Forget your calendar, forget your watch, the ‘officials’ will tell you the 20th March is the first day of spring. Only when the Blackbird sings Spring has sprung.
Although quite a cold day, today is the first day of 2016 that the Blackbirds have sang, and what a joy; hopes and expectations of a good season ahead.
I’ve just recently purchased the seed potatoes for this season.
As usual, I am planting my favourite first early ‘Arran Pilot’. For the second early I will be planting ‘Nadine’ which is another favourite. As a main crop I am going to try the variety ‘Estima’. I have not read about this one. and know nothing about it, so am looking forward to see how it produces, and more importantly how it tastes.
The empty egg box is at the ready to sit the variety ‘Arran Pilot’ seed potatoes in order to ‘chit’ them prior to planting out.
Because I have a second allotment this year, I will also plant a potato crop there too. Maybe King Edwards, or a variety I have never tried before. Watch this space…
The Victoria Rhubarb seems to be taking steroids this year.
It has never seemed to be totally dormant. The plants began growing in January. It is mid March now and we have only had a couple of warm days. The Blackbird has not sang yet so it isn’t officially spring.
I have put a lot of manure and feed on these plants over the winter so we shall hopefully be getting a really good crop this season.
I had been looking forward to the last day of the course fishing season from September 2015, when I made my annual batch of tomato chutney. A jar of which I always put aside as a gift to celebrate the last course fishing day of the season.
Having managed a few days off work, I arrived at my location a couple of days prior to the 14th only to find the river had burst its banks, and was actually part of the surrounding fields – what a disaster!
Changing tack slightly, I met up with friends and fished a local lake. I had set myself a goal of netting a Carp from the surface. Quite a mean feat in a cold biting wind in mid March. I did take some time to get any fish on the surface, and non of them where really competing for any of the freebies, but I persevered and managed to land a good double. It came too the net quite easily and fought just as well on the bank as it did in the water. She was full of spawn as well, a really good sign of things to come when the weather warms up. Back she went very gently.
As the final day approached, the 14th, my prayers were answered by the angling gods and the river had fallen quite some height. Enough to drop a line in. I had a fantastic day on the 13th, catching upwards of 40 Gudgeon, and upwards of 20 Roach and a Dace. All very small, so the landing net hardly got a wash, but great fishing non-the-less.
On the final day I met up with friends. We all fished from before lunch, and all had a great day. We were treated to a beautiful sunny day, and, as per usual, much tea drinking and cake eating took place along with our angling exploits.
The Kale and the three types of giant onion have germinated very successfully this season.
Today I have potted on the first plants; ‘Ailsae’ Onions and the Kale ‘Nero Toscana’.
Mixing in a good supply of Vermiculite and a good few handfuls of fish, blood and bone which will hopefully give the seedlings a real boost.
I also have put at the root of each Onion seedling a pinch of Mycorrhizal fungi. This will work with the plants root system and provide me with huge onions this year, I trust.
I have gone to even further lengths with the aim of producing a large onion. I have made a dedicated raised bed that I have raked in a lot of fish, blood and bone meal, along with lots of chicken manure pellets, and a whole bag of 6x manure. On top of this, I have secured a planting black membrane. This will heat up the ground far more efficiently, as well as suppressing all weeds, allowing air and water to pass right through.
I have temporarily placed planks of wood along the perimeter just to keep the membrane down on the soil, and protect it from the wind that whips across the allotment.
When the plants are ready to go out into the bed around the back end of April, I will drill 3″ holes along each planting line, about 9″ apart, and each onion will drop into these.
I have also heightened the arms along the perimeter of the raised bed in order to secure a taller wind break to protect the onions that I will install after I have planted out.
It has been forecast today that snow has blanketed the whole country according to the BBC. In other words, there is one millimetre of snow from London to the Watford Gap and obviously the whole country has now come to a standstill.
I don’t think so. On a frosty day like this there is nothing better than a walk in the country.
We ventured forth, trudging through the winter blocked country, through mountains of snow to take another tour of Beamish. A location to the very famous series Downton Abbey. This is no film set. Beamish is a living and working museum.
Fantastic to see the church finally complete and we were treated to a detailed history of the building which parts of date back to medieval times.
After what has seemed to be an eternity, the rain has stopped this afternoon. The sun has not put in an appearance yet, but at least the birds can get about and feed. This fella was certainly happy singing from the very top of a huge old Elder in the allotment. Notice the buds on the Elder, ready and waiting for this year.
What I long to see and hear now is the Blackbird sing from this exact perch, then I know spring is close. I fear this may be some time away as we are heading towards a very cold snap.
Maybe this Robin was delivering this exact weather forecast and instructing all its kin to feed while they can, before the ground turns hard and white.
Over time I have managed to take some great snaps with a little pocket cheap camera. Having to enhance and clarify most pictures in Photoshop to bring them up to a decent standard.
This Christmas I have been very fortune in receiving my first ‘Bridge Camera’ It takes some great shots and goes through batteries like nobody’s business so I will have to order some rechargables for it.
Although still post processing photos in Photoshop some of the results are spectacular.
This year I have been very fortunate to be given for Christmas 3 types of giant onion seeds. They are ‘Mammoth Improved’, ‘Ailsea’, and ‘Giant Exhibition’.
The Giant Exhibition really did not come to much last season although I got onions they were not very giant.
So today, the first day of the new year, I have sown these seeds and will hope for good things this year.
I was also very fortunate in getting a wooden trug. It was very pale, and the wood very dry so I have lathered it in linseed oil which will protect and also give it a little waterproofing.
I am not one for sending cards. Nor do I ever expect to receive in return.
However, this year I received from a good friend this card. It was on our mantelpiece for some days before I realised what the picture was.
The person who sent this I know to be fond of Tunnocks biscuits, but what they didn’t know, is that I am a great fan too.
An argument will always rage; are these cakes or biscuits? but either way, they are very nice.
What is nice as well, is to receive a hand made card. Thank you very much – you know who you are.
Merry Christmas to you all!
After some ferocious winds, I have had to take yet more steps to protect the winter crops at the new allotment. We are due to experience ‘Abigail’, apparently the worst storm for over seventy years. I don’t believe everything, or infact anything the weathermen say, but either way we are certainly in for some strong winds.
Purchasing over twenty metres of windbreak, I have secured this down the fence line, which is actually the direction of most prevailing winds. I then have placed a couple of smaller breaks at right angles in order to break up the force of the wind as it whips across the allotment.
It now bears some resemblance to a tennis court. Hopefully we can hold serve against mother nature – time will tell.
It was a wet and rainy Bonfire Night, we still had a blast!
Amazingly the rain stopped just as the first firework was lit. We have not been to this particular display for some years, and it did not disappoint.
I would say the locals would not be getting their bins emptied, nor their street lighting switched on for some weeks, as the amount of fireworks that went up in smoke must have cost the council a small fortune, but very, very much worth it.
Remember, remember the fifth of November?
Here are some really nostalgic pictures of fireworks and their posters from yesteryear.
Can you see your favourite amongst these? My favourites were definitely the ‘Air Bombs’ which are now banned unfortunately, along with probably all the other really good fireworks that you used to be able to buy.
Forget the money, what you need to save for the future are dreams, dreams that will earn plenty of interest for the leaner times ahead. Who knows what will happen; maybe we’ll get a much longer even colder winter than this last one, maybe the price of maggots will go up to a tenner a pint – but if, then, we have to cut back on our fishing a bit, we’ll know it’ll be fine. All we’ll have to do is sit back by the fire with a fat mug of tea, take out one of the treasured memories from a previous season and marvel at how much brighter it’s grown. Every summer dawn dreams itself into perfection by the time winter comes along; and almost every fish seems more magical in retrospect
Chris Yates, (31st March 2009) Caught by the river, Some more precious dreams to bank.
After some success growing hot chillies this year “These three Kings” are making their way into a red hot chilli sauce.
Following a dedicated recipe for hot sauce, I collected:
One can of peaches, four cloves of fresh garlic, grated horseradish “my own”, half a cup of treacle, quarter cup of brown sugar, half a cup of white vinegar, half a cup of balsamic vinegar, two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, two tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of salt, two tablespoons of paprika, one tablespoon of black pepper, half a tablespoon of cumin, half a tablespoon of ground ginger, half a tablespoon of all spice, half tablespoon of mustard powder.
Placing all the ingredients, except the chillies into a blender, I then blitzed for one minute.
I thought I may have a little taste before I add any chillies and keep testing as I added. Wow! even before I put in any chilli’s, the sauce had quite a kick from my horseradish.
I added one Carolina Reaper and blitzed for thirty seconds, had a quick taste and already this was at maximum of any hot sauce that I had ever had, and my mouth was on fire.
I then added all the Ghost chillies, Scorpion Butch T’s and all the Carolina Reapers that can be seen in the illustration, oh, and six Cayenne chillies for good measure. Blitzed this for around one minute.
I carefully poured this mixture into a pan and heated through until simmering. I did this for two reasons; one to be able to bottle it hot as this provides a better seal and would make the sauce last longer, and two, I wanted to thicken the sauce.
Before I poured the completed sauce into the sterilized and hot bottles waiting, I had the slightest taste just to see how hot it was. Blimey! I thought, it is approaching Guy Fawkes night and this certainly does go off like fireworks, so I shall name this sauce “Guido”.
I have finally got round to splitting the strawberry plants this year. If left as they were, the plant would grow well, but not produce a good crop of fruit and would soon outgrow their current plot. This splitting of the plants is carried out at the end of the season to keep the plants fresh.
Splitting these plants has enabled me to build another strawberry bed at the new allotment. Adding a couple of bags of compost and very generous handfuls of manure pellets as feed. I also had enough plants to be able to give some away this year, which was nice.
As usual, I visited my allotment today, but to my amazement I found a chicken in the cabbages! Unfortunately, some allotmenteers are inconsiderate and let their livestock run loose causing damage to my, and am sure others crops. I had wondered over the past few days what was happening too the cabbages? and now I know. More seriously, all the Black Kale plants have either been lifted out, or have been attacked. Pretty much a totally destroyed crop.
I have now netted as much as I can. I contacted all the nurseries and garden centres in the area that I know, but no one has any winter crop plants left for this year, so I cannot replace any of these damaged crops.
Needless to say, if and when I catch the chicken, it will be making new friends with carrots, peas and gravy.
We have been meaning to try and make our own butter for some time. Following a trip to our local shop, we bought some thick cream and gave it a go.
The branded crackers are optional. After hand whisking the cream for some time, I got out the electric mixer and the cream split after a few minutes. Washing as much butter milk out in a bowl of iced water, it was then shaped into a block and tasted. Jolly nice it is too.
Its been some time since I wrote an update on the chillies I bought back in the spring this year.
It certainly has been worth while changing supplier as I have managed to bring on the three kings with different levels of success.
Although non of the fruits are particularly big I have given a couple of Butch T and Carolina reaper away to ‘chilli nuts’ who said they were very impressive.
The Ghost chilli has always been the smallest plant and in consequence has only produced pea sized fruits.
I am going to leave the fruits on the plants as long as possible now in hope that they will grow a little larger.
Fishing at my favourite local lake today for my first Tench of the season.
Arriving late, I found not a sole there, and so I had a choice of my favourite swims.
The day started very sunny, however in the shade it was quite cold. The tips of the reeds and grasses are just turning brown. It is clear autumn is close.
Fishing a rod length out, in the margins, very close to a small patch of lilies that I remember decimating last season when I got a carp lodged in them. It looks like they have recovered well.
Bite after bite I missed until I saw the float quiver, then dip, raising the rod and I was ‘into’ a fish. It moved nonchalantly too the left, not sure what was happening, I raised it too the surface to reveal a HUGE mirror carp, well over 15lb. I am sure it did not know at this stage that it was hooked. I put on a little pressure, turning the fish towards me. It was then when it realised what was happening. It turned again to the left and bolted off like an exorcet missile. The fish continued on its path to the left while the float sprang past me to the right. The line had not broken, but on inspection, my hook had bent, totally.
I am very pleased, in a way, that I did not have to do battle with this leviathan. My vintage Edgar Sealey has done battle with too many large Carp in its time, and is designed for a far gentler lifestyle.
Looking back through my gardening diary, it seems this is the earliest in the season that I have made my chutney. Not a problem, it just gives it even more time to mature.
The first jar won’t be opened until Christmas day, and the last, as usual, will be saved as part of a gourmet celebration on the final day of the fishing season in March 2016.
Starting to prepare this concoction around 20:30, chopping and peeling, boiling then simmering until it reduced by over 2 thirds concentrating all the flavours. It did not go into its jars until around 03:30.
I will have to wait months now to see how it matures and more importantly see what it tastes like.
Finally got round to planting out some winter veg in the new allotment. Black Kale, Various types of cabbage, Lettuce and Spinach as well as a variety of cauliflower.
All that’s left to do now if defend them all against the birds, and the slugs.
After not getting any red tomato’s last year at all, this has been somewhat different.
I think a chutney is on its way!
Due to work commitments I really haven’t had any opportunity to get too my local lake this season.
I have only managed two trips, blanking on the first attempt, and loosing a fish right at the net last time I was here.
Arriving around 06:00 I found the lake deserted. A perfect Carp Fishers dawn (Although I was really fishing for a good Tench). Fishing a single grain of corn, around one rod length from the bank. I’m not sure if my line was sitting properly, because after a short period it seemed to spook two fish that were in the swim. This is easily identifiable by a sudden underwater earthquake, followed by huge concentric ripples on the surface and more often than not, your float sitting motionless.
Non-the-less I persevered, and after about an hour the lake seemed to lift once more, but this time the Aerial reel ‘sang’. I teased the fish down the lake a little into open water as there were many snags near to where I was, steering it away from a huge reed bed where I was fishing. The fish made open water and battled well. run after run it made and when it rolled on the surface, turned out to be a good mirror carp. This was to be the only view I would get. As it powered down again it snapped the line. Darn it!
I re-tackled with a grain of corn. re-cast, poured some tea and settled back down.
After some time the reel once again sprang into life, and the vintage rod bent over. Again after an arm-wrenching , rod creaking scrap, I eventually won the day.
What a cracking morning. The only thing to better it would have been if the Carp had been a Tench. Never mind, there is always next time.
After some back breaking digging, I have managed to clear quite a large part of the allotment of weeds now. Rubbish is piled high and burned which I will dig back into the soil when it has cooled down.
Writer, fisherman, amateur naturalist and sometime Idler...
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
The Wonder of the World, The Beauty and the Power, The Shapes of Things, Their Colours Lights and Shades, These I Saw, Look Ye Also While Life Lasts. - "Denys Watkins-Pitchford".
look ye also 
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