Thursday 14 April 2011

Quiet Week


Well we're home, and back at work (boo hiss), which has meant lots of boring catching up etc leaving not too much time for the allotment this week. The plan is to spend this coming weekend up on the allotment though and put some serious hours in to keep things looking as good as they were before we went away.

It hasn't all been dreary work since we got home however, we managed to get some pressing garden jobs done on Sunday which pleased M as she always thinks I focus on the allotment too much (possibly true if I'm honest). So, it was first mow of the lawns for the year, a general tidy up and finally time to get rid of the old weather beaten plastic greenhouse we bought in our first growing year. With the proper greenhouse now in its third year it was high time to pull down the plastic one and return the space to a flower border/herb garden.


We've taken the impossible to kill herb plants I blogged about a few weeks ago and given them a proper home here and we'll add few more as the year wears on all being well. We've also sown a load of flower seeds (I'll be honest, M was in charge of those and I've no idea what they were) in the same bed to hopefully turn it into something pretty in the summer.

It was lovely to spend a day pottering around at home rather than the allotment for a change, with both the cats and our parrot enjoying the warm weather with us it felt like a good time to have the first BBQ of the year too, it was almost like summer had come early.


In the spirit of all that hard work and the summery weather it seemed like a good time to try the homebrew lager I'd brewed during the winter. It was a kit brew (Coopers European Lager), I'm not at the all grain stage yet, and my first attempt at a lager so I'd been dying to try it out. It'd been maturing in the garage for 11 weeks and I'd sneaked a bottle or two into the fridge that morning in preparation so it was lovely and cold, just what we needed infact.


Looks good doesn't it! I have to say I was really impressed with it's taste too, although I've enjoyed the ales I've brewed before they've always tasted a bit 'homebrew'y' if that makes sense (quite possibly my fault as I'm still new at this brewing lark) but this lager was pretty much perfect. Way nicer than your cheapo brands like Fosters and Carling with plenty of flavour and a lovely crisp feel on the tongue. Since 11 weeks is the minimum recommended time to age it there's scope for it improving even more over the next few months too. Looking good for the summer me thinks.

Now, just one more day in the office to go then it's the weekend and time to put the work in on the plot. Can't wait!

3 comments:

Mark N said...

I know what you mean about that homebrew taste you get from kits, but that lager looks absolutely cracking. I think the hardest thing with brewing your own is the patience needed to abstain until it's at it's best. Well done :)

Sue Garrett said...

We made a decision to leave some time for our garden too as we used to rather bneglect it in favour of the allotment.

Janet/Plantaliscious said...

It's really hard balancing allotment and garden, particularly at this time of year. I'm lucky, I work from home so can steal time during the week to pop up and weed or sow - mostly weed... I like to keep weekends for the garden here, quieter and more sociable with others in the house. nice looking herb bed!