Getting summery on the plot

Welcome to June dear friends! It's a fabulous month for us Gaults ~ it contains our Wedding Anniversary and Andrew's Birthday, so there is much celebrating to be done and a few glasses of bubbles to be toasted 😄.  Hopefully we'll get some nice weather too unlike today which has been dull and heavy with rain.

So let's look back to last Saturday when the heavens smiled upon us and we spent a nice time at the allotment, enjoying the sun, the new seedlings and planting things out. What was especially nice was this beautiful rose opened up by the shed.

Puts a smile of your face seeing that first thing and then turning the corner and seeing our beautiful, healthy potatoes look smashing - darn it, it made us glad to be there.

These are Sharp's Express in four big black pots that a kindly plot neighbour gave to us. We love growing them in pots; it saves room, we can afford them more protection and the best growing medium, it's easy to earth them up with more compost and boy are they ridiculously easy to harvest. We're all about efficiency and ease!

When I was sitting on the bench by them I noticed flowers and the intricate beauty of the humble spud leaf.

So here are the new plants we brought with us to get settled into the ground:

• garlic chives and uchiki kuri winter squashes
• dwarf bean borlotto and climbing french bean cobra

A couple of the squashes went to our black pot friend and then he gave us a Japanese squash in return! Andrew was surprised and pleased - look at his wee face, haha.

I walked about with my camera and here's some pics on 14b, yep, I was still emotionally involved.

We've pretty much taken all we can, even the black weed suppressing membrane and the gravel and wooden edging. Oh it's such a sad sight - look at those little box hedging plants and the rhubarbs etc..

There were a great many plum poppies on display and the orientals have bloomed now too, in the middle of this collage are the first damson fruits. Out of everything the most I want to try and save a bit of, at least, is that purple poppy. But that's it, now I shall focus on 24a.

So back over to our real plot and I have to show you the garlic and broad bean signs Andrew etched onto slate we had lying around the place. I love them and he's promised more 😀...

And thinking of the broad beans - we had a green fly infestation starting which lucky I spotted whilst taking these photos. They were swiftly and brutally attacked with our soapy water in a spray bottle. Ha! Victory shall be ours. Funnily the broad beans planted in situ are much darker, stockier and healthier looking than these ones and aren't that far behind.

die greenfly, die!

Dwarf borlotto beans where planted under the supervision of Toby. Goodness the soil is great this year, so rich, friable and even with a few worms; the whole no dig principle is excellent and we highly recommend it! Check out Charles Dowding if you don't practise it yourself. These beans are off to a good beginning and I learnt that they are planted a trowels width away from each other.

There was more going on but I fear this post is getting too long so I shall leave my story here for now (the sweetcorn, squash and seedlings will wait) . Here's a beautiful honeysuckle for you, from beside the wooden bench, beside the potatoes where Toby also happened to be having a good time.

Hugs,
Carrie

Before the tummy bug

For the last half of May I was super ill with a terrible doubt of gastroenteritis. Really the realities of it are too gross to talk about but needless to say I was sofa bound for just over a week and it took 3 days before I could eat more than a cracker. I'm better now, that's what matters.

Before that mess we had a lovely, sunny afternoon at both plots for the last time. We've now officially said goodbye to 14b and even got a little refund as we'd recently paid for another year, we had 2 weeks to clear out what we wanted...

Plum poppy looking great bar all the weeds and dead daffodil stems :)

But the first thing I saw on arrival at 14b were the poppies, god I love poppies and my Patty Plum had one in bloom and many to come. The oriental poppy is always a little behind but so many buds 😊. The roses never did well and looked quite dead, bar one that was struggling to produce 2 blooms.

Saved from the plot before the new owners come (wonder when that will be?):

• Posts, fencing, wooden edging boards,  
• hardcore gravel and paving slabs, 
• comfrey plant, my wee red geum (Mrs Bradshaw) and 2 huge box balls, 
• our sanity!

But we had to say goodbye to our:

• blackberries, new happy blackthorn hedge
• cherry tree, damson tree and pear tree?, 
• rhubarb (maybe we could save some?) 
• poppies and rudbeckia (Goldsturm) , two of my favourite plants ever. 

Not to mention all the other bits and pieces. We couldn't lift them or a lot of other plants as we simply had no where to put them and silly emotional me had a wee cry. Though I have been promised a wee flower area on the back patio.

Blackberries alive with bees, rhubarb past it's best and some lovely weeds

One more thing - some damned brute had broken part of our cool artisan 14b sign. Andrew had made it with glass test tubes and they were super sturdy and we liked it...and ggrrr. Well we won't be needing it now anyway, I guess but it's the principal.

grrr

It's all about 24a from now on.

My mosaic number, beautiful bought tiles and an 'A' etched by Andrew on slate

I spent my time weeding 24a whilst Andrew did all the heavy lifting and moving from 14b. The poor plot had been a little neglected in the choking weed department and it's what I'm comfortable with at the moment. For a goodly while now I simply haven't had the confidence to plant things - my anxiety disorder is winning these days - boo hiss.

Blueberries, gooseberries and apples

Weeding in and around the blueberries and gooseberries I was amazed to find so many well developed berries - we need to get them netted as the birds are pesky pilferers and can strip all the bushes in a day! The apples either side of the fruit arch are also doing really good.

I do wish we had of got rid of the gooseberries over the redcurrant bush (as I actually like redcurrants) but Andrew has plans for a raspberry bed, though maybe it ought to be a rhubarb bed... I'm just thinking out loud.

oh yes, don't mind if I do

All this work was making us hungry and Andrew went up to the community centre and got two of these, yum! Dark chocolate chip shortbread squares, oh my, they were delicious.

More next time, hugs,
Carrie

Less is more

That's it, we are giving up 14b.

a sad farewell

I do write this with a slightly heavy heart as no one wants to feel a failure, but we have finally come to our senses and realised we are not superhuman and that hell of a half plot must exit our lives. 24a will always be our first and true love and now we are going to dedicate our allotmenteering time to it alone.

3 hours of virtual non-stop work and this is all I got weeded of the hell plot.

We are 9 yrs into our allotment journey now and still enjoy it, however, we have other passions too and hate the feeling of being obliged to go and work in misery in an area we can't stay on top on. From now on we will use our time for more us time; hiking and day trips to the beach with Toby etc.

We're in a transitional year on 24a anyway - paths need made, others need fixed up; bed edging has rotted in practically every place and the apple arch needs refurbished too.

A24a and Toby with his beloved ball :)

I'm just madly in love with all the apple blossom this year

Some seeds have been planted and are growing well, some were direct sown last Sunday - we are still growing people (😀 ), we are simply cutting back and concentrating on what we actually need and use every year.

So dead raspberries and a hated spiky nightmare of a redcurrant plant are gone! Plus we have some big pots to fill with some beloved plants from 14b - it's going to be a busy Saturday :)

***********

Plus, I hate ignoring the elephant in the room....I'm ill, still very ill indeed to be honest and struggling. Yes, I want to immerse myself in nature whenever, however I can but it can't stress me out. Now, things are changing and ADVENTURE AWAITS.

Love and hugs
Carrie

Photo update from last weekend

'Things' have not been good inside the head of your exhausted writer, my dear friends. The debilitation of Depression, Anxiety and BPD is real, really real and I have been in my own personal Hades for quite some times now. I rarely talk to anyone or go outside and life without Maggie is still almost unbearable. So forgive me for the lack of blog posts or comments in fact, if you have a blog yourself, I just haven't been able to think properly - I am experiencing a moment of clarity and am devoting it to this space. Little dialogue but lots of photos....these were the plots last Sunday.

24a is the real producer and it was time for some constructive deconstruction (you know I love that), as the courgettes, sweetcorn and climbing french beans are all finished now and needed composting. Sadly all our leeks had bolted too so 'goodbye' (the plot smelt like soup all afternoon!)

14b is the embarrassing little sister, going through her grunge teenage years and so unkempt but beautiful underneath it all. It gifted us some lovely squashes that we are eating now and loving. Here's Andrew's gorgeous photo of them.

https://www.instagram.com/andrewgault_/

Anyway we focused, as I said on the finished veggie beds on 24a and got as much done as we could before I just couldn't take anymore....

I tackled the bean wigwam and weeded the whole bed .I was so happy to find this little fellow/lady? ladybird which I put in a cosy spot on it's leaf. I LOVE ladybirds!

By that stage we stopped for tea and listened to the crazy lady pheasants running and squawking about. Andrew had by this time cleared the last courgette plants (one last wee harvest first!) and all those sweetcorn stalks. The sweetcorn this year was amazing - Swift F1 as always but a great year!

Back to it and the leeks were lifted (sadly) and composted whilst I did some really quite pointless weeding of the paths which had gotten grassy and slippy up by the arch.  I also noted that the broccoli and even the purple sprouting broccoli  had bolted! What the heck!! The carrots had carrot fly *sad face*, but the companion plants were very happy...


















Andrew prepared the #1 bed for mulching with our glorious well rotted horse manure, look dear friend, I know you, as a true plotter will appreciate the wonder of our manure bin....

How lovely to watch such hard work, hahaa.

Sadly we didn't get to finish the #2 bed as I needed home but! it was fabulous to be there once again (bar seeing Maggie everywhere and her bowl sitting out for her). I am thankful for the good times and my amazing hubby who never gives up on me. Let's hope we have another nice wee time to treasure this weekend.

Best wishes to you all,
Hugs
Carrie xx

P.S. Apologises for the poor photos at times, these are all unedited and from my phone (apart from Andrew's one - it's perfect) x

Playing Catch Up ~ 1

It's been a while dear friends, can you tell my heart just isn't in it these days?

The allotment is a foreign place to me now even though it is but a moments drive away. Andrew is soldiering on but even he is feeling downhearted about the place, for example last night he had things to do but instead spent an hour mowing paths that the council neglect to do; what a waste of his time.

We've had some serious talks about giving up; about only keeping 24a and stopping 14b; of whether we would care if it all burned down one day.... and the answers, well, we would care. We don't need to put so much mental and psychical effort in but we are keeping it and are going to start reigning back the time and efforts spent therein.

24a - looking good if you ask me ( I can't show you the disappointing bits, too upsetting)

So much time, energy (psychical and mental), money and love has been poured into those little slices of 'Eden' and so little has been received in turn. Plus now the plots are truly in their worst states in the A field at least, many friends have left, there is absolutely no community atmosphere and the barren ground, diseases and weeds are really taking their toll.

Recent produce (plus potatoes) and the garlic lifted

'Be the change you wish to see in the world', has long been a motto of mine, but let me tell you, there is only so much an already mentally ill girl can take and I am saturated.

*******************

So - this blog shall continue to log our allotment efforts and gains but now I shall be talking about Ecotherapy as a whole in my life and not limiting it to Allotmentherapy alone. I/We have 'refound' camping and hiking and life is looking like one of adventure and exploration as only last week showed in glorious (almost blinding) technicolor.

We camped out in a tent for the first time in years last week and I journalled, talked to strangers and took photographs (ones to prove I was camping, hahaa, AND fine art ones), a part of me coming back to life! It was scary, it was noisy but Andrew and Maggie were there and all was well.

Then we also hiked for 8 miles on Friday with amazing friends. Up in the Mourne Mountains, I still can't believe I did it but we have photos to prove it! With my double vision, it was more of challenge than one would imagine, plus I fainted about a quarter of the way in, but my stubbornness pushed me forward and, what?, I walked from the Trassey Trail to Bloody Bridge (Walk 16 in the book The Mournes Walks).

Lunch time :)

I've been asleep ever since and only today am I starting to feel human again but I think I may have caught the bug. This ecotherapy is passive and yes you give A LOT but boy do you receive A LOT in return.

Anyway, my love to you all as always,
We shall still 'Grow Our Own' but now we shall also be just generally 'Growing'
Your
Carrie

The allotment without me

This is a super huge catch up post and boy does it make me feel all the feels. I'm embarrassed and ashamed as Andrew has done everything himself, I'm proud of him, I'm sad that it doesn't interest me and actually being there causes panic, and I'm amazed that the plots around us are in such a wild state that it feels so pointless to even try - is this all a waste of time?!

plot just before ours - ggrrrr

So Andrew and I were coming home from a trip to Belfast on Sunday and he needed to go in to the plots to get some food for us. Ahh, sneaky - that got me there off guard for the first time in months. I could have stayed in the car but I walked down, just with my phone and had a wee look. Here, this is proof that I was in fact, literally there -

24a
OK so this is the first born plot, the original and the best. The one that once won 'Best Allotment Garden' and which this blog was all about for a long time. It still feels like the important one; there sits the shed, the benches, the compost bins, the soil there has my blood, sweat, tears and adrenaline in it from those first exciting months of allotmenteering.

what you can see here: (with thanks to Andrew typing these lists!)
* left side - courgettes, sweetcorn, broad beans, french beans, mangetout
* right side - kale, kohlrabi, purple sprouting broccoli, garlic, beetroot, parsnips, carrots, spring onions, turnips.

standing at the entrance to 24a

14b
Okay, so it's ours too; in fact is was gotten under my name. However, the blackberry, rhubarb, poppies and roses are the only things I ever feel a connection with. Andrew has worked so damn hard over there but the asparagus has failed (I saw one frond) and I have been too ill to use the rhubarb this year or look after any flowers.

Good new is the woodland area trees are looking good and there is a nice wee under planting of herbs. I forgot to take a photo but hey, these are all terrible phone photos anyway :)

back half of 14b

a tidy up and this would show some nice flowers and many to come

We have thought often about giving this half plot up but when you think of the money pit it has been and the hours of work to get it to this stage were food is growing it breaks your heart. Plus 3 sides of it are coming down with weeds up to my thigh height with mostly grasses, nettles, dandelions and other unwanted seeds constantly floating over - arrghhhh.

I only managed about 5 mins there this first time and then I had a panic attack and had to run to the safety of the car. Thank goodness I have been taking my hayfever medication though, it could have been deadly!

* So far this year we have been eating *

rhubarb

mangetout

broad beans

spring onions
lettuce

potatoes (grown in big pots)

courgettes

mini carrots

gooseberries

With much love and hopes for more blog posts (and much better photography) to come,
Your Carrie xx

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

First Contact

I feel I have been so long away from my once cherished blog. I was held back, denied the access to think straight or care about the lottie by the deepest, darkest, depths of depression and consistent anxiety; I'm still fighting it, who am I trying to kid. It will be with me all my days and learning to cope and continue to fight is my only way forward. So forward we go.....

** Yesterday The head gardener took a day off work and we had a great wee time together; I love those sort of days, they feel stolen and thus more fun. We decided that our National Trust membership, which had lapsed, need renewing and we did it so easily online and then, went off to Rowallane Gardens.

Sadly the weather turned on us and flipped into heavy rain, so no garden explorations :(  However, when you have a really talented potter on site (Mark) and a cafe, you can cope, believe us! Retail therapy...

Matt's (the resident potter) studio AND the items we have that he artfully created

*****

And now, the allotment! - my first visit since sometime last September.

So I did it, I bloomin' did it! Here, a photo to prove it to myself and the world; if you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen this posted in real time, as soon as I got there. I was so nervous/excited.

There was much to be done and still much more, haha. We are doing the Charles Dowding 'No dig' approach this year so there was very little hand forking even (it's my favourite hand tool, weep).  If you have an exceptional memory you'll remember I reviewed his book on the topic in 2014 and now we're converts.

I write this as I lay blanket swaddled on the sofa exhausted from hard work and anxiety. Andrew dropped me off and then back for a little more! and to tidy up but wow, we got a lot of clearing done in those 2+ hrs. Pictures speak louder than words as they say :)

We had the whole place to ourselves which was great for me but also criminal! It's been THE day we've all been waiting for - the perfect Lottie day with no rain or wind though it quickly got frickin' freezing once it turn 4.30!

Andrew has been working away on this plot every now and then (proud wife) and the well rotted horse manure that he is mulching with is glorious, sexy stuff :)

Two wheelbarrows and two trugs of clearing done (that's just me) and a traditional subway sandwich - it looks like we're back! Next time I'll take my 'proper camera' and not just rely on my phone *blush*

Happy plotting, love
Carrie