July allotment recap (1 of 2)

It's official, July in Northern Ireland sucked, it was the worst since 1993 - the good old BBC News has the story here.

But still we struggle on and heck, it makes you appreciate those sweeter moments of sunshine and the sparkle off the plants....We're due more rain today sadly but at least not as bad as the weekend when the thunder and thick rain (each drop like a bucket of water being chucked down by the angry sky Gods) caused us to abort our time at the allotment and run."Run RUN! grab everything, take the dog!"

For this July allotment recap, my photos seem a bit odd, but obviously I only took ones when it was actually sunny! Most are from the weekend past but here are a few from the 13th when the heat was too much for Toby -  hiding under the potato buckets...

And Andrew lifted the garlic and got it drying on the bench :)

*** Anyway Saturday on the plot ***

Ok, it was our own fault, there's no denying it; the plot was coming down with weeds. However, we were in the mood to destroy and reclaim so things started off well.

This first bed with the legumes in it is giving me a little heartache. The climbing beans are doing well and we've had a good few dinners with them included so far.

The dwarf borlotti are happy enough but the broad beans - oh dear. They are not happy, not even the ones that were directly sown and seemed happier and stronger a few weeks ago. We had to pull some of worst ones out and saw that they hadn't even spread their roots out into the ground; they were barely in the ground. Plus those that were doing OK and had beans have had them eaten by birds or slugs or any one of the damned pests we have in our field. It's not looking good, apart from the one above which is only slightly damaged.

The sweetcorn and squashes are looking great though. I just love taking photos of them, such texture, colours and oh, those twirly tendrils. So much detail to get absorbed in and be in awe off.

Things were going great, I even spent 30 mins at the plot alone! But when Andrew had just got back from the landscaping shop with wood for a new path we were confronted with this! Thunder and downpours galore; we had quickly pack up everything, grab our potato harvest (which was great but I didn't get to photograph it) and to run to the car. Soaked.

The rest tomorrow, my loves
Carrie

More sweet little victories

single rose from 14b

I can't quite put into words that which this little scene it brought up within me, but there was something so beautiful about such a sweet and delicate bloom surrounded by harsh dead wood; twigs that will surely trip and tear at the fragile petals as it opens...

I spent a while looking for quotes on roses and they were all about thorns and such. Well I have news for you, news for the great and good writers of the past -- roses don't have thorns they have prickles!

The only other rose alive (barely) on 14b has been stolen, along with my huge and beautiful red oriental poppy. I knew I had to stop thinking of those plants left behind as no longer mine but boy, it hurt. It seems there has been a spate of pilfering going on, actual plants and trees tripped from the ground! It beggars belief and one particular friend has had a terrible time.

*****

Anyway MORE sweet little victories from the plots last weekend....

This is the 1st bed as you walk into our plot and at the moment it's my favourite. Here we have our legumes and first up are these beautiful tepee-ed climbing beans which are romping away. I simply adore the way they wind their way up the poles. As you can see, the plot next door is truly abandoned now - that grass is hell to my hay-fever, even with the medication. 

Beside the tepee are the Dwarf French Beans which are all doing great, bar one. No idea what has happened to it but losing only one is fine. (Unlike the courgettes seeds which had zero germination this year! No glut for us, which is strangely upsetting, haha). 

In the background you can see the Keter Eden bench is still going strong and we love it! The storage is full up of sheets, netting and Toby's necessaries. I'd say it was a great investment but I remember now I was given it for free, haha. Our water butt was full again and gave us enough water to do almost everywhere - they are great, couldn't not have one.

Last in this bed is the broad beans, two sowings, a few weeks apart; you can't have enough of them in our opinion! I love seeing the baby beans arriving on the first batch but yet also have the stunning like flowers next door - best of both worlds when you like to take photos and study the details. 

So the second bed is all full up now too....

Here we have the beetroot which is growing so well, too well; I think it maybe time to thin some out but in comparison too the carrots, of which there are only 4, I'm reluctant to remove anything just yet, haha. The parsnips just gave up the fight, there was one I think and Andrew put it out of it's misery and replaced the row with some very happy spring onions. Then at the weekend he planted the leeks out. Then had been sown in a pot at home and had some very feisty roots trying to escape and plant themselves by the time he put them in these sweet rows. I see there is a piece of slate there, I'm hoping that is going to be a future etched 'Leeks' sign - nudge nudge Andrew..

So that's pretty darn good for two beds 😊 

* Today's blog was brought to you by coffee, sweet coffee and the musical jams of Mr Stevie Wonder. Sadly my coffee buzz has worn off now so I shall leave it there for now. 

* I am hoping to harvest the red gooseberries tonight and do something with them.. I'll let you know how it goes

Much love and happy July - where is this year going!?

Carrie

Okay, the truth

I hope I have made it really clear that I try to do my gardening as a form of therapy (which I call allotmentherapy and my Dr's have started calling it that too; next stop the Oxford English Dictionary! hehehe); it's a way in which to connect with nature and overcome my depression and anxiety even for a little while. However it is not a panacea! and hasn't been working for me at all recently.

That's why on this blog, you don't get an awful lot of super useful advice about when and how to do this or that, and what varieties of fruit or vegetables are the best (I think that would be very impertinent of me anyway, as you're soil and climate conditions would be different to mine). The joy is finding out what works for you and sharing our trials and tribulations and indeed our successes!

Well the last time I wrote I indicated that I was having problems and since then those problems have gotten worse. Our allotment gardens are so neglected, so huge, wind swept and honestly, just depressing. That is, they are to me and have been for a few good weeks or, let's be truly honest here...months. I haven't even been reading other blogs on gardening never mind thinking about this one for which I have so much love. Andrew has been the one going and trying to stay on top of harvest gluts and bolting veg whilst also trying to guide me through this deeper period of depression. Poor guy.

So today I went. It was damp and empty and we just about got some jobs done before the sky starting crying (lol). Harvesting, composting the sweetcorn, now finished, and a general tidy up. I think that hour was enough for me and I could not cope being on 14b, the sooner we move things out of there and just train our focus on one half plot, the better.

Super quick update
Our kidney bean shaped bench had been stolen :( But the Green Beans are still going strong (I'll talk about them in another post), the parsnips look really healthy, the amount of squashes is smashing, we are getting blueberries (praise be to Zeus, finally) and raspberries and our apples, plums and pears are all....weird (like secret underground layer genetic experiment kind of weird!) Everything else is just ticking along super-ly apart from some of the chard which is bolting but c'est la vie....

I really need to take many more photos but, I guess it will take time...

I've been through these periods many times before and I bounce back so I hope you will stay around and maybe even say hello. A huge thank you to those of you who have sent private emails too! I have been waiting for the right things to say but as each day goes by and I still don't feel quite myself, I fear I have become rude...

Namaste friends and may you be having a better time than me and fond memories of the summer just passed.

Another catch up, this time, it's 14b

I have tried to write this post a few times now and the words just haven't been flowing. I know I'm not well yet again today but there is also a funny block when it comes to writing about this plot and I have only just realised that. It's so stupid, but then again so much about having mental health problems can feel stupid, so it's also very real. Plot 14b is still new to me (though we acquired it in May 2009), it's more open and I feel exposed, naked and a bit uncomfortable over there even though it's where my beautiful flower bed is. There isn't a proper wind break border between us and our neighbours or anywhere to hide, like under the pergola, in the shed or under the fruit arch as there is on 24a.

14b is right by good old 24a at a diagonal - here is a fabulous drawing by me to help you visualise. I drew this with my tongue sticking out so you know it's good, lol. Oh look, a ruler, now why didn't I use that and do it all to scale? Answer: I'm a free form artist, Andrew is the scientific one in this house.

Click to enlarge. I feel it is  now wonderfully clear, hahahaha

Anyway here's a little update as to what is going on. I didn't spend much time there for reasons I have explained but boy, it is productive and quite beautiful, if I may say so myself :)

These are our Purple Podded Peas send so kindly by Celia of..Purple Podded Peas :)

We haven't really got stuck in to them yet as the other peas are finishing up now and we don't want to waste anything but I reckon this weekend will be a PPP festival in the mouth :) Aren't the flowers that they have utterly gorgeous?? They remind me of the Sweet pea, 'Cupanii' that's my favourite but we forgot to plant this year.

 

 This is my flower bed - I am rather proud of this and it has supplied me with beautiful fragrant flowers in the house AND the bees and butterflies love them especially these -yellow Elecampane. This plant came up from Co. Kerry from my best friend Rosie - look at it now Rosie! (indulge me these photos Matron)

 

 Of course along with the flowers there are many other edible food stuffs. But ah haa - this allows me to throw in another flowery photo; the runner beans and climbing beans are there in the background scrambling up the home made wig-wams. The Runner Beans are lovely, not too long but oh so sweet and tender at the moment, the climbing beans are a little lackadaisical.  PLEASE ignore the weeds in this other bed, oh lord, the weeds are taking over in that plot . Here are our gorgeous Beetroot and Sorrel, we've been enjoying these so much, plus the Carrots and Parsnips which won't be ready for a while yet. This last photo is the Jerusalem Artichokes at the back of the plot - these make me happy as I love them and they are growing like crazy  beside 'The Trinty' of compost bins :)

 

I can't think of a title for this

I'm really confused, I have been for a good while now, words aren't coming easily, it takes ages to form a sentence and whilst I am doing that I am filled with frustration and anger at myself. I haven't been to the lottie, well yesterday I got as far as the car park and just had to sit there. I'm working from one sedative to the next and am desperately hoping that my psychiatrist will have some answers on Friday. I am freaking out right now - what I thought was a sudden burst of energy wasn't, it was a panic attack (I should know better), at least the en suite got a good cleaning..

So to be honest I don't know what is going on a the lottie. I haven't been reading blogs much. I know the asparagus is going to have to be lifted in the Autumn and we'll have to start again. I guess this should have been our own food we had for dinner a couple of nights ago - but at least it was British, in season and it was GOOD.

I know there was a heck of a lot of blossom everywhere and super tiny baby cherries, apples and pears etc are appearing. I have been told the cold frames are full to bursting. I watched with joy as these beautiful climbing beans germinated and got bigger everyday on the kitchen table and  these lovely Sweetcorn seedlings are the most lovely green  :) That grey blurry background is Maggie giving them a sniff before they left.

It's extremely windy and I did take a photo of the Queen of the Night Tulips but it doesn't do them justice, we need to get that wall painted and now Andrew has them all cut down anyway. We have loads of Rhubarb in the fridge (yay - Andrew is going to make more compote) and I had a couple of very sweet Ranunculus in the hall. Oh and the Nematodes are on their way it WAR my friends :)

I hope you are all well, I'll try to catch up with you soon. Hugs xx

* The Magic Hen *

No longer can I gripe, oh no! First off those rice krispie buns were the best ever and looking at the photos again reminds me how much fun we had - more simple baking will follow from this :) But also, my original gripe was all about a lack of seeds in my life and that is the case no longer - yipppeeee!!

Look what I received with a thud on the floor - a glorious packet containing more packages within, which each contained pure joy......seeds have arrived in the Gault household! This is all thanks to the most lovely, the beautiful, the terribly talented and gripe-removing Celia of Purple Podded Peas. God I think I love her, hahaha. I know I have been a fan of her blog for a long time and her artwork - wow! She is the Magic Hen and has provided us with a golden egg. (Very tenuous and clumsy link there to her shop: - Magic Cochin Emporium).

So what do we have here? well let's go clockwise from the top..

• Climbing Bean 'Lazy Housewife'
• Runner Bean 'Salford Black'
• Achocha
• Broad Bean 'Crimson Flowered'
• Coriander
• (and in the middle) Purple Podded Peas

The beautiful card is one of Celia's own designs and within it is a list of what to do with these seeds and when and how big they get :) It's a fab collection as we adore our beans and peas in this house (even Maggie has a thing for them) and we didn't save a single seed from our Coriander plants last season - eejits that we are. Then we come to Achocha, which I really do think has got to go in the 'my favorite words pot'; I have never heard of this before in all my puff so it should be interesting - hope you come along for the ride.

These were my favourites - Salford Black, I let them run through my fingers over and over, they felt so lovely.

You will also be proud to know that we planted up some tulip bulbs we found from last summer - spurred on by our gift. These are one of my all time favourites 'Queen of the Night ', I know they should have been planted in November but at least we did something with them, fingers crossed, haha. They ought to look like this and have done so for us before on the lottie and in our last garden....

Plus I bought myself these beauties and they are given such joy, right opposite me on the bookcase. Nothing quite like a fresh bunch of flowers to cheer you up (eh VP??)