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{Green Lane Allotments} August #4

August 31, 2009
by F&F
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Harvesting has been the predominant activity this week. The second largest of our Brandywine tomatoes weighed in at 700g or 1½ lbs. It provided a thick slice of fruit – with some to spare – for each of three sandwiches. There is an even l
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Well hello, sunflower!

August 24, 2009
by F&F
Role
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One of my ‘Russian Giant’ sunflowers is flowering like the clappers at the moment. Not content with being about 13ft high, it has produced about 13 flowerheads. The apical (main) flowerhead was dinner-plate sized, but about four or five feet down the
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Harvesting coriander

August 22, 2009
by F&F
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As you know, a beautiful vegetable garden is just as important to me as a productive vegetable garden. And one of the key plants is coriander. In cooler months, this herb keeps its head down in the vegetable patch, good for cooking and deterring pest
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{Green Lane Allotments} August #2

August 21, 2009
by F&F
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The harvesting highlight of the week has been the Oullins gage plums, many of which have been turned into jam. A degree of caution has to be exerted when harvesting as the plummy aroma has aroused the taste buds of the wasps. The Victoria plums are n
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Ripe plum tomatoes

August 18, 2009
by F&F
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Ever since the weather started to buck its ideas up, our plum tomatoes have been blushing and ripening. I am an enormous fan of these ‘San Marzano’ tomatoes, as they have such thick flesh. They are perfect for cooking as they do not shrink so much wh
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Photography competition

August 17, 2009
by F&F
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Here’s your chance to snap up a garden prize. The lovely people at the AA are offering this amazing book, The International Garden Photographer of the Year to five photography-mad readers. The book is simply stunning, and includes the winning image o
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{Green Lane Allotments} August #1

August 16, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
Blight has continued to do its worst this week. Some outdoor tomato plants have been wiped out and there are signs of it having infiltrated the plot greenhouse. In an attempt to prevent the potato tubers from being affected we have cut back all the h
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Dahlia mail

August 11, 2009
by F&F
Role
No Responses.
Dahlias can be a little overwhelming at times. I prefer to stick to single blooms, such as this ‘Bishop of Auckland’ and ‘Happy Single Date’. The latter may have a rather off-putting name, but both have gorgeous dark petals, and will continue floweri
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Orchid envy

August 9, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
It’s best to be honest from the start: this is not my orchid. My orchid is sitting in the study in a furious sulk. This orchid belongs to my mother and is so entranced with its life that it keeps flinging out more flowering stalks. At present, it has
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Real gardens: West Dean Gardens

August 7, 2009
by F&F
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When the lovely Debbie Webber from Carrots and Kids visited West Dean, she was so taken by the extraordinary kitchen garden that she decided to share her gorgeous photos with Fennel & Fern readers.
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The garlic harvest

August 6, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
Last week, the garlic leaves started to turn yellow, which was their little way of telling me they needed harvesting. So I carefully pulled them all up, clutching the stem as far down as I could. I always handle garlic as though I am carrying eggs: b
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The girliest vegetable?

August 5, 2009
by F&F
Role
No Responses.
I’ll be honest: I am an unashamedly girly girl. I love shoes, I like earrings, and I have a pink filofax. I even have a pair of wellies with pink and blue flowers on them (which I bought because stilettos and the muddy track taking me from student ha
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