Are you sitting comfortably?

We're back. Wow, it's beautiful in the|Hebrides. I don't think I've ever seen such astonishingly lovely beaches - pristine white sands with a backdrop of mountains and islands and we had them all to ourselves. We even had very good weather. Amazing. I'd go back tomorrow, but it's just so terribly far away.

We've been catching up a bit since we've been home - you know, loads of washing, re-stocking the food cupboards after the boys had eaten everything while we were away, re-establishing cordial relations with the cat....the poor old allotment had to wait its turn.

Now that J's strimmed and I've weeded, it looks ok again and I'm pleased to see that everything's still there and still growing! The sweetcorn had been very puny when we went away, but it looks healthier now. Nobody ate the pak choi and it's bolted so we're eating it all at once for a week or two. The strawberries are producing nicely - in fact, it looks like it's a "strawberry year".

However, my first effort at tidying up was ruined by sitting down on the bench with a cup of (thankfully cooling) green tea. I went straight through and threw the tea all over myself, demolishing the bench as I went!

J has done a brilliant cover up job, but I shall have to be careful in future. (And so will everybody else - I don't actually weigh that much!)

Happy gardening (and be careful when you sit down)

Holiday plans

I'm spending a fair bit of time tidying up and planting out the beds, ready for them to be abandoned again while J and I go on holiday. Silly really. By the time we come back all the tidying will start again, no doubt. It's so HARD leaving an allotment, even for a short time but as we're planning to take the van to the Scottish Islands we need two whole weeks or we won't have enough time to explore. I'm trying to persuade Roo and girlfriend Helen to spend some time with a watering can in our absence. It's hard work persuading Roo, but Helen came up with me the other day and she rather enjoyed planting runner beans. I'm sure they'll be good and help out, they may even like it, it's all looking so damn good up there!

The flowers are blooming beautifully in the top patch next to the hut. These are nominally here to attract bees and other pollinating insects to my fruit trees and vegetables, but mostly they're here because they're lovely.

 Under this netting, the strawberries are flowering like mad - maybe we'll get some fruit when we come back!

.....and these little pak choi are ready now (except something's munched the end two, but that always happens) Strir fry next week before we go, then!

Happy gardening (by proxy)

Tiny wasp nest

J found this beautiful wasp's starter home in one of the compost bins a few days ago. You can see from the edge of his thumb how tiny and perfectly formed the little honeycombed section is inside the shell.

It was so fragile that when I accidentally put an envelope onto it on the kitchen table, the shell cracked. It's only paper thin itself.

I'm glad the wasps abandoned their nest though. A compost bin full of wasps would be a scary proposition later in the year. 

Happy gardening (and watch out for wasps)

No comparison

Forced




Unforced


Nuff said

Objects of desire

It was my turn in the Trading Hut this morning, selling compost and seeds and taking people's subscriptions to the allotment society covering the four linked sites around Redland Green. It's all wonderfully organised - all you have to do is turn up, unlock the well greased padlocks, hang the "open" sign up on the main gate and you're in business. I only do it a couple of times a year so when it's my turn I've always forgotten what to do but the customers are very forgiving. It's a good excuse to have a look around other people's plots too. This site has grown several polytunnels since I last had a proper look. Aah - now there's an object of desire. J and I would love a polytunnel but there's no room on ours for one. I have to be fairly careful putting up a large cloche without overlapping the grass path.

So - no polytunnels for us then. Back on my own plot this afternoon, I planted a module of red onions (Red Baron) admired the spring flowers and did a bit of preparation for planting the spuds. Hopefully tomorrow as it's a Bank Holiday.

This photo (primroses under the plum tree) shows that remarkable phenomenon of not noticing things that are right in front of you when taking a picture. I really, honestly didn't see the triangle of broken pot until just now! I think it's hereditary, my mum always used to take photos of my dad with something stupid like a signpost growing out of his head. No signpost here, but I would've moved the pot.

Happy gardening (and I bet you take better pictures than me)

Still plenty of leeks

My my. He said he was taking a picture of me holding some leeks. Instead, as a change from vegetable pictures we can all gaze on his handsome face! 

 You may just be able to make out the leeks in my hand. They are destined for mini leek and bacon tartlets to take to a lunch do tomorrow. That's probably why I've put mini photos in this posting.

Happy gardening

...and here's one I made earlier...

In a "Blue Peter" moment during the winter I made this bird feeder specifically for peanuts as they are too big for the birds to get them out through the wire grids of either of my shop bought ones. You can tell it's home-made, can't you?

However, the allotment birds don't seem to like peanuts. I wonder why not? The mixed seed and fat balls seem to last about five minutes but the peanuts often don't need re-filling. Picky chaps, allotment birds.

Happy gardening (and bird watching)