Tag: Crops

  • Autumn Harvest New Shoots

    On the 28th October 2010 Ella Montt arrived at the Allotment Plot at MERL to find that the Cosmos plants had been frost bitten and were dead. The hardy Pot Marigold was still flowering. A frosty few days had given way to warmer weather again. There was a significant down turn in the amount of…

  • Fenugreek – An Aromatic Culinary Ingredient and Green Manure

    At the Allotment Plot at MERL on 19 August 2010 it was noted that some of the plants look a little yellow, particularly the Sweet Corn, Squashes and Tomatoes, this could be that they have been under watered or over watered, the former seems more likely than the latter. The plants have not been lacking…

  • Broadbeans and Peas uprooted

    On the 18/06/2010 at the Allotment Plot the Broadbeans and Peas were over and out. The remaining produce was harvested. The plants were uprooted. The last Pea pods harvested weighed 60grams = 2oz once shelled = 1oz Peas = 20grams. The last Broadbean pods harvested weighed 9oz = 250grams once shelled = 2oz = 60grams.…

  • Planting and Harvest an Experiment

    Ella Montt’s experiment of planting and harvesting at the Allotment Plot at MERL is on going. The first harvest (on 20/05/2010), which was over wintered Spinach, was inedible. The Spinach should have produced leaves that would have been harvestable through out the months of winter. The Spinach suffered crop failure and was regrettably dug up…

  • First Harvest, Weeding and Watering

    The over wintered Spinach planted back in the Autumn has gone to seed. On 20/05/2010 the first harvest was cut, producing one bag of flowering Spinach weighing 10oz or 260 grams. The Spinach on the Plot will be left for a week or so to see if more can be harvested or if the plants…

  • Tolhurst Stockfree Organic Vegetables – March 2007 to February 2008

    Kate Corder’s film Tolhurst Stockfree Organic Vegetables – March 2007 to February 2008 is currently on view at the Museum of English Rural Life until July 16th 2010. The film documents the growing seasons and biodiversity of the Tolhurst vegetable business over a twelve month period. Running time 124mins.  MERL’s opening hours are: 9am to…

  • Allotment Before Significant Snowfall

    On Tuesday 5th January the allotment was visited before the subsequent significant evening snowfall. An hour after the visit, the snow started to fall. By morning Reading was covered in a thick blanket of 8-10 inches of snow. At the time of the visit all the vegetables were remarkably still alive. The broadbeans and garlic…

  • Snowfall – Winter on the Allotment

    Winter arrived at the Allotment in the form of snowfall during the night of the 17th December 2009. The snow was beautiful in it’s natural state creating an unexpected winter wonderland, however the streets and pavements of Reading became a treacherous mess for human activity. On Monday 22nd December further snowfall in and around Reading…

  • ‘Farmville’ Perception of Virtual Food Growing

    Arts and Ecology posted a link to the doors of perception today on twitter about “Farmville” the largest game application used on Facebook, 62 million people have signed up to the application since June 2009, 22 million people on average are logging on everyday to see how their crops are growing. The idea behind “Farmville”…