Chris and Steve's Weblog – City Chickens

This morning I made three jars of jam from some of the fruit collected from my Victoria Plum Tree bought from Lidl. They are really tasty straight from the tree but lovely made into jam so that we can have the taste right through the winter too. I usually cook large stoned fruit quite well [...]

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Now the ducks have moved home we have reclaimed the pond and have both spent time cleaning it up. Rob managed to get all the mud out and I have made the beds surrounding it ready for planting. Yesterday I bought two Aubretia plants from Mick Market at the allotment and they are now sited at [...]

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I have sown a batch of Brussel Sprouts Noisette.  Noisette are an old French variety that produces small to medium sized sprouts with a nutty flavour. Tip – Cut the top from this plant as soon as big enough to eat. This encourages the rest of the sprouts to mature at the same time rather than gradually but can reduce the [...]

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We potted up three raspberry canes yesterday. They were from Lidl so only £2.47 for the three. They look very healthy with a good root system but have no variety on them or any indication as to wether they are Summer or Autumn fruiting. I already have one raspberry plant given to me by my sister. [...]

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Rob came and met me at the plot and we planted forty Leek plants. The long awaited rain came just as we were finishing. We use the popular method of planting Leeks which is  just dibbing a good hole and dropping the plant in while pouring water in to settle the roots but not back [...]

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This afternoon I have sown ten modules of the tomato Gardeners Delight. This is a reliable favourite producing tasty smallish fruit that all our family enjoy. Germination should be in seven to ten days and plants should be moved to a 7″ pot when roots are seen at the bottom of the module. They should [...]

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After torrential rain all day the sky cleared just long enough for us to pop to the plot and put in the main crop potatoes. We chose Maris Piper this year and the seed potatoes had been sitting on the window ledge on egg boxes to chit. They all had healthy green shoots and we [...]

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Today I have sown one seed each of Tomato Ildi, Lemon Tree, Snow White, Moneymaker, Tigerella and Black Cherry. They are each in a 3″ pot in John Innes seed compost and for the moment are sitting on the computer box. Germination should take seven to ten days if kept at a temperature of 18-21c. Tip – It is [...]

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The currants have done really well this year and I have frozen quite a lot ready to use in the winter months. Last night I made jam with red, black and pink and although the jars are an assortment of previously used ones it all looks very colourful and tastes wonderful. I think I shall [...]

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Last night we went to the plots and while Rob laid a wood chip path in the fruit tunnel I picked the rest of the fruit. The gooseberries are past their best now really. We have already picked and frozen a lot of the red so I decided to pick some green ones and make [...]

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