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...