Wednesday 1 December 2021

December 2021

 


Links to Mr. Middleton's tasks 1st 

December 1st Week
December 2nd Week
December 3rd Week
December 4th Week
December 5th Week
1st Wednesday - Had my Covid booster jam this morning. The afternoon was spent at a local primary school whilst the year 6 pupils asked questions about allotments, the Dig For Victory campaign and growing up locally during the war whilst the whole questions and answers session was filmed with the audio being donated to the local archives.
2nd Thursday - Had a wisdom tooth removed and spent most of the afternoon resting. Scanned in some old wartime family photos that I'd used the previous day and forwarded to be edited into the final film. Got around to sorting out the allotment association's seed order into individual members' orders. 
3rd Friday - Dropped off the seed orders at our community hut at the allotments. Emptied the kitchen's compost caddy into a compost bin. Leaves are falling quicker than I can tidy them up on the allotment plot. Will need to spend time tidying them up. Spent the afternoon at the community garden laying composite decking in the polytunnel.
4th Saturday - Stormy weather today with heavy constant rain. Managed to continue with the decking in the polytunnel on the community garden.
5th Sunday - Christmas is coming and now I'm beginning to panic that I might not complete all that I want. Currently have a dining room to declutter gardening paraphernalia before dressing the room for the festive season. Glad that I've managed to bring both the Facebook and Twitter feeds up to date. Time to crack on.
6th Monday 
7th Tuesday
8th Wednesday
9th Thursday
10th Friday
11th Saturday - Another day of rain. Spent 3 hours in the kitchen before several hours at the community garden continuing the decking in the polytunnel.
12th Sunday
13th Monday
14th Tuesday
15th Wednesday
16th Thursday
17th Friday
18th Saturday
19th Sunday
20th Monday
21st Tuesday
22nd Wednesday
23rd Thursday
24th Friday
25th Saturday
26th Sunday
27th Monday
28th Tuesday
29th Wednesday
30th Thursday
31st Friday
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Monday 1 November 2021

November 2021


 Below are the links to Mr Middleton tasks from his 1945 book:


Link to the November1945 Allotment & Garden Guide:


Allotment & Garden Guide NOVEMBER


1st
2nd , Tuesday - We had a plot inspection today carried out by two council managers, the two that I've been dealing with for the past four years as part of the allotment federation committee. 
3rd , Wednesday - Commenced tidying up my allotment. The hedge was the first thing that was trimmed and tidied.  Harvested courgettes, apples and raspberries. Made courgette fritters. Held an allotment federation meeting tonight which was chaired by the vice-chair who made a hash of the job by failing to read out what I'd spent hours preparing.
4th , Thursday - attended an online meeting with council managers and deputy director as the allotment federation's secretary. Self-management, rule review especially concerning poultry and the allotment budget was discussed.  
5th , Friday - continued harvesting apples and commenced pruning the large apple tree. Completed the allotment association members' seed order for Kings Seeds.
6th , Saturday - put some of the apples into store after sorting them out. Filled a compost bin with leaves. Baked an apple and raspberry loaf. Did a plan for allotment plot alterations commencing immeadiately to be in place for the 2022 growing season.
7th ,Sunday - finished harvesting the apples and pruned the central apple tree on the plot. Sorted through the apples and put more in to store. 
8th ,Monday - cleared away the remnants of the Polestar runner beans. Filled an old compost bag with organic matter as the compost bins are currently full. Cooked an apple crumble.
9th , Tuesday - cleared away the remnants of the hops at the allotment.
10th , Wednesday, no allotment visit today. Sent out the minutes to last week's allotment federation meeting. Spent several hours in the kitchen converting 21 courgettes harvested last week into fritters.
11th , Thursday - commenced work on dismantling the fruit cage. Completed some allotment federation correspondence. Acknowledged our local council manager's response to our allotment association's request to become devolved managed.       
12th , Friday - spent the afternoon at the community garden whilst some graffiti artists created some artwork on our building.
13th , Saturday - brief visit to the allotment, spoke with the secretary, pruned some of the fruit trees whilst cutting down runner bean plants that were no longer viable.
14th , Sunday - no actual allotment visit but spoke with the site secretary at the entrance as I was passing. Made an apple & raspberry crumble and cooked up some apples ready to bake some pies tomorrow.
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
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Friday 1 October 2021

October 2021

Links to Mr. Middleton's tasks 1st: 

1st (Friday) Harvested 227g of apples. 560g of Bramley apples. 319g pears.210g gherkin. 292g courgette. 380g green beans. 157g Mexican tree spinach. 184g of Swiss chard. 1.414kg of butternut squash. 14g rocket. 13g sage. 113g sweetcorn. 244g runner beans. 11g chilli pepper.
2nd Rain for most of the day, quite heavily at times. Visited the allotment and harvested 50g sage, 13g rocket and 268g windfall apples 
3rd Heavy rains broken by sunshine in the afternoon. Brief visit to the allotment. Harvested 12g rocket, 81g windfall apple, 371g Arthur Turner apples and 20g runner bean.
4th
5th
6th
7th attended a meeting with the local council managers on behalf of the allotment federation regarding devolved management contracts.
8th Harvested 290g onions, 565g rhubarb, 127g runner beans, 
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th Harvested 976g courgette, 164g gherkins, 272g new potatoes,24g chillies, 756g sweetcorn kernals, 154g apples, 32g broccoli, 7g tree spinach.
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
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Wednesday 1 September 2021

September 2021



 Links to Mr. Middleton's tasks 1st

 (please note that I have not updated all these tasks at present) :


1st (Wednesday)
2nd (Thursday)
3rd (Friday)
4th (Saturday)
5th (Sunday)
6th (Monday)
7th (Tuesday)
8th (Wednesday)
9th (Thursday)
10th (Friday)
11th (Saturday)
12th (Sunday)
13th (Monday)
14th (Tuesday)
15th (Wednesday)
16th (Thursday) 
17th (Friday) Visited the community garden and began fitting the batons on the polytunnel ready for the polythene cover to go on.
18th (Saturday) At the community garden finally fitted the cover on the polytunnel along with the first set of doors.
19th (Sunday) Returned to the community garden to fit the second set of doors. Visited the allotment, harvested the following; 206g gourd, 527g courgette, 859g runner beans, 40g Mexican tree spinach, 331g apples, 612g pears.
20th (Monday) Visited the allotment late afternoon. Shown a prospective new tenant their plot. Harvested 31g salad leaves, 543g onions, 707g apples, 315g cucumber.
21st (Tuesday)
22nd (Wednesday)
23rd (Thursday)
24th (Friday)
25th (Saturday)
26th (Sunday)
27th (Monday)
28th (Tuesday)
29th (Wednesday)
30th (Thursday)
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Courgette Fritter

Ingredients:

3lb grated courgette,
1lb diced onion,
4 tsp ground chillies,
8 heaped teaspoons curry spice,
12 ounces Gram flour,
6 ounces of Sunflower oil.

Method:

Peel and coarsely grate the courgette into a large mixing bowl.
Dice the onion.



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Palak Pakoda (Spinach Fritter)

 First tried this recipe in August 2021. Will type up the recipe asap.

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Sunday 1 August 2021

August 2021

 

Links to Mr. Middleton's weekly tasks first:

2021's brief diary:
1st (Sunday) Visited the allotment and August's weeding commenced. Visited the community garden and carried out an impromptu modification on the composting loo's doorlock.
2nd (Monday) No allotment today instead concentrated on items in the backgarden's greenhouse.
3rd (Tuesday) Visited the allotment. More weeding is undertaken.
4th (Wednesday) Put the dried peppermint leaves into storage jars. Visited the allotment, did a spot of weeding. Harvested broad beans, potatoes, runner beans and rocket. Cut back the grapevine in the polytunnel. Harvested 6lbs of blackcurrants.
5th (Thursday)
6th (Friday)
7th (Saturday)
8th (Sunday)
9th (Monday)
10th (Tuesday)
11th (Wednesday)
12th (Thursday)
13th (Friday)
14th (Saturday)
15th (Sunday)
16th (Monday) Rain showers. No allotment visit. Harvested chives from the garden to create a potato salad.
17th (Tuesday) Drizzly rain all day. No allotment visit today. In the kitchen created Palak Pakodas using up some of the Mexican Tree Spinach.
18th (Wednesday)
19th (Thursday) Drizzly rain with a flash flood late afternoon. Spent the day starting to erect a large polytunnel at the community garden.
20th (Friday) A rare day of sunshine. Cut the hedges in my front garden before spending all afternoon at the community garden finally understanding the instructions on how to put the polytunnel together.
21st (Saturday)
22nd (Sunday)
23rd (Monday)
24th (Tuesday)
25th (Wednesday)
26th (Thursday)
27th (Friday)
28th (Saturday)
29th (Sunday)
30th (Monday)
31st (Tuesday) The last day of summer. A dry day. Visited the allotment twice. Harvested 40g Peas, 230g Pears, 2529g Apples, 400g Courgettes and 914g Runnerbeans.
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Wednesday 7 July 2021

July 2021

Links to Mr Middleton's weekly tasks first:





 

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th Rain all day & evening. Managed to finish installing the compost toilet at the community garden.
13th Sunny again today with temperatures in the early 20°Cs. Harvested broad beans, cabbage, raspberries, rhubarb and ruby streaks mustard. 
14th
15th (Thursday) S
16th
17th (Saturday) Visited the plot, did a spot of weeding and watering before giving the Jerusalem artichokes a trim. Outside temperature rose above 30°C today.
18th (Sunday) Temperature into the 30°Cs only a brief visit to the plot today, harvested some sage, a small bit of weeding before watering in the polytunnel. Took a thornless gooseberry cutting to try and root at home. At home sown some radicchio and turnips in cells.  
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th (Friday) Visited the Chorley Flower Show for the first time today despite the rain outside.
31st (Saturday) Harvested green beans, gooseberries, raspberries,blackcurrant, rhubarb along with salad leaves( rocket & Mexican tree spinach. Plenty of weeding. Broad beans & peas were tied in after the recent heavy rain.
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Monday 31 May 2021

June 2021




 Links to Mr. Middleton's weekly tasks first:

June 1st Week
June 2nd Week
June 3rd Week
June 4th Week
June 5th Week


 1st (Tuesday) Watering and weeding.
2nd (Wednesday) Sown more beans.
3rd (Thursday) Spent most of today collecting a large shed to repurpose at the community garden. 
4th (Friday) Watering and then more painting at the community garden.
5th (Saturday) Watering today and more peas planted. More painting at the community garden.
6th (Sunday) lots of weeding today. Planted out squash, cucumbers in the polytunnel. Removed seedheads forming on the shallots.
7th (Monday) No visit today.
8th (Tuesday) Attended an allotment federation committee meeting. 
9th (Wednesday) Allotment inspections today, pleased to say mine passed.
10th (Thursday) - Harvested salad leaves (mizuna, ruby streaks, rocket & Mexican tree spinach). Did a spot of watering.
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
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Monday 3 May 2021

May 2021


 Links to Mr. Middleton's weekly tasks first:

May 1st Week
May 2nd Week
May 3rd Week
May 4th Week

1st (Saturday) The community garden that I'm a director of suffered from an arson attack on the evening of April 29th. Apart from clearing up the aftermath, I spent most of today restoring one of the raised bed, digging out mares tail and bindweed before sifting the soil. I managed to complete half the bed today after spending over 8 hours there.
2nd (Sunday) Visited my allotment, did a spot of weeding.
3rd
4th
5th (Wednesday) Paid a brief visit to the allotment. Watered seedlings in the polytunnel. Surveyed the storm damage, mainly bundles of canes that had been blown about. Visited the community garden. Completed typing up the tasks for May 2nd week.
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th (Friday) First day of our first week-long holiday in 3 years.
15th (Saturday)
16th (Sunday)
17th (Monday)
18th (Tuesday)
19th (Wednesday)
20th (Thursday)
21st (Friday) Last day of our holiday only returned home late.
22nd (Saturday)
23rd (Sunday)
24th (Monday)
25th (Tuesday)
26th (Wednesday) Ordered, collected and delivered sand & cement to the community garden to assist in the creation of a memorial area of the garden. Discovered that the chain on the roller shutter on our hub building had come of its cogs and without ladders, we used pallets to reach up but were unable to fix it. Whilst I was there we had another delivery of wood chippings.
27th (Thursday) Spent 12 hours doing work at the community garden. Restoring & painting the main gate, helping to repair the roller shutter on our hub building, emptied the first of 4 large plastic planters that we want to relocate, clearing more of the car park, taking some of the rubbish to the recycling centre, planting Heuchera, Welsh poppies and some Sambucus nigra.
28th (Friday) Painted a bit more of the community garden gates and arranged the collection of a shed for next weekend.
29th (Saturday) Spent several hours on the allotment, weeding, putting the bean & pea plants in along with sweetcorn. 
30th (Sunday) Moved a greenhouse from the allotment site's community plot over to the community garden. Painted some more of the community gates. 
31st (Monday) 
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Thursday 1 April 2021

April 2021



April 2021

Links to Mr. Middleton's tasks 1st (please note that I have not updated all these tasks at present) :


 


1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
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Tuesday 2 March 2021

March 2021

 Here are the links to Mr. Middleton's tasks for the month of March:
 (please note that I have not updated all these tasks at present) :


1st
2nd
3rd
4th (Thursday) - Spent a couple of hours on the plot. Put some seed trays in the polytunnel to germinate. Finally finished pruning all the fruit trees.
5th (Friday) - Spent 3 hours at the allotment. Plenty of weeding. Started tidying the fruit cage. Applied some well-rotted manure around the fruit canes.
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th (Saturday) 
21st (Sunday) Spent 3 hours, weeding, digging up one clump of the cartoon and a spot of tidying. Although the rat population at the allotments are less visible than it has been the past few years I had signs that they were still visiting my plot so two bait boxes were set up today for monitoring. Broad bean aquadulce seedling that was sown at the start of the year were planted out today in an area previously occupied by cardoons, which had been carefully removed for planting in the community garden.
22nd (Monday) No visit today.
23rd (Tuesday) Visited the allotment twice today. In the morning checked the rat poison, one block eaten in the polytunnel. Harvested 600g of rhubarb. In the afternoon replenished the rat poison. 
24th (Wednesday) Briefly visited the allotment. Harvested just over a kilo of purple sprouting broccoli. Checked the rat poison, two blocks gone today so replenished those. Divided the cardoon and planted those at the community garden.   
25th (Thursday) Brief visit to the allotment, had to replace rat poison in the polytunnel as all had been eaten. The mustard leaves are growing well in the salad bed.
26th
27th
28th
29th
30th
31st
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Sunday 31 January 2021

February 2021

 Here are the links to Mr. Middleton's tasks for the month of February:





1st Monday, bright sunshine in the morning but temperatures still freezing.
2nd Tuesday, snow first thing and then heavy rain all day & night.
3rd Wednesday
4th Thursday
5th Friday - The big freeze begins preventing outdoor work.
6th Saturday
7th Sunday
8th Monday
9th Tuesday
10th Wednesday
11th Thursday
12th Friday
13th Saturday - Visited the allotment, the ground was frozen solid.
14th Sunday
15th Monday - The first day without the ground being frozen.
16th Tuesday
17th Wednesday
18th Thursday
19th Friday
20th Saturday
21st Sunday
22nd Monday
23rd Tuesday
24th Wednesday
25th Thursday
26th Friday
27th Saturday
28th Sunday
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Friday 1 January 2021

January 2021

Well here we are again at the start of another year, I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year and didn’t put on too many unwanted pounds over the festive season. Still, even if you did, it is a good excuse to get out into the garden over the coming weeks as the weather begins to warm up and start preparing for the growing season. I guess I am not the only one, but as soon as January arrives I am eager to start doing something, whether sowing seeds on a warm windowsill or propagator or preparing the allotment ready for planting at the earliest opportunity. Even with this I still run out of time come May/June when everything should be in and growing.

 Below is an excerpt of Mr Middleton's New Year musing back in 1935 :



Click on the links to Mr. Middleton's tasks for January below: 




My 2021 Allotment/Garden/Kitchen Diary below:

1st (Friday) Happy New Year everyone! Visited the allotment today and emptied the kitchen caddy into the compost bin. The ground is covered with snow.
2nd(Saturday) Sown leeks and onions at home.
3rd (Sunday) Typed up the 1st week in January's tasks.  
4th (Monday) Visited the allotment today just to install a wildlife camera to catch unwanted visitors. The ground is covered with snow and ice. England goes into Lockdown for the 3rd time in under a year.
5th (Tuesday) Visited the allotment. The ground is still frozen. Emptied the kitchen caddy into the compost bin. Started harvesting cress.
6th (Wednesday) Frosty weather outside with temperatures below freezing all day.
7th (Thursday) Frosty start to the day that gave way to snow in the afternoon.
8th (Friday) Began chitting King Edward potatoes today.
9th (Saturday) Typed up the remaining January tasks on the above links. Visited the allotment.
10th (Sunday) Transferred the broad beans that had germinated indoors into the cold greenhouse outside. Sown lettuce (Artic King)
11th (Monday) Heavy rain all day today.
12th (Tuesday) Following my car accident today has been the first time in a month that I've driven myself to the allotment. Topped up the compost bin with the kitchen caddy. Cleaned the paths bagging up the leaves and debris to rot down. Harvested just over a kilo of Oca. Put several potted strawberry runners into the polytunnel.
13th (Wednesday) Rain all day today. No outdoor work is undertaken. Checked on the Broadbean seedlings in the greenhouse.
14th (Thursday) Rain again today.
15th (Friday) Rain again today.
16th (Saturday) Rain again today.
17th (Sunday) Rain again today.
18th (Monday) Storm Christoph commenced with excessive rainfall
19th (Tuesday) The storm continues.
20th (Wednesday) Storm Christoph continues with widespread flooding locally. Visited the allotment to see the paths underwater. The evening was filled with heavy snow.
21st (Thursday) Rain again today.
22nd (Friday)
23rd (Saturday)
24th (Sunday) rain, hail & ice today
25th (Monday) ice and rain
26th (Tuesday) 
27th (Wednesday)
28th (Thursday) Emptied kitchen peelings into the compost bin and took several seed trays home.
29th (Friday)
30th (Saturday) rain all today
31st (Sunday)

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