Sarah Rideout's Page

With the Lottie project (schools group) today we made herby pitta's, made by mixing cream cheese, lots of herbs, chopped mange tout and edible flowers (Borage, nasturtium, calendula, chives) together and piling into a warm pitta with a bit of little gem lettuce - they scoffed the lot! Its great seeing the ones who wouldn't even eat carrot at the beginning being adventurous and having a go.

Bit later had a grazing lunch of raspberries, peas, blackberries, carrot, mixed salad and picked…

We've planted out not only Peas but Beans as well. I can hear sharp intakes of breath but I think we will be ok as this years crop rotation pea/Bean beds are sheltered by a large bank of Raspberries. Find its not so much late frosts where we are as odd winds which burn leaves, so hoping the shelter belt will work.

Am waiting with the Dwarf french beans though, as have some unusual heritage varieties coming up - one called Dragons tongue - really don't want to lose them! Also…

The allotment now has a wonderful clay bread oven which we will be finishing this Sunday with a final layer of clay and mosaic-ing with old china plates. Hoping to make pizza's in it!

After that we're doing a Team Green afternoon, all hands on deck to get part of the plot prepared for landscaping work which will start early April to make a new accessible area with Nida gravel paths and raised beds of all different heights, plus a potting shed made from local chestnut. Its exciting and…

Yesterday the annual seed swop put on by the District Council and Common Cause Co-operative was held in Lewes, E. Sussex. In previous years we've had crispy, balmy, sunny days for the event so it was fairly inevitable that our luck couldn't last - putting marquees up in the high winds was as challenging as you'd expect and there was a slight sense of preparing for a party that nobody would come too - by 9 a.m the wind was still whipping round flapping canvas alarmingly. By 10 a.m…