Allotment: Week four

I think I've become an allotment addict.

I realised tonight that I can't just go down there and water the plants. Every night, I end up digging a few weeds or re-potting something, or planting something, or just standing in the greenhouse smelling the tomatoes growing.

Just a couple of weeds while I'm here....

Tonight I have tomato envy. I had a peek into Phyllis's greenhouse and noticed that her tomato plants are about 10 times the size of mine and flowering! Come on guys, you have some serious catching up to do! I noticed she had some very healthy and delicious smelling mint plants as well, I might see if she'll let me dig one up to have on my plot - I'm sure she would. Mmm fresh mint tea!

My cucumber plant is looking really well - it's covered in flowers now so I've planted it in a grow bag and attached a cane to the roof for it to grow big and strong!

Cucumber plant looking really healthy!

The peppers are flowering today as well. They've suddenly gone really floppy as though they need a drink but the soil is wet through so I'm worried that I might have drowned them! Does anyone know what this could be?

Pepper plant - looking good on Friday, not so much today.

My courgettes are growing at a rate of knots. Just a few days ago, there was the tiniest little spot of green showing through the soil, by Friday, they were about 2 inches tall with two big leaves on each, tonight they are about 6 inches with four leaves each. They'll be ready to go out soon I reckon.

Little courgettes - doubling in size by the day!

On Friday night I planted my broad beans and string beans because they were (and still are actually) looking a bit dehydrated in the greenhouse.

I also tried to dig another row but had to give up when I realised I could no longer stand straight!

I am quite small, but those weeds are REALLY tall!

I'm getting really excited about the thought of picking my own veg and having that first home grown meal! It's getting close now - all those flowers will soon be vegetables! Those green strawberries will soon be rosy red. And those dried up little berries will soon be sweet and juicy raspberries. Yum. Yum. Yum.

In the theme of gardens, I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Saturday - have a look at my other blog for some piccies!

Green.

I've just come in from a couple of hours on the allotment. It was nice working out there in the late evening sunshine as the sun dipped behind the hills, drenching the ground in a honey coloured warmth and turning the sky salmon and buttercup in its last few minutes of daylight.

The middle strip of doc leaves is now gone - half way
point has been achieved!

I didn't have such a productive weekend out there this week because the weather has been awful (there's a surprise on a bank holiday)! My mum is back from her holiday so we spent a couple of hours out there on Sunday as it tried to rain and then yesterday, donned our wellies, cagools and brollies and trundled off to the garden centre to see what they had to offer in the way of vegetable plants.

Lettuce, spring onions and various donations from generous
neighbour

I ended up coming away £30 lighter with a few extra plants for my garden (you're due for an update on that, by the way) and two types of pepper, some broad beans (gorgeous flowers), string beans, purple broccoli (3 guesses why I got that!), spring onions, and leeks. I'm going to have to get digging if I'm going to get all these planted while there is still time.

The pretty flowers of a broad bean - they smell divine too.

I just spotted that my courgettes have started sprouting in their little pots as well while I was cleaning the downstairs bathroom (that's where I grow all my seeds), another week and I'll be able to get them in some bigger pots.

I don't know what this is! It's one of the plants donated by my
neighbour - any ideas?

My plants were all looking a little worse for wear today in the greenhouse. I didn't water them all weekend because it was raining. Who knew rain didn't water stuff in the greenhouse? Not me, clearly.

Leeks and little pepper ideal for stuffing with cream cheese

I inspected my plum tree the other night to see if there was much on it. Hiding amongst the foliage is an abundance, in a couple of months I will be on a plum diet and so will all my friends/family/neighbours/anyone willing to take a punnet of plums of my hands! At the moment, they just look like little green bottoms, but soon they will be big and juicy, and the deepest purple. This tree produces the most amazing plums I've ever tasted, but I think even I will tire of them this year!

Plums-a-plenty

More to come......

Nettles where the sun don't shine.

Week two on the allotment:

It's been a whole week since I started work on my jungle allotment and I've only managed to dig one and a bit rows! I really have set myself up for a challenge here.

Last night I put all my potatoes in so hopefully in a few weeks there will be something to see for all my hard work.

I've been cleaning out the greenhouse, ready to start getting some plants in. Just as I was being chased around the plot this morning by a giant spider with wellies on (yes, really), my neighbour came out to offer me some of his crop. It's his second year on the allotments and after an unsuccessful propagating year in 2010, he decided just to go for it this year and plant every single seed he had. As a result, he's got a greenhouse full of every vegetable known to man (about 40 of each!) which are rapidly becoming too large to keep. So I've taken some of the stragglers. I've got three different types of tomatoes; some little cherry ones, some big fat ones and some obese ones. I've got two types of chilli; really hot and really, really hot. I've got watermelons. I've got cucumbers. Lettuce. Pumpkins. Squash. I've also planted a couple of courgette seeds just to make sure no one goes hungry this year.

While digging yesterday, I noticed that my strawberries are starting to get fruit on - I'll have to keep an eye on them, it won't be long now till I'm eating them three meals a day. I might have a go at making some strawberry lemonade.

The plum tree is already covered in thousands of tiny green fruit. I can't wait for the first one to drop!

I got my first allotment injury today. Nettle stings. I had decided to chop all the nettles back on the path so they don't sting me as I'm walking up and down behind the greenhouse. I was chopping away when one fell on my arm. I had forgotten just how much those little bleeders hurt and jumped back with surprise. I jumped back, and sat straight on a pile of... you've got it... nettles. So now I have a rather fetching nettle rash all over my arm and bum! Note to self: only wear jeans on the allotment from now on, summer dresses will not do!

After only one week, I can already see the benefits of working outside - I now have muscles on my arms the size of new potatoes (as opposed to petit pois), a slight sprinkling of freckles across my nose and that wind blown, sun lightened hair that only surfer chicks get. So this hard work lark is obviously doing me some good!

Green fingers... I soon will have!

So, this weekend I finally got to work on that allotment that I've been dying to dig my shovel into.

Before: every inch covered in weeds. The plum tree at the
back has the most amazing plums at the end of the summer

It's going to be a lot of work. Every inch of it is covered in some kind of weed: doc leaves, nettles, buttercups, daisies, dandelions, blue bells, thistles and all sorts of grasses. There are strawberries tangled in with everything, just starting to bear fruit.

Strawberries cover two full rows. I'll have to pull some out
unless I want to start selling them at market!

I went down there Saturday morning, armed with pink garden gloves, wellies, shovel and fork and began levering out doc leaves with roots the size of me. Weed after weed, my pile got higher and higher and my plot got clearer and clearer. Before I knew it, my neighbour came out to tell me it was 6pm and hadn't I better get in to my hubby to cook him some dinner?

Dandelions: nice to look at, complete bugger to pull up!

I'd been there all day and only cleared 3/4 of a row!

I say again: it's going to be a lot of work!

But, I enjoyed every minute of it. While I was stamping, and levering, and yanking, and pulling, I had nothing else on my mind. All of the stresses of the previous week were forgotten, all I cared about was getting that one last weed, and then one more. It was therapeutic.

Blue bells, these are far too pretty to pull out so they can stay
right where they are.

It's lovely down there. A nice big plot with a lot of potential, in full sun all day long and soil soft as sand. After Phyllis went in to get ready for Bingo, I stood and admired my work - I'd hardly made a dent on the mini rainforest of weeds, but I'd done it all by myself. I was doing things I didn't think I could do alone, stuff I thought my bones would never allow but I did it. And I felt proud.

Keeping up with the Jones' - I'm going to have to get moving if
I want my plot to look like my neighbours to the left and right!

I also felt achy the next morning, but that's another story. I feel like this is something I can do and I think I'll do it well. I can't wait to see the result of my hard work later in the summer.

This is week one, I'll post back next with my progress! Will you be 'growing your own' this summer?

A photo a day - 24th April 2011

Me in a sumo suit. Actually, it's just a thick thermal jump suit I wore to go whale watching. You wouldn't think I could be cold in that, but I was cold to the core and have only just thawed out now!

This will be the last photo of my Canada trip. I have sadly begun my journey home now.

You can read all about what I got up to and see lots more photos here.

Location:Tofino, Vancouver Island, Canada

A photo a day - 23rd April 2011

Spending the night in a Christmas tree bauble, being gently rocked to sleep by the wind. Free Spirit Spheres at Qualicum Beach near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

To read more about our trip, go to my other blog at http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

A photo a day - 22nd April 2011

Watching the sea planes going in and out in Victoria, Vancouver Island

To read more about our trip, go to my other blog: http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

A photo a day - 21st April 2011

On the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria.

To read more about our trip, go to my other blog: http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

A photos day - 20th April 2011

Big Horn Sheep at the side of the road on the Bow Valley Parkway.

To read more about our trip, go to my other blog: http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

A photo a day - 19th April 2011

A lone coyote in woods just outside Banff centre.

We originally thought this was a wolf but because of its injured leg, we went to report our sighting at the visitor centre and have the identity confirmed yesterday afternoon. The lady there told us that this guy is actually a coyote, not a wolf - wolves have a much longer leg and are bigger in the shoulder. Our search continues.

To read more about what I'm doing in Banff, go to my other blog http://travelling-Kat.blogsppot.com

A photo a day - 18th April 2011

People walking on the frozen water at Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway.

A photo a day - 17th April 2011

A frozen waterfall in Johnston's Canyon.

A photo a day - 16th April 2011

Seven hours and two achy bums later... We arrived in Banff.

Location:Banff, Canada

A photo a day - 15th April 2011

6.21am - sunrise on Granville Street with the Rockies peaking out behind. After the Canucks victory on Tuesday night over Chicago, all of the buses have had "Go Canucks Go" emblazoned on the front of them. I caught this one by running into the middle of the road with my tripod on the green man, point, shoot, run on red man!

To see what else I've been up to, aside from taking my life in my hands on the roads of Vancouver, go to my other blog http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

Location:Vancouver, Canada

A photo a day - 14th April

Part of a totem pole at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

To read about what we're doing, go to my other blog at http://travelling-Kat.blogspot.com

Location:Vancouver, Canada

A photo a day - 13th April 2011

Jelly fish at Vancouver Aquarium.

To see what we're up to, go to my other blog at http://travelling-kat.blogspot.com

Location:Vancouver, Canada

In support of the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal...

I have been devastated watching the news unfold as the situation worsens in Japan. The first day was heart breaking and each day since has been torture for the poor people affected.

If you are a long term reader, you will know that I spent a few weeks in Japan this time last year and absolutely fell in love with the place and its people.

Prayer cards outside a temple in Tokyo

Everyone we met was so kind and hospitable. We were typical tourists, getting lost every five minutes, standing in the middle of the street holding a map and turning it every which way to try and work out where we were. Well, we never had to stand there for long before someone, a teenager, a business man, a woman with children, a little old man, would come rushing over and without a shared word in the same language, they would set us on our way again in the right direction.

Prayer notes tied to ropes around a temple
in Nikko, just North of Tokyo

There was one day in particular, we had somehow got on the wrong train and ended up in a really empty station where the station master couldn't understand where we were trying to get to. We were there a while, getting more and more frantic, thinking we may have to move into the station when a local man walked in and asked if he could help us. We told him where we were trying to get to and then he had a long conversation with the station master discussing the best route for us to get home. Not only did he tell us which train we needed, but he walked us to the right platform as well. We had a bit of a chat about where we came from and what we thought of Japan and then he went off to get his train. A few minutes later, he came rushing back - he had put us on the wrong platform! So off we went again, following this little man to the right place. He walked off again to catch his train. A few minutes later, we looked up at the glass bridge above to see him jumping around waving a piece of paper in the air. He came rushing down the steps again. He'd written us a note, in Japanese, explaining that we were tourists and saying where we were from and where we were trying to get to just in case we got lost again! Luckily we never needed to use it, but I still have it tucked away in my travel journal.

A girl in traditional dress reading prayers outside a temple
in Kyoto

It was such a lovely act of kindness from a stranger. There was no reason for him to feel obliged to help us, he just did. And we were so grateful to him.

After the earthquake, I knew I had to do something to help people like that man who had been affected and lost everything. I wanted to go out there to help the survivors but only trained personnel have been allowed out up to now. So then I thought about fund raising and came up with a plan.

A prayer note tied to the cherry blossom in Nara

We have the royal wedding coming up soon so I thought it would be a good idea to organise a big village party to raise money. So, me and another lady in the village have joined forces to create the wedding party extravaganza of the year!

We are starting with a wedding dress walk from the church (with the bells ringing behind us) down to the village hall where the wedding will be shown on the big screen television. After the wedding, we will be having a British tea party style lunch - cucumber sandwiches with their crusts cut off, cakes, jelly and tea and coffee. In the afternoon, I'm hoping to get some live music or other live entertainment.

I have been on the beg, asking everyone I know for some kind of donation for a raffle - so far I've managed to collect a meal for two in the Hilton, 3 overnight stays at various hotels, a beer gift pack from a local brewery and, get this, a pair of entry passes to Disney Land Paris!

Prayers outside Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto

So, kind man in the station, this is for you - and all the other people who helped us during our stay in Japan and who warmed my heart everyday through their kindness and warmth to each other. It really is a culture we all could learn something from.

You can read about my time in Japan here.

The little things...

The litle things making me happy today (in association with A Serenade for Solitude)...

A day out in Leeds with the girls... Something we need to do more often!

A long lunch in Jamie Oliver's restaurant.

Talking to a little old lady from Hong Kong on the bus.

Apple blossom starting to fill the trees on the roadside.

Finally finding a denim skirt for my jollies!

Organising a big charity event on the day of the royal wedding to raise money for the Japan earthquake fund (details to follow)! Think on the scale of an actual wedding... And I have two weeks to do it before I go on holiday! Yikes!

Pancake Day

Pancake Day (aka Shrove Tuesday) is one of my favourite days of the year. I love trying out all kinds of different fillings both savoury and sweet.

Tonight I made this:

Savoury pancakes filled with garlic mushrooms, spinach
and feta cheese. Topped with a tomato and chilli sauce
and grated mozarella with homemade garlic breadcrumbs.

Followed by this:

Sweet pancake with a touch of cinamon, drizzled with
organic maple syrup.

And as Maddie Mad-head looked so sad, she even got a special little doggie pancake!

Dog biscuit wrapped in a paw sized savoury pancake
- don't tell her Dad!

The little things...

Things that are making me smile this week...

A present from my boss/friend/surrogate mum to celebrate passing one module of my proofreading course and to help me along with the next.

Having time tonight to sit and read my magazine instead of cooking!

Sunshine streaming through my office window and casting golden light over my finger tips as I type.

Getting a candlestick thrown at me by my 1 year old nephew during a tantrum (what can I say, it was funny!)

The end of a huge work deadline and the knowledge that I have done well :)

Writing. Anything.

Reading Bill Bryson.

Maddie. Just being Maddie.

Maddie Mad-head