Tuesday 11 January 2011

A seedless gripe

Boo hiss! Damn it all to heck! And other such stronger rants - you get the idea, I'm sure ;) Andy and I are STILL sitting here with this blasted flu, I was even delirious earlier singing songs - what was all that about?

Not a seed packet to be seen, the catalogues aren't even in the house, no broad beans sown as is usual, we haven't even thought about it all. Oh this isn't good. What do we want to grow this year? I don't know! What new varieties are we thinking of trying? You tell me. Is our plot a haven of freshly prepared soil, manure and the usual seaweed all ridged up and tidy? Blushing I must quietly say 'no'.

The old is still to be removed, the soil loved and fed, the gardening implements oiled, sharpened and the shed tidied. Dare I even confess....I don't know where the lottie stuff is and though Andrew DID work out the new rotation, I haven't a clue. These few photos were taken as 'before snaps' of parts of the plots a few weeks ago. I think we are both blessed that the camera battery died (of shame??) and I only got these.

A 24a

 A 14b

Blasted Pigeons have eaten our Purple Sprouting Broccoli - I'm too upset to talk about it
 We do have purple Kale
Well, it's still like that, umm, it's probably worse. *hangs head*

But Andy has started in the back garden of this, our brand new house. Lucky we have a plan - it has been there for about a year now, slowly evolving and then going back to the original :) But it has been started - hoorah! As it is a brand new house, the garden area is mainly stones, hardcore, a very light frosting of muck (I wouldn't even call it soil) and quite a lot of wood, plastic and weeds. Lovely. But as we are going for raised beds we have seen this as somewhat of a silver lining - Andrew didn't have to dig much before he was at a good solid floor for some concrete and here are the photos to prove it.


I shan't tell you too much about the plans as I really would love you to share in the journey with us but I will say this - I have a super clever hubby who is building me a retreat, a veritable extra bit of Eden to call my own.

Leaving you with love in the form of this..our freckled ally

And this....allotmenteers' porn :)
But still....not a seed in sight - oh dear!

10 comments:

  1. Still loads of time for seeds! Haven't ordered any yet either or decided on what I'm growing this year. If you get them too early you end up planting them too early and losing them or they get leggy, and just add to the seed companies profits ;>)

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  2. Carrie girl that was perfect !
    How can you top the picture of the Ladybug : ) We don't seem to have ones that are that red any more .. I wonder why ? have they mutated over here or something ? jeez !
    Your little Eden is going to be just right : ) I'm excited for you two, having that to share with Maggie .. having an outdoor space that is just yours !
    I have loads of catalogs here if you would like some ? LOL
    I am overwhelmed with all the new plants .. I want them all !
    I'm on my way to my she-cave now but wanted to drop by and say hi!
    Joy : )

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  3. can't wait to see it as it evolves...

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  4. I'm sorry to read that you're both still feeling unwell and hope that you get better soon.
    Don't worry because in a few weeks when it's lighter and warmer I'm sure that you'll then be telling us a different story! A friend does very little until Easter then without too much extra effort seems to catch everyone else up.
    Take care, Flighty xx

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  5. Don't worry Carrie - we are far behind too and haven't even the flu as an excuse!

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  6. feel better soon!
    i can't wait to get digging in the dirt again, for now we are covered in two feet of snow! : ) i look forward to more garden posts and seeing what you will be planting!

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  7. well, I think your plot look like a blank canvas, just waiting for the artist to arrive. I love this time of year, drooling over seed catalogs, day dreaming of growing again. What's your rush? Maybe giving your plot a little extra time is just what you both need.
    and the garden outside your house is perfect! I imagine a tiny table and chairs for you two to enjoy the view.

    (oh! and I was so happy to hear you ordered a few doodle prints from artsyville! Which ones did you get? and you have that iron-on book? I'd love to hear what you have used them for!

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  8. Rob - thank you, of course you are right and I'm much calmer now xx

    Joy - darling, i love that you have a she-cave, hahaha. Looking forward to the garden and sharing it with you xx

    Lettie - xx Look forward to sharing it

    Flighty - Andrew is quite well again, I'm getting there. And I am going out this weekend, I can't sit inside anymore! Photos to be taken, soil to be turned etc ;)

    GLA - hahaha - I love that. We'll be fine won't we xx

    Gardenmama - SNOW! still snow where you are - nightmare. I am looking forward so much to the warmer, longer days and getting out and about. Reading all the glorious colourful blogs and seeing what everyone is growing (though your blog is always gorgeous and colourful) xxxx

    AG - It is the perfect size. Andrew was taking about bricks tonight and getting started on that first raised bed :) Eek!
    I bought the 'When life rearranges itself unexpectedly.....' Artsyville pieces and got 'Something fabulous is out there...' for free as the post was so bad (how sweet was that!) I love her work, must write a piece on her. I haven't used my transfers yet but I have a t-shirt up there wanting and I have ideas... xxx

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  9. It's ok Carrie, I think we all look at the bleakness of our gardens this time of winter and wonder why we haven't done more. Me included. I haven't had the flu as a distraction either! (Hope you're feeling better). How exciting though, a new garden! Our soil in the veggie garden was more akin to rock, so we went the raised bed route. It was wonderful. Sure, we had to build the beds, but no double digging, no weeding, and it's so much easier to build them with ideal soil, than to 'make do' with the soil you've got. I can't wait to see how your garden looks in summer. Now...what are you reading this for, don't you have a seed catalog or two to browse? ;)

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  10. Plenty of time yet for seeds and I'm sure your back garden will be lovely. Hoping to do some work on the plot this weekend.

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