Turf Stack Destroyer!

Ah, yes, the turf stack. This was formed way back in April when we were removing turfs in order to build our raised beds. They all went over into the corner and had black membrane put over them. Over time we used it as a bed/sofa, have had Pumpkins growing out of it and now it was time to get what good top soil there was out of it. We want the space to move the holy trinity of compost bins over there and get another bed in.

Let's just take a moment to look back at April while I'm on the subject........


How far we've come. (Okay, these are a little misleading - Andrew was there too, working very hard).

So anyway, I was starting to feel like I really wanted to go home on Saturday, remember I wasn't having a good day (depression wise) and I had just fallen, like the eejit I am! But Andrew suggested the turf stack, knowing how I have a lust for destruction, as much as one for growing etc. I got into that stack with the spade and started hacking away like a crazy murderer of soil! It felt GREAT!

Now to the exciting part..... Andrew made a Riddle. We had been given an old fridge basket by Anne (my sister-in-law) and had some chicken wire in the shed. Tie up the two components together and what do you have - an eco-friendly soil sieve! Andrew was in charge of that creation and I dumped spade loads of soil into it. After a good riddle (shake those hips Andrew!) we had beautiful top soil in our wheelbarrow (including lots of worms) and little bits of clay left behind; these we 'dumped' in the hedgerow - it does no harm and will cover over with grass in no time. We worked at that for about 1 hour and made a bit of a dent but more importantly I was in a better mood.



Then came the glory of picking our own food. A lovely box (I forgot the usual basket) of 5 Lettuces, 8 Scallions, 9 baby Carrots and a Leek. Then home, as the sun was in fact setting by this time and it really was COLD. Maggie was even shivering in her little jumper and coat. But look what we went home to, (after Andrew made it) looks ridiculous - tasted great.

All of it grown on our very own plot A24a, though that was the last of the potatoes which is quite sad.

The Adventures of Carrie

So to more of Saturday.

I dandered off on my rounds of moseying around other peoples plots. Of course I took the camera and made my way over to Field B, as I missed it out last week. On the way I noticed this excellent little cabbage patch, James' flourishing green manure and Bobby's Adorable shed and water butts etc all painted and looking lovely.

Into Field B then and what should I see but Uncle Jim's Greenhouse, broken, dead, in a pile on the floor - R.I.P. The storms during the week had sent it on a holiday across the plots before ending its short life. I don't think it ever even got to grow anything within it. Sad.

Elsewhere, things were looking quite good (if you know where to look, that is). Donald/Douglas (only joking!) has an insect hotel (5* if you ask me) and I went over to take a picture. Very inspiring, I hope he gets the array of helpful friends he is accommodating for and that frog he wants so much. It's an adorable set up, don't you agree?

This is pretty much my favourite shed on the whole site. It belongs to Ricky and he built it himself. It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie or something and I love those over sized roof tiles. I think it may even have a little stove inside, going by the chimney. I just love it and its little picket fence panels.

Elsewhere there was evidence of fresh soil cultivation, plot tidy ups and last-of-the-season crops. Even the died back corn stalks looked pretty in the late afternoon light.

On the way back to our own Lottie I fell. Yes, me, who goes on and on about being safe and taking it slow on the mucky paths. I fell. Luckily, it was only one leg that went from under me but boy was it a shock and the cold wet mud was stinky and took ages to dry in the cold, damp day. Something in it smelt great to Maggie though, she ran over to me and couldn't stop sniffing my knee and even licked it!

Anyway, back at good old A24a (and after a coffee, de-caff) Andrew and I decided the time had come to tackle the old turf stack and to get our harvest in - but that's for tomorrow.....

Planting the Raspberries

First thing I did when we got to the lottie on Saturday was check my baby Broad Bean seedlings - oh, they look great - don't they look great! I think they look great.

Andrew and Maggie were a little less excited than myself - can't understand why. I think Maggie was just plain COLD and Andrew was busy doing 'manly' stuff: we had a leaky window seal - so he fixed it - just like that, fixed.





Then we got down to work - well, Andrew did, planting the Raspberry canes. I flitted about looking at stuff growing and taking the usual million photos of everything that doesn't move. As the Hubby prepared the ground etc., I was over the moon to see that, finally our Garlic had begun to sprout, it took a little bit of staring like a mad woman before I saw the glorious shoots through my cat barrier of bramble twigs, but when I saw them I let out a little yelp of joy. In amongst all this dying back and end-of-harvesting, it is great to see new life. Also, through the poly-tunnels I can see little baby carrots doing well, scallions doing brilliantly and in the other tunnel I harvested about 5 nice lettuces.

But back to Andrew and his 'Joan J' exploits. The ground here had been well prepared over the last month and Andrew only needed to dig out a nice big trench for the canes. The soil was lovely. He carefully pulled apart the roots of the 6 canes from each other and laid them down roughly where they were to be planted. Then a short 'looking' break. Happy with placement, they were planted, watered, the tops cut back and a lovely layer of mulch put over the top. Eh, viola, the permanent bed is shameful no longer! I have high expectations for these girls - I want fruit galore - my inner Domestic Goddess wishes to make her own jam (and therefore become a 'real' woman/allotmenteer). Fingers crossed everyone.


Also, don't forget, in time.....(open this pic up)

A special delivery

On Friday past (28th Nov) Andrew was home for lunch in between appointments. It was rather good timing as we got our long awaited for delivery of Raspberry canes from Dobies of Devon. Only the 2nd thing we have ordered off the Internet for our beloved lottie. I have the wonderful unfolding of the event captured for your viewing pleasure....

They are bloomin' great looking plants (variety 'Joan J' and are therefore Autumn fruiting) and tomorrow, when I talk about what work we did at the Lottie on Saturday, I can show you them in their new home as well. Raspberries (and blueberries and cherries) are my favourites, so I have high hopes for these 6 fellows : fruit, jam, cakes - yummy.

The bag they came in will also be recycled into our next potato crop bag ~ we just finished the last of our 'Maris Pipers' from August on Saturday, I'm quite sad about that.

The crushing nature of depression

My dear GOOF'S (Grow Our Own Followers) I must apologise for my lack of blogging prowess... I am truly being suffocated by depression these days and have no oomph at all. I did desperately try to upload my video of the lottie yesterday but it just wouldn't work - Sorry, I'm sure you're upset, hehe.

Here is the lovely produce we collected on Saturday past though

More Pak Choi, the last of the turnips, a leek, 2 parsnips and loads of Beet Spinach. Apart from the Pak Choi, which we had in a stir fry on Sunday - the 2nd Picture shows a totally lottie dinner from Saturday night, with the now complusory HP sauce dollop in the center. YUM.

We also had a raspbery each - Okay, not a big harvest from this plant this year but I have hope and the 10 or so we did get were excellent.

Socks of Good Fortune

I had a feeling on Saturday that it may be a good visit - I thought this because I realised, while putting on my wellies, that I was wearing my favourite socks. I was to be proven right.....

To begin with the brand new beds in Field C have been marked out - lots of squares and posts with numbers on them - oh, I am looking forward to more sheds, more crops, maybe more cute n' crazy kids! This is brilliant, I just hope they know what they're getting themselves in to - hard work, that's what, hehehe.


And in our Field, A1 has now got 3 very sturdy looking raised beds made and set in one corner. Glad to see that, always thought A1 ought to be a good example to us all - maybe it will flourish from now on. Fingers crossed.

Then, on our own dear lottie, my Broad Beans had germinated. Hoorah - I love those little green shoots like they were my children. (Though I also can't wait for them to grow up so I can eat them - and that isn't my philosophy on 'real' children - just to clear that up!) Look at them, aren't they glorious, I put it down to Andrew's lovely safe environment of a Cold Frame. Then on leaving I also spotted my crazy primroses STILL flowering away; they haven't stopped since they were put in at the end of Spring, surely that just isn't normal!

Tomorrow I shall talk (and show) the bountiful harvest we collected - maybe this was also down to the socks - we shall never fully understand their power.......

Update on path - already!

I wrote an e-mail directly to the head of the Parks & Countryside Development sector of our Local Borough Council, after uploading my latest blog-ette on the Path issue. And lo and behold I got a personal e-mail back within 20 mins of sending my own. I was/am impressed.

Power to the people! my friends - both the official Committee letter on this problem and mine (eek) are going to be presented at a council meeting on the 5th December. The budget for the Allotments has totally run out but we will have to keep our fingers crossed that there is some Christmas spirit in that meeting and we will be granted our wish of better access.

I'll keep you posted.

The Lottie Path (take 2)

This wee video is just 1 min long - check it out.....Okay this isn't great - no Stephen Spielberg am I. But at least you'll get the idea. It was taken on Saturday before the really nasty weather hit - goodness knows what it's like now! Eek. I didn't even go on Sunday morning because I was a little too nervous.

There'll be another (better) video later in the week - of our plot. Bet you can't wait.

I don't believe it!

The reason I chose potatoes for my weekly Focus on... was due to the Poland Holiday and all that Vodka!!!
I have found a pretty informative website for you on the delight that is Vodka:
http://www.polishexpress.co.uk/art,world_of_polish_vodka,635.html
Fear not, it is written in English. Our favourite was the Bison Grass one (nothing to do with potatoes funnily enough!)~ Żubrówka, we brought some home but it's dangerous stuff so we haven't opened it yet!

Focus on... Potatoes

This is going to end up being massive if i'm not careful. The basics will be discussed here and links profided (as usual) for those of you who can't get enough spud knowledge!

I'm Northern Irish so to me it just makes sense to begin with what was the end for many ancestors - the potato famine and then i shall talk about wider history and nutrional facts. By the way the potato over there > is a Maris Piper, my favourite.

Info today comes from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtmlmine_01.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato and

http://www.britishpotatoes.co.uk/ (brilliant for all things spud related)

So the Irish (or Great) Famine lasted from 1846 to 1852 and lead to the deaths of approx 1 million people in Ireland due to starvation and disease. Even compared to modern famines it can be said to be more destructive as it lasted for 4-5 years (!) as opposed to the more common 1 or 2 growing seasons. Around one eight of the population of Ireland suffered and 2 million had to emigrate to survive. Of course we are all aware that the devastation was caused by potato blight - or to give it its proper name, the fungus Phytophthora infestans. Which we still get to this day and indeed our allotments suffered from it this summer, though cutting back the stems at first signs seemed to halt the problem.

According to the British Potato Council (they 'love potatoes') our humble spud was an exotic gift brought back from Peru by the Spanish conquistadors in 1534. It had been cultivated there for approx 6,000 years. Their popularity then spread through France via Germany and then on to America again, to complete a circle. There is much more to this, but I'm bored and I'm sure you don't really mind me skipping head to nutritional values....

Tatties are a carbohydrate which in this case means mainly Starch, not easy for the body to digest so, essentially it acts as Fibre. It 'provides bulk, offers protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, increases satiety, and possibly even reduces fat storage'!!!!

It also has healthy benefits in the form of but not exclusively: Vitamins C , B and B6, Potassium, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc. Plus they are low in fat and Calories - hoorah!! And Holy Moly I didn't know it but it's the UN's International Year of the potato (IYP). Surely we must celebrate?! You know I heartily recommend the British Potato Council's website there is so much info and recipes etc.

Now I leave you what a caution - potatoes can be TOXIC! I know it's scary, but read on...

'Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids, toxic compounds, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine. These compounds, which protect the plant from its predators, are generally concentrated in its leaves, stems, and sprouts. Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase glycoalkaloid content within the tuber; the highest concentrations occur just underneath the skin. Glycoalkaloids may cause headaches, diarrhea, cramps and in severe cases coma and death; however, poisoning from potatoes occurs very rarely.'

That's why you have to keep earthing up your plants - keep off the light. So keep an eye on the ones you eat and avoid green ones as it can indicate toxicity.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Potato - grow, harvest, eat and enjoy!

New people

It's an exciting time, we have new blood arriving on the plots, some people have obviously realised that a whole plot for instance is too much and now we are getting people in who will take that unwanted half, gladly. One of them is Leslie, a nice friendly chap who came over to say Hello. He has just received his keys and will be in Field C. So Welcome to him! Good Luck too, we all remember what it's like to start a fresh!

I have also seen a few other new faces and a new name on the Allotment Forum. Welcome, welcome. The new plots in Field C are also being marked out in preparation of handing over to more brand new tenants. We're growing FAST!

This is John from Field C - he's our youngest lottie holder, I think he's 15 and he is a very passionate allotmenteer. He's somewhat of a wee celebrity - interviewed in local and national papers and on the radio as one of the representatives of the scheme. This was the first time we had said hello.

Good work by others

I didn't feel well at all on Sunday, though it was much better being at my lottie than at home, that's for sure. When I'd finished for the afternoon I dandered off a little to look at the progress people were making on their own little bits of Eden. I could see from our plot that work had been done and it made me happy to see it. Momentum seems to have been running out quickly, which in some cases I can understand - many didn't realise the extent of what they were taking on, the weather hasn't been good and now we can only spend time there at the weekends (a time which is precious to us all - especially those who have children I'm sure).

But still, let's concentrate on the good work done by some. Digging over, improving soil (the storms have obviously delivered a lot of free seaweed!) and the making of new beds. I'm afraid I only dandered around a bit of our field (A) and field B, I honestly felt a little nervous walking on the (now clear to you) mess of the paths. I'm sure Field C has been working hard too! In fact I'm sure they have, some of them are full of lottie passion, such as 'Douglas' - who is actually called Donald, oopps, my mistake!

Of course there are some who still have much to achieve - to put it politely.

Yes, this is a plot. There is definitely a plot under there somewhere.

Random Harvest (I LOVE that film)

This isn't about the film though, it is about the glorious harvest our wee plot gave us as a welcome home present. Here is the now standard harvest photo, but wait til you get the full run down of what's in there...

2 Pak Choi, 4 baby Lettuces, 3 Parsnips, 1 Leek, a massive handful of Parsley and 4 gorgeous wee Turnips. I was very happy, let me tell you.

The Pak Choi was used in stir fries (I was heard to proclaim "It's like real Pak Choi" - what an eejit) the Lettuces were eaten by me with a little cranberry sauce (more about that later) and last night Andrew made the best dinner ever with the rest and some couscous (which we'd grow ourselves if we could darn it!). He simply roasted the parsnips, leek and turnips and mixed it all up with couscous and lots of lovely flat leaved parsley. The only other ingredients were Ras el Hanout (Moroccan spice mixture) and a little salt and olive oil - Heaven!

So to the lettuces. They are growing away beautifully under one of our little mini polytunnels and are so tasty, especially lifted young like this. I am genuinely surprised at how well these little tunnels are doing, they were a good buy alright and to think, I almost doubted their necessity (apologises Andrew!).

Yes, the cranberry sauce and lettuce mixture. This comes from the 1st meal I had when we arrived in Krakow, I was so impressed by this dish I wrote it down in a notebook whilst eating it (never done that before). It had a Lettuce mix of course but added to that was grilled chicken strips, cashew nuts, Sunflower shoots (!) Basil mousse, a few perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes and Cranberry sauce. My socks were blown off - simple but my my so tasty. (If you've never had Sunflower shoots before - they taste a little like firm/ripe melon, beautiful.) Poor me I had hardly any of those ingredients but I made do.

We aren't the only ones to be enjoying the success of their lettuce. These ones are so cute in their little rows; they were planted in between corn until recently. I don't know the names of this lovely couple but they gave us a very big handful of said baby sweetcorn a few weeks ago and it was gorgeous - green fingers on that plot alright.

They aren't 'real' polytunnels but Andrew brought home some used Water Cooler Butts from work and cut their bums off. They have been very effectively used as cloches for 2 of our Parsley plants. Look how this plant was trying to escape (that's before I chopped it down for dinner, hehe), goes to show you don't have to pay for purpose made stuff, eh?

Lastly, for today, I'd like to mention our Leeks and how we've been blanching them with bits of drainpipe. It was found way back in the spring in a little stream along with lots of other dumped household stuff and we thought it might come in handy - we were right. I have an intolerance to 'real' onions but can eat leek, so it's an important crop for us. Using the collars around the young plants makes them grow up to have a longer, thicker white bottom half, where most of the flavour is. Gosh, I'm full of tips today! (This pic doesn't show our best ones but it gives a good idea).

Wonderful Lottie

Well, when we got back to our lovely Lottie I was so pleasantly surprised. The only thing that appeared to look neglected were the Parsnips, but their leaves were due to die back and had been for a while, so that was no shock. Hoorah, for A24a!

So there was bad weather when we were off enjoying ourselves in Poland. But I was proud to see it hadn't put people off too much. The Plots were looking pretty much improved! More on that tomorrow. Ours just needed a general tidy up and weeding. The Marigolds also had to go - a sad day actually as there isn't a lot of colour on our plot now and they were my wee babies. But Good News is that in their place I have my bulbs coming up - ah, the circle of life!

Another happy surprise was the amount of rotting the new compost bin had gone through in only a matter of weeks. It was absolutely full to the brim, now you can see how much it was shrunk compared to the other bin behind it. Hoorah! Although I was a little annoyed to see this wee blighter poking through one of the other bins, ah nature, it will always win.