Regarding that warning letter

I really ought to learn to let things go. I know this, I'm too sensitive and once hurt by something it takes me goodly time to heal. So regarding that recent warning letter we got - I am still smarting and though it has all been sorted out and we got our apology, I still feel slightly aggrieved.

I mean look at this, our 24a plot (a before picture!) compared to the one next door. I only use this plot as it is so very close, believe me there are a lot that are in a sad state. I do so hope they received a warning letter but now, after the 12 days given to show some improvement and active cultivation, here it lies as it has been for the past 5 odd years. Goodness, Maggie even made a nest in it once the weather turned colder yesterday afternoon.

Anywho, rant over.

***** 

We're bang on schedule with our two plots and though the weather has been fiendish and the soil often unworkable we have found ourselves lifting the last harvest and planting the first this week! ( I'll write in more detail about that soon)

leeks galore 

Forgive us if we haven't gotten around to finishing the paths on 14b but quite frankly we have just paid out a load of money for new flooring at home and the allotment does come second.

And so I'm off back to the plots now whilst there isn't any hail or sleet (yes we have been having both over the long Easter weekend) to try to finish weeding the forest area and possibly prune my roses.

Hugs
Carrie

A monster!!!!

This is all I have to say/show...

Take a look at @andrew_gault's Tweet: https://twitter.com/andrew_gault/status/713476020297457665?s=09

Hugs
Carrie

First seedlings pop through

It's a dreary, dank day and I'm feeling a little depressed. Though Maggie is a healing balm and I have a great book to read and pen-pal to write to; plenty to keep me busy.

But I want to be outside, I want to be planting seeds and clearing the orchard patch at the Lottie.

So the closest I get is stepping out into the mizzily, maudlin morning and taking a peek at the seed trays. And lo, joy is to be found in those little green shoots! Life is pushing through the dirt and darkness and filling me with hope.

Let these bursts of gorgeous greenery delight your eyes too. We need to share the love, the hope and help one another see light ahead xx

Broad beans, Broccoli celebrese, Kale, Purple sprouting broccoli

And I noticed this baby too :)

a tiny kohl rabi!

Hugs

Carrie

Progress is joyful

Is there a happier sound than that of a wee, elderly dog barking in her sleep? I think not. And that is the sound I awoke to on Sunday morning, which led to a dozy smile upon my face. Maggie is the best thing we ever did - it's soon to be her adoption day celebration!

But the allotment is what your here for so I shall spill all the juiciest bits.

Sunday at the plots was a mixture of more soil prep and a mystery; our wheelbarrow had been pilfered! I was fine and dandy weeding the paths and pots with my trusty trug by my side, but Andrew was suddenly heard to call out "Where's the wheelbarrow? I need it." Well, my friends, this lead to a minor panic and a walk around our field, looking in ditches and checking to see if someone else (in a fit of wheelbarrow necessity) had borrowed it. Oh how we looked and tweeted to relieve the pain a little.

The day when on without our dear friend and we were sad. But wheelbarrow-gate was still haunting us. Deflated we left for some late lunch and lo! on the drive out Andrew's 20:20 vision spied our barrow and he jumped out of the car and rescued her. She had indeed been kidnapped/wheelbarrownapped but we had her back - joy! Just look at that loving glance...

Where the wheelbarrow wasn't (left) and when we finally retrieved her (right)

So back from our lunch now and Andrew spread thick mulch all over our raised beds *with the use of the wheelbarrow. And now 24a look fabulous and tidy to rock!! I'm doing my best with 14b and later it was mulched a bit too.

glorious - no?!

Monday came quickly and seeds were been sown in the house shed when a letter from the Council - a warning letter, telling us that our plot would be taken from us if we didn't start cultivating it. What?? There were attempts at phoning the department, tweets were twitted and an email sent all asking how on earth could this be happening! Oh, a dark cloud hovered over our home that day and so soon after the stresses of wheelbarrowgate  :(

In all honesty I was devastsated after the amount of effort I had recently been putting in, just getting to the plots in the first place. Stupid, stupid people.

Well thank goodness it was Pi day in America (you know how they write the date wrong - well it was 3/14/2016, like 3.14 = Pi) and we took the opportunity to drown our sorrows in pie, apple and cinnamon pie at a local, lovely cafe. It helped. We came home and worked in the back garden.

Uuumm - pie :)

Tuesday and back on the plots, there was pruning of the blackthorns and blackberry, plus tying in branches etc. I cleared the damnable old squash bed which had yielded not one squash for us last season but had plenty of grass, nettles and dandelions in it now (thanks neighbouring unused plots!) I tell you, it took hours to do that one bed! And I was exhausted.

A cleared bed, an exhausted me

Wednesday saw the Gault's out and about at Castle Ward and Downpatrick, away from everything and just enjoying ourselves. But to top the day off, we came home to an email of apology from the Council for sending the warning letter to the wrong people. Thank goodness for 'sorry' and recognition that we do in fact have a lovely set of plots.

On Thursday I wasn't feeling good but it was St Patrick's day and that means only one thing in our house - planting the spuds! We got two new big pots and re-used an old fertiliser pot, drilled holes in the bottoms and planted our Sharp's Express in them. We'll take them down to the lottie soon.

Andrew made a quick wee video of the planting - 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDDn0gDMGIh/?taken-by=gaulta

So there you are, all caught up; a good lot of plot work, seed planting, home gardening and time away - it's been lovely having my hubby off for the week :)

Hugs and best wishes to you and your gardens
Love
Carrie

Hopping into action

I say ' hopping' so as to conjure up images of bunnies and the associated Easter/spring paraphernalia, but it's leading me astray already and now I'd like an Easter egg - concentration is lost....ummm, where's the chocolate.

***********

We awoke on Saturday to a nice-ish day which whispered 'allotment' on the mild air. Not wanting to be rude, we heeded it, went out for much needed coffee and then seed shopping, yippee! But oh my, we bought quite a lot for this first phrase of sowing. To be fair though, we didn't get that Japanese pine or the acer and managed to stick to the essentials, just about; nurseries look so good this time of year.

Once home we then, like amateurs, checked through our seed boxes and yes, threw a good deal of old stuff out but also came across a few 'in use' doubles to the ones we'd just purchased. Oh, well the new ones will keep until next year.

Andrew's seed box for veg (left), mine for flowers (right) and the rubbish trug

Naturally the seed planting came next and compost was sieved, the plug trays lifted down from a high shelf and brushed and...action. I am putting up a plant list in a different page to keep track of the names of varieties etc so you can see what we've planted as it happens. I didn't do any sowing myself, my confidence has nose dived and though it's so super easy and the seeds actually want to grow, I just came over all nervous and was sure I'd kill them by my mere touch.

preparation of a lovely bed for seeds (plus radio which has been outside for 2 years and still runs on the original battery)

super tiny seeds that will become tasty large beetroot
wire wool to re-use old labels - great tip from Monty!

Anyhow....radio on and Maggie standing by the gate and getting chased my me every now and then, we had a nice time and got lots done.

fish, blood and Maggie :) 

Phew! *I wiped Andrew's brow for him* he did a lot of sowing; I watched and used my lovely camera for the first time in ages. This year (we say this every year) we are concentrating only on that which we will eat; we're more serious this time. One early potato ('Sharp's express') will be grown in a pot and no garden peas - they are just so cheap to buy frozen and taste as good without the effort!

Sharp's Express are ready to go, just need the soil to dry a little more

So much more to come :)
Love and hugs
Carrie

Held Captive

Yesterday I had the crazy idea that maybe I could walk to the plots alone and have a look and come home. It would be about a 20 min adventure. I've done it before (a lifetime ago) so why, especially when I actually wanted to see the allotments did I not go?

looking through the peep hole at the world

I got washed and dressed, walked downstairs and came to the door. Ah, the door. For me this beautiful piece of thick painted wood, covering an opening in the wall of my home is impenetrable even with keys to the lock in my shaking hand. Before it, I shrink and like some sort of weird Alice in Wonderland plot line, I can't get to any potion that can make me bigger and stronger again.

This door is hot lava, it's a yawning crevasse, the highest and sharpest mountain. It simply towers over me and I am held captive on this side with fear. So back to the living room I go and into a book to escape real life.

I am desperate to get moving and pruning and planting and weeding and tidying and building and seeding. But I must be patient, I need someone to help me go through, get past, that door.

Love
Carrie

Grow Your Own Cake - book review

First off, how could you not want to own a book called this; I mean, seriously, who doesn't dream of cake all day long. (If you don't, I worry about our friendship and suggest that you seek help - cake is everything!) Now take that fact and add in the allotment gardener and you get the perfect scenario. Growing the ingredients of the most delicious cakes and pies plus getting to bask in the glory of that fact that you, yes you make a cake of dreams. Your friends will be in awe, your enemies will be forever begging for forgiveness.

Basically this book, written by Holly Farrell, is one of tending to nature, creating beauty and stuffing your face with goodness :)

The feel of this book is beautiful; it's prose is friendly, the photos by Jason Ingram are inspiring and it is so well laid out.

****

* Gardening Basics - covers how to pick good plants, do your soil preparation, learn about compost, fertiliser, mulch and weeds. It goes over pruning, seed sowing, tree planting and maintenance. All in a concise, no nonsense, point by point way - making things really approachable.

* In the Kitchen - is a great chapter on all the basics written in a down-to-earth way and with personal preferences that are just so much more realistic than many chef written books. Holly talks about how to do all those little technical bits such as folding, kneading, crystallising flowers, piping and pastry making. She also explains oven temperatures and what sort of equipment you would need to bake things form this book.

* Recipes - Now it's recipe time and oh my! Cakes are spilt into seasons; spring & summer and autumn & winter, which makes so much sense when you are trying to grow the ingredients at the same time. Each main home grown ingredient is written about on the 'grow' page, talking about best varieties, planting, maintenance and harvest, then comes the recipe on the 'bake' page.

* Then there are chapters on Afternoon Tea ideas and Puddings rounded of with a chapter on Savoury bakes, cause sometimes we do need a little non-sweet food stuffs, I guess :)

Author - Holly Farrell (@Holly_E_Farrell )

Photographer - Jason Ingram (@jasonphotos)

*******

There are so many things I want to bake, though I may eat everything myself...it's a risk. I would like to see myself use this book and give a little added excitement to harvest time.

In summary I found this book really approachable, inspiring and full of nothing but useful information and recipes you will want to eat and now won't be too daunted to create. A triumph really and a push to get me back on the pots again this weekend and to start doing photography again :)

*******

This book is out today, 3rd March 2016!

Publisher - Frances Lincoln (@Frances_Lincoln)

Twitter hashtag   #GrowYourOwnCake

Love and hugs

Carrie

Day 2- Ecotherapy and anxiety

Lo and behold my friend! I went back to the plots for round two on Sunday, which was another fabulously blue sky, super dry day. Two days in a row at the allotments after 6+ months of absence and boy did I put my nose to the grindstone, toil in the mud and ultimately... bedazzled!

Before and After of the two large asparagus beds - check out the wee box hedging plants; on day they will be a wee hedge

Both half plots are looking transformed and if only there had been a few more hours in the day, they would be looking perfect right now. We worked so hard I marred my back, knee, neck and hand, hahaha. But hey, we were out working with and surrounded by nature, plus Maggie was there :)

Zen Maggie at the Plots for the first time in 6 months :)

Andrew's incredible transformation of 24a has been captured in a flip book style of photos (he's very clever!) Bask in his glory by clicking the link to his Instagram :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCTDi2MsGIU/?taken-by=gaulta

*****

OK. A lot of what I say about my time at the plots is bravado. I do not find it in any way easy and take sedatives before I go and sometimes even when I am there as well. I am constantly checking my back, checking on where Andrew is and am always aware of who else my be on site and hence alert to every noise they may make. If a person walks in the direction of our plots I am the one suddenly needing to get something from the shed, whilst muttering under my breath for the ground to please swallow me up.

At home the panic sets in for a while, the exhaustion and anxiety spilling out and accordingly I end up be-swaddled in my blanket on the sofa.... It doesn't get easier the more I do it, I'm just a determined fighter and know there will be good times for the memory banks.

Really, I abhor talking about myself in so personal a manner but I want to make sure no one confuses the messages I'm sending out. Yes I am an advocate for ecotherapy BUT it is not a panacea, the illnesses don't go away.

The true joy comes when I look back on my disaster-free time there and that's why I revel in my before and after photos, those little notes I take and the hugs and kisses from my amazing hubby and my cute-as-a-button wonder-dog.

Anyway, I'm off to read a book...

Happy St. David's Day!

baby daffodils for St David's Day :)

Love
Carrie