Down the Allotment - an intimate account of a passionate veggie grower.
Matron was born just 20 yards from her allotment and took inspiration from her parents who “dug for victory” and never stopped. Having grown up on the allotment, growing vegetables has become a way of life. This is evident in her recent blog posts about planting brussel sprouts for Christmas day and growing lettuce.
Down on the Allotment goes beyond the musings of a vegetable lover. Matron shares her highs, lows and experience with her readers by documenting various projects in step by step guides with useful photos. The instructions are in a fun and easy style, so even an allotment amateur can follow in her footsteps. There are plenty of top tips along the way, here’s an example for leeks:
“Give the top green leaves a bit of a hair cut with a pair of scissors to reduce the stress on a newly planted seedling, but generally speaking, leek seedlings are ‘as hard as old boots.‘”
“The more of the leek that is underground, the more blanch/white you will get. I am just starting to collect cardboard toilet rolls to go round them as they get a bit bigger.”
If you’re not a vegetable fan then perhaps Down the Allotment can change your mind with “Matron’s flower show”, the exclusive alternative to Chelsea. This colourful post presents the blossoming world of vegetable flowers, from broad bean to horseradish flowers, all wrapped up in a beautiful photo collection.
The talents of Matron continue off the allotment with a passion for dog psychology. Currently training to be a dog behaviourist, Matron hopes to start her own business soon. In true Matron style she has set up a dogblog to discuss training, behaviour and anything doggy! Perhaps Matron can suggest a way of stopping my Labrador from burying bones in my flowerpots.
Intimacy and passion were not two words I associated with vegetables until I read Matron’s blog and for that reason “Down on the Allotment” is Dobbies Gardening Blog of the Week.
