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.

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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

Obadiah, is that you?!

My skin smells of the earth and my body aches a little in that enjoyable 'I've worked hard' way. A great days work was achieved on the allotment today and I am blissfully sleepy now as it is starting to get dark. Maybe I should have a shower and shed the sweat and pollen from my body and hair, but this sofa is so comfy and the blanket is hugging my tired self. I don't think I could make it up those stairs.

There is a soft smile across my face as I think of Andrew, still working there. He's building me a hide away with screening and climbers so I can feel more comfortable over there. It seems to give him endless joy, trying to make me happy and also woodworking outside.

His efforts are so greatly appreciated and the peaceful corner is coming on so well.

I cut away our musty old diseased honeysuckle today. It was a lot of work but yet so rewarding. That poor plant was only a tiny baby when we put it in the ground to grow up the fencing. But it never did well and was too restricted, prone to all diseases and took up much desired room. Yes it was vigorous and had many flower clusters but each one was infested with aphids and had begun to smell. The rose is going too - it's got the worst, most vicious thorns.  But, on to newer and better things!

May I just also point out the Felco secateurs are fantastic, if you don't have a pair you need to make hints for birthday or Christmas!

The weather has confused our little turnips and at home, our rocket, as they have bolted. However everything else seems happy and those things most recently planted have settled in well. Naturally the weeds are continuously happy and procreating like crazy but I have a better handle on it now. Well I keep telling myself that!

Fun facts ~

* I stopped and dropped everything, because I felt the strong urge to do yoga
* My jeans finally ripped, in doing said yoga, haha!

* We meet up with our frog friend Obadiah who had managed to get himself into a little bottle - he got out again. He seems to like the slate garden and compost area a lot.

Love and hugs
Carrie

Starting over or...

* Personally - I've been falling down a lot (metaphorically) recently and the allotment has not been a place of much therapy; life has seemed harder and more cruel in the past days, especially at the weekend and I just feel I would rather sleep all the time than have to face reality.

BUT...still I get up every day and I try. I try to read, to clean, to be alive to the beauty in the world.

* In Allotment terms -  The work on 14b has well and truly begun. Andrew has decided this is going to be his challenge and he's already made a lot of headway. You know I have been so ashamed of the place that never a photo is taken but this is where we are at at present. (Well, after I took this the apple tree was disposed off too and the digging began).

top of 14b - the big cultivated area is where the squash bed was, the rhubarb will be staying 

I'll get Andrew to draw me a 'proposed plan' for the space; I'll share it when he gets round to it.

Stunning sunflower on 14b

I think it's all down to Autumn, that time of year when there is work to be done; that sort I like to call 'constructive deconstruction'. There are plants to be lifted, finished crops to be cleared and bare soil is once again seen, leaving us with fresh thoughts of the future. Composting goes into overdrive with all the last grass cuttings and plants now past it; this is the time we get horse manure from the stables and everything seems to take on a glow, a radiance that suggests yes winter is coming but with cosy nights and chances to dream. The fact that the compost heap is warm to the touch is quite magical too.

Horse manure on left, general compost heap on right with compost bin in front (why?...I don't know)

The early nights are coming in and the skies recently have been beautiful, we've seen a few from the plots, whether we are still working there or simply taking Maggie for a walk. We're also eating those delicious pumpkins and lots of beetroot - growing your own ties you into the seasons and these food stuffs feel like such a treat right now.

Our turnips were a bit of a disaster and we let them get too big, too woody and bug eaten. I lifted them all and said goodbye. I have to say though that it was a joy to see that area cleared and I got all those blasted big weeds too. As we look back over the year, we are learning (we are always learning) about the space we use for various crops and how 2 courgette plants are more than enough for us, we need to grow less potatoes too as we have had way too many, soft fruits do not work well for us (though we have a plan) and we really want to try asparagus again...see, the bare soil can be exciting.

Really disgusting rotten turnip; a whole wheelbarrow of unuseable turnips; weeds and a sneaky carrot!

before and after

I shall add my photos now, I think I have waffled enough. It's simply one of those days were I so want to talk to you but my mind is just wandering. In the next days I will have some little vignettes from around the field too, I hope you stay tuned for that.

Maggie laughing :)

Love and hugs

Your Carrie

Working hard (November)

Thanks for your patience. I really appreciate the comments too, they really do add rays of hope and love to my life and give me a little more energy to fight - sort of like those video games where you get an extra life. I love you dear readers xx

These photos and developments are from a very cold and very very desolate day on the plots in November when EVERYONE else in the allotmenting world seemed to be more clever than us and had staid at home, warm and comfortable. Well, that was until we got started and then realised that no, we were the clever ones and we had the whole place to ourselves and the birds and if you work hard and steady you warm up soon enough and get stuff done :)

* So the top of 24a...and the tree fruit arch, humm, what's happened to the trees?! *

Yes the 6 trees at the arch (2 apples, 2 plums, 2 pears) all had to go; they were all sickly and the fruit wasn't ripening or even, in some cases looking at all normal. They were too crushed, there wasn't enough nutrients to go around and we were over ambitious and naive. But that is another true joy about gardening ~ you never, ever stop learning and the plot is a constantly changing, evolving place.

They weren't easy to get out. Andrew naturally did the hard bit whilst I removed all the wine bottles that had edged our lovely little shaded path through and under the arch. Goodness, there were two rubble sacks full of glass - I think it would be least embarrassing if we took them to the recycling place in smaller batches!!

Way back in July..

Anyway, I left Andrew to his work - digging out and then digging over single digging/bastard trenching and adding loads of goodness as he went, just like the last post. Goodbye path! Hello 2 very exciting new trees...

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I tackled this bed. It was a joy - loads for the compost and boy I love weeding. The soil was just perfect for getting those long tap roots from those blasted dandelions out ~ the whole thing in one go = *shudders of joy* Sadly, as with every single bed I didn't come across a single worm :( The New Zeland flatworm infestation we had a few years back has done terrible damage! Now I haven't seen one of those in a long time either which is great, but then, there isn't anything for them to eat...I am seriously considering a day were I guerrilla steal worms from roadside verges (hehehe). Don't worry I have a vis vest ;) ...

This is where I got to before home time; all those parsnips are huge and gorgeous looking - roll on Chrimbo dinner! The turnips were tossed on the compost as they were tiny and weren't going to grow anymore this year...the beetroots were lifted a few days later and pickled but shhh... Christmas pressies ahoy! Looks yum.

This is where Andrew got too before said hometime - see the way the whole field was becoming enveloped in a misty cloud? That cloud was cold and damp and rain was a-coming!

Oh but we went back since and there are more photos and stories to share - "hurrah!" I hear you exclaim. See you soon xxxx

Namaste

To err is to garden

Hello *shy wave* it's been a while and I feel very much out of practice. I haven't been a good allotmenteer this year at all, in fact I have been shameful to be honest and Andrew has done pretty much everything. I have shown you all my work but looking back it was pretty pathetic and as I watch Monty talk away about a new year to come, I have a new resolve - I will work harder. There I promise it, more than just said it, I wrote it down and published it for all the world to hold me to!

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We went to the lottie on Monday and picked some delicious crops as shown below...
Turnips, Mooli, Beetroot

But the big thing about 24a wasn't the usual great root veg (we are lucky or is it luck when Andrew works so very hard on improving the soil and I weed until I can't bare it anymore?) that we harvested and those which are still in the ground, just look at all these parsnips and leeks....yummy; no the big thing was the fruit tree arch.

There is still an arch but no trees, not a one. It was a mistake, a learning experience, it didn't work, okay! The pears didn't fruit, the apples had terrible scab and the plums were mutants. Basically the trees were too close together and there were beds right beside them too where those roots had been running to to try and find nourishment that wasn't there.

Sad yes but I choose to see it as a new start and new ideas are constantly bubbling away in Andrew's head. I have heard lots about step over fruit trees for example....I do hope you will hang around and share the adventure with us.

I shall return, I have 2 book reviews to talk about and of course I will tickle plans and drawings out of Andrew to share with you. As for now, beer is calling and my sewing awaits as we sit in front of the tv resting before a return to work on the lottie tomorrow. Wish me luck friends, the weeds, dear help us all, the weeds.....

Namaste

Have I told you lately that I LOVE you??

Here is what I would show you if you came to visit us this weekend. My favourite things in the allotments at the minute, my loves, this weekend is all about LOVE.

1st you would see the Welcome sign and the pretty flowers on the shed :)

2nd I would show you my honeysuckle, it smells amazing!

3rd We would dander down to the fruit arch for some shade (for naturally it would be a sunny day) and we would have a lolly each :)

4th Maggie would give you a rose because she's big softy

5th You would get to pick broad beans with me and come home and have a lovely fresh, zesty risotto :)

Or 6th You could pick some turnips, potatoes (check out that weird one which is two grown into each other) and some super tasty green garlic...

little 'Purple Milan' turnips are the best ever!

But 7th you see, I probably won't be there....I'm all lovey dovey you see .... on Sunday I shall be married to my bestest friend ever for 7 years. So on Saturday we are going to have a lovey dovey day and go to a fancy restaurant that night and on Sunday, another lovely dovey day and a trip to the museum (and then the lottie).

 Happy Anniversary Andrew  -  love you more each day

xxxxxxxxxx

A good boast at 24a; weeds out - plants in

Okay, okay, I was a bit ranty in the last post, sorry. Sometimes I think you just need to get some issues off your chest and I feel much better and much more positive now, so thank you for indulging me.

I am going to be much more cheerful this time as I have happy photos and good raves about 24a (don't talk to me about 14b, that is being tackled tomorrow!) After a bad start to the year things really do seem to have caught up and the plot is filling up rather nicely thank you :) I'll start off with the fruit arch (cause I am super duper proud of it) at the bottom of the plot. Oh my lordy! the trees are doing so well this year, I think they have finally established and we have apples, pears and for the very first time, plums all set and growing!!! I hope we actually get some of each, it's been an impatient wait so far. The arch is now covered and if we ever get a really sunny day ever again, this is where you'll find me, in the shade - pale and interesting is the look I'm going for (I simply do not tan!)

And up beside the fruit arch is the Summer Raspberry patch - oh my, they are so heavy with fruit, though not one is ripe yet... I'm tapping my toe waiting.. however they are incrediblly healthy and a metre away there are new plants growing in the main path which I had to rip out - they're like a weeds those plants! They and the Blueberries growing behind them are going to have to be made bird proof - I am not sharing them this year again, in fact I blasted well didn't get 1 blueberry the past 2 years, grrrr.

The Cherry tree  ('Stella') has loads of fruit this year too. It did last year though to be fair and then it all got a bit too warm one day and they all fell off, to say I was disappointed is an understatement, I remember just standing there staring at the ground with my heart in my throat (honestly, it's daft but I was tearing up). I am trying not to get too excited but it's really hard - for goodness sake I have a Cherry Blossom Tattoo, my photography bussiness is called Cherry Blossom Tattoo - I bloomin' love all things Cherry! (apart from Cherry Coke but that's just because I hate Coke)...

The Garlic!!! Happy??? Heck yeah! This time last year it was looking good but there was rust, this time, no rust!! They just keep getting better and better - 'Gault's Wight' I call them, but then I am a total geek :p (This photo is almost a month old now - they look so fabulous now, I can't believe I forgot to take a pic!)

We (and by that I mean Andrew) had a terrible time trying to get Sweetcorn to germinate this year but in the end we have enough and have planted them out 2 sister style ~ Sweetcorn and Squash (under plastic bottle cloches) together as is our way :) Fingers crossed, I do adore corn on the cob. There is going to be a huge squash bed over in 14b as usual but I'll talk about that some other time.

Spuds are still doing great - we had to keep the fleece at hand though but this weather is so messed up but if the earlies I dug up last weekend are anything to go by, we should have a great crop (I'm pretty sure they're 'Sharp's Express' here). We also have second earlies in too ('Estima') - looking healthy.

I thought this was interesting...on the left are leeks that were sown in March, on the right ones that were sown in April - can you see a difference?? If anything the newer ones are stronger and a richer, deeper green colour - just goes to show, you shouldn't worry about getting everything planted, nature will catch up, she has her own rules!

Well my lovelies apart from all that there are great hanging bunches of redcurrants on every plant, little healthy rows of turnips and parnsips and lovely looking lettuces and spring onions. Just don't mention carrots to us, it's a touchy subject......

I think I have waffled and boasted enough - I'm off for a nap :) xxxx

Neeps and leeks

The world doesn't stop just because you're sad or a person passes away. Thats the cruelty of Mother Nature and her blessing. We need to keep going, living our own rich adventure and experiencing all we can (good and bad) along the way. I will think often of Bobby and miss him. But where he here, he would be unstoppable in his enthusiasm about the allotment, especially at this time of year. He would have Shelia's head turned talking about plans and Ronnie driven mad with rebukes about his smoking (it is bad for you and I guess you would get more done down there x).

So in that spirit I return to blogging. Life goes on.

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We haven't been able to do a damn thing. Grrr! This weather is horrible and for some reason it gets worse at the weekends ~ what's that all about??!! We have things to plant, soil to prepare, picnics to eat.

Andrew has built the frame work for another cold frame but as it isn't finished I won't show you it yet and I'm not about to go out in that freezing rain and wind to take a photo of it away, even if it was finished, hahaha. He's also sorting out his seeds and writing lots of stuff in his little Moleskin book; I've said it before, he's the gardener, I am merely his apprentice.

We have instead been continuing to enjoy to fruits of our labour from last year. Leeks galore and boy are they huge. Plus we've rediscovered the joy of turnips. A good while back we harvested the lot and stored them in sand, in an old wine box and put them in the cold darkness of the storage bench. Well lo and behold if they aren't the best preserved, tasty wee firm yum veggies. 'Purple Topped Milan' ~ you just can't beat them.

November (ignore the coke bottle - it can be thirsty work this allotmenteering lark)

Last nights dinner - yum!

Little manly Neeps

A headless chicken, that's what I am at the minute, a feckin' hen without a head running in circles about to collapse and go bye bye. I'm having yet ANOTHER f-ing panic attack and it is killing me. I've taken a sedative but I am quite maniacal and have vacuumed the whole house in the past 10 mins and tided up and got washed myself. I am going to have a break down, I'm serious, I've been having loads for weeks and there ain't nothing any of my Dr's can do but tell me to stay calm and take sedatives if I need them. I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING MAD. I'm not afraid to say that, I am not ashamed to be ill, just desperately, totally overcome with sadness and frustration. And panick.

So, as you can turn to another wonderful blog or tut at my self pity, or get annoyed that this girl is talking about herself like this again; I can write here without worrying about upsetting anyone and without hearing the disappointment in your voice, seeing the confusion on your face, hearing your questions that I don't have answers for.

I want to talk about normal stuff and I have photos I'd like to share. It's about Turnips and Leeks, wonderful grow our own produce to boast about.

I need to take a deep breath...

Right, 'Purple Top Milan', quite possibly the prettiest, peppery-est, easy to grow turnip I know. (I don't know many, this is the one we grew last year as well as this year again; my knowledge is thus limited.) Oh it is one of those veggies that just wants to grow, they push each other out of the way just to prove some point about how 'I want to grow more than you do, get out of my way, I mean it, I'll grow round you sucker!, this bed ain't big enough for the both of us'. Thus:

Well, they were all ready, the ones that you pull out, obviously leave a little room so the ones left behind sprint on - this bed has done us proud. (I see them as feisty Italian men, with too much testestrone, just a thought.) However, too big and they aren't as tasty so it was time to harvest the lot. We didn't need them right away so, after watching Gardeners' World we decided to store some in sand. Now luckily Mamma G happened to have some sand, (so thank you to her) and we had a gorgeous wine box = turnips topped and tailed, wiped with a cloth and allowed to go to bed. Thusly:

It was pouring out of the heavens by this time - hence the soaking wet sand but it'll be fine. They're stored in the dry safety of the shed and should hopefully last us a wee while.

1st yummy harvest of the new season!

Turnips!! I love them.

We've grown loads more of the fabulous 'Purple Top Milan' again this year and we are not disappointed, they're doing well and we had our first harvest on Sunday. The first thing apart from stinky cabbages, which neither of us like, (why grow things you don't want to eat??) that we have lovingly and excitedly plucked from the ground and gobbled up. Oh, so yummy and there are lots more where they came from. We even had to resurrect the harvest basket, yippeee!

They are just heavenly roasted with a selection of other tasty veggies and I personally like a little brown sauce or indeed recently BBQ sauce with mine. Not too much because the peppery flavour of these is divine. Actually roasted and put in with other veggies into couscous is the best ever, no sauce required- I'm getting hungry now!

Anyway, HOORAH, if there is one thing guaranteed to cheer you up, it's eating something you've grown yourself. There are lots of other plants putting forth their produce too at the moment but I haven't loaded the photos onto the computer, duh!!! I'll show off a bit more tomorrow, hehe.

Plus I found a new game ~ 'Find the Cheeky Nasturtium before the Hubby does'; they are coming up all over the place, not that I mind but it's not making Andrew very happy!

There are about 6 more different photos but if I put them all up Andrew will work out where they all are!!!!

Here's one that even tried it's hardest to grow out of the compost bin, hahaha.

Tonight is Committee Meeting night so Andrew will be off for goodness knows how many hours, talking over and over points and jumping through hoops and cutting through red tape nonsense - I have the beer in the fridge for his return.