Shameful neglect

 2 months of neglect!  Every year I think, this will be the year, and every year something crops up to prevent me from keeping on top of the allotment. This time it has been a lack of a car.  It is too far for Sophie to walk (so she thinks!) and she refuses to go in the pushchair now.  Not all of us have working bikes so couldn't even get down there on our bikes, And then in the evenings when I did have a car, there were so many other demands on my time too (plus the weather isn't always playing ball!) so those are my excuses! I was dreading going down there, scared of what jungle I  would find.  In fact I had wondered whether to give up the allotment, as it is one more thing I feel I am not doing properly. 

So yesterday I had the loan of Mum's car for the day, and off we tootled.  It was bad!  It has been a very good year for weeds, and by the looks of it, blackberries!

 The courgettes are doing well, but planting 4 pumpkin plants still has not resulted in one pumpkin.  All male flowers :(

 We were able to harvest some courgettes, and some of the onions, some spinach, and our entire broad bean harvest of about 5 pods, and two of those don't look as if they will be edible.  All the other beans (runner and french) have amounted to nothing too!

 We cut some of the grass with blunt hedging shears (the only thing we had to hand) and we pulled some of the seeding thistles, so it did look marginally better when we left.

 Look, at least you can see some of the plants that are supposed to be there now! 

Once they are all back at school, I AM going to get on top of this allotment. Really I am!!

Why?

 "Why do I do this?"  This is what I was asking myself down the allotment today!  It was so disheartening to go down there.  I was dreading going down, knowing that the weeds would be big, the crops would be struggling (if they hadn't been eaten by slugs), and the ground would be water logged.  I wasn't far wrong.  The above photo was the strawberry bed I had weeded and fertilised about a month ago.  I was struggling to see any strawberry plants at all. 

The pumpkins were still there, which I suppose is a blessing, but they were definitely not looking their best, and the courgette plants were looking decidedly yellow.

 This is supposed to be where the leeks are. Hmmm, I certainly couldn't spot any there *sigh*

 It is certainly looking very lush, and that grass is looking very long! 

 So feeling completely overwhelmed, I set too, weeding the strawberry bed.  A blessing that the ground is so soft that many of the weeds pulled out easily enough.  Then I noticed the sky getting darker, the birds singing their pre-storm song.  It was too late to cycle back home, and I couldn't shelter in the shed, because Stuart had the shed keys, so I had to shelter the best I could under the apple tree amongst the nettles.  "Why?" was going through my head alot by that point!

 And the tree didn't really offer much shelter, so I packed up and started home.

It wasn't all bad though.  Stuart was on his way home from work, realised how heavy the rain was and came and picked me up, bike and all.  And there are some strawberries ripening up...

 ...some peas filling their pods...

 ...and the chance of a bumper crop of raspeberries.

So, not all bad, but I think this year might test the hardiest of gardeners!!

The season so far

 I've been working really hard down the allotment these last few weeks, and I am beginning to feel rather proud of myself.  There is still alot of wild areas, but there is definite progress being made.  The top plot is pretty much cleared and planted up.  The bottom plot is getting clearer!  And see that grass path?  Well following the demise of the push lawnmower at the end of last season, I am having to cut it with hedge clippers!!  Took about an hour to all the paths and the edges the other day in scorching heat.  I knew I'd worked hard that day!!

This water butt has been sat at home for the last year, after I picked it up on freecycle.  It is nearly as tall as I am, and will hold alot of water.  When my nephew stayed with us the other week, I commandeered him to help me get it down the allotment.  It was one of those jobs that never got done, as it took up the whole car, but needed two people to manhandle it.  But if Stuart helped me who would have the children?  So eventually it has been given a new home, and I hope it will help to store that bit more water (if it ever rains again!!)

 This, strange contraption is an idea I picked up from Pinterest.  Using an old clothes airer I have made a kind of lean to for the cucmber plants to grow up, and then have sown lettuce seeds in the shade beneath.  I have added the membrane for now, as cats are using that area as a litter tray *sigh*

 The raspberry canes that just grow where they please are holding alot of promise.

 Our bean wigwam is ready to go.

 And look at this shameful picture.  All that purple sprouting that has gone to seed.  What a waste.  I am determined not to let that happen next year.  We got to the point this year where we could not harvest it quick enough. But this year things are going to be different.  I can feel it in my bones!!

Dry days!

 Three dry days in a row!  That must be some kind of record!!  I was sat taking a break and eating my lunch, when I looked down the plot.  It struck me how lovely it was, sat in the warm, with the birds singing loudly, looking at my hard work (even lovelier if you ignore the massive patch of weeds in the strawberry patch!)  Half the strawberry patch is clear (ish) of weeds, and has been fertilised.  The rest of the strawberries will have to take their chances with the buttercups, plantain, and couch grass for this season, and will be treated to some attention at the end of the season.

I've been cycling down to the allotment, to try and burn a few extra calories, and it has been very pleasant.

 Busy clearing beds, and sowing seeds.  the top plot is definitely getting there, the lower plot, well, the less said about that the better!!

 I'm not sure we will get much fruit this year from the trees.  The apple tree has very little blossom, and the plums, whilst laden with  blossom earlier in the season, were then hit by all that awful weather, so I'm not holding my breath on those either.  But I guess we did have a bumper crop last year.

 I just wish I was as good at growing crops as I am at growing weeds!!

 The onions are looking good, but the peas have had a 50% failure rate at germination, so some resowing needed there.  We are now at that time when I am wondering whether it is safe to put the tender plants out, hmmm, surely nearly June must be frost free?  But then again, this year has been so topsy turvy, I think I will play it safe!!

No more excuses

Stuart's birthday present.  A rowing machine.  We figured that the cost for us both to join the gym would be paid off relatively quickly if we just got this, and the results should be the same.  Plus it fits in alot better around all the other committments we have.  So, after piling on the weight these last 6 months or so, I now have no excuse.  I have a form of exercise readily available day and night, it is Spring which means there is alot of work to be done down the allotment, plus I have been found to have quite an underactive thyroid, so I am hoping the medication will start to take effect soon, and my body starts working the way it should.  I am really quite excited at the prospect of having more energy, and not being so heavy, so when I am complaining of aching I will have to remind myself of that!

And we're off!

 The season has started!  I had been a little reluctant to go down the allotment, as I was a little scared as to what I would find after a couple of months of neglect.  I kept making excuses, but yesterday I decided Sophie and I would go and have a look.  I thought with Sophie with me it would be a brief visit, but she really enjoyed herself, and we had a good couple of hours down there.  We managed to clear enough space to get the red onion sets in the ground.  Sophie enjoyed poking the onions into the holes she had made, but wasn't so keen on planting in straight lines, more like clumps!  So we won't win any competitions for neat, tidy rows, but at least she knows which way is up on an onion set!

 We harvested the parsnips, which really hadn't amounted to much.  Usually they do really well, but not this time.

 There's some purple sprouting on its way.  Just go to harvest it at the right time this year, not get greedy and wait for it to get that little bit bigger, and end up being inedible because it has gone woody.

 And peas beginning to shoot in the mini greenhouse.  I like to get some on the way at home, then plant them out when I sow more seeds at the allotment, that way I prolong the harvest a little more.

The plan is to use one of Sophie's pre-school sessions each week to be down the allotment come rain or shine.  I can't wait for the weather to be right AND me have the time to get down there.  So no more fair weather gardening for me, I'm going to have to harden myself up and get grafting!!

"NO"

The usual suspect has reared it's head again.  Trying to find balance in life.  I have a tendancy to take on alot of things, and then get the feeling I never do anything properly, because my time is split so much.  But then I get bored doing the same thing day in and day out, so I need some distractions!  The trouble is, it is always the things I enjoy that I feel need cutting out to make time for the important things such as the needs of the family. 

One of the things I have already cut down on is computer time, and that is working quite well.  The other thing I was contemplating cutting out was the allotment.  I always feel guilty when I am down there, that I ought to be doing something else, but then when I am not down there I feel guilty that I am not down there, if you see what I mean! 

 But then I look at photos of some fairly recent trips down there, and see the work I have done (clearing the strawberry patch of bindweed, couch grass, and some invasive wild strawberry) and I remember how much I enjoy it.  The solitude and peace it gives me, and the produce it gives the family too.

There have been particular crops I have never been happy with, ie potatoes, carrots, beetroot, so I think this next year I will just grow more of the crops we seem to do well at and enjoy.  The allotment will be staying, and organisation will be more evident (hopefully!).

I think organisation is the key to it all, a skill I lack in quite dramatically.  And I really think I need to learn a word that is spelled N...O.  I don't need to say it to others, just myself.  Just because I can do something myself, eg knit something, crochet something, make something in the kitchen, grow something, doesn't mean that this is the way it should be done every single time, it is ok to take the short cut occasionally and either buy it, or let someone else do it. 

I am hoping this new mindset will help me feel more in control, and give me time with the family.  Rather than feeling I am firefighting every second of the day, being pulled every which way.  Fingers crossed. 

Seven Days

Joining in with Jacqui's lovely idea about looking at the extraordinary ordinary from the last seven days.

Beginning to use up the apples from the allotment (thyme and apple jelly, and apple chutney)

 Helping make some banana and chocolate chip muffins (well, what else do you do with those really mushy bananas?

 Making playdough.

 The boys discovering toys that have been sat on the shelf for far too long.

 Home improvements restarting

 The best picture (how I wish for a fantastic zoom lens!) of the thing that makes me smile every morning.  I hear the parakeet every morning, and it graced us with its presence in the garden the other morning.

 New looks for the younger boys.

Thank you Jacqui for making me look at our week with fresh eyes.

Self-medicating

 All my uncertainty over the allotment has been washed away.  Our allotment is not one of the tidiest or weed free places, it does sometimes feel like a burden I could do without, and the things we produce are not going to win any prizes either, but my goodness, it is so much more than a source of food.

 I managed to convince the children to spend some time down there this week, and they were busy digging potatoes, picking beans, pulling up the spent broad bean plants, watering, playing tug of war with the hose pipe, and fighting with hoes and rakes!  We munched on plums, and raspberries and made the most of the blackberries that had overrun the currant bushes.

 After having had a rough week with my own head and emotions, the allotment was the salve my body needed, grounding myself, calming, and basking in the sun I have recently started to fear.

The promise of the bounty to come as we head towards harvest...

 And surprise successes, the onions I grew from seed, was late planting out, and thought if I got spring onions from them I would be lucky, but look, they are actually proper onion sized, not whoppers, but they'll do very nicely thank you.  I won't show you the courgettes or sweetcorn, as neither are amounting to much at all.

So I promise the ground I will nurture it over this next year, and as a friend told me, a gardeners motto is that "there is always next season!"  

Allotment

 Have I mentioned before how I love my allotment?  I'm sure I have!  Not only does it provide nutrients for our bodies, along with exercise.  It also nourishes my soul.  It's like walking into a magical wonderland.  We get to it through a hole in a hedge, wander past the chickens (not mine!)...

 ...wander down the grassy paths lined with plum trees and blackberry bushes...

 ...and then we reach our plot.  Not the prettiest, but I'm working on it!

 And, as ever, I have my little helper!  This time last year I really wondered how I could keep going with the allotment, as Sophie used to think it was just a time to breastfeed.  However, she is getting much better now.  She is getting over her fear of tiny creatures, and is enjoying getting stuck in, and just a little bit mucky too!

 Most of the potatoes are in and beginning to show through the mounds, so I'd better go earth them up again next time.

 We have promise of another bountiful harvest of strawberries.  One of Sophie's favourite!  Not sure I'll get to make quite so much jam this year if Sophie has her way!

 Redcurrants already beginning to start to blush red.  I love how these look when ripe, little red jewels.  Still don't know what to do with them though!!

 The last of the purple sprouting.  Some of the plants are still producing a bit, and I'm loath to pull them up, but we need the space for the root crop, so I think their time is numbered.

 The allotments are the prettiest allotments I have ever come across (apart from mine, which lets the side down a bit!), I always thought that allotments were a bit... utilitarian!  But these, they combine practicality with beauty.  Little compounds which have a few plots in.  Our compound is mainly women plot holders, some who have many, many years experience, which is a delight to draw upon. 

I hear news that the government is banding about the idea of councils being able to sell off allotments.  I really do hope my little piece of magic is safe.  I have missed the consultation deadline, but will fight tooth and nail to protect my source of food and sanity.