Made new 'friends' down on the allotment...

My Favourite garden centre opened this week, with the winter vegetables all ready for me and my trolley, however I needed somewhere to put them once I got them...

I had a section of the lottie where my dad had put some lettuce and cabbage, but there was loads of room there and it seemed perfect so I started to get it cleared (between coffee's on the neighbouring plot and much idle gossip about the 3 new tenants on the plots this month). The lettuce and cabbage that had gone over I decided to put into bags for Les to take to the tip for the council's recycling as my compost heap is overflowing at the minute. It was during one of my chats that Kevin, one of my neighbours noticed the bags, he told me I'd make friends for life if I tipped them over the fence that runs along both his and my allotment.....

so I did....look who came running.....




And I do mean RUNNING! From the first thud, the heads shot up and they ran at my fence, I half jumped and hoped and prayed that they'd stop in time..

I've got to say, I'm over the moon with my new recyclers, they seem to be quite happy too :)



Although one of them seems to be a little over friendly, My phone got a lovely lick as I took pictures... you can imagine the noise they made too as I walked away.



Apparently I should look forward to a visit each time I'm down from now on, waiting for an old cabbage or cauliflower. Well it could be worse I suppose. And I have a lovely clear plot ready for my winter vegetables. :)

Wow August already...

Where is the time going, blink and another month has flown by. I cant believe it's August already.

July was a very good month for the allotment, (a very good month for the weeds too, but we're not going there with this post.) The harvests have been coming thick and fast. With courgettes galore, I found a new courgette loaf recipe, which is kind of like a fruit/malt loaf. It's really nice, Les and the kids loved it, if anyone wants the recipe I'll maybe make a recipe section and post it later. I also got to try my first ever homegrown tomato and cucumber this month, WoW, they are NOTHING like the shop bought ones. Fantastic. We also started harvesting the onions and potatoes too. What a month!!

I've actually got a few gaps in the allotment this month so far and I'm looking forward to filling them with my winter veg, any sugestions would be very gratefully received.




The picture I've added to this blog post is of my son Daniel, he's posing with our first ever homegrown cauliflower. We were very proud of them, as you can see this one was actually 'bigger than Dan's head' as my daughter Jessie put it.

Looking foreward to my sweetcorn being ready to pick next, will have to get the steamer and the Lurpack at the ready....

Had a lottie wobble....

Wasn't a good lottie day yesterday, I went down full of good intentions. The sun was shining, my housework was done and I had no children until 3:15pm. The allotment was calling. The weather has been so wet lately that the most I've managed has been the odd trip here and there.
I planned to move my strawberry plants, put some PSB out and make room for some more leeks I'd been given (I've got LOADS). I spent 2hrs15mins weeding, mainly chickweed etc but it was so dis-heartening. Everywhere I turned there was more of the stuff, grrr. I started to doubt myself, wondering if maybe I'd made a mistake taking on a full sized plot myself, afterall Les has no interest so I can't rely on him to help out. It was horrible, the first time I'd been down there and not been completely relaxed and enjoyed myself. :(
After the weeding was done, I had 20minutes to have a wander and really look at the place, to really look at what I have achieved in the last few months. To remember the homecooked, homegrown meals we've had, that are 100% down to me. It was like a switch flicking, I thought s** you, chickweed, your not getting the better of me, this is my allotment, my peace and quiet and my way of life and your not getting the better of me! I took home some french beans, broccoli, carrots, cabbage and turnip, put a Gammon joint in to roast and the whole thing was forgotten.
So that was it, my first lottie wobble, it might be the first but no doubt it wont be the last.... so until the next time.....

Bring on the witches, wizzards and ghouls...

Our trip down the lottie this morning for the Sunday roast vegetables ended in some excitement. The kids and I love halloween and are so excited that we are growing our own pumpkins this year. We've had a few disappointments this year so far, the first lot of seeds didn't come though, the second cooked in the greenhouse, the third lot got frosted and the final attempt we didn't hold much hope on....



How wrong were we? They're fantastic :) The packet said approx 2 pumpkins per plant, we have 6 each so far, they are taking up a whole lot of space but will be worth it come the 31st of October. WooOooOooooOoooo....



Now all I need to do is get the hubby trained in pumkin carving....

(Not so) Rotten Raspberries

I've hit a glut...of raspberries. I have so many they are coming out my ears, (not literally.) Each time I pop down I'm greeted with the sight of hundreds of ripe raspberries waiting to be picked. Our resident scarecrow, Charlotte seems to be doing her job well because the birds are coming no-where near them. It takes me at least 45minutes each visit just to get the rasps harvested.

They are so worth it though, sweet and ripe, yum, they are devine. I went to the lottie last night for a quick look around while Jessie was at her Gymnastics lesson. Me and my 7 year old son Daniel went down. I thought I'd show him how to check if the rasps were ripe and he could help me with the harvesting..... he's now known as 'Dan, the fastest raspberry muncher in the North East'. He tells me that he did put 5 of them in the basket though, however as last nights harvest came in at just under 1kilo, somehow I dont think he got the idea fully :)

So now I'm looking for rasperry recipes, any ideas or links would be fully appreciated, I dont just want to go down the jam route, although I probably will. I have 4lb of them in the freezer, I gave 1 1/2lb to my mam and dad and another 1/2lb to my friend. I'd say there are at least another 2-3lb waiting to ripen up, so as I say any ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

Right, off to pester google, for some more.....raspberry recipes.....

Borrowed weeders and whistling tea pots....

Thought it was about time I did another blog post....





I am getting a good harvest with every visit to the lottie at the minute, things are looking good :)

I made my first ever Jam, blackcurrant, it's been a great hit with the family and I got 4 jars, (2 large and 2 small) from 2 blackcurrant bushes.






Everything has shot up lately probably due to all of the nice weather we've been having.




Jessie is over the moon that her sunflowers have shot up and are actually taller than she is now!




Her flowers are looking good too.

We've been having fun with Janet and David's chickens (the plot holders next to us) they have loaned us a run, trusted us with a key and shown us how to pick up the chickens and get them onto our plot and back. They have been doing a great job on the chickweed and digging over the patch for the winter/spring veg. Jessie likes the white one best, she says it pulls funny faces and dances hehe...

Everything else on the plot is practically working itself, a good hoeing and watering and it tends to itself really.


Also, I bought myself a gas stove and whistling kettle to keep in the shed, no more nippy fingers in the autumn/spring, just nice hot coffee. I so can't wait to get it going!!


Ohhhhh, I almost forgot, I got an awesome complitment on the lottie the other day, a lady walked past as I was putting the french marigolds in and stopped me to say how well it was all looking, and that she always stops to look as it's her favourite plot :) I was over the moon.




Sorry the pics are a bit muddled, they won't sort out propperly for some unknown reason, perhaps I wont leave it so long next time...

Everything's turning pretty...

Down on the lottie... Flowers are out in full bloom, bees are buzzing and I've seen a few stray butterflies making thier way around lazily in the early summer sunshine.

We bought some 'egg plants' at a car bootsale a few weeks back and put them in, I thought it was strange that when the ones on my patch opened they had no 'yolk' but were very pretty :)

Even stranger is the fact that the same batch of plants were also planted in Jessie's patch at the other side of the allotment, and they have some through this morning, all 'yolk' and no white! :S

My poppies are absolute stunners, I love them! Very pretty just wish they lasted a little longer.

Jessie's little patch is coming on well too, her red sunflowers are shooting up, she'll be over the moon at the weekend when she comes down, although how happy she'll be about the fact she has some weeding to do is another matter..... she's being trained up early, age 5 hehe.

I'm also getting a pretty nice little harvest when I go down too, a huge lettuce a day, easily, some of my peas are ready too, yummmm

All in all, I'm over the moon with how it is coming along, I've almost been on the allotment 2 months and I think it's looking fantastic, I can see the potential, and although the weather isn't being the kindest at the minute, my red onions are dry and bolting and the things I transplated from the other allotment, (into the only bed that was ready at the time) is an absolute nightmare to get into and weed, I still get the happy, 'this is the life' feeling everytime I open the little metal gate, onto the higgledy piggeldy path, pop my head around the shed and walk the length of the lottie taking in all the changes since my last visit.

And you know what..... It doesn't matter to me that at the age of 26 I'm the youngest on our plots, that I am a mother of two, have responsibilites, a house and a hardworking husband to look after....

This is the life :)

We have progress...

Thought I'd do a progress blog post tonight.... Didn't think there'd be much to update with the way the weather has been, dry, windy and dryer again.... however....


I HAVE PEA PODS!! woohoo, I have never been able to grow a pea plant that has established and actually flowered let alone pod :D Noticed this morning and it turned my grey morning right around again.

So I thought if I was updating that then I might as well take a few pictures of the other things that are taking shape on the lottie.... here goes....


My flowers that I put in to attract the bees etc are looking pretty now :) I thought my Dad was mad when he mentioned putting plants in that 'I couldn't eat?!!?' hehe...


The bees were out in force this morning too, I caught this one on one of the raspberry canes..bzzzz

The Veg in the mini-greenhouse is shooting off too, it's waiting until June for the last frosts to go before I can get it out, I cant wait!!



My potatoes have shown thier heads, and here's me thinking that there wouldnt be much happening!!


The farmer was nice enough to leave some marure for everyone so that was my first glamourous job this morning!


Cut and come again lettuce, yum yum!


Jessie's patch is shooting up, she'll be over the moon at the weekend when she see's her red sunflower plants.


Jalepeno chilli plants got a bit wind battered so they have been rescued and potted on.


Rhubarb is HUGE! You can see the size of it compared to my spade in the background which is a standard size.


My red/white onions and shallots.


Brussel sprout plants...


Cabbages are awesome!!


Dad's desert is looking good too :)


Yay I have apples on my tree, I dont know which kind yet because this is the first year on the plot, I'm hoping they'll be edible.


I've started to pick my lettuce and take one at a time up for my lunch, I've sown some more so will hopefully have a nice crop all summer round.


Blackcurrants, I've never grown these and I'm not sure when they are ready to harvest...will have to ask my dad....again lol.


Looks like I'm in for some cherry tomatoes soon...


Had to put some netting on some of the brassicas, the wood pidgeons took an interest in the purple cabbages...grrr...


Well, phew, considering I didn't think there was going to be much to update I certainly made the most of this blog post lol.