An allotment morning does not have to be sunny to be enjoyable. Sometimes the rain changes the pace, sends you into the polytunnel and gives you time to sit, listen and take stock of what has been growing around you.
That was the kind of morning I had today. There was produce to lift, vegetables to pass on and plenty of conversation between neighbouring plots. It was wet and muddy, but it was also productive—and full of the ordinary little moments that make allotment life worthwhile.
A thought about pickled beetroot
While I was sitting in the polytunnel, I told the story of somebody asking about growing pickled beetroot. My answer was simple: I do not know anybody who grows pickled beetroot. As far as I know, we grow ordinary beetroot—and pickle it afterwards.
It is the sort of small misunderstanding that makes me smile, and it gave me something to talk about while sheltering from the weather.
Julie's remarkable roots
My allotment neighbour Julie had been lifting root vegetables, and they were certainly worth photographing. Her parsnips were long, substantial and full of character—the sort of vegetables that remind you why home-grown produce does not need to be perfectly uniform.
Then there was the beetroot. This is a variety called Cylindra, which grows into a long, tapered root rather than the familiar round shape. Julie's specimen was enormous and looked more like a hefty root vegetable than the beetroot most people would expect to find in a shop.
A box for Hev and Emma
One of the pleasures of growing your own food is having enough to share. I put together a box of vegetables for Hev and Emma to take home: carrots, onions, beetroot, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers—a proper mixture of what the plots have produced.
There is something satisfying about seeing it all together. Each vegetable represents sowing, watering, weeding and waiting, but the finished box is more than the result of work. It is useful food, grown locally and shared with people you care about.
Listening to the rain
Eventually the rain became part of the morning rather than an interruption to it. Sitting inside the polytunnel, listening to it falling on the cover, was peaceful. There was no need to rush anywhere and no point worrying about work that could wait for a drier spell.
That is another side of having an allotment. It is not only about the amount of food you bring home. It is about the people on the neighbouring plots, the laughs over unusually shaped vegetables and the chance to stop for a few minutes while the rain taps overhead.
A wet allotment morning can still give you good food, good company and a little peace and quiet.