Soil and clouds

From the dark cold earth to the misty white clouds, the last weekend in January saw the first of our visits to the Allotment and the first hike of the year. What a year we have planned as well! The allotment is going to get some serious loving and our wee legs are going to do some serious walking - my new camera was gifted to me at just the best of times.

With renewed vigour we intend to smash this year of 2018 into shape and make a heck of a lot of good memories while we're at it. Of course there shall be the usual mental health monsters to slay each day but we can do this together and I am not ashamed to fail (now and then). It's the year of learning self care, exploring new places and of the rebirth of our wee plot. The 10th year of plot holding; the 20th year of us being in love.

* That 1st visit *

okay, it was very bleak but not too bad looking, right?

It wasn't as horrendous as we had feared - virtually no winter storm damage and the weeds had not succeeded in conquering every last inch of soil. Plus the shed was still there.

We had to plant our garlic and luckily the 'Andrew of November past' had thought ahead and left an area covered over in black membrane = gorgeous weed free soil to plant into.

back to basics - remember to plant your cloves a good hand span apart and not too deep

I found signs of hope all around our little half plot and here are just three ...
- the glint in Toby's eye (plus he was very good and quiet)
- new buds on the apple trees
- gorgeous red blueberry buds

And I was able to harvest leeks too, we have loads that I had forgotten about.

**********

* That 1st hike* 
Sunday started out so bad but there came a little moment in the afternoon where I just had to grab life by the shoulders and take control. I ran upstairs and got dressed; we left the house before I could even think about changing my mind. Off to Ballyboley Forest for a walk, in the rain. We literally drove up and up into the clouds and then walked inside them, it wasn't the most pleasant visit ever.

a very damp walk indeed and some shocking deforestation (forest service owns this area)

Andrew has a cool app on his phone that records all our hikes :)

It wasn't a long walk by any means but it was a good start after the holidays and all the sickness and snot we'd suffered. I had not thought clearly in my rush and thus had jeans on which got soaked and left me freezing but other than that we all kept good pace and took photos as well. Toby was just running back and forth all over (he walks at least twice as far as we do) but always came back when called - good boy.

So very glad I managed to get this published before the end of the month - though you can ask Andrew, I have been cussing away at the photo app I have to us - I'm always wanting to be better at everything.

Got your potatoes yet? We got Sharp's Express again - what's you favourite???

Love and 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

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

My bank holiday work (part 3 of 3)

I worked on 14b over this lovely elongated time off with my Hubby. We have been thinking again about keeping it *sigh, everyone rolls their eyes*. We've realised that without it we wouldn't have our pumpkin bed, or the rhubarb, blackberries, all the cut flowers we've invested in or room for that potager garden Andrew really wants now that the back garden here is finished etc.

So...
Tuesday 15th July
We still only really touch the lower half of the plot as the top half has the pumpkin patch and not much else to worry about. There had of course been some work done already but as I said yesterday, I didn't have my camera with me only my phone and the battery was hanging on for dear life. Hence, there are no photos of my work until Tuesday, which is fine by me as when you see the before and afters I do have here you may need a cup of tea to calm down :)

* My first task on Tuesday was to clear the poor roses and dahlias; I hadn't been over there in weeks and WOW! it was a disaster. All that lush green wasn't new happy growth on the plants as I thought, admittedly from a far, it was a weed infestation!

There is still more work to do along the left hand side but Andrew weedkiller-ed the rest of the back patch - I mean look what is right on the other side of the divide! It's simply a wild meadow over there and I just can't keep on top of all those seeds and weeds coming through! Arrgh. I hope this half plot gets a new owner soon.

* The next job was to tackle the very much failed summer raspberry bed. What a disaster - the newest canes didn't take and whatever disease they had attacked the other older summer raspberries and now we have just one plant and a few offshoots :(

then 

Utterly back breaking work but so worth it I hope, if nothing else it looks better than it did :) Those paths have weedkiller on them too, the grass and dandelions and thistles are so deeply rooted under the black membrane it would be impossible to ever be rid of them otherwise! I'm pretty sure it's organic weed killer so don't go writing nasty comments, ;)

* I also picked more, yes more, red gooseberries and made another batch of jam/jelly/ to put away. These plants are just givers alright, though I had to frighten a bird away from this one, he was only scavenging on the ground but I had things to do :)

I have lots of pretty pictures to show you of the flowers in the plots and stuff just around the place but maybe I've said enough over the past few days ~ don't want you getting too bored with me!

Love and hugs

Your

Carrie

Three day weekend - thanks St Patrick (pt1)

Saturday 15th March -

We visited Mamma G and Maggie got a cuddle and kisses. Those are her daffs too and look at that sky = gardening weather!

Then we went and got a few bits and bobs, such as these new flowers for 14b (and much more than this photo shows) and a new kettle for the shed - hurrah!! Hot drinks are back :) Now we can warm ourselves up after facing the N. Irish winds - bbbrrr.

* I strongly believe in buying flowers and even some vegetable seeds in these discount shops. Not everything has to come from a great nursery or a named supplier. We regularly get things for next to nothing and they turn out to be just as good. If you aren't looking for a certain type - I say go cheap and you may be very surprised. For example our spuds last year came from a nursery and some from a pound shop, different types but both extremely abundant when harvest time came.

Look how happy Maggie is and how shiny our new wee kettle is :) The sky was blue but there's usually a nip in the air, hence the jumper and need for tea. Earl Gray for Andrew and Three Mint tea for me...you are always welcome by the way and sometimes we even do coffee, plus you'll always find a biscuit or two :)

Okay, ready to go. These are the weekend's 'Before' photos. The 24a one will not shock anyone but I have until now, resisted showing you the unbearable shame of 14b. Maybe I should explain? Blush! Last year we decided were going to give up this plot and just sort of forgot about it, thinking we shouldn't waste anymore time there. The plots around it are so terribly neglected that the weeds from them had invaded ours and simply - we were miserable. But, during the winter we had ideas flowing and not enough room in one half plot to accommodate them, so.... It's an ugly duckling ready to bloom :)

Andrew kept going on 24a, getting rid of the last of the chard and mooli which had gone over and mulching everywhere liberally with horse manure. There were a great deal of times that I could have sworn that he was just standing there, doing nought, but I am assured in my heart that he was planning, always planning ;) Haha. 

Though it is true.... Had there been anyone else down there they may have thought he was a slave driver, but there wasn't, not a one in our field and the others looked empty too, to be frank. Kind of makes you mad...

Yes! I tackled and sort of conquered/ made a dent in 14b; got rid of the dead raspberry canes and I honestly don't know how many massive thistles and dandelion plants, not to mention the grass that had conquered the beds. Is there much better than getting the whole root of a weed out in one swift movement? :)

I did enough work to get really excited about and even lament home time; though I was exhausted and sleeping standing up. It's been a long time since I felt that strongly about the place and how we (Nature and I) were nurturing one another. I felt such love for my plots, my wee pieces (literally) of Eden.

The Allotment Gardens as a whole are a damnable shame and to my eyes, a failure. Poor infrastructure, lack of commitment, still poor access and a real need for strong leadership and rule reinforcement! I could rant for days but I shan't, instead here are the 'After' photos for Day 1 - I believe Maggie was quite happy with our progress :)

Hugs and love
LOADS more to come :)
Your

Carrie x

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!

*****

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