The Apple Arch

It has been a dream of ours (of Andrew's in particular) to have a few Arches, a la Geoff Hamilton in the older series of Gardeners' World*. We have a little piece of Eden and want to make the most of it, therefore doing up is always a good idea, it also gives the plot a bit of structure. At the moment we have 3 Arches bought (at sale prices) and they will all, eventually go down at the bottom of the path.

*I have tried to find a good photo of this but the only I can get is tiny and has a lot of foreground in it. Wick.

But for now I'll have to concentrate on the one ~ the Apple one erected on Sunday. It has 2 lovely little trees planted one on either side. They were bare rooted, but for convenience sake they were in pots, bought from a large DIY and Gardening chain. Andrew chose a 'Lord Lambourne' and a 'Egremont Russet'. I found a great website all about Apples ~ http://www.orangepippin.com/

http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/lord-lambourne.aspx
http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/egremont-russet.aspx

We planted them together (well I 'helped') and staked them in at a 45 degree angle. Not without some frustration and a bit of inappropriate anger from someone, who shall remain nameless (it wasn't me, that is all I'm saying). Then we put together the Arch, with was surprisingly easy and quite fun. Bit like Meccano and all the screws were the same type and length and there were 2 left over, hoorah!

And so, here it is, out 1st fruit arch, we did it!!

Christmas Bargains

This whole credit crunch thing has its good points you know. At the weekend Andrew and I got a whole load of stuff for the Lottie, with Christmas money from my 2 Aunties. My Hubby has been planning an Apple Arch for a long time now and we bought 2 lovely trees and 3 arches all at a bargain price. (I'll tell you about the arch tomorrow...)

We have also become quite obsessed by Raspberries. After putting all those Autumn fruiting ('Joan J') ones into the permanent bed recently we decided that more Summer ones would be good too. (We like Raspberries.) In Homebase they were selling 3 pots for £10! There are 3 good, just potted up stems, in each pot = 9 Raspberry plants for £10! Good eh?

2 pots of 'Glen Clova' and 1 of 'Tulameen' ~ these names mean nothing to me yet but I will get round to looking them up. I just hope we get fruit some day and I can get to making jam (its quite an achievable dream, surely).

Then we drove up the road a little, to a nursery (mainly for a coffee and wee bun in their nice cafe) and managed to get these lovely blackcurrant bushes at a humble £1 each. You just couldn't shake a stick at that now, could you?

The one on the left is a 'Ben Lomond' and on the right is a 'Baldwin', Fingers crossed our bargains don't turn out to be a false economy.

The Soup of our Labour

Here are the ingredients for the joyous Lottie Soup we had at the start of the week. Made entirely from Lottie grown produce - Frugal, Warming, very Tasty, not to mention Healthy. You can't go wrong.

3 Small Leeks (Musselburgh)
2 Cabbages (Greyhound)
12 Baby Carrots (Early Nantes 5)
12 Scallions (White Lisbon)
BIG handful of Parsley (Plain leaved 2)
A few Cloves of Smoked Garlic (courtesy of 'WG')

Water
Andrew's secret ingredient ~ Ras el Hanout
(Salt & Pepper to your own tastes)

The other pure joy of this Lottie Soup was all the ingredients get bunged in at the same time and it makes enough for 2 people for 2 nights! Plus, the 2nd night, it tastes even better!!! We had ours with lovely N. Irish Wheaten Bread but I suppose you could have white Crusty Bread/Baguettes etc. It's up to you, (but personally Wheaten is the way to go...)

It was a real joy to eat and was made all the better by knowing to produce was all Lottie stuff! Hoorah for Allomenteering, it totally ROCKS.

Focus on ...Mulled Wine ~ yum (in moderation)

Yes, I know, we don't have Grapes growing at A24a and indeed I don't believe anyone does at the Allotment Gardens - however, if we did (and you may), this would be the only thing to do at Christmas ~ Mulled Red Wine.

I have recently enjoyed a glass (just the 1 mind) at the wonderful Contential Market held in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. And, oh my! Andrew had the Mulled Cider (which come to think of it we could do one year with our Apple Tree, uummm) and another friend had White Mulled Wine, which I never even thought existed.

It may interest you to know that 'mulled' merely means warmed and spicy and originated in the colder climes were it's cockle warming proprieties where most appreciated. It is, I have heard, so old that the 1st known name for it was something similar to the word Hippocrates (the ancient Dr)because it was considered healthy and better for you than the (dirty) water of the period.

There is, of course, a write up on Mulled wine and the different types and names for it around the world on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulled_Wine. However, there really isn't time for that, is there? Let's get down to the making of the stuff.

I have chosen Delia Smith's version from http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/mulled-wine,907,RC.html rather than the one I have from Nigella Lawson's book ' How to be a Domestic Goddess' which has Earl Grey Tea in it and therefore sounds gross to me.

I urge you to click the link and make and enjoy!

The photo I have chosen to decorate this bloggette sadly is not my own - I haven't made mine yet - it comes straight from the Delia website. God Bless her! And "God bless us, every one!"(Tiny Tim)

Mamma G's got 'Grow Our Own' Fever!

I regret to inform you that there was no noseying about on Saturday at other people's plots ~ it was just to bloomin' cold. Maggie had to be taken back up to the car because she just couldn't take the cold winds and we didn't last a great period of time ourselves at good old A24a.

What we did do though was head round to Mamma G's house. She too has been bitten by the Grow Our Own bug and we had decided to make a kitchen garden for her. Very green fingered, Mamma G has grown many types of fruit and vegetables in the past and even had her own Greenhouse for a long time. In recent years she had been growing Strawberries, Herbs, Beans, Apples and Tomatoes (including a variety called Shirley which is her 'real' name) with great aplomb. Now, however it is time to take this a step further.

The patio area has been as such for 20 odd years, so the soil needs some tender loving care to bring it back to it's virile self. Also a very large tree (which I mentioned in reference to it's leaves in the bloggette 'Composting - we LOVE it', 6th November) has just been cut down, as it was ill and now the garden has more light and it's time for a change.

So we cut back some overgrown shrubs and lifted concrete slabs to create 4 nice planting areas, which will eventually be edged and raised in wood. It's yet another exciting wee project for us to get our teeth into and we can do seed swaps etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mystery of the Beetroot ~ Solved.

I regret to inform you that the Beetroot was indeed heartlessly ripped out and thrown in the compost bin. (There is a written confession in the Comments section under the bloggette 'Baby Carrots, Manly Scallions and the Case of the Disappearing Beetroot'). The culprit shows no remorse and a suitable punishment is yet to be decided.

Soil and Coffee

Ronnie had a very nifty gadget he let us borrow - to test the PH of our soil. We had heard that it was a little acidic but why waste an opportunity to do an experiment. Between us, Andrew and I did all the Sciences at A-level - we're geeks at heart!

So, this was cool to us and we got straight down to it. With this particular tester we had to dig a whole around a trowel's depth and add a little water (unfortunately we had no distilled water which would have made the experiment better, but I digress..) so it was the consistency of wet soil. Then plonk (science -y term) the tester in, making sure the probe was nice and wet all over (and the switch was flicked to PH rather than Wetness testing mode). Then we had to wait... for a minute........

The Result - the soil was a wee bit acidic. The needle hovered just on the line between 7 and 6. Isn't science fun!!?

So our soil is pretty neutral, which is a good place to start I think, we can add stuff to it to please certain fussy plants - making it more alkaline or acidic where needed. Good news indeed.

After that ,we added some Used Coffee Grounds from Starbucks (you get big bags there for FREE) around the baby Spring Cabbages - there are some thoughts that caffeine deters slugs. I don't know if it works but we're giving it a go. Check out the link below for a discussion thread on it, which seems to suggest the opposite!

But anyway, it made my hands smell lovely and the rest of the bag went into the compost bin (which is what we usually do with these free used grounds); coffee is a great soil conditioner. (Bit acidic, science-y again).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/archive/science_nature/slug_caffeine_mail.shtml

Baby Carrots, Manly Scallions and the Case of the Disappearing Beetroot

It's all about that process of planning for a new year (stops me going mad in the winter); picking seeds to order, looking into brand new areas of Allotmeentering (Apple/Pear/Plum Arches!) clearing out beds and the soil given a bit of tender, loving, care. We've been doing this slowly for the past few weeks, but Saturday saw us clearing out, pretty much, the last bed. We still have a few Parsnips in one, Leeks in another and Spinach in one.

The 3rd bed on the right contained some Cabbages, Beetroot (Holy Moly what did he do with them????), Baby Carrots and Scallions (which where under a poly tunnel) and Parsley.

Andrew cut out the Cabbages (4 or 5 of them) before I could get near the place with my camera and I am guessing he also did something with the Beetroot at this time too. He had me distracted, in the shed or something - what happened to the row of Beetroot??~ I fear it may be in the compost bin! But no, surely not!? Then where are they all????? There must be a perfectly good explanation, I'll find out when he gets home.


(open picture for notes)

And then we started to lift all the remaining Carrots (they weren't going to grow much more) and we were surprised that some actually looked good. They ended up in the Lottie Soup, which I still have to tell you about and I swear they were packed with Carroty yumminess; as if all the carrot flavour they would have had as big specimens was concentrated down into a tiny root.

The Scallions however were wonderfully tall and as good as any we've had from the Lottie. I highly recommend the mini Poly Tunnel (or they might be called Sun Tunnels officially, I can't remember) to any and every Allotmeenter out there. A good buy indeed.

The Parsley plants are still there, though I cut a big one (that had been under a large water bottle) right down and Boy was it good. Again it went in the soup but we also had some with a stir fry - fresh herbs are the way to go, if you can get them to grow in our climate (I'm still upset about my Basil and Coriander disasters!).

So another bed ready for thinking about. I think it will be all Root Vegetables next year, if my hold on the rotation scheme is right. It was a Brassica bed last year, with some Squashes but they didn't do very well. I'll have to draw out some better plans so I can explain things clearer, eh? And I will get that Lottie Soup written down....

Waxwings

It was quite exciting to learn that Ronnie had seen approximately 22 Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus, for those who like their Latin names) on the plot during last week.

According to the RSPB website they don't breed here but are winter visitors to the UK between October and March. And amazingly they estimate that there are only approximately 100 wintering birds in the UK (that means about 1/5 of them popping bye to chirp "Hello" at our Allotment Gardens).

Smaller than a Starling (and rather more colourful) they eat berries, such as the rose and hawthorn berries we have a lot of around the site perimeters. They like to be in big groups too, which must make for a lovely sight in the rather bland winter treescapes. Lucky Ronnie!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/waxwing/index.asp

Presents!!!

Christmas started early for me on Saturday when I received a bubble envelope in the post. I love getting those so much I can't tell you. Inside was a wonderful gift from my friend 'WG' at :
http://www.growveg.info/index.php - Smoked Garlic, Smoked Shallots and Smoked Garlic Salt. What a smell; gorgeous! and large cloves too. We have already used some Smoked Garlic cloves in a wonderful Lottie Soup that I'll tell you about later and it was beautiful. A strong smell, yes, but a subtle flavour that is so different from the somewhat acrid taste of normal Garlic (which admittedly I also like). So a Big Thank You to 'WG', you should check out his forum if you are anyway Gardening and Allotmenteering inclined; so many topics covered and the friendliest people.


Then, Lo and Behold, today I received another Bubble envelope package. The Postman must think me very popular. This one was my 'Secret Santa' present from ? (I think I know...) The whole thing was organised by http://www.growveg.info/index.php before I even joined, yet I got a pressie too! How sweet was that. Usually I am really 'good' at keeping presents until the big day itself, but I had the worse day ever yesterday and last night with depression that I needed a wee cheer up. Inside was this....


A lovely little Card, a thick plastic zip lock bag (for seeds maybe? or holiday security checks?), some Stress Busting smelly Salve (which I am covered in at the moment!) and a lovely big key ring. These little gifts had obviously been chosen especially with me in mind; isn't it nice to feel loved?!

Oh, look at me!

Look, I've put a photo up in my Header! It's the Horse Shoe we found in the ground when we dug up our last bed. Good luck is bound to floweth now!!

Ice Cold

No 'Focus on...' for the moment, maybe later, though I'm not making promises. I am feeling a bit better today but didn't sleep well and have chest pains - not so good. I need to rest today I think.

Anyway; exciting! I got to have a sneaky trip to the Lottie yesterday at lunch time. I don't know how much we're going to manage to get done this weekend down there, as my weather forecaster icon here says rain and much coldness are still to come. Eek! I wasn't built for this climate!!

So, it was nice to see the Lottie yesterday for that brief moment. She was looking good, apart from some sad looking Cabbages which obviously haven't enjoyed the recent weather and freezing cold nights. Do you blame them? But the most fun thing was seeing the water on the plot totally frozen solid. This is our bucket, that was sitting under the water butt ~ to catch any drips.



Maggie's drinking bowl had also completely frozen, into a block of ice.....


Then there were the much talked about paths. This actually looked pretty with all this swirling, frozen puddles and the ground was rock hard for a change. I suppose the weather can be both our friend and enemy at the same time!



I do have other bits and bobs I can tell you but I am aware of the weather and would like to be able to blog away next week too. So...big hugs and enjoy your weekend!

A Disclaimer

I have mentioned that Tesco is the 'evil shop' a few times on this blog. Whilst I stand for freedom of speech I do not stand for getting my butt sued, therefore I will say this only once....Tesco is NOT evil.

There, I hope that will suffice.

I shop there very regularly ~ everything from books and CDs, to knickers and food & (lots of) drink. However home grown, where you can, is best. That's all I'm saying.

Update on the Hellebores!

They are doing well ~ recovering from the ordeal that was being for sale in an evil Tesco shop* and reduced. Think what this has done to their self esteem!

Anyway, I'm getting them ALL for one of my flower beds at the Lottie - Hoorah.


(*to be confirmed)

Frosty lotties

I was so cold, as I've mentioned, hopefully these photos will give a better indication of that, oh, and the knowledge that was wearing 2 pairs of socks and still had cold feet!

So, some frosty photos.....





By the time the last one was taken the sun was going down, as you can tell from the red glow on Maggie's face. Even with her clothes on she needed that blanket wrapped round her. Poor thing.

Unfortunately there really wasn't much happening around the plots, we were there almost on our own and I suppose the sane people were all at home, warm cosy home, with tea and coffee and sofas...

However there was one other hardy fellow, whose name I totally forgot to ask (duh!) working away, very hard indeed - I suppose we all were that day; stand in the one spot too long and you'd freeze. He had worked miracles on these 2 areas, digging over the soil, tidying the edges and getting rid of plants that had given up the ghost.



So after our mammoth task, of Turf Stack Destroying was completed and we had had a done a little looking and weeding around, it was time to go. At home, Maggie's body warmed up just fine but her ears!.....they took a bit longer and needed some assistance......



By the way, I'm still not too good today again, but head up and fighting on.

The Produce and The Plan

Forgive me if this blogette comes across as very dry and boring ; I am feeling very ill but like having a routine to my day ~ so it's blogging time.

We had a lovely load of produce from the (becoming somewhat barren) Lottie this weekend past. On Saturday I lifted loads of Scallions and the biggest handful of Parsley.

However, on Sunday, late afternoon, Andrew went down again and came back with this!

So, for Sunday Dinner there was a lovely Risotto with our own Leek (I'm intolerant to Onions but can eat some Leek and Scallions) and a shop bought Butternut Squash. Damn the fact none of our own Squashes took this year! Monday night we had roast vegetables (our own Parsnips and Leek included) and lamb. Then we had our 1st Cabbage last night sliced up in a stir-fry, it was gorgeous. I really wasn't expecting to say that, but it was.

I have only just realised, looking at this photo that there is a bunch of Beet Spinach in this house. I forgot about that ~ things that go in the salad-crisper boxes in the fridge usually get completely overlooked by me. Terrible, I know.

Andrew wanted his gloves to feature in this picture, to remind us all how COLD is was. What a wonderful Hubby, going to the Lottie in the literally freezing dusk to gather food for us. Big kisses.

I thought this may be interesting to look at too. 'The Plan'. I'll talk more about it and our ideas for the coming months once we get it sorted in our own minds. But at least it gives you an idea of the room we have and what we did with the 8 main beds this year. There are also a lot of scribbles over the paths, these are plans for arches and a pergola - some day!

Now I'm off to have a soothing mug of De-caff coffee; my Depression is crippling me and it's so cold. Bah Humbug to winter...even though tomorrow's frosty photos are quite nice.

Bargains and Bins

We were in evil Tesco* last night for a few essentials (ha!, how I smirked at their sorry excuses for Parsnips) and Andrew spotted a bargain, he just could not pass up. Hellebores for 20p! There were 4 of them and we took the lot, even the tray they were sitting in. They're great wee plants, nothing wrong with them at all, just dying of thirst. I think that just because they say 'Christmas Rose' on them, they're being reduced along with all the other Christmas-y stuff. Well, Hoorah and Merry Chrimbo!

I think I've managed to secure at least a couple for my flower bed at the Lottie, fingers crossed.

Anyway, back to Saturday and the hard labour we put in. The turf stack - it's gone! It took a couple of hours to get it all dug up and riddled but the sore legs and back were definitely worth it. We seem to have so much more room now and plenty of beautiful free top soil on our beds.

The holy trinity of compost bins has been moved over and now the boundary between us and our neighbours (remember we only have a half plot) is very clearly defined the whole length of the Lottie. Hey, good fences make good neighbours and all that.

There are loads of lovely worms from under that stack so the compost will be a joy to their little hearts. Andrew lifted the bins over and took the opportunity to turn the contents over. Now we're going to have another little thin bed down there, I think we've decided to put summer fruiting raspberries in it - we'll make the best of it, for sure.

Apart from that we cleared the 1st bed on the left of its lettuces, baby carrots (which weren't coping with this weather at all and were extremely tiny) and scallions. Then filled it with lovely top soil. But I'll talk about harvest baskets tomorrow...

(*TBC)

World's heaviest spud?!

The BBC released this story on their website today. The script is entirely theirs, highlights are my own.....

'A farmer in southern Lebanon has dug up what might be the heaviest potato in the world.
"This giant weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)," Khalil Semhat told the AFP news agency at his farm near Tyre, 85 kilometres (50 miles) south of Beirut.

"I've been working the land since I was a boy, and it's the first time I've seen anything like it."
Mr Semhat, 56, said he had to ask for help from a friend to get the huge vegetable out of the ground.

He insisted that he had used no fertilizer or other chemicals to produce it.

Mr Semhat said he hoped his potato will be recognised as the heaviest potato in the world. '

Show off......You know - childish as it may seem - I hope it tastes AWFUL!

Sunnybank and the cold

The 1st Saturday of a new month a very cold and frosty day - December, wick.

We decided to visit the Sunnybank Nursery on our way to the Lottie. We have many ideas my friends and wanted to check out what was about. I took some photos while Andrew dandered (he knew what we were looking for better than I did). It was kind of Christmas-tree-buying weekend, I'm allergic so we weren't tempted. The arguments that could be heard from families trying to pick the 'best one' were funny though.

On our way out we were stopped by one of the staff who had recognised Andrew and wanted to give a response to an e-mail he had recently written to them. How friendly are they???! It seems we'd be better off getting our asparagus mail order, especially with us wanting about 10 crowns, but they are trying to get in bare root, maiden fruit trees; we just need to wait a little longer until they get info back from their suppliers. It is lovely having a small, very local nursery right by the Allotments. Hoorah for Sunnybank.

When we got to the car park of the Lottie, it was wonderful to see a brand new shed, right up at that end of Field C. Check out the map - I think it was 22(b). And the little Apple trees that were planted by the Council (and volunteers) 2 weeks ago; they're old traditional varieties from Northern Ireland too. So that was a nice sight to welcome us. Though (here I go moaning again) the path did somewhat take the look off the place and Maggie had to be carried down, not that she minded I'm sure.

On our little plot we instantly got ourselves set up with the kettle on and a makeshift bean bag for Maggie to sit on. She got a chill last week from sitting on the ground - not this time! I got the bag of paper shreddings and her blanket and viola! a lovely lounging chair. She seemed to like it, though when I took this pic, she was a little unsure of her footing.

There was hardly a soul around, okay it was literally freezing but the sky was so blue and there is work to be done people.We heard later that day, that the first robbery had happened on the site. Very upsetting, especially when it seems the person was caught out and it was one of our own. I truly feel upset, this was so unexpected. I have hopes that our Committee will deal with this in a strict, no nonsense way - it cannot be tolerated.

Focus on...the Allotment

It's Friday which means a 'Focus on...', which usually involves a wee write up on one of our humble friut or vegetable varieties. Today however I am going to talk about something much more vital than mere food. I talking about good mental health.

I am not in the best of places at the moment (even though I have been going through a better week so far) as I have had to see both my Psychiatrist and my Social Worker in the one day. You would think this is a good thing and you would be right, up to a point. I am very lucky in that my mental health care team is made up of very nice individuals who do seem to genuinely want to help me.

The problems lie in -

1: Having to go over the same painful issues time and time again (with a cacophony of Psychiatric Senior House Officers who I generally only see once or twice each) and then it's a three month gap till it all happens again
and

2: Constantly being told that there isn't the funding or the resources available that they need to help me (e.g. NO Psychologists!!!!!)

Thus, I am left in limbo land, trying to sort my own head out- which is very ironic and not at all funny; my head and thoughts being the thing I need to work on but also the thing I would need to have a good grasp on in order to help myself work on them. A bloody vicious circle if ever there was one. Complicated further by the fact that I'm on medication at the same time!!

As my very own Social Worker said this afternoon, "the Mental Health Care in Northern Ireland is sh1te". Not very professional she professed but truth is all that matters between us.

This, my friends is why I am so passionate about my Allotments. Ecotherapy is something that has just landed on my lap, out of the blue - due to having a Husband who loves to grow stuff. I cannot emphases enough the benefits that growing fruit, veg, herbs, flowers (and even weeds, if they're pretty) can have on your health (or, let's face it- the health of someone that you love).

Today's Focus on - if you would like a food topic is.. Cake, Chocolate, Ice Cream, Wine, a Take Away - whatever makes you have a happier, relaxed Friday night and gets you ready for gardening tomorrow!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Allotment/Garden/Patio Containers/Window Boxes - grow, harvest, eat and enjoy!