Author Archives: Matt Jones

October 2017 Growing Update

The last of our 'Snow White' carrots harvested from our allotment plot.

October was a windy month, with two storms battering us here on the east coast of England. First was Ophelia, then came Brian. It’s been a beautiful month though, with lovely autumnal colours. It’s been a relatively quiet month for us in terms of our crops. Our hard work in the spring and early summer has left us with a lot to harvest, which we’ve been busily doing. But our failure to sow more crops for most of the summer means that we’ve got a lot of growing space not being used at the moment. This month we harvested the last…

Quick and easy, and very 'leeky' - our leek and potato soup recipe.

This leek and potato soup recipe has become a seasonal staple for us. Leeks are reliable, low maintenance and easy to grow. They remain ready to harvest for long periods at a time, meaning that we can enjoy regular harvests for many weeks. We began using them in soups – a delicious warming meal that is perfect for workers returning from a cold plot. But leeks can easily get lost in a soup. We wanted our homegrown leeks to come to the fore and be the stars of the show. We also wanted this soup to be quick and easy,…

A September apple harvest from our (and our neightbour's) garden

Well this month has been a very autumnal one. It’s been wet and cool, leaves are falling from trees and mushrooms are sprouting up all over the place. I do love the autumn. This month we’ve been busy harvesting. We’ve collected most of our squashes together (there are still a few at the allotment that we’re hoping may grow a little more yet), and hardened them off for storage. We’ve also collected the last of the runner beans and pea beans and frozen them. We’ve also been harvesting our chillis. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this year’s plants before now….

The first harvest of this year's winter squashes.

August has been a very enjoyable month for us. We’ve been merrily harvesting and weeding, and enjoying some lovely weather whilst we’ve been doing it. The month started with us away for the weekend camping, which naturally meant that it rained, and so our garden and allotment got a good watering. From then on the weather was a bit up and down, some wet and almost autumnal days, but some gloriously sunny days, including the hottest August bank holiday on record! Our biggest regret this month has been not getting more crops sowed, as we still have some unused space…

Another young squash fruit at the allotment. I think this one is a Sweet Dumpling.

Attentive readers may have noticed that there was no growing update for the month of June. We just about managed to get on top of things in the garden and at the allotment, but unfortunately I simply ran out of time to write the post. We were busy every weekend and we spent much of our free time during the week watering, weeding and planting. By the time I had enough spare time to write the post it was so far into July that I thought we may as well combine the two months into one post. June was a…

This month saw our first broad beans of the year harvested.

What a turn around we’ve had in the weather this month! The arctic winds have subsided and for the last couple of weeks it’s been like summer. Plus a few times in the last week we’ve had rainfall at night followed by a sunny day, which has done wonders for our plants. We’ve been very busy this month in our garden and at the allotment, although we’re still behind schedule. We’ve also started harvesting, with our overwintered broad beans now yielding returns. It’s been another month where we’ve struggled to find time to get the jobs done that we wanted…

Our bath tub containing the last of the leeks and carrots harvested from the allotment.

I started last month’s growing update with the old proverb ‘March winds and April showers bring forth the May flowers’. Well March was windy enough, but April brought us precious little rain. No April showers this year. We had so little rain that digging the fast-draining soil at the allotment has seemed like an impossible task. The first couple of weeks of April were very warm and dry and we started hardening off our tomato plants. But then arctic winds came in, and with them frosts, so we took to bringing our tomato plants indoors of an evening to protect…

Apple blossom on one of the trees in our garden.

No work for me today as it’s a bank holiday, so we spent some family time together in our garden. We really appreciated all of the blossom on our fruit trees and took quite a few photos. We’ve posted most of these on Instagram today. Our Instagram page can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/slightlyselfsufficient/ Here are the photos we shared, plus a few bonus ones that didn’t make it to Instagram.

March 2017 Growing Update

Some of our young tomato plants enjoying the warm weather and longer days in their cold frame.

‘March winds and April showers bring forth the May flowers’, or so the old proverb goes. Well if this March is anything to go by, then May should be a floral delight! The winds that Storm Doris brought in, and Storm Ewan perpetuated, have died down, but never seem to have fully left us. But the days are now getting longer and spring is officially here. As of last weekend the clocks went forward which means it is still light when I get home from work. This week I have taken full advantage of this and I’ve been getting garden…

A romanesco growing at our allotment.

February has been a busy month for us. We’ve been enjoying our crops from our garden and allotment, and busy planning for the coming months. Regular readers will have noticed that there were no growing updates for the months of December and January. In truth there wasn’t a great deal to write about. We were rather busy every weekend over the festive period, and with the days so short at that time of year, getting outside and cultivating before or after work didn’t seem like it would be a practical option. In short we spent very little time in the…

Slightly Self-Sufficient

Tasting The Good Life

Author Archives: Matt Jones

October 2017 Growing Update

Quick and Easy Leek and Potato Soup Recipe

September 2017 Growing Update

August 2017 Growing Update

June and July 2017 Growing Update

May 2017 Growing Update

April 2017 Growing Update

Fruit Tree Blossom from our Garden

March 2017 Growing Update

February 2017 Growing Update