Gemini said A large black crow perches at the very top of a blossoming pear tree, silhouetted against a clear, bright blue sky. The tree is covered in small, white spring blossoms and young green leaves. In the background, an allotment or garden area is visible with wooden structures, fencing, and garden beds. The foreground shows low-growing green plants and a piece of black landscape fabric on the ground.

A close-up, high-angle shot of a single, thick asparagus spear emerging from dark, crumbly garden soil. The tip of the spear is a vibrant purple-pink color, tapering to a point as it pushes through a mound of earth. The surrounding ground is scattered with small pebbles, dried plant debris, and a few tiny green weeds. In the background, a blurred garden bed with green grass and foliage is visible under bright, natural daylight.

A crow was keeping a watchful eye on my plot, and the asparagus is poking up already.

#allotment #ukAllotment #gardening

A close-up, low-angle shot of a black plastic seedling tray filled with dark, moist soil. On the left, several clusters of bright green seedlings with long, thin white stems are growing tall toward a linear LED grow light positioned directly above them. To the right, the seedlings are sparser and shorter, including some with reddish stems. Two blurred white and blue plant markers are stuck into the soil in the foreground, but the handwriting on them is not clearly readable. Other dark pots are visible in the background.

And so it begins.

#allotment #ukallotment #seedlings #gardening

And that's the lettuce finally done, plus the fennel, cardoons and most of the radishes off now. From now on it'll be perpetual spinach and chard until next year.
One year I'll be organised enough to grow some winter brassicas!

#UKallotment #allotmentGardening #growYourOwn #gardening #vegGrowing

A bunch of chard with crimson stems on an allotment, with a human hand for scale.

Remember that chard I mentioned? Just look at it!

#ukAllotment #gardening #growYourOwn

Six small, pale green cabbages resting on a folded kitchen towel. A finger is lightly touching the nearest cabbage, showing their compact size and smooth, glossy leaves.

Several crisp leaves of cos lettuce soaking in a basin of water, their pale to bright green tones visible under kitchen lighting.

A small harvest of vegetables laid out on a patterned tea towel, including two green courgettes, two white radishes, and three round golden beets with reddish skins.

I am always surprised when the plot holders around me “put their plot to sleep” by mid October. This is only some of what I got off mine today.
Those cabbages are a second head, grown after I cut off the first, normal sized ones.

#gardening #ukallotment #northYorkshireAllotment #growYourOwn

Five illustrated seed packets from Real Seeds laid out on a dark surface. The varieties include Red Flesh Wild Winter Radish, Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe Melon, Asparagus Kale, Organic Six-Purple Sprouting Broccoli Raab, and Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli. Each packet features decorative borders and detailed growing descriptions in black text on a white background.

I'm dreaming of next planting season already. I'm particularly excited to grow tiny melons, if the weather plays ball. If we've got to put up with global warming we can at least make the best of it?

#ukallotment #gardening #ukgarden #growYourOwnVeg

**Alt text:** Four dark green kabocha squash with short stems lined up on a windowsill. Their round, slightly flattened shapes and mottled skins are clearly visible, with a blurred garden view outside the window in the background.

Seeing the weather forecast for the next week I decided it was time to bring my remaining #kabochaSquash in. I'm so pleased with them, haha!

#gardening #growYourOwnVeg #UKallotment #allotmentGardening

Alt text: A plate of homemade tempura with a variety of vegetables, including golden slices of squash, battered onion rings, and leafy greens. On the side are two small bowls: one with pale dipping sauce and another with spicy red kimchi. The food is arranged neatly on a dark placemat with chopsticks to the side.

A little more pumpkin gone. And onion and chard.

#tempura #ukallotment #eatyourveg #homegrownveg #gardening

A dark green squash cut in half lengthwise, showing its bright orange flesh and fibrous seed cavity. The halves sit on a wooden chopping board on a kitchen counter.

Slices of cooked squash with ground meat in a frying pan. The squash pieces are soft and golden-orange, with the green skin still attached, mixed together with browned crumbles of meat.

The first of my five kabocha squash is off the vine, and into the pan. It’s very good in this stir fry following a #justonecookbook recipe, only I had to sub beef for pork mince because that’s what I had.

#ukallotment #gardening #eatyourveg #homegrownveg #homegrown

A tray of freshly baked brownies on baking paper.

Barely a dent in my monster courgette, but tasty nonetheless: courgette brownies.

#ukAllotment #allotmentGarden #eatYourVeggies #homegrownIsBest

A shopping bag on a wooden floor filled with four oversized courgettes, one partly yellowed. UK size 8 foot for scale.

I was very busy the last couple of weeks and neglected to rescue my courgettes. Now they're threatening world dominion.

#courgettes #ukAllotment #summerGarden #monsterVeg

A violet mint flower.

Marjoram. Or maybe Oregano. Also in bloom, full of violet flowers.

White mint flowers.

Anise hissip, very popular with the bees.

Today on the allotment, I mostly sweated and admired my herbs. Here's a selection:
Anise hissop, two kinds of mint, and marjoram. Or maybe oregano. Nobody knows, it's seeding itself around the allotment, and who am I to stop it?

#ukAllotment #gardening #growingHerbs #herbalist

Todays crop from the allotment, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Blackberries, Raspberries, runner beans, pears and apples #growyourown #ukallotment #allotment #plants

A plate of food with a sunny-side-up egg, minced beef stir-fried with garlic chive scapes, lettuce topped with bright orange edible nasturtium flowers, and pickles, set in front of a computer keyboard.

I may have mentioned that I am on a ketogenic diet, and today's breakfast plate really hit the spot for me.
As an added bonus, everything except the minced beef and the egg is homegrown.

#keto #ketoFood #ketoBreakfast #homegrownVeggies #UKallotment

Two almost ripe kabocha squash pumpkins on the vine.

Most excited about these kabocha squash!

#allotmentGarden #homegrown #UKallotment

A hand rests on one of two large, dark green courgettes lying side by side on a kitchen counter. The courgettes are smooth and speckled, with the hand providing a sense of scale. Around them are fresh produce items including damsons, a cabbage, and a cucumber, from my allotment

When you take your eyes off your courgettes for 3 days ... 🧌

#ukAllotment #allotment #monsterCourgettes #freshVegetables #eatYourGreens

A forearm covered in small scratches and red dots.

A forearm covered in small scratches and red dots.

Had I known I’d get into a fight with nettles and brambles I’d have worn a long sleeved t-shirt. Not that it would have made much difference.

#allotment #ukallotment #gardening

A pile of quite large French breakfast radishes.

A large French breakfast radish on a hand.

A large French breakfast radish on a hand

That week of rain clearly came at the exact right time for my radishes. Look at these whoppers!

#ukallotment #gardening #growYourOwnVeg

New watering system being added to our polytunnel on the allotment, used some Festo Compressed Air Pipe and fittings to water the raised beds from a water butt. Just need some adjustable jets to make the flow more even.
#allotment #ukallotment #plants #growyourown

www.youtube.com/shorts/3-6Pm...

A graph showing the temperature over a few days in March. The first half of the graph is quite even, with highs/lows in a range of 3 degrees Celsius around 20C. The second half is much more varied, with highs around 26C and lows around 5.

My shed thermometer had run out of battery, so I took it inside to replace the battery. Then I forgot about it for a few days.
The resulting graph is a good reminder of why plants need hardening off.

#ukallotment #gardening #growFromSeed #growYourOwnFood

A row of tiny mizuna plants.

Three stalks of asparagus poking out of the earth.

Exciting stuff is happening at the allotment!

The asparagus I put in 4 years ago finally looks ready to produce some edible stalks.
And the mizuna has survived, and looks like in another week or two I'll drown in the stuff - just how I like it!

#ukallotment #gardening #freshveggies

Runner bean plants in polytunnel

Runner beans area weeded and ready for plants

Runner beans almost ready to go outside and weeded the bean area today and removed 2 buckets of weeds which had grown over the winter. #allotment #growyourown #ukallotment #plants

Close up shot of a branch with lots of plum flowers on it.

My greengage is so full of flowers this year! Fingers crossed I get a good harvest.

#ukallotment #gardening #plums #allotment 🌱

Pear Blossom

Seedlings

Seedlings

New growth on the allotment with seedlings and pear blossom on the trees #allotment #growyourown #ukallotment

Buggered off work a bit early today to do some work on the lottie. It doesn't look like much, but I took off all the rotting bed frames, sawed them down and then burned them.
I'm pretty sure the slug population on my plot plummeted by at least half today. 🐌 🔥

#allotment #gardening #ukallotment

Purple sprouting broccoli on my allotment.

Purple sprouting broccoli soaking in my kitchen sink.

Purple sprouting broccoli on my allotment.

I don't think we talk enough about the sheer joy one feels when, after 10 months of war against pigeons and cabbage whites, there is a bounty of purple sprouting broccoli to be had - in March, a time of the year when not much else is growing.

#gardening #allotment #ukallotment #PSB

Allotment polytunnel with planters and pots ready to plant seeds

After several weeks work the new alotment polytunnel is finished with planters and pots ready to plant seeds #growyourown #allotment #ukallotment #plants

Inside the tunnel

Outside view

Door

Mesh window

Polytunnel Cover project finished, new door fitted and half vent mesh, half plastic, rear window has a dual layer mesh with metal and finer fly screen. Just a bit of painting to do then we can start growing seeds again :) #growyourown #ukallotment #allotment #plants

Great to catch up with Martin Fish FCI Hort this week at the #gardenpressevent in London- following on from our chat - catch the podcast going out this Sunday 23rd February on Pots and Trowels

open.spotify.com/show/14h5AMA...

#gardenpodcast 🌱🌿💚 #gardenmedia #gardeneruk #ukallotment #allotment

What I'm composting today.
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#compost #composting #hotcomposting #allotment #allotmentuk #ukallotment #gardening #allotmentlife #allotments #eco #sustainableliving #allotmentsofinstagram #sustainable #compostable #sustainability #foodwaste #waste #zerowaste