the door I noticed a bike chained up, and I’m fairly sure it was the bike I donated to the Bike Station. Good karma, whether it was or not.

This book review by Ian Scoones and Dominic Glover outlines the small place that GM technology plays compared with other science-based technologies.

The STEPS centre – linking environmental sustainability and technology with poverty reduction and social justice

North Kelvin Meadow Campaign taken to court

At the end of 2008, volunteers began to transform a derelict playing field into an inspiring green space, including a meadow, woodland, a community orchard and allotments. Now, Glasgow City Council is taking the chair and treasurer of the Campaign to court to stop them

North Kelvin Meadow Campaign website

Petition to support the campaign

The red wheelbarrow, William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

My Dad introduced me to this poem, which I found on the minstrels website

Not an enchilada…

The plot’s looking a bit sad. I’m getting better at growing stuff, but the planning is awry as I’ve now only got garlic and beans left to harvest. When I look at the neighbours’ plots I see acres of potatoes, flowers and beans. Never mind; I’ve got ideas for the Autumn and beyond, and I’ve learned a lot from this year.

K wandered by on Sunday and gave me a bag of (stringless) runner beans. Fantastic flavour! On Sunday I made a great veggie stew and today I finished the beans off in a tortilla. I thought I was making an enchilada, but it turns out that enchilada is the past participle of enchilar – to add chile and mine didn’t have chile in. As an aside, I think that’s a cracking verb!

Veggie entomatada – no claims to authenticity

• hard vegetables: sweet potato, beetroot, half an onion, carrot.
• grated ginger
• soft vegetables: mushrooms, leek, small tomatoes (halved), runner beans.
• left-over haricot beans

Make a tomato sauce: sauté the other half an onion, add garlic and then sieved tomato. Set to one side.

In a heavy pan with a lid, sauté the hard vegetables and then put the lid on to let the veggies steam for a few minutes. Add the ginger and stir for a minute. Then add the soft vegetables and haricots, sauté and steam until all the veggies are tender. The veggies weren’t too wet.

Turn the oven on medium. Put the veggies into tortillas (from the inimitable Lupe Pintos), roll them up and into an ovenproof dish. Tomato sauce, cheese and then into the oven for a quarter hour.