happiness on the plots

Forget any and all of the glumness I spilt forth in my previous post as this past weekend it was all change; sunshine, sustained hard work, planting out, a picnic and bed making :) It was all go and we really did feel better about the place. I mean look what we parked beside for a start off - a heap of steaming manure almost as tall as Andrew :) Again I wonder at my scatological self, once an allotmenteer - good quality manure is deeply treasured, gross but true!

So here's how things stand at the moment on 24a (minus a photo of the leeks which are still going strong). We have new lovely little parsnips, carrots and beetroots, the broccoli is in glorious flower now and attracting the first bees I've seen this year and the spuds are coming through nicely and look healthier than I could have hoped for.

At the top of the plot we have an abundance of blueberry flowers, gooseberries (not photographed) and apple blossom. Everything seems healthy so far and plans are in place, in Andrew's mind, for a fruit cage to cover the blessed blueberries - I rather like to have a few this year *shakes fist at birds*!

Also the first of the brassicas were planted out and covered in netting right away - so far so good, nothing has touched them.

Over on 14b there is further evidence of happy plants and I can not tell you how relieved I am that all the asparagus crowns sent up their first spears. Sweet little geums are bursting through with dots of bright red, the poppies this year look like they are going to be spectacular and our blackberry bush is already showing signs of a bumper harvest to come. It's all just so positive, I think I may explode.

I've been steadfast keeping on top of the grass cutting and thus making the plots safer for me to walk around. As we only have a little rotatory hand pushed mower it's been hard work, I even got a huge blister this time which is only healing up now (Thursday!). It's worth it though, keeping those bingo wings at bay, working the core muscles and not tripping quite so much :)

And WOW! look at the new bed for my cut flowers, all edged and the soil greatly improved. It's time to plant out and direct sow in there now, eek! My dreams of a patch that just screams colour looks like it's getting closer. There will be another path down the right hand side of this bed and the original (now perennials only) flower bed will get edged too. 

I have other exciting news but I think you've had to absorb enough in this one post already :) Instead I shall leave you with this lovely dandelion seed head photo (NOT from our plots, haha) and make a fervent wish that you are all having a better time now that June is around the corner. 

Love and hugs

Carrie

The disappoinment of May

May hasn't been going as well as I'd like. Weather wise it is colder and wetter than I can remember compared to the last few years on the plot and somehow it feels more like March over there, April at a push. And with the blasted, frustrating rain that is still forecast into the next weeks, (though now with the heady highs of 12 or 14 degrees) all we have to look forward to is more of the same:

*  Slugs having the most wondrous time and eating away at our newly planted broad beans (we've sown more);

*  Gooseberry sawfly larvae colonising the gooseberries (Andrew got there just in time, this time)

*  Prolific and never-ending weeds and grass that simply won't stop growing a few feet every week.

Oh how I weep….

Good news however is abundant, it's merely my depressed viewpoint that makes it all seem so dreary and helpless. Plus I have had writer's block for weeks and it's made me become a bitter blogger *sad face*, as in reality there are a great many little stories I would have liked to share but simply couldn't. On top of that, when I am in a low period I rarely care about spending time taking photos, I just want to work and try to get lost in my actions; take a break from my own thoughts. Thus we only have a few quick camera phone snaps with this post - sorry.

All the asparagus plants grew well and sent up their first spears, this has made us both very happy and dancing a quick jig may have been the result. ;) All 10 plants haven't failed us thus far, though once bitten we are tentative about this endeavour.

The rhubarb plants are glorious and filling out their bed nicely, the transplanting having done them no harm at all. There are many a fruit blossom all over the two half plots, hopefully well get some tasty treats.

We have many new baby carrots and parsnips germinated in situ and the purple sprouting broccoli is going to flower = happy bees (though I haven't seen many the year yet).

So this is just a catch up. We will be going this weekend and maybe, just maybe, on the Bank Holiday Monday too ;) I have my 'proper camera' battery charging up and my fingers crossed for breaks in the weather were a girl can happily click away.

At least I've broken the terrible block and got something down on paper, or rather, on screen. It'll be easier now to keep you posted.

love and hugs
Carrie

I've missed you so much

There is simply too much to catch up on and I don't know where to begin. See previous post! My latest write ups have been eaten by Blogger and are in some sort of terrible blog post purgatory *sad face*

So all my photos are way out of date and things have moved on. So I shall try to put my faith in the 'save' button and go take photos of the greenhouse exploding with seedlings and try to find some sort of recent pics of the plots. Thank you for your patience x

At 24a everything is going grand and we shall find that we are eating loads of Purple Sprouting Broccoli (not complaining!), the garlic is continuing to do fabulously, there are blossoms on the apple trees and blueberry bushes and carrots have just emerged their sweet little heads from the soil. Sadly our newly planted out broad beans suffered with a freak -3 degrees night battering but I have hope from the yet.

The rhubarb is still delicious, the asparagus crowns were all planted (you missed out on that story),
dogwoods have been planted, the plants in the edible forest are settling in and my 2 flower beds are coming on great. We just need more hours in the days ans more days in the week.

Plus I have been a bad ass grass cutting machine and have finally, painfully managed to push my little rotary mower through the tangled mass behind 14b and now all our access paths are workable. Hoorah, safety on the plots :)

At home we are coming down with seedlings as I mentioned and we even got one of those greenhouse automatic ventilation things.

Just a tiny amount of the many many seedlings there are around here!

The beech hedge is going great, as is the maple - hoorah for colour! Round the corner I am delighted to say that the wisteria is going to be covered in flowers this year for the first time, oh, we can't wait.

That, I think shall do for now, not least because it has taken ages to get the photos to work but because Blogger may well decide to eat this too, ggrrr!

Hugs and love to you all
C xx

Testing

Blogger has been a bloody trickster and bully recently, saying it has saved my posts as I go along and then flippin' well eating them!!! The publish button hasn't been working and I am at a loss, I love my wee blog and talking to you dear readers.