
The Hatfield Peverel Allotment Association has been around for over a hundred years, below is an article written by David Goodey and makes good reading!
Read moreThe Hatfield Peverel Allotment Association has been around for over a hundred years, below is an article written by David Goodey and makes good reading!
Read moreRhubarb & custard cocktail
An elegant vodka-based drink that'll wow your guests - it's made with creamy advocaat iqueur and homemade fruit syrup
The Hatfield Peverel Allotment Association has been around for over a hundred years, below is an article written by David Goodey and makes good reading!
Plant out your Oca when all chance of frosts have gone towards the end of May. They do best in a site where you have been successful with potatoes in the past. As they are not related to the humble potato you can use these a a crop rotational plant.
They develop into quite a bushy plant so give them plenty of room for good tuber production about 90cm(36") between plants. Stems which lay on the earth will put down roots and will develop tubers also adding to your crop. This can be encouraged by softening the soil in these areas and lightly covering the stems but leaving a good amount of foliage on top.
I like to cloche mine for a few days to get them well established after planting out but isn't essential, but protects them from an unexpected late frost should we get one.
Rhubarb & Grenadine Crumble
This has a great twist, the Grenadine adds great colour and taste to the rhubarb that will add that something special to your dessert!
Lamb Cutlets with Butternut Squash & Mint
Simply delicious one of my all time favourites
September marks a change in the seasons, you'll be harvesting the last of your summer crops if you haven't already done so, crops like tomatoes, beans, peppers, sweetcorn will be finishing, but on the other hand the first of the Autumn crops will be nearing ready or may be ready like Apples, Pears, Main Crop Potatoes, Winter Squashes to name but a few!
January is generally a very cold month with hard frosts freezing the ground and when the ground isn't frozen it is generally too wet to do much although there are no guarantees with British weather. Looking through my diaries, snow isn't that likely for a prolonged period but you never know.
We get a glimpse of the early signs of the arrival of Spring this month. The soil begins to warm up around the middle of February and we can see for the first time this year the buds beginning to swell on fruit trees and bushes. Overwintering vegetables begin to look less sorry for themselves and they start to produce new growth.