In which I semi-accidentally apply for an allotment

[kaberett]

Yesterday A very indulgently took me to a garden centre, where I acquired the tomato growbag I first thought of, plus two additional tomato plants, plus 60l of peat-free compost, plus some more plant food, plus a tiny bay cutting that will hopefully eventually turn into a bush. I transfered the purple sage into some ceramic with drainage that our upstairs neighbour very kindly offered me, and put the baby bay in the planter she gave me at the same time. The mint and two types of parsley also continue doing well, and the basil I have on the windowsill inside seems to be finding its feet.

This morning, after breakfast, we wandered over to the local allotments to collect some shallots from a friend's plot (they apparently mostly garden for the exercise, and have been keeping us in rhubarb all spring). The plot next to theirs turns out to contain the remnants of some raised beds plus gooseberries, artichokes, a cherry tree, a grape vine, and a lot of weeds -- so U very kindly took us over to have a chat with the allotment manager, who was around, and confirmed that the apparently vacant plot is vacant, and I could express formal interest in it even though it wasn't listed on the website.

I had already been considering this as an option, but didn't think it was sensible when (a) all the apparently-available plots were significantly further away from us, and (b) I'd not have known anyone. However, a plot next to U solves quite a lot of those problems, with the additional benefit that we could barter work & vegetables, so... C, the allotment manager, though it fairly likely I could get it; fingers crossed.

Which of course means that I'm immediately thinking about what I want to put in. One or two blackcurrants; raspberry canes; probably not redcurrants, because U already has more than they can possibly consume; a strawberry patch. A compost heap (currently I don't have any green waste recycling and it saddens me). Courgettes. Onions and garlic. Possibly peppers; possibly salad leaves. I am preemptively getting excited; can you tell...?

Comments

[lunabee34]

I've never eaten currants, but everyone is always eating them in books I read. They sound yummy.

[steorra]

I recently learnt that currants are two rather different kinds of things.

Dried currants are a special kind of raisin. They're often used in baking.

Blackcurrants and redcurrants are berries in the genus Ribes, which also includes Gooseberries (a name which, confusingly, can *also* refer to some completely different plants).

[lunabee34]

I did not know this at all. Thank you!

[steorra]

You're welcome!

[fyreharper]

WAT. Dried currents are GRAPE??

I had assumed that they were. yknow. Currants. Redcurrants or blackcurrants, dried. o_o

[steorra]

Yup! Weird, eh? I was surprised too.

Yet another twist: the currant name belonged to the raisin kind of currant before it belonged to blackcurrants or redcurrants. It's short for an expression that equated to "raisins of Corinth".

[fyreharper]

Eeeenteresting :)

[kaberett]

Yup! :-)

In Austrian we call currants Ribisel (diminutive of Ribes); in German, they're Johannisbeeren, John's berries, after John the Baptist -- because they tend to ripen around his saint day.

(In my specific family we tend to refer to redcurrants as Ribisel and blackcurrants as Johannisbeeren, rather than using schwarz and rot to distinguish, but I'm not sure how much that's a regionalism and how much it's an oddity, as with so many things...)

[steorra]

:-)

Interesting!

[kaberett]

okay no what else. celeriac/beetroot/leeks; ASPARAGUS come next planting season (worst-case scenario I do a bunch of weeding and we move before it actually is harvestable).

[chiasmata]

Allotment!!! Exciting!!!

[kaberett]

I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE GOT IT YET and it's not necessarily a good idea given health, but I know that sitting quietly in the green is good for me and there's no reason I can't think about work while weeding, plus U is willing to help. So. Fingers crossed!

[alexseanchai]

:D

[davidgillon]

Sounds like you have the balance of the thing nicely considered.

[chiasmata]

Hee! Yes, I find the amount of gardening I can actually do varies enormously depending on health stuff, but it's almost always an excellent use of energy - and one of those things where even five minutes can make a difference. (Trickier, though, if you require a significant expenditure of energy even to get there...) Fingers crossed, indeed!

[kaberett]

Getting there can be done in the off-road scooter if necessary, and I try to leave the house every day anyway... :-)

[sfred]

Ooh! Good luck!

[alexseanchai]

lolololol beardie-fella

(no, I can't be arsed to log into Tumblr, I follow the important Tumblrs on Feedly)

...say. I can't really be arsed to open IRC anymore either, since both #dreamwidth and #yuletide are p much dead. (Yuletide Discord is merrily rolling along though.) do you Discord? if so I'm AlexSeanchai#5912, friend me :)

[kaberett]

*snort*

I am on Discord but my phone is super inconsistent about giving me notifications for it, sooooooooooo.

[alexseanchai]

eh, true, but it would still be nice to be able to PM you in a context that feels less *flails* than DW PM, so :)

[steorra]

Nice!

[worlds_of_smoke]

Good luck! I would love tons of pictures! <3

[syntaxofthings]

Hee I can't wait to hear how this develops! \o/

[kht]

More fruit trees. Nasturtiums. Chives.

Compost heaps are brilliant. I have a pair of Daleks.

[kaberett]

Compost was definitely on the list (I've been thinking about how to transport kitchen waste over -- unfortunately my borough doesn't recycle green waste from this type of flat, which is a source of great irritation to me). Nasturtiums were a maybe; Schnittlauch would probably live at the house rather than the allotment if I were to get around to planting any!

[alexwlchan]

Oooooh allotment. I know nothing much about gardening, but I wish you luck in your green-fingered endeavours.

Can I suggest a few spaghetti trees to go with your pasta maker? They grow in a UK climate, I think?

[kaberett]

Thank you. :-p

[cesy]

Yay!

[fyreharper]

Vicarious excitement!!