Long week.

Bit of a week really. Was hoping to be back on Wednesday but house moving stuff prevented that. 
Why can't people tell you the truth?
Onwards and upwards....

In the meantime, this is Acorn, trying out his Halloween outfit.

X

Strawberry fields forever....

 Bit of a tumultuous weekend so was good to get back to the allotment.
Mrs H is missing Mr H lots. I can't answer her questions as my own grief is still too raw.
Spent today pulling up strawberry plants so as to uncover the fruit bushes. Discovered that red currant is actually white currant and tastes fabulous.
There would appear to be a whole slug city underneath the strawbs but hopefully the crow sitting on the roof of the house will sort those out.
And so to bed in a mo. 
Every day is a new experience on the allotment. Time disappears.

Al dismantling a strange thing.

Remember to be kind and love everyone. You never know when they may not be around. Appreciate what you have.

;-) 

Slugs

The bane of a gardeners life. I've heard and read of so many different ways to prevent slug carnage that I really don't know what to do. We're trying to be as green and organic as possible but after planting the asparagus I was so worried I did sprinkle a few pellets around the bases. Am I glad I did! Going back today I found half a dozen dead slugs. I feel terrible but I think I would have felt worse to have seen my tenderly raised plants decimated.
If anyone has any good solutions I would love to hear them!
Greenhouse 2 is slowly filling up with seed trays full of winter veg, tomatoes are ripening and the avocados that Mr H planted are looking good and healthy.
Saw Mrs H briefly as she was off out and bless her heart she still brought me a cup of tea.
So here's a few pics from today.

Pepper plant still not quite in flower but looking healthy.

Winter broccoli coming along nicely.

Some of the seeds. Note the use of loo roll inners. Trying to recycle!

Herb hanging basket to overwinter in the greenhouse.

And finally some of the pears and apples I brought home.

I can really feel it coming together slowly. Just need a bit more confidence!

We'll not be able to go over now till Sunday as that thing called "work" gets in the way now and again, but there will be some heavy digging to do then!

Have a good few days!

Wild flower patch at home.

Just a photo taken in our garden at home. 

London

It's good to be home!
Four hour round trip to London done. We achieved a lot though. Hairdressers, shopping, prescription and a quick cup of tea. Mother is very unsteady on her feet, so only goes out when we take her. 
From being a highly independent, argumentative woman she has become very fragile very quickly. She has had a lot to contend with. Dad passed away four years ago and then her son, my brother passed away last year after developing an evil disease called Motor Neurone Disease. I must confess that it was during my brothers illness that I really became hooked on gardening. When I came home after being with and helping look after him, the garden became a place to immerse myself and get lost in my thoughts. I remember that his diagnosis came through on Christmas Eve 2011. I stayed up all night, digging up Jerusalem Artichokes at 4am ready for Christmas dinner.
Mother has been diagnosed with early onset Dementia but I have to say she is doing a bloody good job fighting it. Trips to her in London will hopefully be a thing of the past very soon as she is moving to our village. Just waiting on a date.
And yes, I shall be taking her to the allotment to meet Mrs H and help (if she wants to) out. Even if she just sits and has a cup of tea and a natter it's better than being on her own.
Oh happy day!
Sorry, that sounded a bit maudlin, but it's just a bit of background as to why we are where we are today. I'm excited for the week I don't have to do the round trip and I have Mother just down the road. I can involve her in so much more and all I want is for her to have a happy life now.
Let's hope I'm not digging up artichokes this Christmas Day. X

By your beds

Just a quick update as need my bed!
Spent most of the day sorting out the asparagus bed, in between the downpours.
Decided on the area between greenhouse 3 and the shed. It will be quite sheltered but still have a fair amount of sun. First job was to dig over and remove strawberry plants and weeds.

This was half way through.

The soil was good. First time I've had a proper dig, so I was interested to see how it would feel. The strawberries lifted quite easily. Looks like they may have been down for some time. I was surprised at how few weeds there were as well.

Mrs H was on hand with cups of tea and time just flew by.

The various stages

I finally managed to plant the asparagus after a particularly heavy downpour, which was perfect.

So that's the asparagus bed ready for the next twenty years! We grew these from seed so next year will be the first time we'll be able to harvest from them and even then we will have to be very restrained in the amount we take. This is obviously assuming that the slugs do not munch them!

All the seedlings are looking good in the greenhouse and I'm hoping to be able to report flowers on the pepper plants when I go back on Wednesday.

Managed to find time to show Mrs H how to deadhead her geraniums and I suspect that on Wednesday I'll also have a few more jobs to help her with. 

Sunday will be crucial as we are going to start on the main allotment area, marking out the beds and pathways.

So, I feel like we are starting to make a tiny mark on the allotment. Sooooo much more to do.

Off to sunny London town tomorrow to take Mother shopping. I know where I would rather be!!!

Ma in law

Picked up Ma in law from the coach station last night so just a quick pop over to the allotment today.
All the seedlings are doing great and took over more toms.
Been reading loads and have some great ideas but we just need to put them into practise.
This will be a major learning curve and we will definitely make a vast amount of mistakes. However, it will be worth it.
So, chilled out night. Fish and chips from the van, glass of vino and bed. 
Sweet dreams all.
  

Extras in the Company of Characters

The Woodsman
The Artist
The Volunteer

The Boss
The Neighbours....of which more later....they are species of their own

The Mother
The Ma in law
Big hugs and kisses to the two above.

Uncle A
Uncle B
Uncle C
Ha! Only just realised that! 

Busy doing nothing....

To be fair when we stopped and looked around that's how it felt....barely scratched the surface....
However on the upside we have met Mrs Hs' son whose most frequently used phrase is "joyful". I thought we were fairly cool people. Veggies, green, recycling freaks but I have never heard joyful used so much in a conversation. 
" Hey, I picked my nose today!"...."Joyful!"
How does that work?....
Anyway, it looks as though we did nothing today, although we got the trangia working! The greenhouse stunk of meths as if we'd had a rave or something but it was a well deserved cuppa. Mrs H had already done the honours with two mugs of tea from her kitchen but at least we felt like we were proper allotmenteers.
Had a sneaky cig or two behind the greenhouse and the egg sarnies were great.

To be fair, Al has been working hard on the leaky greenhouses. Just put all the pepper and chilli seedlings in so need them to be frost protected. Potatoes have been planted and winter broccoli seeds down.

Could have been there all night but Ma in law is down tomorrow and need to clean the house. Going to whizz her over on Friday to have a look. 
Here's how it's looking....

Pretty maids all in a row

Lots of gooseberries. This a round the garden shot. Lots to dig up and replant. Found a few random potatoes which Mrs H whipped off to the kitchen.

Evening primrose. Mr H has this in most of the greenhouses.

Super wonderful solar radio so I can listen to The Archers whilst onsite!

Map of allotment area :-(

It's going to take a while to get this sorted. A learning curve for sure. But it's fun and satisfying. Didn't want to leave tonight even with the lure of a drink at the pub!

I think it will be good to look back this time next year and see how far we have come.

Work tomorrow, so no posts. Hurrah! 

Sleep well and think green. X

As an aside, this is the list of characters who may or may not appear during the life of this blog. Any resemblance to any living person, animal or plant is unintentional.

Al.............husband, handyman and general all round good guy.
Sheryl......yup, me.

Mrs H......Lovely lady we are gardening for.

Archie.....One of our dogs.
Billie.......Another dog.
Penny.....Another dog.
Billy........Yet another dog.

Lots of cats.............seriously, lots of cats!
The Girls......our chickens.

Obviously there will be a supporting cast including a few extras who will be introduced as we evolve. 

This is us!

Welcome to our long debated blog.
We've been dithering over this for months and now finally have something worth blogging about!
Having outgrown our little yard and front garden we were finally offered a garden allotment belonging to a lady who has found it too much work since her husband passed away. 
We went to have a look two weeks ago, apprehensive and feeling like interview fodder but were shocked and delighted with what we found!
Mrs H is a lovely lady who will no doubt figure largely in our blog. The plot is a whopping 60 x 16 ft and has the total luxury of not one but three greenhouses and assorted outbuildings. Established gooseberry, redcurrant and blackberry bushes, apple trees, rhubarb, everlasting cabbage and lots more we haven't yet uncovered.
This will be a story of discovery.

Our first visit.

Chomping at the bit we arranged to come back the following Sunday and as the forecast was wet, wet, wet, figured sorting greenhouses would be the order of the day.

Made a start! Before and after photo of greenhouse number 1, now known as HQ!

Fortified by cups of tea from Mrs H :-) 

Back tomorrow so expect more pics and hopefully a plan of what the plot will look like next year. Also hope to update on the amazing things we found in the greenhouses. Mr H was a keen companion planter.

Right, off to make sandwiches for the day! So excited!