Simple pleasures
Our greatest success
When it goes wrong
Our big successes tend to be the plants that
need least intervention. We’ve got a large
rhubarb bed. It makes great wine, and its
syrup lends acidity and body to wild
cocktails. The large leaves of the rhubarb
plant also suppress weeds. We don’t want
to eradicate weeds though – nettles and
dandelions are great for drinks making.We find our allotment mishaps are all
part of the learning process (or so we
keep telling ourselves). Besides, the
failures are often more fun to write about.
That said, we won’t be growing any peas
for a while. Our previous attempts were
absolutely decimated by the local pigeon
population, and the few remaining pea
pods were misguidedly made into one of
the worst wines we’ve ever had the
misfortune to taste. Our failure to tether
a mini polytunnel before the onset of last
year’s Storm Callum was another error of
judgment. It took f light during the worst
of the storm and careered across several
neighbouring plots, leaving a trail of
destruction in its wake. Fearful of
reprisals, we retrieved it under the
cover of darkness.From vine to wine
and from beet
to beer, Richard
(pictured) and
Nick believe
that the growing
aspect of their
enterprise is
as vital as the
brewing
As well as enjoying the well documented,
stress-busting benefits of toiling with soil,
our allotment’s semi-rural location means
we get to see plenty of wildlife at twilight- a bonus for nature lovers like ourselves.
An evening sat beside the shed, cider in
hand, will often reveal roe and muntjac
deer. Badgers are plentiful, and there’s
always the chance of seeing a fox slinking
between the sheds in search of rodents.