It's been a very successful year at the allotment. We are still enjoying the Autumn raspberries, squash and kale. We have a second crop of potatoes as well as our very first cauliflowers coming through. Our evening walks to visit our little kingdom and harvest handfuls of raspberries have got me thinking about our work down here over the last four years. Up to now I've spent a lot of time criticising our work and planning what to do better next time. I've wasted time worrying about when our allotment was going to turn into the perfect plot.
I can see now that the perfect plot is already here, evolving with each season and year. We are slowly learning about what works on our plot and adding new vegetables to our repertoire every year. I'm ridiculously proud of my lavender hedge and some of my happiest hours are spent just pottering around the plot. I've learned to appreciate what we have and take advantage of the aspects of our situation that we claim no credit for. We recorded another bumper blackcurrant harvest from a bush we inherited and this week we collected rose hips from the rose that grows neglected on the boundary of our plot. Rose hip syrup is a wonderful cocktail ingredient and I will use it to create a suitable concoction to toast our allotment achievements this year.
The recipe for rose hip syrup is here on my older blog. I'm pleased to report I now have a proper food processor which ensured the chopping of the hips was completed with no mechanical whining which was certainly a relief. You can hear me talking about rose hip syrup and a hot cocktail for Halloween or Bonfire night this coming Saturday on the Flavour programme on Cambridge 105. Get out this week and make some rose hip syrup so you are prepared and ready to go.
