Everything changes...

It is amazing to see how the seasons have such an effect on such a small plot of land. Wonderful to watch nature do it's job, even if it means the weeds, mud and grass are a pain in the arse. I have to be honest the last couple of weeks I have neglected the plot. It has been miserable weather and I have been in a lot of pain and am awaiting surgery so it has been put slightly on the back burner.

Going up today I realised I still wasn't too far behind everyone else. It's all about tidying, composting, preserving and fertilizing. I have put cardboard down on certain parts to stop the weeds popping through too. Some bits are still growing; radishes, beetroot, baby carrots and spinach, but the peas had died a very sad death and with all this wind we decided to put the canes away till next year.

It all looks very green but there is still much work to be done. The raspberry bushes will need chopping down to about six inches high, the gooseberry bush needs the old wood cutting out of the middle and well the blackcurrants need something (I will need to look that one up). I need to dig up the strawberry plants and all the runners they have given me this year, weed in between and get them replanted.

Although I love Christmas and I have many home grown and home made chutneys and jams to give as presents, I will be thrilled to see Spring so the planning can begin.

For now, it is still standing and growing.

Much love and happy digging

Tracey xx

Autumnal clear up

I thought I had better write a catch up post with an update on what has been happening on the plot over the last month. Well it feels like I haven't been doing much (I have been in a lot of pain and that has restricted me), however looking back there are bits and pieces to talk about.

The Autumn clear up is on the way, things are looking a little unkempt and I really need to get it ready for winter. Some things will be left in, like the odd parsnips and leek, onion sets have been put in to over winter, the spinach is still going strong and I am going to pop some garlic in too. 

Beets and sweetcorn

The courgettes are over and they served us really well, I think we need a break from them as we had to eat them with everything and although they have also made some chutney for Christmas I was running out of ideas. The squash on the other hand did rubbish, lovely big healthy plants but hardly any fruit and I believe that is down to the lack of sunshine this year (so Monty was telling me on Gardner's World). The sweetcorn hasn't been great but my chickens, Dolores and Ginger Rogers seem to enjoy them. The french and runner beans are over and in their place I have put some peas to over winter with a protective fleece around them, no idea how they will do but I will no doubt learn another lesson for next year. The raspberries are still coming at the moment and I have made the most wonderful raspberry jam (even if I do say so myself), incredibly easy to make and very tasty. I have quite a few punnets left in the freezer so I will be making a second batch for Christmas presents. 

We dug most of the parsnips up and they have been cleaned, chopped, blanched and are in the freezer to for cosy roast dinners that winter seems to bring with it. The freezer is also brimming with damsons waiting to be jammed. 

Hedgehog house

The whole plot itself needs a ruddy good tidy up. The compost bin is brimming with leaves and foliage.  I think we are going to cover most of the land with cardboard and then top it with manure, hopefully the weather will do the hard work for us and by spring it should be well fed earth that we can just turn over. The weeds and grass are popping up all over the show so we need a good clear up session, as well as digging the strawberry plants up and moving them elsewhere. The wildlife section needs reigning in a little and we have just placed a hedgehog house made by Rhys himself, so hopefully someone will have a nice little home before it gets too cold. 

I hope you are all really well and still enjoying your plots, let me know what you have learnt this year :) 

Much love and happy digging 

Tracey xxx

The most wonderful place to dream...

My plot is doing well, we are still in abundance of courgettes, runner beans, beetroot and autumn raspberries which are just coming into their own. Rhys has made a lovely little path for me and is just finishing a hedgehog house to encourage the little guys and hopefully give someone a safe place for hibernating.

I have learnt that it is not only the vegetables and fruit that grow down the allotment, but also the ideas in my head. I have never been a fiction writer, but there was a cute little story that wouldn't leave me alone whilst I was tending to my weeds. I have written an introduction which is up on Kindle Amazon right now. This weekend you can download it for free, if you fancy giving it a read it will only take you about twenty minutes, please let me know what you think (in the most kindest way possible) and let me know if I should carry on with a Part 2. Don't take it too seriously and you may find the odd typo - like you would in any diary.

Arma-garden: The Diary of my Allotment During the Zombie Apocalypse (Part 1)

I am just about to make green tomato chutney with all the toms that never turned due to the lack of sun (the chutney is yummy so I really don't mind). I have pickled my beets and also made a tomato and courgette chutney.

Happy digging and much love

Tracey xx

It has been a while, but still the plot thickens

Today's bounty

Hey everyone,

I am so sorry I haven't blogged for a while. I think when I am not feeling so great I tend to retreat into my head and nothing will go down on paper. I have a condition that causes chronic pain but it has stepped up a level recently and I have spent every moment of my life just trying to not let that ruin my life, it doesn't seem like there has been time for much else. A huge shame really as the past month the plot has been very productive (even if I haven't been).

Rhys has extended the herb garden

Well we have had some successes with potatoes, courgettes and legumes coming out of our ears! The sweetcorn is coming along as is the beetroot, parsnips, radishes and spinach, the raspberries are getting ripe for the picking. But as with all success you also have to have some failure and well there will be no home grown sprouts for Christmas or cabbage for the chickens in my backyard, as we are victims of clubroot! Next years list will now include clubroot resistant seed and we shall try again. The strawberries have done well but my efforts in protecting them have failed and according to the local wildlife they taste great, I will have to take their word for it as not one has passed my lips!

French beans 

I have planted a disease resistant potato that should be ready for Christmas dinner and hold off any blight that the hot and wet weather will try to curse us with.

It is looking a bit tatty up there but hopefully now I am feeling mentally and physically stronger, as I get my mojo back so will the plot. Still it has held well without my efforts and I feel truly blessed for the bounty it keeps giving.

The wildlife area

Hope you are all very well and are enjoying the fruits of your labour,

Much love and happy digging,

Tracey xxx

Leeks and beetroot

Parsnips

Runners 

Progress...

Every time I go to the allotment I take a picture and my boyfriend, Rhys, always laughs at me and says I take the same picture every time. Well yes,  I kind of do, but with out showing you every shot, the picture log shows me progress which is what I need to keep me going. Ok still plenty of work to do and I will  post a bigger  blog post soon.
Lots of love and happy digging, Tracey xx

As if by magic...

Potatoes 

First potatoes - yum 

So you prep the ground, sow your seed potatoes and eventually some green foliage may grow. You earth it up and watch it grow through. Then you wait. There is a certain amount of skill to gardening and growing things but you really have to have a little faith too.

This is the first time I have ever attempted to grow potatoes and I really had no idea if it would work or not, ye of little faith eh? Only forked up one tuber so far and me and Rhys ate the tastiest new potatoes for tea that night. The thrill realising you actually get to eat some of what you grow (even when you can't see it growing) is just joyful. I say 'some' as you inevitably lose things to the creatures who love your plot as much as you do, I really don't mind sharing as long as I get some.  There also seems to be quite a smart pheasant (I say smart as they are usually quite stupid birds) who has sought sanctuary at the allotment, I have covered my strawberries over but left one or two plants out so he can help him self when he needs to.

We are also getting a few more sticks of Rhubarb, I have planted some sprouts and butternut squash.  We have been sharing the lettuce I sowed with Dolores and Ginger Rogers (the chickens) who seem to appreciate it even more than we do.

Round Courgette

The makings of the wildlife corner

I haven't been blogging much recently (probably because I have been a little down) and mentally I have been struggling, but as soon as I go to the allotment that seems to melt away for a little bit, I really would advise it for everyone. Lots of pictures here so you can see how everything is getting on.

I hope you are all well, I would love to see some pictures of your plots and gardens.

Happy digging and much love,
Tracey xx

Onions

Cabbage

Peas and Beans 

So June is for watering and weeding

7th June 2015

Well mainly at the moment I seem to be watering, weeding and not much else. Lovely to see how everthing is growing though. I think some of the spuds are nearly ready to come up and almost everything else is looking promising (the runners and french beans are looking a little miserable). As we are having a bit of a heatwave, the weeds are pretty relentless and although I try not to water too much (I want a strong root system that will search down into the ground for it's water), I seem to be doing a lot of that too, especially for the seedlings and newly sown. The lettuce we are eating for tea by picking what we need at that time and the spring onions are delicious. The wildlife area is coming along (although I seemed to be drowning a lot of beetles so I have put an extra stick in my very small water feature as a safety net for them), no sign of any toads or newts yet though. The Ladybirds are "at it" in every sense and are very, very welcome.

Ladybirds a go go

The Herbs

Mentally I haven't been feeling that great but certainly the allotment is helping me no end and when feeling stressed taking it out on the weeds seems to work. It is also nice to stand back and actually see what you have achieved, it really is very satisfying.

Bobbin the Robin is still about, especially when myself or Rhys are digging as he is an opportunist when it comes to worms (and I am guessing he has a hungry nest to feed).

French Majoram

I have planted beetroot and butternut squash quite late but hopefully they will catch up, the courgettes are starting to flower and the sprouts are in for Christmas. I am also looking for my late seed potatoes to try and keep us going all year round. I have had to thin out my French Marjoram (it was taking over my herb garden) and we continue to dig up and replant the raspberries, so we also have plenty of plants to give away - I find giving things away as satisfying as growing them.

I hope you are all well and enjoying results of your hard work,

Much love and happy digging
Tracey xx

Grow the world in your garden...

So this week we went for a break to St Austell, Cornwall, and although I missed the allotment there was plenty of inspiration to be found and plants to be bought.

Neither of us had been to the Eden Project before so that was a real treat to wonder round different climates and see the plants that grow around the world. They have a very cheap plant centre where I stocked up on herbs including Catnip (one for the allotment and one for the garden - although I suspect with our cats the one in the garden won't last that long), Applemint, Chocolate Mint and Orange Thyme for the bees.

Although Eden was a great experience, I have to say I preferred the Lost Gardens of Heligan, which is 200 acres of magic. I couldn't believe how many plants, fruits and veggies from all around the world were grown there and it really inspired me to think about my garden and allotment.

I was gifted a beautiful round courgette plant and some peas off our lovely hosts, who were trying to live off the grid as much as possible with their veg patch, old building techniques, recycling, spring water filtered with UV and hens. If you  want to go and stay in St Austell I highly recommend Cob Barn, a very cosy piece of heaven. https://sites.google.com/a/roseweek.com/roseweek-studio/

I also brought some pepper plants as mine weren't doing that well, along with an aubergine plant from a local neighbour.

Getting back to the allotment on Friday I was pleased to see everything was still alive. Of course the weeds had been having a field day but nothing a good hoe couldn't beat. We also picked some of our lettuce leaves, rhubarb and spring onions - delicious!

So back to normality, and this week I am going to finally plant out my sweetcorn (round two) and some leek seedlings. The potatoes are coming on a treat and are nearly flowering, courgette plants have just gone in and the wildlife section will be added to - more plants for the bees and we are considering digging a small hole to put a sink bowl in with a few rocks in anticipation of the toads and newts we keep getting promised. We have also popped a new insect hotel in our tree, so far I think an ant has moved in, I guess he has a mansion but fingers crossed others will come.

Hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend!

Much love and happy digging
Tracey xx

23rd May 2015

Full of beans...

Runners at the front, french beans at the back

So finally my back feels a little better, the threat of frost is getting less and I can get a bit more out in the allotment. We made a bean cane structure a few weeks ago as I was just too impatient not to and finally, today (again due to my impatience), I planted out runner beans up the one side and french beans up the other. The shed provides a bit of a wind break for the bean structure but I need to keep my peepers peeled for any news of a late frost.

10.5.15

Potatoes, onions and lettuce are all coming along nicely and the more established rhubarb is nearly ready for some cutting. Rhubarb vodka? crumble? or both? The wild flower seed still hasn't shown so I am going to collect a few good pollinating flowers for the bees and put them at the bottom of the plot. I have also sewn beetroot seeds in trays to be transplanted when they are big enough.

Rhubarb

All in all it looks like it is going pretty well, but the slugs have started to rear their heads and the weeds are never ending. Still, no one said it was going to be easy and the allotment is still one of my favourite places (apart from my scary shed!).

I haven't got a picture of Bobbin (the Robin) yet but  he has been around this morning, making use of the upturned soil and the juicy worms that go with it, I do wish he would eat some slugs though!

Much love and happy digging to you all
Tracey xx

Patience is not my stong point...

The Herb Garden

Patience is not my strong point at all and there is nothing like a pain in the back to make you sit and wait, but the frustration builds up.

I have a bad back, which  has probably come at the right time for the plot as I want to plant things out and there is still a good chance of frost (we had one last night), Rhys will weed for me but  in terms of doing what I want to do I can't and I just have to wait.

Mid April (notice the bean canes are up)

I have runner bean plants at home that are ready to run up the frame we have built for them but I believe it is just too soon. The sweetcorn I started wayyyyyy too early so I will have to resow that but for now I am laid up dreaming about my plot and looking at pictures.

Potatoes!

One bit of good news though, the potatoes are poking through - thank goodness! You put them in the ground and you just have to have faith they will come and like magic they have! I will have to cover them over with more soil and compost soon to ensure the tubers aren't exposed to the sunlight (that makes them go green and inedible) and to ensure they keep producing. Poor Rhys will no doubt get roped in if my pain is no better, right now I can't even put my shoes on without help.

Wallace

We also have an allotment gnome, yes yes I know, very cheesy! But Rhys hates gnomes and well truth be told, so do I. But when I was told I couldn't have one I felt the need to be defiant and my lovely friend Erica was the enabler (thank you Erica). Meet Wallace, he isn't so bad and scares the bugs away.

There is also the most beautiful Robin that comes to visit us, he is a little camera shy but as soon as I can convince him to stay still I will put up a picture. They really are lovely birds and I can see why they are referred to as "The Gardener's Friend".

Hope you are all well and back pain free!

Much love and happy digging
Tracey xx