Quick mid-week allotment attack

Andrew usually gets home from work after dark and at the weekends, as you know, we are hiking and then recovering and doing house stuff. Naively we always hope we'll get good weather for more than one weekend afternoon but this has yet to happen. So all this has lead to a slightly neglected plot. But *insert triumphant laugh here* no more my friends...

This week we were very lucky that Andrew could make it home a little bit earlier on Wednesday and we used the time to attack the plot. 40 mins of furious weeding and covering a bed in black weed suppressing membrane, tackling some of the paths, lifting produce and buying our new rhubarb crowns = an overwhelming feeling of success. So much so that as the sun disappeared we could be found in a local cafe with a coffee and a bun to celebrate getting stuff done.

Rhubarb
There wasn't time to move any of our rhubarb from the other plot (14b) that we gave up last year, sad times as whatever variety is was, it was thriving. This time round we have 2 varieties and we know their names, so we can be geeks and test out which one gives a better yield, ha ha; science.

 * Glaskins Perpetual  -  Sadly I can't find any information about Glaskins on the RHS website, anyone out there got it? Is it fabulous? I forgot to bring the plant tag home with me so I can't even read what the supplier says about it.

 * Victoria - Is mentioned on the RHS rhubarb page, phew. The information reads - 'Late, cardinal red stalks with flecking at top. Red flesh tinged green. Very thick stalks. Popular old variety.' 

Let's just hope that in time they give us lots of lovely rhubarb for crumbles and compotes and to share with loved ones - that's what it's really all about, right?

Beetroots
I also lifted all the remaining beetroots (boltardy) and brought them home, yummy! Obviously this photo is not 'in the field' as it were but today, when I thoroughly washed them. In the process of which I found two, yes 2 New Zealand Flatworms getting intimate, argh. Andrew 'dealt' with them quickly and let's just say, they are no more.

We also still have a huge supply of leeks in the ground.

So here's the 'after' photo and I look forward to clearing all the other beds. It's beginning to feel a bit Spring-y here (dare I say it) and we're starting to think about what seeds we need and where everything will grow this year. Walking around the field just a little we saw that many of the abandoned plots have been taken over and people have started to lay down plastic (including the one next door). Though it's sad to see some people we really liked give up, we welcome the newcomers and hope they know what they're in for!

Hugs
Carrie xx

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

An Allotment Reunion

What the bloomin' heck happened to February!?
I think someone stole mine; I remember so very little, I've lost time (anyone believe in UFOs?) There are some photos of me out hiking, hiking with Andrew and Toby and again with Andrew in the rain and such but apart from that, I think I slept. Seriously, I think I slept February away though I can see I read some good books - The Handmaid's Tail for instance. Anyway, it wasn't a good month and I can tell you, I'm glad March is here. The back garden has shown me some much needed hope in it's little blooms, that is something I remember smiling over, in the darkness.

But let us not dwell and instead talk of good stuff! We visited the allotment last Saturday what? - YES! We saw our land again after a very long absence and it didn't look too bad. I'm so glad we did all that work in the depths of winter, so cold and warming ourselves up with many a cup of tea. Apart from the field being a quagmire and the 'devastation' of Storm Doris (a little bit of our netting came down, it's nothing) it looks great, how surprising.

It's not that we fell out with the place but that the weather has been crappy and of course the field was never prepared properly and there is no drainage in place. This year, as last, we're absolute champions of the no dig system and we are going to sow direct as much as possible; in our 9 years at lottie owners we can't see that home sowing and planting out seedlings makes that much difference.

However, one thing we do plant out early is our garlic. We love our garlic and it loves us - 100% germination this year again. Aren't they just a happy sight standing like little soldiers all their rows.

Even had we wanted to do any work or even fork some wheelbarrows of newly delivered manure to the plot, we couldn't. The paths were sodden and these two very inadequate photos try to show. Look, even the slugs were being flooded out!

But TRUE JOY was to be found on 14b with our rhubarb patches. These young forced stalks had been so happy to get to the sun that they had pushed off the forcer lid :) We naturally took all these beauties home and I was supposed to make some of my compote and even some compote with ginger - but I've been a crappity mess so far this week. Poop.

There were also some purple sprouting broccoli plants that I reckon deserve a mention and these glorious little daffodils - what a happy sight.

Love and hugs
Carrie

So this weekend we are trying to go for a good hike and I'm not sure if we'll be at the lottie. This hiking lark has really given us a great joint hobby that's healthy and fun. It's just as, if not more, important than the lottie these days! x

Coming and Going

It was yesterday I thought of them. I knew where to look of course and under a fine layer of dead bamboo leaves I found them. Sweet, fresh green harbingers of Spring. They have burst forth from the darkness and exude hope, a reminder that warmer days and longer days are coming and we can make it through this cold, dark, dank period. We always do. But for someone like me, whose brain is heavily fogged with depression and confusion and all matter of clutter, the sight of these snowdrops is a powerful annual sign that I too can make it through another winter, another period of suffocating darkness.....

This is only a part of the hidden cluster you must walk around the tea house to get a glimpse off, but the effect is so magical. I look forward to them growing taller and flowering; that almost blinding white is forming inside.

It's a times like this that a William Peter Blatty quote always comes to my mind. In the midst of reading his book - The Exorcist, there are moments of pure reassuring peace amongst the horror and evil. This is one quote that truly lifts my spirits every time I read it and hope it goes down well with you....

It is also times like this that I wonder about the allotment and what jobs might need doing. It's fun to think of all the trees and bushes over there that look so dormant but are really working hard to rise the sap and withstand the cold. Soon there shall be buds on their branches and the joyous cycle begins again.

Not a great photo - sorry.

Already the rhubarb is growing strong and we have one crown under the forcing pot for that special treat of extra sweet branches. The beds are mulched with lovely compost and manure, no seaweed this year as it's just been too blasted cold to collect any. Andrew has already done a lot of pruning. I would like to think the garlic is poking through now too, but the weather is just too poor to go and check.

This month is truly for dreaming and planning; thinking about optimising your space, noting where raised beds need fixing, timbers replacing, looking at seed catalogues and remembering what worked for you last year. Enjoy! In no time the hard work shall begin.

******

I'm off on a holiday this week to the sunshine and other-worldly beauty of North Tenerife, time to take a break from the everyday and go climb a volcano or two. I look forward to the many different plants I hope to see, the incredible black sand beaches and the blue sky. We're booked into a small place in the middle of nowhere with hiking trails all around....

Hugs
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

Seedlings ahoy plus rhubarb and ginger compote

'Oh the weather outside is frightful...' with a chill in the air and regular rain/hail downpours; it's just plain miserable. But luckily the seedlings in the greenhouse are doing grand and all those little green dreams are coping well. The cold nights have necessitated a little bit of literal thinking and Andrew has deployed extra large tea lights (from Tesco) which burn for 8 hours; it's saved the babies on a few occasions by upping the temperature by a couple of degrees, compared to the shed.

leeks, broccoli, mangetout, purple sprouting broccoli, chard and cosmos

What a delightful sight it is out there with trays upon trays of tasty crops-to-be (more than pictured here). Plus I just adore how leeks germinate bent in half firstly and then growing tall :)

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

Due to such terrible weather I have been cleaning the kitchen and cooking! 

We are really trying hard not to waste any food this year and gluts will be tended to more creatively this year. Today I made a rhubarb and ginger compote. It follows the same recipe as my plain rhubarb compote but with a little twist. Making it tangy with a touch of heat :)

* instead of the half cup of orange juice - I added 2 teaspoons of diced ginger (in it's own syrup) and

* instead of the half cup of brown sugar - I reduced it to a quarter.

Rhubarb and Ginger Compote

making delicious rhubarb and ginger compote

Later I shall also be tackling the leek glut by simply cleaning, chopping and bagging them up individually to be frozen. I just learnt today that they do not need to be blanched first :)

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

Plain Rhubarb Compote

Andrew made a lot of rhubarb compote last year to help deal with the immense glut we had. His was spicy ginger and gorgeous and I shall make his and this in various other forms I'm sure before the season is over.

This recipe is just plain and came from a lovely blog called 'Simple Bites'.. from which there is a great list of things you can add it too to make dishes taste even better.

N.B. Sterilising jars:
Wash in hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Place in an oven that is at 140 Celsius for at least half an hour. Turn oven off and allow to cool a good bit.
Do not ever put hot jams or compotes into a cold jar - there is a risk the glass to crack! :O

*  Chopping rhubarb for me isn't the easiest task as I have permanent double vision. So I split my stems in two, hold them together and slice as finely as I can then finish off with a mezzaluna. 6 cups full!!

* All ingredients in the pot, time to boil then simmer....

* Boiled mixture, now to simmer with lid on and again with lid off

* Lovely natural rhubarb compote. To add a redness to it you can put in a finely chopped beetroot (once you've grown them) or heavens...food colouring!

* The finished article - almost a litre.

Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins

I've been baking again so prepare yourselves friends for a heck of a lot of photos and another recipe card.

It was impossible not to do something with the first rhubarb harvest of the year (I have other ideas too) so I looked through a lot of recipes and decided on this one first, though as usual I changed it from the original as I went along. This recipe card has the steps which I think would be better than the way I did it.



So, I really do mean it when I say you really ought to get all your ingredients measured out and chopped etc before you start because I didn't and it was a nightmare of mess and confusion. I am not a calm and collected person in the kitchen!

Notes:

* Butter, Eggs - I use unsalted butter for all my baking, there really isn't that much in these (healthy?? hahaha). Always with the medium sized eggs too.

* Sugar, Milk - For spicy yummy things I always choose brown sugar for that more malty and warm flavour and for milk I use semi-skimmed, but you know; I think coconut milk was recommended for this recipe originally...that might be lovely.

* Vanila Essence, Rhubarb - Vanilla essence makes a difference, there I said it. I never used to use it but now it's not going to left out again; plus a bottle lasts for ages. Two cups of rhubarb is roughly the equivalent to 275g or approx 2 large stalks.

* Ginger, Flour - For this recipe I love crystallised ginger but I reckon stem ginger would be just as good but ooh so messy to chop finely! Then adding the ground ginger = yummy burny-ness. You must use self-raising flour for this or the muffins will be so heavy and dense even though you will already have added some baking soda!!

* Butter your molds or they just won't come out.

10 mins later...

Hugs and Love
Your Carrie
x

Rhubarb harvest / snippets of Spring

It has begun my friends - harvesting from the allotment has taken off already. The rhubarb wasn't forced this year or we would have been enjoying it earlier but the time has arrived and it was worth the wait. I have a couple of recipes I would like to try, fingers crossed this time I actually get further than getting the ingredients out and then having to dump them!

At the two half plots there are many signs of new life and tasty produce to come, it gives one the tingles :)

Left : Autumn Raspberries coming through and the Blackthorn hedge taking root and sprouting leaves

Middle : Just one of those amazing little 6 headed Daffodils I have been mentioning

Right : Beautiful fat buds on the Cherry tree, it's covered in them and the Garlic growing strong

******

Naturally we also have opened up the Gault seedling nursery and even after the incident with the mini greenhouse, our spirits are up and pretty much everything is doing well. They're all exciting to me so even if you log off now in boredom of my giddiness, I am going to show you  more seedling photos now.....well, loads of soil and maybe a few specks of green, hehe.

Top

 Left : One of 3 (so far!) Mangetout 'Oregon Sugarpod'

Right : The Dahlia 'Bora Bora' tubers are all doing good, this is just one

Bottom 

Left : 2 Kohl Rabi hiding in a corner of a big seed tray full of more waiting to burst through

 Right : One of many many Zinnia 'Jazz' babies (boy these grow fast!)

Love and Hugs
Your Carrie x

A Spring Clean

This story starts in the kitchen of our home, it starts with a shocking revelation - I couldn't make my fabulous recipe (as alluded to in this post) due to our ingredients cupboard being shockingly full of out of date items! I'm not just talking a few months out of date but years, some where from 2011! The shame is almost overwhelming but not really...

So no pumpkin scones, no wonderful reveal of how you can still have stored foodstuffs from the last harvest ready to be made into something delicious even in March *shakes head with such melancholy*

Aww well...moving on.

At the allotment we are still slowly but surely kicking ass on 14b and boy it feels great :) It's a hard slog but I love it; getting rid of weeds is my sort of my thing. Just look at how much better the summer raspberries look now without all the grass and thistles etc. Goodness the 'Tulameen' are going crazy (the ones closed to the camera) I don't know whether I ought to have cut more of the runners out but I had so many things I wanted to get done, like clearing the overgrown path too, still much to do, but it's better.

Then I turned 90 degrees to my right and decided this, this was the new enemy. It was really tough going and I was exhausted by the time I had gotten this far (which was 'home time'), but every huge weed and it's root system has been obliterated thus far :) Plus Andrew got some fine mesh net fencing up to try and help keep next doors' weeds out a little and give us some wind protection.

So home time it was and it had just started to rain as well so that always makes me feel better about leaving. Funny, we were there on one of the most settled days yet and only 2 other people were on their plots. It was only as we were leaving (cue rain) that a group of men arrived to tackle an overgrown plot....wonder if they stayed long.

Lucky for me I got some nice Springy photos at tea break time and again as I was packing up; Andrew got together our first harvest of the new year - Rhubarb! But that's all for next time xxx

Hugs and love
Carrie x