A happy explosion of growth at the lotties

Though I wasn't at the lottie too long on Tuesday (it's still blasted well cold here!), I did run around like a huge friendly burglar with my camera, capturing hope filled photos; bundling them up in my swag bag and running off home to enjoy and share :)

So here my lovely partners in hope pilfering (a new classification of crime, haha), I share.....

So many Blueberry flowers

Cherry Blossom and some tiny fruits

Garlic

potatoes doing well but we still need fleece on hand for frosty nights

peas being planted

baby broad bean



first green gooseberries

the mint plant that never dies :)

first red gooseberries

so many redcurrant flowers

just a little of the Jersualuem Artichoke plants

Honeysuckle

tiny alpine flowers - such joy

succulent and babies

Baby Scallions

Baby lettuce






Hope you like it - I am finding these photos and a few new ones of Andrew's potting shed seedlings quite uplifting - especially as there were many that Andrew feared weren't going to do anything and now they're flourishing. I'll post more photos but as for tonight - I am being looked at by a lovely bottle of Red Wine - yum ;)

And tomorrow we are off to the Garden Ireland Show - hurrah - first time for us :)

Summertime and the growing is easy

We haven't managed to get much done (make that nothing done, to be honest) at the lottie over the past days. The weather was bad then it was too good not to go to the beach after dinner and then we where away all weekend at a Wedding in Donegal. So there, excuses out of the way. I did on the other hand do some weeding in the back garden yesterday and gave the patio a good brushing *grins with pride*.

(N.B. a 'seasonal side salad' in one of Donegal's fancy Spa Hotel restaurants was.... Watercress - what!!!????)

But though we haven't been giving a whole lot of love to the lottie, she sure has been sending it our way. I picked 3 and half pounds of Blackcurrants last week, a pound and a half of Raspberries and about a dozen big, fat, perfect Strawberries (most of them had been partially eaten by birds - ggrrrr; it's bad enough that we lost a load to birds but for them to only eat most and not all, well that is just darned annoying!)

Then last night Andrew had a wee harvest for dinner and bought home a bounty of Broad Beans, Peas, Mint, Sorrel, Green Garlic and mixed Lettuce leaves. Oh and a beautiful bouquet of Sweet Williams, Roses and Carnations for his lovely wife (ie. Me, haha).

We sat outside and podded the beans and peas and then ate a Gault classic - beans and peas on toast (with pancetta, mint, lemon juice and sorrel), it was fabulous all washed down with non-alcoholic beer in the sunshine; happy times. It is nights like that and super fresh meals like that which make the soil improvement in the rain and bitter winds of winter all worth while :)

 

Hope your gardens and lotties are flourishing! xxx

Food, glorious food

I should be having my nap right now whilst Andy is at the lottie. I have a walk later, a trip to Tesco and then a late night taxi service pick up scheduled for my neice and her boyfriend. I am going to be tired and maybe even grumpy - oops...BUT I have to share some more of the delightful harvests we are having at the minute. Oh boy this is good stuff.

Okay we shared a Chinese take-away last night and yes, you may all point your fingers at me and say 'shame, shame on you' and shake your heads, I deserve it. However that badness aside we have been eating like super healthy Kings (erm King and Queen, I mean).

Apart from the delicious strawberries we had that I showed you earlier we have been continuing to eat a lot of fresh lettuces, seriously peppery rocket, lovely new potatoes, mint, super citrusy sorrel, very dill-y dill and lots of sweet and delicious broad beans. Feast your eyes my friends...

Oh we've had some great salads and risottos and tonight we also had our first beetroot. Oh how I love the beetroot, the smell when I walked into the house got me all a flutter. The taste (with the much loved brown sauce on top) was divine - a little bite of heaven. I love Allotments!!!

The potatoes have been eaten boiled, bashed about a bit with dill and rocket and some sea salt - I heartily recommend this. Give a taste, you won't regret it (for legal reasons I must point out that you may find in fact that you do regret it but I can not take the blame - your taste buds are obviously just faulty).

Off for that walk now and the hayfever meds seem to be helping a bit - today saw the highest pollen count in the UK and I didn't die - so, erm, that's good :)

To those of you how may be visiting me via Meredith's recommendation I heartily welcome you. Isn't she the best?? Namaste x