Plummed

Almost a year ago, I was given a present from some lovely people.
It has weathered the coldest winter that I've witnessed in Scotland. In a pot. This spring, it was given its place of honour, beside the gate of our tiny front garden, welcoming everyone to our home. We watched in anticipation as it blossomed and grew little fruit.
And now, the fruit are ripe. I managed not to kill it, instead it's given us a bountiful crop, especially considering its the first year.

Snowflake loves the plums. Cubling, as with every fruit, won't eat them but admires them nonetheless. If you're German, plum go with cake but I'm not that German as to go for a traditional recipe (because you can't beat the Brits for their cake recipes). Praise to the glorious internet for giving me possibly the best plum cake recipe ever.

It may pass as the nicest cake I've managed to bake so far.

February in the garden

 February in our tiny back garden. The soil was still very cold so waiting was in order. My chicken manure order didn't arrive, so once again, I'm growing on nutrient free soil for the moment. Since our slightly failed attempt to do the Garden Bird Watch, Cubling is taken by birds and we made some bird food. The birds do their best to ignore it.

The washing line is still in weather's hand, but I can feel the spring sun and soon the washing will be outside again, giving the house a chance to dehumidify. I hope.

The shed got painted in winter. I love it. It makes such a difference to have a splash of colour and I'm sure we'll also paint the raised beds before long.

I tried to plant onion and garlic sets before the winter and it's rather amazing that they've sprouted, especially considering the cold and long winter we had. And the nutrient free soil I gave them.

Just this week, the plum tree that I was given for my birthday got planted in the front garden. There isn't enough soil in the back (the sunny side) to plant it - the back is really container gardening. The front doesn't have much sun but I picked the sunniest position there is and cross my fingers. When digging the hole for the tree I hit on soil which looked like this:

I'm pretty sure you could use it for some pottery. I remember that my parent's allotment had clay soil, how they cursed the digging of it because it was so hard and eventually led to giving it up altogether, but never have I seen something that looked and felt just like pottery clay. I hope that I prepared it sufficiently for the tree to be happy. So far, it's doing well in its new position. Two soft fruit stalks got planted in containers too, and my rocket, coriander and basil is doing well in the conservatory (aka play room), where the potatoes are being chitted too. I've rearranged the toys to clear surfaces for some seed propagation, and make the playroom look a bit tidier in the process too.

No chickens yet, and there's still a lot to be done that I'd meant to tackle in the winter and didn't get around to due to the harsh temperature and sick kids. It's all a work in progress though and that's the beauty of it.

A special present - Urban food growing Tuesday

My mummy friends gave me an extra special present - a plum tree.
It doesn't look like much right now, it's autumn after all, but I can't wait to see what it'll look like in the spring.
I've read up all about plum trees and know that this one is a great variety for small spaces and semi shade. So it should grow well. Now I only have to decide whether to plant it in the front or back - probably it'll be the front as it has good soil (though less sunshine) - our back garden is either built up or a lawn, not much potential for growing a tree, even if it's a small one.
4 weeks to go until I can dig!

I've also come across a fab network of food growers in the UK. Definitely worth checking out and joining.
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