All my hard work ruined again

Well I haven't posted much as I've been unwell but the good news is I have finally found out what's wrong with me...I have pernicious anaemia which means I will have to have injections on a regular basis to stay normal (if that is possible). The problem is at the moment I am trying to work out a period of time in between injection that suits my body and I am still trying to find it as my body is not happy with the period the Dr is prescribing. Anyway enough of the sob story in a nutshell I've had no energy and haven't left the house much so the allotment was the least of my worries and when I went up there this week I could of cried it was so over grown.

All my hard work at the beginning of the year had gone to waste and I couldn't help but think it was because I was lazy even though I knew it was because of my illness...damn body.

Luckily my OH was kind enough to offer to come up with me today to try and get it back under control and we got about 1/3 cut back but lots of plants had to be sacrificed. It's horrible I spent so much time sorting it out at the beginning of the year and now it's all gone to waste. I really don't want to have to give up the allotment as it gives me great satisfaction and as we don't have a garden it's ideal but I need to find a way to make it easier...answers on a postcard.

Anyway here's a few pics for you to understand how I feel:

Before:


After:


And still to come:

Babies Everywhere

Just went up the allotment after being away so it was very exciting after not seeing the place for over a week. The good news is the weeds haven't gone too crazy and I still have vegetables left so the slug damage isn't too bad. I also got to harvest lots of nice vegetables for my tea including courgettes, peas, runner beans, bay leaves and radishes.It's a very exciting time up there at the moment as I planted a lot of stuff late so there's lots of baby vegetables around the place and its so exciting watching them grow, I get very maternal.


See if you can guess what the following babies will turn into??

Beans and Squash are in

Risked it and went up the lottie this morning. The skies were blue by the time I left the house and I had to change into a vest top in the shed when I got up there because it was so warm. I managed to get the new bean bed finished and planted some runner beans and squashes. I got caught in a shower but it was really refreshing so I didn't bother with my coat I just enjoyed the downpour. I picked some potatoes, broad beans and peas to have for tea tonight and a bought a tub of local oak smoked sea salt made by Halen Mon on Anglesey, I think this will be lovely to go with the fresh vegetables from the lottie.

Bean a good day..

Went up the allotment yesterday and got 80% of the bean bed dug over. The squirrels are still attacking my strawberries so I am thinking of putting a caged strawberry bed down the middle of the first half of the plot.







I have recently tried out an oyster mushroom straw kit at home. I didn't get that much of a harvest from it, I think this was because I left the spores for too long in the fridge and they were a solid mass before I used them. Anyway after I finished with the kit some of the straw still had spores on it so I decided to lay the straw on a shaded bit of the patch up the lottie and just see what happens. Worse case scenario it will just mulch the soil.

A step further

Sunday evening was really nice so we decided to go up the allotment for a couple of hours and get the bed sorted that my OH made the day before. While I was planting the tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines my OH started digging the new ground in the second half of the plot. It hasn't been dug over for years so it is very tough with some well established weed roots. Hopefully I we will get it ready in the next week and I can get some late beans and squash in there. Then there's only two more beds to dig!!

Potato Worries

As you can see from my post below I harvested my first potatoes today and they look delish.

But shock, horror aghhhh!!!
The same time I harvested these I noticed marks on the leaves on a couple of the earlies, what is it, is it blight??? I have posted on the INEBG forum and I am now awaiting some help!!!

Weeds aghhh!!!

As you can see from my last posts I haven't been up the lottie recently due to illness and then I had to go away examining work for a bit but my Summer Holidays are finally here and after looking at the allotment today I think it's going to take me until September to sort it out.....

I spent three hours manually trying to cut through all the weeds and grass and it still looked like I hadn't touched it as you can see from the images.
Left - Before
Right - After


The amazing thing is that the plants are surviving. I'm going to have trouble in the root bed telling the difference between weed and plant but it will be a learning curve. I could clearly see me broad beans, peas and strawberries fighting through the weeds.



It was really tiring today but I can't wait to get up there and do more and to cheer me up I harvested the first of my potatoes and we are going to have them tonight for tea!!!!

Me vs My Body

I went up the allotment yesterday and after putting all my plants in the wheel barrow and getting them up the allotment I felt like I was going to pass out and had a very bad hot flush! The doctors are still trying to find out the cause!!

Anyway I went home after not feeling to good and tried again today.....

Take 2

I managed to get up the allotment today, still feeling rough but I was determined to do something. When I got up there I almost had that oh no so much to do feeling but I had a good word with myself and realised I can do it and most of all I will enjoy doing it.


When I took over the second half of the plot I inherited two boxes so I decided to use the deepest one to protect my beans and tomatoes until I have more time and energy to sort them out. I also noticed that I have inherited a number of potato plants. It's really strange seeing things appearing when you didn't plant them.






I got given a number of kohl rabi seedlings this week. They have managed to survive in my house all week so I had to get them out today. I found an area in the new half of the patch that had some strawberries already growing in it so I decided that looks like the least amount of work, so they went in there. I had some mulch mats for the first couple and I then used some slate for the rest, hopefully this will stop the slugs!

The Final Dig!

It's finally completed, I now have a completely dug, fresh patch of soil that's mine to plant what I want where I want. How exciting is that!!!!!

It was a bit of struggle but I made it, although my back is feeling very alive at the moment.







I came across an area with a lot of beans on the ground, very strange. It made me feel a bit like Jack and the Giant Beanstalk, so I throw them on the compost heap as I am not quite ready for a parallel universe at the top of a giant beanstalk, not yet anyway!







The weather was beautiful today and the evening was so much longer, bring on the long Summer evenings with beautiful sunsets. Although the sky looked quite spectacular as I was leaving the allotments this evening, a good taste of things to come.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Went up to the allotment today to aim to get another bit dug over. On the way up I noticed one of Hilary's new sculptures in the area she was working on yesterday, just outside of the walled garden.




I got the spade and wheel barrow out and went up to my patch aiming for gold. My friend the robin popped in from time to time and was getting used to me pottering around. I also had a flying visit from a squirrel who was checking out the border.



As I was coming to the last part of today's dig I noticed a very large root sticking up from the ground. On closer inspection it looked like a tree root, so I started to dig and dig and dig. I never found the bottom but I found intertwined roots that eventually snapped, is that good or bad???




I pulled out one of the bits that snapped of and got my go go gadget eyes on the case, looks like wood to me!!








After my unplanned dig for roots I was left with a pile of soil and a big hole so I ended up having to dig over a bit more to conceal my mystery dig!






I was very pleased by the end of today, I now only have one third to go, there is a light and I can almost touch it. I will be disappointed when its all dug over I have really enjoyed it. I guess the next chapter will then start, planting!

The light was starting to dim so I decided to call it a day.





I said goodbye to the king of the hen clang, who was getting used to seeing me and was not bothered by my presence at all, yet another new wild friend to add to the list!!



As I was leaving walking down the drive to the convent there was a spectacular view that really captured my mood and made me really appreciate my surroundings.

Half Way There

Finally made the half way mark today. I have also made friends with a little Robin who seems to be appreciating all of the worms I am turning over while digging. The weather was a lot different today, there was a slight chill in the air and after being there about 10 minutes the sea fog started to come in it was very creepy. I felt like the allotments were turning into a set from a Tim Burton film.

Then I started to hear someone digging, I couldn't see anyone just hear it! Between finding all the bones yesterday and the digging noise I was visioning graves being dug through the fog.

But I discovered it was a fellow allotment holder I hadn't met before she was digging over a patch just outside of the walled garden so I couldn't see her.
I breathed a sigh of relief and decided to call it a day.

The Second Dig!

Just come back from a glorious day at the allotments. I can't believe how warm it has been today. I went armed with tea and cake, prime ingredients to keep you going!!

Grabbed the spade and started again, aimed to dig over half by the end of todays session and almost completed it. One thing I learned to day was my gardening gloves were not nettle proof!!! Picked up a lump of turf that was destined for the compost heap and it bit back!! So I threw it into the naughty corner (on the compost heap).


Found a lot more potatoes under the ground and they were all rotten. My hand went straight through the one and it cracked like an egg, it even had the runny yellow inside with a slug to say hello.

It's unbelievable what you find under the ground. I started to find a number of small bones!! too small for human but they were certainly bones!! I had visions of Pet Cemetery going through my mind with a flash of Physco for good luck.


Luckily Jan one of the other allotment holders turned up and she informed me that there used to be an abattoir there!! Not very vegan but I'm sure it done the soil good. I would really like to know the history of the place, another project for a rainy day. At least I know it wasn't from the last plot owner!

It was really nice to chat to someone about the plot and the place. Jan was plating out some garlic and she had some spare and kindly give me a number of garlic plants. Which are now taking residence on my windowsill in the kitchen until I make them a new home.

After a natter and a nice warm cup of green tea and a slice of cake I dug a bit more, threw a few more weeds in the naughty corner and walked home looking very proud with garlic plants in my hand. I feel it was a successful 2nd dig and hopefully the weather will continue and the plot can be dug over by the end of the week.

The First Dig

Well we didn't get the snow and the weather looked fine and not too windy so I put my wellies in a bag and headed up the allotment for my first dig!! Three hours later I got through a quarter of my patch. Had to give it a right old digging as there were lots of rotten potatoes under the ground from the previous person. Also came across a number of slug eggs!!













As I am writing this I can feel my back muscles asking my body was all this digging really a good idea. It's times like this I wish I had a bath! Only another three quarters to go and then bring on the weeds and slugs, I am ready and waiting!