So the lovely Pete came up for the day, and he and Rich set to the plot. Me and Lizzie toddled off to go to baby massage – I think we had the better deal!

So before they started it looked like this:

And from the top you can see the bit of black stuff we had put down to keep the path clear – it works! Shame the rest of it got so over grown!

So the boys set to work, and they did good!

Halfway through and it’s really obvious how bad it had got! It’s made up of a 2m, 1m and 2m wide pieces (my plot is 5m wide) so we will always have a path up the middle even when we create the spaces to plant

Admiring his work

And Pete, who seems to be doing an impression of a teapot :confused:

So, we think the Council will be happy, and we hope it means the Irish blokes next to us are no longer contemplating setting fire to the weeds

So with spade, fork and gloves in the car we set off with a sense of purpose/guilt. This is what waited our arrival – the poor poor place

The grass has taken over, the beans were still on their poles and it looked so sad. Deciding where to start wasn’t easy – dividing the tasks up much better – Rich digging and anything heavy duty, me pulling up plants and general tidying. Not to mention a little whip cracking here and there.

Thankfully it seemed to be quite a quick job emptying some of the beds, mainly the beds Pete dug in the first place that were dug well. Not walking on the beds also made it lighter work than it could have been otherwise.  After a short while, it looked like this

You have to agree it looks better already! As we were digging and clearing we started to think about what to plant this year. We planted lots we never ate (or got fed up of eating) and didn’t plant enough potatoes. So we’ve allocated the spud beds, decided where the fruit is going to go (I didn’t take a photo but you should see how happy the rhubarb is!) and agreed that beans aren’t our thing (nor are peas, for those of you who read the blog last year).

At this point pickle started to seriously get in the way – bending down isn’t so easy with a 7 month bump, and getting back up even harder, so we decided to stop where we were, pack up and head back next weekend with renewed energy for the place. We spoke to one of our neighbours, met some new ones (though we still have 5 empty plots) and had a nosy at what everyone else is up to.

So when we left it looked better- the grass is insane and we need to do something about that (we covered the path in weed control stuff to try and help a bit) and I need to work out what plant food fruit bushes need and what food rhubarb needs given I can’t be arsed to find a supplier of manure (or want to get it to the plot, or dig it in). If you know please let me know!

Annoyingly today has reminded that what’ I’ve not learnt since having this plot – that blackberry bushes have very VERY sharp thorns, and that they scratch. *nurses arm*

Anyway, I have been busy honest! Only not with plants but with crochet. Thought you might like to see!

STRIPES!

I love this wool, suggested by the lovely Maxine it looks great. It’s just a simple treble crochet stitch but it’s giving me good practice for yarn holding and tension etc. It also stops me getting too bored. The balls of yarn though are never ending, and so far I’m still on the first ball.

SQUARES!

I love this wool too (I may be developing a wool issue). You may remember it’s the Cashsoft Baby DK I found in the sale bin. It’s a lovely relaxing pattern to crochet but I need to (desparately!) block the squares. No, you don’t get bonus points for pointing out one square is much smaller than the rest. And you certainly don’t get any points for saying “tension square” at me. No.

Then, no matter how pleased I feel with myself for the above, a friend of mine has sent this beautiful blanket for pickle.

LOOK AT IT! I’m so jealous! I wish I could knit but I lose track too easily with the counting and get too frustrated. My brain clearly isn’t for knitting (it’s why I love crochet so much!)

I’ve had the bulbs since the end of the summer, maybe early Sept time. I was going to plant them then but someone told me to wait so I did, then the snow came in Dec and I’ve only just got around to it. Who knows if they’ll actually do something or not but they’re in now. Some had started to shoot, they made me feel quite guilty

The weekend was going to consist of going out to Lichfield but it was too cold. Bump is now big enough that none of my winter coats fit/do up, so it’s miserable being out in cold weather (and I refuse to buy a new coat that will only get worn for 2 months tops) so Lichfield was shelved in favour of a relaxing weekend instead. Although I’m not good at doing nothing hence the muffins, and 2 more squares of my crochet.

Shame it’s work tomorrow …….

Now, this is the thing – when the hell are we going to do it? Get it all tidied and ready for the new year? If I’m honest, I did wonder whether to just give up the space given that pickle is due around the main planting month but, after long discussions with Rich we decided to keep it (mainly as it was the easiest decision ). So, with a reduced list of things we want to grow, and a renewed interest in having a nice space to head to over the summer, we’re starting to make some plans again.

So, in addition to the allotment, this blog will now include other things we’re doing too, whether you want to read about them or not quite frankly :p, as it’s a handy place. So, for a starter for ten, this is the latest piece of crafting I’ve been up to. Yes I know it’s pastel colours, and that breaks the number one rule I set out for pickle, but my pickle my right to change the rules! (for me only though!)

The wool was in the discount bin in John Lewis and I thought it looked quite pretty. Sorry for the colours not really coming across, the wool is a lovely lilac’y purple with lime green and cream (all over half price – it’s Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK and is SO soft it’s gorgeous to work with). The bonkers ball of wool next to the square is a Pattons one which uses the same colours but a bit more bold – it looks better IRL I can assure you (stupid stupid phone camera), also half price.

So, let’s see if I can get this finished before it’s needed!

The next task on our list to get sorted is of course the back yard – which is planned for May. Can’t wait to get rid of those stupid slippery miserable looking bricks for something a bit nicer. I’m very excited about that!

But my enjoyment comes from the growing (as you might have gathered from this blog!), the eating is a poor relation.

The things I’ve enjoyed eating are – tomatoes, peppers/chillis (or I will do when they ripen), potatoes, broad beans, SOME beans (not as many as I actually have grown! Who needs *that* many beans?), red currants, strawberries, raspberries, courgettes (when they’re not the size of marrows),.

Things I’ve not enjoyed – pak choi (not sure I can ever eat one again tbh), lettuce (WAY too many bugs/dirt), peas (PEA MOTH *vomit*), too many beans

So next year needs a bit of a rethink – definitely need to grow more spuds as they were my favourite, more tomatoes but with the right amount of space. Definitely more peppers as the plants on the plot look so happy. Less beans of one variety, but perhaps more varieties of beans. Plant peas in such a way that means I escape pea moth as much as possible. Definitely more fruit (am going to make some redcurrant jelly tomorrow with the ones off the plot). Earlier courgettes (and squashs, they’re ace!). No idea about the sweetcorn or sprouts yet as they haven’t matured yet!

So definitely lessons learnt!

The other main problem with the plot is bind-weed. It’s EVERYWHERE. Stupid plant.

The sunflowers happy, and the veg looking very settled in their beds. A quick scout and harvest later and this is what I collected:

The purple of the mangetout and beans is just gorgeous and their flowers equally so. Though I’m scared to eat the mangetout after finding out about the pea moth, disgusting bastards they are.

Then I got home and took some photos of the yard for my Uncle and thought I’d share them here too

one corner of the yard complete with resident felines – the tomatoes are all growing well and the chillis are all producing now – still haven’t a clue what I’m growing mind :/

in this one you can see the new lights I bought – they’re ace! Little butterflies and flowers and they look great when it goes dark! Need some nice weather again please so we can sit in the yard and enjoy them!

So, next trip at the weekend and plans for winter crops have begun. Though the main next step is planning for next year – top of the list is more potatoes and peas……….

Answers on a postcard please…..

It feels a bit weird though, as it all needs so little effort from me now it’s all doing it’s thing. The red currants are ready to eat (and taste lush), the courgettes are growing so much it’s a bit unreal and the beans are setting their fruit. It looks like this year I’m going to have more tomatoes than I know what to do with and the basil has germinated and is looking healthier than I’ve ever managed to grow in a pot.

We finally took pity on the last potatoes though, they’ve never flowered and the leaves were starting to go yellow. So the decision was taken to pull them up and use the soil. Needless to say we got one of our better harvests off them!

One of the purple beans was ready to harvest and it’s a striking colour. The purple mangetout have started to flower and they’re stunning (will take photos I promise, when I have a battery charger!).

So this was our take home last night

Do I care? No, not really, as I’ve had a lovely day just pottering in the back yard, fussing cats (more of them later) and watching the world go by (or my own little bit of it anyway).

I was supposed to be going to a carnival and then going to meet some friends in the pub. But I’m tired, and a bit down, and the one thing I’m bad at is actually just chilling out – so when I woke up today I thought today was as good as day as any to spend it doing just that.

I’ve failed to make it to the allotment (that’s tomorrow morning now) and the sum total of my effort today includes having my eyebrows waxed and going to IKEA (quickly!).

Are you bored yet?

So what did I achieve? Well I’ve fussed cats:

tidied up their favourite sombero (don’t ask)

and swept the bricks up it looks so much nicer – moved some plants around too so the colours are more spread around

you can see the outside broom in the above photo – it broke – stupid thing

and this simply has to be the happiest looking tomato plant I’ve ever grown

right I’m off to bed – night all x