Katrina’s Allotment Diary
The mornings are turning crispy. Not only in the air but underfoot too as the trees prepare for their sunset-coloured finale. Meanwhile at the bottom of the allotment garden, the apple tree whispers “pick me, pick me”. Autumn is a fleeting but special season for many and one that I love to celebrate by cooking comforting treats with the last homegrown fruits of the year. Continue reading “Mini Apple Turnovers”
The seed sowing season is in full swing and I’m lucky to be trialling some new varieties from Sutton’s. I spent many hours flicking through their brightly coloured catalogue and narrowed my selection to a top ten list of favourites to try for the first time.
I’m back on your screens in my second allotment garden video! If you remember from my New Year Resolutions post, I’m making an effort to shoot more video content this year. Not only have I set up a dedicated Homegrown.Garden YouTube channel, but I’m also having fun shooting more stories on Instagram too!
In this episode, I’ll give you a tour around my plot at St. Ann’s Allotments so you can get a better idea of what my patch of dirt really looks like, as well as my (now) tidy and organised shed! I’ll share my ambitious plans for the year ahead, and show you some exciting activity that has taken place in my wildlife pond, in between the heavy snowfall.
At 29 minutes, this video is a bit of a lengthy one. They won’t all be this long I promise! So make yourself a cuppa and get comfy. I apologise in advance for my nervousness, the interrupting chainsaw and rambling! This is only my second video, so if you like what I’m doing let me know and I might even invest in a little fuzzy microphone in the future!
Trug handmade by Loldeantimber.
It’s been a funny old winter and one that has really hit the UK hard in the last few weeks. The thick blanket of snow is almost a distant memory now as the ground thaws and the early spring flowers begin to appear. Have you noticed how deafeningly loud the birds are? At 6pm there’s still just enough light in the sky to make a quick visit to the plot after work to top up the bird feeders or sow some seeds in the polytunnel. It won’t be long now until the epic seed sowing marathon commences, but before this busy time ensues, I want to look back at the progress and changes that took place over the winter months. Continue reading “End of Winter Update”
Following on from my recent TOP 7 Successes of 2017 post, it only seemed fair to share my failures too. I have to say that 2017 was overall a very good year on the allotment but some crops didn’t perform as well as I hoped. Continue reading “TOP 4 Failures of 2017”
Overall, 2017 has been a great year for growing and experimenting. I tried new methods to increase plant production, prevent diseases and I also got creative in the kitchen using the glut of the harvests to make new recipes including cakes, cider, chutneys, jams, indian snacks and desserts! Take a look at my top 7 successes for 2017 and be sure to let me know in the comments what your biggest success was for the year. Continue reading “TOP 7 Successes of 2017”
Homegrown Garden 