So here it is - the grand unveiling of 'the plan'

The plan

You can tell Andy is a trained archaeologist can't you, everything is in perfect scale :)

The real thing

So any thoughts, questions, ideas???? Please do send them our/ Andrew's way :)

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

P.S. I am always honest on my blog so, well I've had another nervous breakdown. Happened on Tuesday; Wednesday and yesterday are a bit of a blur and today I have the worst headach, terrible concentration and just need sleep (but I promised I'd post this so..).

 I haven't been out, I have barely spoken and naturally I've not been well enough to visit the lottie. I hope to go this weekend and have lots of photos and stories. I just want to thank you, dear friends and visitors for your continued support. I'll be okay - right?

 Sorry I haven't been reading your blogs and commenting as usual, but now you know why xx

Happy News :)

We got our re-newed mortgage offer this morning, so just waiting on NI Water and then we'll have our new house - yippppeeee! This is just a quick note, I'll be posting Andrew's garden plan tomorrow for you all to discuss and give advice on - Hugs - I have celebratory dessert to eat :)

500 bloggettes and what have we learnt?

It's a war out there. That's what.

We (and by that I mean our plants, but they are so much a part of us that it may as well be our very human selves that I speak of here) are attacked constantly from all sides and there is no platoon 'watching our 6' no, we have to have sharp wits about us and fight tirelessly in each of our battles. We have so many enemies, so many opposed to us growing and eating our own. They come from underground and eat the roots, there is the infantry - those slugs and beetles and damn cats, the air corp -  cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs on our brassicas and the resultant ravenous catepillars, birds eating our precious little crops of redcurrants, sawfly destroying our gooseberry plants even when we/they beg for mercy. We also have biological warfare with blight, the dreaded 'B' word which all allotmenteers fear, none more so than us, the Irish (mind wonders off into those history lessons of yore...Potato famine 1840's..)

Oh we tend our ground and we dig, double dig, treble dig and then dig a little more for luck. We pamper our soil with the finest homemade compost we can possibly produce, this is A1 stuff (heck we made it!), we add horse poo, cow poo, seaweed and whatever other stinky things we can get our grubby little hands on. We welcome each and every worm, build homes for the good bugs (our allies, such as the small but mighty Ladybird), we cover the soil in winter with fleece to try and protect it from all the goodness being washed away by the rain and hard frosts, we talk to it, lovingly  and give it a little tickle now and then (okay I do and if you look into your hearts and past societies ideas of 'normal' you know you do it too).

If you are anything like my Hubby you will have gathered up and heck of a lot of books over the past 500 bloggettes and know the names of everything (sometimes even in Latin - eek). When, 500 bloggettes ago you struggled to remember if that there yellow flower was a daffodil or a tulip - hahahahaha, you know it's true Andrew. In gathering these books you will see very clearly that the old ones are the best. Now as long as you don't go into any of my Hubby's favourite 2nd hand books I am now going to encourage, nay, force you all to go looking for the good old war, post war and up to the 80's books on gardening - these will have lots of writing, some line drawings and...take a deep breath... very little in the way of fancy pants photographs! These are text books, they teach, they do not mess about and make it all look easy. This is because Growing Your Own Is War! (see above)

It is in this vain that I write today, few photos and lots of cold hard lessons.

You will fail, you will fail miserably, often and recurrently. You will go through the most terrible grumps when your whole carrot crop is just about fit for a miniature, premature rabbit to get one meal out of; your courgettes all balloon into marrows and you can't for the life of yourself grow a darn pumpkin. Even worse than that seeds will not germinate - they just plain aren't interested and say in their own way - p*ss off I'm not doing anything. Or is this the worst?; the stunningly fabulous plants you have grown, tended lovingly (talked to and even on occasion sung to ~ I know you do, stop denying it) are blown over in a gale or succumb to illness out of nowhere and die seemingly before your very eyes *weep*.

What have we learnt?

***  It is hard to be a gardener/mini farmer. Hard on the soul at times, the hands and even the wallet. It is tiring to be a gardener/mini farmer, depressing in the cold muddy winter and exhausting in the heat of the summer sun. We get let down when crops fail, when we have a glut and feel that things are too much, we can't cope there is too much to do. The weather people on tv are never right about anything - ggrrrr.

*** It is a blessing to be fit enough to tend our own seeds, seedlings, plants, collect our harvests, cook our food and compost the leftovers to start all over again. It is utter joy to taste our own sweet fruits ripened by the sun which gives our faces that ruddy glow and lights the fire in our bellies. The hope that we have continuously in our hearts that things will grow because of us and without additives and chemicals. The natural wonder of being close to nature where we belong, where our souls sing - concrete is not our natural habitat people!!! The interaction with others of all ages and creeds both in the real world and in this virtual wonder world we call so simply 'the web'. That Ecotherapy isn't a panacea but can help and that, as we know, it ROCKS! The photographs, the showing off, giving gifts to friends and family and the lottie bbqs :) Oh, and purple sprouting broccoli that is worth the hassle and the long weight :)

*****

I have learnt joy, sadness and hope. I have become more articulate and interested in nature. I have met some fabulous friends, had lovely moments of utter serenity in my plot conversing with ladybirds or our friendly robin; watching clouds float by to the music of the birds in the hedgerows. I have had horrendous panic attacks and periods of depression when the lottie has been my enemy. I, me, I have made a birdhouse that was used to raise a healthy family of Blue Tits and I saw the last fledgling take it's first flight. I've got my hands dirty, broken nails; I have fallen; I have lost a dear friend called Bobby.

500 blogettes - I've found a little more of me and I have felt love from you. I have grown, felt the full spectrum of emotions, lived. What more can I/we ask for?

My heart felt thanks to you, dear reader for sharing this with me. Here's to the next 500 little pieces of life xx

Benvarden part 2 (beautiful flowers)

Oh my Benvarden was a place you could easily spend all day in, or even better - wait the the owners are on holiday and 'move in' you know, not necessarily invited but you are tidy and things are just as they left them.....Ummmm I must think further on this. If  you are a member of the police force (you do a great job!) just ignore that; I'm joking, honest *nervous laughter*.

Anyway, back to my point - it is lovely; all these older gardens that are surrounded by walls and have rose gardens, a tennis court, a lean to greenhouse, a hiding sitting area with the oldest wisteria ever and a court yard (that just to have horses in it, but no longer). Oh it was lovely and there was more to come but really, it's 5 mins past 2 at night and I am not that sleepy strangely but Spinal Tap the Rockumentary is on and I've never seen it and Andy is yawning VERY loudly and I often think his mouth won't close again...

I have prepared another small collage that doesn't really do it justice but it might make you want to go and see it for yourself  ~ I should work for the NI tourist board :) I can not fault the place, though I didn't eat in the tea room which I always do and then give critic to friends (I find that finding nice places to eat on a day out is invaluable information) as I had been feeling rather sick - yes poor me and my dicky tum.

I do so hope this gets you through the weekend and I shall be back with a little more on the place, and hopefully news from the lottie AND if you are extra good children, I will tell you about Andrew's utterly brilliant designs for our new back garden - oh I am a tease!

Hugs xxxx

Benvarden Gardens (the veggie section)

When Andrew was off work about million years ago (okay it was the the first week in August) we did lots of lovely days out and lots of days doing very little too :) But on the Thursday we decided we really ought to visit a place we had been procrastinating over for a couple of years. Benvarden is inland from the gorgeous Antrim coast way up Ballycastle way and won the best garden in Ireland award from the Irish Times in 2009 - so it is pretty darned good.

'This historic estate was built in the 1630s and owned by the Montgomery family since 1798' and you basically are walking around their kitchen garden, walled garden and small forest area. At one point you are very close indeed to the house which makes you feel a little like a stalker but hey they let you in and you have to pay £3.50 for the pleasure so I really didn't feel naughty for long.

We were pretty lucky to be there on a day when the gardeners where working. Using old machinery (for which they have a little museum) plus as there were few visitors Andy and I got to take 2 apples (the gardener told us too) and a good hoke about in the Victorian greenhouses. Happy days.

Have to say, the quality of the kitchen gardens was very good indeed and there was very little sign of disease or nasty bugs, however Andrew took great joy in pointing out things that he had grown better this year and also in pointing out all the bolted red lettuces (bottom left photo). Hahhaha, there is always a little competition amongst gardeners.

Click the collage to make it larger and enjoy your own wee trip to the veggie garden, go one compare your own crops to the professionals - bet you find something that you grow just as well or indeed better! ;)
I'll show you the pretty flowers and the pond tomorrow xx

It's my birthday :)

As it is my birthday and I can therefore do what I like, I want to share some photos of the lottie that haven't fitted in anywhere. I'll talk more about the amazing Benvarden gardens and Castle Ward which we have been to over the past couple of weeks later but for now I am lounging happily in my new slippers reading other blogs...

the great onion challenge

So it all started when Bill grew some 'Kelsae' onion seeds and each participant was given 6 seedlings each, all from that one batch. They were planted and then the secrets began, the 'special' fertilisers that people won't share, the fleece to protect them, the placement of the seedlings and what soil they were put in and goodness knows - the type of persuasive loving chats that each person has with their potential winners?, I wouldn't be surprised.

Oh I love the camaraderie of it all, the sneeky glances and the questions over whether the prize should go to the biggest one, or the heaviest one. Do they need to be trimmed and tied up according to the RHS show rules and more importantly -WHO exactly is the judge going to be???

There are far more people involved in this challenge than I have photos for and you will notice I have taken the pictures from different angles and some are close ups - just so you can't tell for sure whose looks best.

The big day must be coming up soon but this is a boy's game and I'm just watching from the side lines (though of course I know where my loyalties lie, haha).

Any tips for making your onions big and heavy (without cheating!) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks xx

Oh and the prize? some beer probably, a WEE CUP! and the knowledge amongst the lottie community that yes, you were the best in 2010!!

Dougie's

Our's (the best maybe, hehehe)

Stephen's ~ one of which is stuck in the yellow tube and is now a leek of sorts instead :)

Ronnie's

Colin's (he has a cheeky hidden one too that is rather big)

Bill's

News just in : there are 2 sections to this competition.

1- the biggest (weight) onion

2- the best pair (closest matching) out of the 6.

The competition is fierce my friends and I shall of course cover the big day for you. Including an interview with the winner perhaps!!

This time next week...

I have been honoured by Gill Carson of My Tiny Plot to be a co-founder of the UK Veg gardeners group. An on-line community for those of us in the UK who love to garden and grow our own. Check it out - you can join up now of course but the big launch is next Tuesday.

http://ukveggardeners.com/

Bloomin' Monday

hello remember me? I took a break from the blogging whilst Andrew was off; sorry if that last post was a bit graphic but it's how I felt and I needed to express myself. I haven't been much better since then and the attacks and the depression are continuing to plague me, my every thought.

Even today (which is a beautiful summer day were I would eat a little ice cream if I liked the stuff) has been turned sour.

I went   on my 3rd solo walk, it was going quite well and Maggie was being a good girl but then this lady started shouting at me from across the road (which she and her friend's cars were blocking), I was panicky and nearly home so forgive me but I ignored her, 4 times (yes I know, I'm horrible), then she touched my shoulder and liver flew up into my mouth. She had me crushed up against a wall and complained that she had been calling me - I told her 'sorry, I'm having a panic attack- need to get home', but she started asking many a question about how to get to Mauds (my fave coffee and bun cafe - famous for ice cream). She just would not let me go, and was smiling away as if I was just startled by her loveliness. Information was gurgled out and then (heavens preserve me) I ran like a little girl the rest of the way home. It's taken an hour for me to calm down and for the low screaming sound to stop in my head.

So your wonderful post on the fab flowers at the lottie will have to reduced to this.

A bunch of Cone Flowers that Andrew picked for me about 5 days ago and a posey I picked on Saturday, with my sweet peas, a dahlia and 2 miniature ilium seed heads in my favourite jar.

I also picked a posey of my 'Cupani' sweet peas (the purple and pink ones) hand tied them all professional like and gave them to the first person I saw (that was the rule in my head), which happened to be a very hard working lady, who was a bit miffed as we don't know each other :) Spreading a little free love is my new vice baby ;) ~ but please, only when I am not having an attack.

Wishing you a happy, relaxed afternoon/evening and let us all have a better tomorrow xxxx

too many panic attacks

I need to bend in this storm like the carefully staked young tree. Hold me in your arms, tie me to this earth. I feel so lost in the fog of my past. 'Live for the moment' you say but pure panic is all feel in the now. I need stillness in this turmoil, it blurs all sight of any path to a future. This wind is so cacophonous, discordant and perpetual. I think I'm screaming but none can hear me.

Rooted to the spot, I am ridgid about to break. All is madness.

The Sun is shining

There is blue sky, I can hardly believe it but when I'm not looking at the screen in front of me my eyes drift up to the Velux window and yes, it's still there - all that blue! July was officially the dullest on record and boy did we all feel it, the oppressive, heavy clouds every single day and rain, oh rain all the time! But it's the 2nd of August and although it was nasty yesterday I'm thinking maybe someone has told Mother Nature that it's August and it's about time we had some bright skies.

I'm super excited about this as Andy is off on a weeks holiday. We are stay-cationing if that makes sense (we're not going away on holiday) so it couldn't be nice and blue at a better time :)

We had baked rhubarb, ginger and cardamon pods with cream last night for dessert (after a very healthy dinner of peas (frozen, but still ours) and mixed beans (broad and runner) and chorizo on toast - just before you call me a fatty). It was delicious and very tart and cleansing, plus there's more in the fridge - Happy Days all round.

Must dash, shower to have and then get my hubby out of bed and into the sunshine. Big hugs to you all xxxx

All just peas in a pod

We can all rely on Mother Nature. She gives us what we need whether we realise it at the time or not. I needed that rain yesterday, I needed to turn my face away from the world and into her arms. She let it rain and that was the tears I could not cry.

She is always there for me making beauty appear all around me, giving me storms to cuddle up under a blanket with and feel safe, warm, protected. Looking into her eyes I am calmed, her voice is the bird song, the waves breaking; her smile is hope.

Nothing like a biological mother, she is much more -stronger, wiser, ever knowing. She tests me in ways that help me learn, to appreciate. Never malevolent, she pushes me to the limits to experience unease and heartache but only in order to feel the extremes and enjoy the beauty of laughter and peace all the more. She takes and she provides and there is a home in her heart where I am free.

I look around today and see the same mess, the same dull grey clouds; hear the same droning noise of cars and trains, the almost unbearable sound of my own breath and my fingers taping on this keyboard, alone in this room. Yet somehow today I sense the magnificence of simply being. One of many billions who have walked this earth, I am still unique and so are you.

(The last of our sweet delicious peas, now all gone, all done for another year)

Bloomin' weather - grrr

I'm dying inside. It's raining again, hard and I have the worst headache but I am determined not to lie down as that's what I have mainly been up to this week so far - depression has knocked me for 6 recently. I really want to go out, to do something, maybe even visit the lottie alone for once in my life (it would certainly be quiet today with this heavy pour down). I. am. miserable. Where is the sun?? If I'm going to be stuck in the house by my own fear and depression at least let me look out onto a blue sky, with these attic windows the sky is all I ever see and it's mainly a very unattractive, framed view of grey/white.


So what shall I think about to cheer me up? Why the beautiful blooms and colours on my lotties. We were there last night and had a lovely dander and spoke to Bill for ages, but more on last night later.

These are just from all over the past weekend and they are doing a good job of making me smile, just a little....

No more owls

Thank you to the 8 people who took part in my poll. It has been decided my you that the owls are gone and Grow Our Own is now offically grown up and trying to be more sophisicated. Hugs, I like the new look but didn't want to hurt any feelings. To the 2 who loved the owls best, sorry.... xxx

A little nosey around the fields #1 (A and B)

We wanted to take dear little Maggie for a walk but couldn't face the usual routes we take and the tide was in so a trip to the beach wasn't happening - so what better than a dander and a good looking at other people's plots?! It's been ages since I took a walk around Eden Allotment Gardens and saw what was going on, what others were growing and the interesting details about how one puts personality into a plot.

We started off in our own field, field A where I feel most comfortable.

This is the plot right beside us, it used to be a friends but he had to give it up due to work commitments, now it has been carved into 2. This is the part we are next to on two sides (the bottoms of both 24a and 14b are next to this). It's a little bit very annoying with all those weeds but look at the super work a lovely married couple have managed to do to that other half in just a matter of weeks! Wow - well done. Gives us all new hope and a little spurt of energy (have to keep up with the Jones').

So, then off on our travels we passed by Davy's wild flower border which is just stunning and onto a fun sight of a scarecrow (in Halloween costume?) looking after a load of potatoes. Then beside that on the same plot, we noticed the presence of  a disease is hitting a lot of peoples' strawberries this year, especially if they are new bought ones. This patch is just gone as one one across the path and it continued around the fields :(

After this I fell, yep, totally wiped out and landed on  my side, mucked up from toe to face in Colin's plot. Lucky for Colin it was only the edge of his plot and straight into some very good quality, dark and composty soil (I was looking at it very closely for a moment, haha). I don't think anyone but Andrew saw and he picked me up sharpish. However the camera was dirty and there are few photos from here as I had to allow the muck to dry off. I do have a very impressive bruise though......

Into Field B and instantly it is bogland, there appears to be no drainage in this field at all and I really do feel so sorry for the plot holders here. Thank goodness we were wearing our wellies, I wonder, can you get small dogs wellies??.....

However there was some very impressive sights such as this ingenius idea. It is a shed or a greenhouse? It's both! Hoorah for inventiveness. Plus look at Ricky's plot, it's like something made up for a movie set.

Upon dandering out again we stopped by Andrew's Uncle's plot and look - I thought it was rather funny. Never seen anything like this before carrots in love - awwww, how sweet.

Garlic time again :)

It's come around again, how quickly time flies! On Sunday Andrew lifted the garlic, the whole bed and now they are all lying in the shed drying. Oh, golly the smell is gorgeous but a little over powering as there are so many and each one is a fabulous size this year. There won't be a beautiful plait like last year when we had both soft and hard necked varieties; you can plait soft necked varities and it does look very pretty, we'll have bunches this year, a bit more homely, hahah

After last year's harvest Andrew took cloves from the largest of the new bulbs and set them to one side, oh the delicious circle....to be planted again. The best, biggest, beauties came from our 'Solent Wright' hard neck variety and lo and behold we now have lots more of perfect fat and juicy Solent Wrights again this year (for free). I have heard it said that over the years you get your own variety of garlic by doing this over and over with the same children. Best get the old thinking hat on for a future name :)

On a sadder note, all the rocket had to go. This weather with all the rain and the heat has sent some of the crops a little loopy. Poor things don't know what is going on (not that I have a better clue), or what time of the year it is. We'll grow more, it's okay.

But I can't end on a sad note, oh no! We started off our Sweetcorn this year with the usually very trusty F1 'Swift' but it completely failed - disaster! Then we (and by that I really mean Andrew) planted F1 'Sundance' and now, oh happy days, we have wonderful, glorious red tassles and the healthiest, thickest stems and leaves. That makes me excited. I love sweetcorn and we didn't get to eat much of ours last year because we went away on holiday when they were ready. Luckily they weren't just pilfered, they were picked and frozen by Mamma. However, we forgot all about them and when we did, well they were so tasteless. Nevermind, this year shall be different!.

All's change

Okay so Meredith changed her gorgeous blog background plus I had just made another new blog myself and enjoyed picking all the new elements. Anyway, I had the itches and changed the page- hope you like it! You can tell me if you don't, but I will find you and try to cry in front of you just to make you feel bad......;)

Berries everywhere!

Arrghhh, I can't eat them fast enough, the berries are flooding into the chamber and I am raising, raising up to the rafters, soon there will be no oxygen left, I shall drown or suffocate (I'm not sure which at this present moment, I have other things on my mind and sementics, though usually important to me will have to be pushed to one side) in sweet berry goodness!

******

That's how it feels on our plots at the moment. A joious, if slightly overwhelming bounty of strawberries, raspberries and red gooseberries with the blackberries looking at me, ready to pounce. I can't ever eat this many berries! So apart from jammin', we be freezin' these days and having summer pudding and 'fools'. We were even considering making wine - does anyone make raspberry wine?? Have I just invented it?; am I an evil genius? I must go and TM this....

On top of that I was surprised by Andrew this evening as I when  came out the bathroom he was there with our first 2 blueberries from the back garden. We have a fabulous plant in a pot out there :)

Berries galore, plus I have (almost) forgiven the birds for eating all my white and red currants. Hope you had a happy weekend, I was at my lottie so I have photos to for you x..

I was at my Lottie (on Monday)

Okay so I'm only getting round to writing about it now - but it did happen, I was at my Lottie. Here, in Northern Ireland we had the 11th and 12th of July off for the Orangemen parades etc so Andrew was able to have a shortened week at work (I can't believe it's Friday today) and we spent some lovely extra time together. It was also sunny, not sure where that sun has gone now though as we have had heavy rain ever since.

So, yep I was weeding like crazy, 5 trugs full to the brim; that's a lot of weeds. And then pulling out a good few plants that had seriously bolted, a wheelbarrow full in fact - eek! All the Rocket had bolted and something else which escapes my mind at the minute and they had to go. Half of the Broad beans were also lifted having done us proud, and the goodness filled (nitrogen) roots left in the ground for the subsequent planting of the perpetual Spinach.

Proof, if it were needed, that I was in fact, there!

******

I started this this morning but, there is no chance of me finishing this post today, I have too much to say and no energy to say it. I went for a walk today by myself, my 2nd solo one in the past 2 weeks, after over a year! I thought it would make me feel good, proud and bouncy - ready to take on all those little jobs I have wanted/needed to get done, but instead I feel terrible, I pushed too hard. And now, I can barely talk, move or give a damn about anything. I have more though, and will be happier the next time I assure you.

Hugs galore - off to eat some beetroot, cabbage and erm, something else from the lottie. Andrew's cooking  :)

oh NO!!

I have somehow lost half of my blog list!!! What happened there. Sorry if you aren't listed at the moment I am going to have to think super hard about who all I love - eeekkk. I will try to get you all back :)

Oh. my. goodness. If you aren't there and you usually are please leave a comment and I'll get your address again xx