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People's Park Community Allotment

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People's Park Community Allotment

The People's Park Community Allotment is a shared space for growing fruit and vegetables in the West Lane area of Middlesbrough.

28/11/2022

Medlar Jam, Fruit Cheese. There are a few ways to use Medlar fruit, when ready to eat they are soft and the leathery skin is a bit wrinkled, to get this stage they must be "bletted" that means letting them ripen until soft. For the past 5 or 6 years I have used the fruit to make Jam or Medlar cheese, it is really a think set version of the jam. Medlar Jam is different from regular fruit jams, the texture can be like a date paste but a little softer, I use spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla with natural cane sugar and a splash of lemon juice to make whole fruit jam, I think using all the fruit give a rich and more substantial Jam, although I never made Medlar jelly yet! It would be great to know if there are more Medlar trees locally or have a place to plant some because this is a very tasty wholesome Jam and variety does make life better.

17/11/2022

MEDLAR, This ancient fruit is mostly forgotten in these modern times but for those who know it, the gap in seasonal produce could be partially filled by this wonderful fruit. With an history going back about 3000 years this tree I planted about 8 years ago is a rare and valued specimen (by me for sure). Once bletted the Medlar can be eaten or made into a Jam called Medlar Cheese in medievil recipe books.

14/11/2022

Yacon. This is a plant that produces edible tubers similar to sweet potatoes in size and shape, they are quite sweet and eaten uncooked like many fruits. Right now the plants look glorious with many flowers and will survive until the first frost. I will harvest some on my next day off and post a few pictures. This link to wiki gives more info. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yac%C3%B3n

08/11/2022

Turkey Tail, It is fascinating to see this medicinal mushroom starting to grow. We inoculated a few logs about 2 years ago and finally the first signs! In the past 5 years a few of us have made efforts to enrich our plots by using no dig methods and biodegradable environmentally friendly options for w**d control like wood chip paths, the effect is astonishing, the increase in insect activity and a broader range of biodiversity around these areas is great to see. Allowing some small areas to become populated naturally with wild plants is attracting insects that rarely or never visited in previous years although these positive impacts we are making are still fragile in such a small urban environment we believe that if we are allowed to continue along this eco friendly direction the improvements so far can become well established.

28/10/2022

It is great to know things are happening locally that use some locally grown herbs.

24/10/2022

Jumbo Pink Banana Squash. These are amazing, they are sweet and versatile in the kitchen, they make great soup and roast very well, they can be stored for upto 6 months and even longer. We managed to grow in no dig beds using home made compost and manure and no types of pesticide or chemical fertilizers.

18/10/2022

What Species? I need help to identify this moth. A very worn veteran of the season I spotted about 2 weeks ago and took a few images, it was resting in the sheeps wool we have been using to mulch some areas. I posted on a site with experts on moths and butterflies but they could not be sure about the species, it is probably a Gothic moth, there are a few sub species like the feathered Gothic and the very rare bordered Gothic. If I knew the species I would try to increase the food plants they need, if it was a rare moth for sure we could try to protect the enviroment on the site.

14/10/2022

Garlic Chive Flowers, these amazing plants are still blooming and these pretty little flowers are edible. Looking around yesterday there are still lots of bees, hover flies, butter flies and other insects busy around the plot, and it is great to see quite a lot of plats that are still in bloom.

13/10/2022

Saved Tomato Seeds. Five years ago I saved some seeds from a couple of the biggest tomatoes we had grown, and I did the same the following years.. These 2 tomatoes are a good weight and a good shape so I have got the seeds resting for a few days and will dry them on Friday for next years plants. A few tomatoes were much bigger but these looked good and healthy. The plants were strong and healthy this year and seemed more vigorous than past years, I think the Alpaca manure we spread on the bed last year in winter give everything a great boost.

04/10/2022

Comma on Yacon flowers. I noticed this Comma on Monday, it looks like it had a few lucky escapes and was roosting on the flowers in the Yacon area for an hour or more. This species has increased around some areas this year along with a few other butterflies, if we are allowed to nurture the wild areas that we have established adding yellow rattle and a few other wild plants I am convinced the species we are seeing will thrive and also attract other species to the area.

24/09/2022

Hoverflies busy. I noticed a few Tapered Drone flies and the distinctive stripes on some hoverflies known as Sun fly or The Footballer because of the stripes, these were loving the fresh blooms on some Ragwort, garlic chive flowers and Yarrow, these insects are good for the garden apart from visiting flowers they are are predators and prey on a few nuisance insects, although some look like wasp they do not sting and are harmless to people.

19/09/2022

Grey dagger moth caterpillar. Acronicta psi. A common moth widely distributed in the UK. Sam spotted this amazing caterpillar on the hazelnut tree. First time I have this species on the site and I have not spotted the mature moth either. Over all moth numbers are down by over 25% in the past few decades declines of over 40% in parts of the south, the 20th century has seen 60 species become extinct. Every time I record a new species on Peoples park I am encouraged to try harder to introduce more plant diversity in hope of creating an area that will attract and sustain more species, although the area is urban we are close to Linthorpe Nature Reserve. I did place this caterpillar back on the hazel nut tree, and I hope it manages to pupate and emerges as a Grey dagger moth in May next year.

Address

Acklam Road
Middlesbrough
TS54EU

Telephone

+447526424669

Website

facebook.com

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