A milestone (a fairly straight up post I doubt anyone will read)

Within a few days either side of this date I will have celebrated the very first blog post I ever wrote (10th August 2010), my 700th post (this very one) and my birthday in a few days!I think it's times like this, when one is confronted with milestones, though small, what we start to question the purpose of things. I know I tend to overthink and thus am reflecting possibly a little too much...

I started this blog as a sort of journal for Andrew and I to watch our progress with the new allotment adventure we were undertaking; scrapbooking photos and trying to write a journal was exhausting. I never thought that it would be live to the world to see, I thought you had to choose weather you let people in or not. Blogger was terribly confusing for a first timer and I learnt things the hard way and goodness knows how awful, how basic, how unsavvy I once was. 700 posts later and I am happy enough to share our progress and the terrible failures with anyone who cares to look.

I have used this platform to talk about my mental illnesses, there have been large gaps in my writings (a big no no if you want to keep people interested, supposedly) but then this is a real blog, not for profit not to get praise and endorsements, it's just about me. I've had a recent meltdown in fact that has lead me to be tardy with everything in life until I could get to the point of trying again. During that time I have been asked by 5 different companies to guest blog for them on their websites - sorry but no can do, I don't take on pressure and I do not wish to be famous.

Andrew and I had a sit down and talked about it and 14b is going to go this year. We give up. The weed situation is too much to handle and we would instead love to concentrate on our lovely 24a and make it the best damn wee plot ever! I guess we're growing up and seeing that smaller done better is more rewarding than bigger though unmanageable.

The big ole mystery, the age old question is answered for you ....Why are we here??  (I confess to being particularly concerned with this during my meltdown.) Well I'm not sure where Douglas Adams' no.42 comes into it but I know now, it is just to enjoy yourself, don't hurt others (except maybe aphids and slugs etc!) and stop worrying!!

Photo credit/copyright : Skarpiagirl 

With love and a hope to post lots of harvest photos soon as I'm well enough xx
Your
Carrie

Love bug housing

You may remember a while back that I received a gift from Prezzybox.com to review and it wasn't to my taste - flower grenades, that looked a little too much like grenades for me.. Well the lovely people at Prezzy box read my review and were slightly horrified to learn I had been offended. Dear love them, after sincere apologies they offered me anything else from their gardening range to review and I choose this insect house :)

Now this is more my thing and it was utterly delightful to receive, to make and soon I will have the pleasure of putting it up in the lottie. Plus I get a cute little tin to keep essentials in like plasters and antiseptic wipes or maybe all  the labels and pencils etc... It's a great wee gift and this, my friends I would recommend. :)

Look how cute the tin alone is and the contents are laid out so prettily too. I got stuck into building my Bug House right away and it was delightfully easy and I'm super pleased with the results and the 2 ladybirds that came with it = adorable!!

Ok, I am quite sure bugs aren't that fussed on how beautiful their homes are but darn it I'll try anything to welcome on board and help us fight the enemies...

I'm in a love bug mood these past few weeks since I started to clear up the embarrassing messy parts for the plots. We are seriously lacking in helpful bugs and though I made a makeshift bug house years ago and purposely put lots of grass and stones under our shed for bugs - we seem to have counted 4 ladybirds between us, 2 frogs (yay!!), lots of bees but not much more than that :( I want more good bugs! (Who ever thought I'd say that!!) The leatherbacks and those damned New Zealand flatworms of the past 2 years have destroyed the lovely balance.

So here is my Bangor Blue slate hotel which also has lots of dead and decaying leaves in and around it since I took this photo. On the other side of the wee fence is this pile of rotting wood and an old pipe where a frog has been living.

Plus we have a ready rotten log over on 14b where our other frog lives and lots of woodlice etc and I have been leaving the artichokes to flower to try and encourage butterflies and bees etc. Next year there shall be sunflowers too (I forgot them this year) and more echinacea and black eyed susans etc. Yes 2 frogs *happy dance* and you know why I'm so happy -  they eat loads of insects and nasty creatures and the ultimate enemy, Slugs and Snails!!!!!! Hurrah

Is it just me or are the slugs much bigger this year??

The RHS answers the question about who might check into your bug hotel.....

"A surprisingly wide variety of invertebrates including nesting mason bees and leafcutter bees, woodlice hiding from the sun – and woodlice spiders hunting woodlice, earwigs hiding their babies from predators, ladybirds and lacewings hibernating over winter, beetle larvae feeding on the dead wood, funnel web spiders spinning their traps and centipedes hunting down their prey."

Good stuff I say :)

Thank you Prezzy box for increasing our chances of more friendly, useful bugs on the plots and as for the flower grenades - well I have taken the seed out of the clay containers and shall be scattering them this weekend over by the field boundary.

Hugs and best wishes to all
Namaste

Thunder stops play

Last Sunday we were back in action, reasonably early (for us) at 11am. The weather was a lot different, there was cold air and then sunshine back and forth until later the heavens exploded and thunder rumbled, rain poured and I thought for a moment if our shed would work as an ark - boy, the rain was heavy! In the end running out to get tools and running to the car and back etc I was soaked through - that sort of soaked were you just start to walk at normal speed; you simply can't get any more saturated, lol.

My big project was to sort of the back of our shed and get things off to the dump. It was rather daunting to begin with but then I really got into it and loved it all. I love creating a clean and clear area out of a complete mess - it feels like I am clearing my messy mind at the same time - it's calming.

So here it is (shame all on show here)...

We came to the same point about our old broken bench; there was no way we could save it, the wood was rotten so much in a lot of areas (and secretly, now Andrew has his fancy saw, he wants to make a new one altogether!) So he went all caveman on it and smashed it to bits. Fun!

Is it just me or are the slugs bigger this year, goodness there were so many under the old timber we had laying at the side of the plot. But when I meet our frog again I thought to myself, no way am I getting rid of this, I shall merely stack it up neater - obviously it's a great habitat for wildlife.

The finished cleaned up area - that big white bag has our fire wood in it and I even managed to get the wee hand rotary mover over all the grass. What a great workout for my bingo wings :)

Andrew was dealing with the old broad bean patch, they were all ready to be lifted and the peas too behind them in this picture, growing up a little net support.  I do love my broad beans so it's great that Andrew had done a succession planting and we'll have a new batch soon :)

There is something so utterly satisfying about those broad bean roots and those little nodules shown below; Chemistry and Biology in action! These nodules actively improve the soil by depositing nitrogen into the ground which is a great plant food and benefits the next crop you plant in that space ~ hurrah! Plus the stems are great fodder for the compost bin = free natural fertiliser and soil conditioner, and you know I love freebies :)

going

root nodules

ha ah, gone! and a nice big harvest in the shopping bag

Then little rain showers started to happen. They weren't particularly long lasting but they were heavy and put a stop to works for a while. 

 We hung on but then the real thunderous downpours came. The shed became our place of sanctuary; the noise of that rain on the roof was deafening and Maggie just was not happy at getting wet at all, she clawed at my leg until I picked her up and then I took the keys and ran to the car with her tucked under my arm - lucky she's so wee :)

But from all that work and the harvests of the day before we were able to come home, cold and wet from the (what felt like buckets of rain thrown on us) lottie and have this stir fry rustled up in no time - bliss. Chard, carrots, dwarf beans, turnip, all only a maximum of 24hrs old :)

Joie de Vivre (part 2)

So where did we leave off yesterday? Ahh yes, sweet little Rylee's Birthday party was all finished (nap time) and we were returning to the plots.....

Mamma G and Anne arrived shortly after, with their own empty bags, hahaha - time to get some of our potatoes; we love to share our bounty. The whole bed was dug up and honestly we have never had a better yield from potatoes ever! The Red Duke of York were lovely, all knobbly and such a gorgeous colour; remember they were super cheap from a discount store so - result! But oh my the Sharp's Express were a knockout, I have never seen such prolific spuds, large ones too, suitable for baking, but really they are suitable for everything (we like them roasted, simply boiled and pan fried or mashed. They're the best all rounder spud out there in my humble opinion (and I don't even like potatoes that much!)

all from 2 plants!

We were also able to give away some Scallions, garlic, peas and lettuce, spinach...

Whilst we had visitors Cecil turned up at the plot next door - we has done for a huge 3 bag harvest himself, he was going to be able to share it all with his daughter and daughter in law. We chatted briefly about how damn good that feels - to give good honest home grown vegetables to those you love.

Then all was quiet again on the plots, it was just myself and Andrew getting on with our tasks. The sun had gotten so strong that little Maggie had to go home to cool off, for us two there was a different solution - a cheeky ice cold beer to refresh us and give us the energy to carry on for a few more hours. Ahhh beer....

So I finally managed to clear 'the corner of shame', oh it felt a little like Christmas only better, lol. I loved taking on this area of utter mess and dumping that which can not be used, drying out animal feed bags which we use for collecting manure, drying out those ground sheets that were so important during all that snow and frost earlier in the year and throwing out dead, beyond dead, plants! I even met a frog :), saw one of the few ladybirds we have had this year and built a lovely slate bug resort :) Though as my camera battery was dying, there aren't any photos :(

the before and after

Andrew dug up the garlic - great bulbs again as always and planted 2 more squash plants in the now empty potato bed. Again, I need to take more photos but this was the best I could get. I had to turn the camera off and and on a few times to trick it into giving me a photo at all!

the garlic harvest

Lastly there was my awesomely terrible Pinterest fail of a sign for plot 14b. Lucky I can laugh at myself but this was horrendous, I giggled until I hiccuped...

top left: ruthiaudia.com   top right: ohsobeautifulpaper.com

We left the plot that night at 8.20pm, utterly aching and exhausted. I had to have a shower the second I got into the house and but not before I quickly scribbled down that it had been a good day. By the time that shower was over my depression had returned and I had the worst panic attack ever. I'd overdone it. But at least I have those memories and the knowledge that it is possible to lose oneself in Nature, let her take over my worries and insecurities for a while and just be at one with myself, my breath and earth on my hands and the sun on my back...

Namaste

Joie de Vivre (part 1)

Let's just forget all the posts I was meant to write and wrote many times over in my head whilst I was ill there. I had another mental breakdown - so boring!

But dear friends this last weekend was a true celebration of life, nature and love. So I think we ought to just start from there, okay? Maybe one day soon I will do a big post of photos from all the harvests Andrew brought home but for now we are drifting back in our minds to Saturday *insert waving lines here*.......

The noise of the birds, the rustle of trees, still air, deep breathing and the rhythmic sound of Andrew's scythe. I stood for a moment in the brightness and warmth of the sunshine and the world seemed to disappear and there were only these moments and a feeling of contentment and love. In this place, in this peace, I found I was smiling, genuinely at ease - all was a dream. Having been so mentally ill it was as though Nature was holding me in her arms, cooling my burnt out soul and giving me a sense of purpose.

I took upon a task -' the corner of shame' was going to be tackled and I was the one to do it. I had energy I had foresight to see the finished results and the relief for both myself and Andrew; we both had been ignoring it :) Really, we had it ignored it to the point where things were missing in there, the climbing rose was dead and goodness knows the majority of it was rubbish *blush*

Andrew did great work on the paths which had started to become dangerously long and I had fallen more than once already (look at how it is just past our plot). The council is meant to keep these under control but they don't - I guess they haven't the time, resources or the interest. Pity as it takes up most of a good days work, particularly when it has to be done by hand...

I found Alan II - I was sure he was lost for good, in fact I secretly thought he had been killed and disposed off in my absence, hahaha. He raises once again as guardian of the plot :)

 But then, guess what?! A timely phone call came reminding us it was Rylee's 1st Birthday and there were cuddles to give and cake to eat :) How can you say no to that?? Though darn and blast it I forget my camera so I have had to steal this from Mamma G's Facebook page....though I had to add a birthday frame :)

After the party we went back to the plot and Mamma G and Anne followed behind but I think that is a good place to pause in this post...more soon from Super Saturday...

Guerrilla gardening with Prezzy Box

Sometimes cool little things happen when you've been writing a blog for a while, in that PR people will contact you so see if you'd like to review one of their products. This has happened a few times to me and this week, it happened again. An online gift website called prezzybox.com asked if I would check out something from their range of gardening gifts - look a gift horse in the mouth? no, not I. I said yes.

What I was sent?  ....  Flower Grenades for guerrilla gardening.

Well first they arrived in no time and by courier which I liked - care and attention had been put into this. The packaging was good too; a nice cardboard box with bubble packets inside to absorb any knocks.

When I opened the package I was more than happy that it was flower bomb time and the presentation package was really stylish. Though I didn't like the look of the 3 grenades that lay inside - surely that was a joke...

But no, I was rather disappointed to see that they were in fact quite realistic grenades, though made of clay. As a huge pacifist I was dumbfounded that these would even exist. How can I be seen with a replica small bomb here in Northern Ireland without feeling awful and embarrassed?

I lifted one out and lo the whole contents spilled into the box. All the poppy, ryegrass and buttercup seed mix was only held in place inside that clay receptacle with a tiny sticker :(  Instantly I felt this gift was style (or indeed gimmick) over substance.

So this weekend ( Happy Friday Everyone!) I shall try to guerrilla garden a little, somewhere very private down an abandoned laneway.  I shall report back to let you know how it worked out :)

May I say that I still hold fast to the packet of native wildflower seed mix in the old pocket whilst out for a walk and just sprinkling a few as you hike?? That's what I've done in the past....

Exciting Garden Update

Over the past couple of weekends my hubby, yes my hubby handmade 2 amazing chairs for the back garden. He looked at many photos online and found some simplified instructions but basically he was just awesome and I am so proud. He made them primed them and then, cause he loves me, he let me pick the final colour and buy little cushions.

They're called Adirondack chairs and they're so huge and armchair like, perfect for the day and with a blanket in the evenings. He is also going to make me a curved footstool and a wee table - eek! Brilliant.

So while I was taking photos of them to blatantly show off to the world, I thought I would document how the garden has taken a real growth spurt and is really starting to become the place we hoped for. Maggie helped - any photo she's in is her ' taking you on the tour' on the rest, well she was standing at my feet.

The beech hedging is beginning to settle and grow well but it's the Christmas box below that is really surprising me, especially after it was given a little trim. Finally the bare bones of the garden are showing signs of vigour and in the end this will completely mask the bins and storage unit behind it :)

Could not be happier at the rate the Boston ivy is growing, everyday one can see a change and now there are tension wires up it's starting to go in all directions :D 

The stained glass window with mirror behind is an absolute triumph if you ask me - I adore it.

The slate plaque there says 'tea-ism' and is just a geeky (and sweet way) of saying the tea garden is this way..

 The tea garden; a raised platform completely enclosed and private with lots of verdant greens and a pergola roof which one day will be covered in that very healthy Wisteria - heaven. At night we also light the Chimenea and get the candles out

Snippets of the rest of the garden with that Wisteria, more bright red in the form of Geraniums, the hedgehog on my cushions, delightful Jasmine buds, Acer, bronze Maple (A. will kill me for not remembering it's name) the evidence of our new outside tap (hurrah) and my favourite - the washing which recently has been drying within minutes :) 

 Hope you enjoyed the tour - now to get out there and enjoy it whilst sewing and chatting with my hubby (public holiday here today so he's off - yay!!) Maggie wishes you a very happy weekend to come xx

Namaste

P.S. Thank you so much for all the comments, emails and tweets that I have recently been receiving - you dear readers make my heart glow xx

Gooseberries and Goosepimples

You would not believe me if I didn't have photographic evidence, in fact I would not believe me unless I had taken my camera but today I went to the allotment on my own! I can barely explain the feeling other than terror at being out by myself, paranoia about all the people that passed me, unquenchable stubbornness and focused on the now when I was picking fruit and weeding. It's an odd mix.

Here is our beautiful plot 24a

and with a few highlights I noticed....

Over on 14b I got my hands ripped to pieces as I fought the sawfly caterpillars for my Gooseberries. It was war out there and I have wounds oh yes, I was bleeding as they pushed the thorns into my hands (they are small but a mighty force) but I got MY fruit!! Plus, although I should have, I didn't kill any of the blighters....

Arrrrghhh, tell me please, how am I meant to cope with all these abandoned plots around me!! My hay fever has reached fever pitch even with medication from the Dr. Oh Zeus Almighty, my eyes are on fire, the roof of my mouth is so itchy and down inside my ear canals! Why there, I can't get to there and have a satisfying scratch!!?? Why :'(

Home with a little posey of Sweet Peas, so many gooseberries I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with them and a happy smile  :D

Happ(bee) Weekend

Furtling for Dinner

We had our first lottie dinner last week!!!

The potatoes were ready so my favourite thing happened on the plot - furtling for spuds. Oh it just brings me right back to my Papa's back garden and Nana saying we ought to go get some veg for dinner...Papa just pulled a plant out of the ground and to my shock and wonderment there they were - potatoes!!! It was like magic. I was tiny and started grabbing spuds and furtling in the fresh soil for more; it was a treasure hunt. And I still feel that way to this day.

Andrew lifted a potato plant and lo, there they were and even better.. they were a pinky purple! Which brings me to a good point ~ these tasty and healthy tubers came from a discount store. Yep, we usually go a nursery and buy our seed potatoes but this year we only bought one variety this way and the others (just for fun) were bought in our local pound shop. So far I see no difference, other than price that is and they tasted so good!

We also picked some gorgeous green garlic, perpetual spinach, mint and a few little turnips - 'purple topped Milan' ones - my all time fave, I just love that heat, that pepperiness.

I had all this very simply boiled and mashed up together and plonked on my plate like a carbohydrate feast. Andrew, being a real man, had to have meat too :) We were in heaven - nothing, simply nothing beats eating your own grown food 20 mins after you have harvested it with your own hands - oh I'm feeling all giggly and excited for more.

And more there shall be as tomorrow I shall share a few photos of other plants really ripening up and getting ready to meet my tummy :)