Working off the Christmas turkey at the Gym.

We're still in December, but I'm determined to be healthy and fit in 2014. The gym is only a short walk for me, so I'm starting my exercise the moment I leave the house. The facilities are basic, but are there if you need them. The changing room, loosely called. The toilet, rustic to say the least. The showers, very popular in April. I must say my back can really feel it after today's cardio workout. I am of course talking about my allotment plot. Me in a gym? Wash you mouth out, I say.

So where to begin. That was exactly my thought when I got to my plot. I still have the grass paths to dig up and I had heaps of grass clumps dotted around the plot which I really needed to move. While I was putting on my wellies, I could see that at the side of the shed I have a lot of space that I don't use. It's all covered by trees and bushes, so I thought it would be an ideal place to put the clumps of grass and while I was at it, I could put the compost bin there also. The first thing to do was to clear a way in. If you've read some of my older posts, you'll know I've been cutting the brambles back. Well I haven't got rid of the branches yet. Do I add to the pile or start burning them? I started to burn them, but it's still too damp, so, adding to the pile it is. It wasn't too bad actually, I didn't need to cut too much away. I also found out where the awful smell was coming from last year. I found what was left of a dead fox. Poor thing, the only thing to do was to bury the fox under the clumps of grass. I was surprised that it was only two wheelbarrows full. I did have a flat tyre on the wheelbarrow, but not to worry, it was only at the bottom of the wheel. As ever, the robins kept me company while I was working today.

I did get rid of one section of the grass path and I'm so glad that I am because the dandelion roots were huge. I managed to fill a bag full. If only I could do something with them, I'd let them carry on growing. I did check on the onions but with no intention of mentioning them in this post, but when I saw one Red onion shoot coming up, I knew that I had to. And here it is. Happy New Year, till next time and thanks for reading.

The Rent is paid for another year.

I've paid my rent for the year today, so, unfortunately you've got my blog to read for at least another year. There has been a bit of a price hike. Last year we paid £21, this it's gone up by a whopping 25p and that's for 300 square yards. Personally I think that's really good value. I don't think you can get gym membership for that money per month let alone the whole year. It's a council run site, and in my opinion, it's run quite well. I've have no real issues there and there is never a shortage of people giving you advice to help you out.

After having a mince pie and paying up, I made my way to my plot. With the little time I had, I dug  up the last of the parsnips, carried on digging out the old grass path and laid more of the slabs. It was a bit boggy today, but the grass and dandelion still came up very easy. I don't know how it is with other peoples plots either in the U.K. or anywhere else in the world, but I'm always digging up some weird and wonderful stuff. Glass, pottery and clay smoking pipes, all broken mind. I've even found a small toy car. Because I'm digging up the path that hasn't been disturbed for what must be decades, so I've come up with more than usual. I keep most of what I find. My neighbour joked I should try and put the pottery back together. Here are just some of what I've found along this stretch along with some of the other things I've collected. Merry Christmas, till next time and thanks for reading.

2nd Class delivery for Mr. the Plot.

OK, so I didn't show my face at the allotment like I hoped I would according to my last post, and to top it off, I haven't made it for the last two weeks either. The small matter of Christmas coming ever so close has kept me away. I'm either out shopping for Christmas presents, or working extra hours to pay for it all. So something's gotta give. Unfortunately, it's the allotment.

Today I managed to make another double delivery to my plot. Why 2nd Class? It took so bloody long. Eight more slabs are at the allotment now. I did put one in place, but the rest will have to wait until I've dug some more or worked out where my paths across will go. Because I want to have six equal squares for crop rotation, I can't just put them where the old grass paths were, because they weren't quite equal and to give each year the same chance of growing the same amount, rather than having, for example, too many carrots one year then the next hardly any. And if you've read my carrot post from September, then you'll know I could never grow too many carrots.

My Japanese White onions are still growing well. Don't want to count my chickens, but I'm hoping for a nice bumper come spring. While I was there, I did notice that I hadn't managed to get rid of all the couch grass as some blades of grass have started to rear their ugly heads. Luckily at this time of year they are on a grow slow, so they should be quite easy to dig up. If I managed to clear as much as I did a few months ago, then I'm not going to be too worried about a few blades of grass. Now at the risk of repeating the end of my last post, I am hoping to make it back to the allotment, at least before Christmas Day, as I've kept the last of my parsnips in the soil so I can dig them up for our Christmas dinner. Not only that, the rent is due for my plot. But just in case I don't manage another post before the big day, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, till next time and thanks for reading.

Delivery for Mr. the Plot.

I finally made it to the allotment after nearly two weeks away from my plot. I really made up for my absence, I went twice. It would have been more but as I was wheeling round broken pallets and concrete slabs, my arms were aching, the fact I ran out of time didn't help either. Otherwise, I still had at least another three trips to make. A normal walk to the allotment only takes about ten minutes, but with all the weight and the gale force winds today it took another five minutes. With the slabs, as you may already know, I will be laying my paths in between my six squares. As for the broken pallets, they will be made into a fence at the end of my plot were the grapevine is. I will have to cut the grapevine back a bit as it's just growing wild at the moment. The fence will not go all the way across, I'm thinking of leaving a gap in the middle like I have now, although it was never by choice, you see all the wood is so rotten that this year a section of the fence just fell off. I like the idea of having an entrance in the middle as well as at the side, so that's what I'll do. Once the grapevine is under control and I can see where it actually starts and train it to go up. Luckily for me, the way the sun goes across from morning to night, it will not put any of my plot or anybody else's plot in the shade. It should look good.

While I was there, I did look at what's happening. Still no sign of the Red onions. I did check to make sure that I planted them at the right time, but as they will be harvested in August, I'm hoping they will pick up in spring.

The Japanese Whites are doing well, some about three inches tall. I still have some parsnips left, but they can stay in for a bit longer and we can have them for Christmas dinner. And, believe it or not, I still have some strawberries trying ever so hard to ripen.

What do you mean Christmas is coming, I thought it was Wimbledon.

I'm hoping to show my face at the allotment again in the next few days while the weather holds out. I still have plenty to do and more deliveries to make. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

OK. It's not yellow, neither are they bricks, but I really enjoyed my day of digging today. So please forgive my over excitement with the title.

After a bit of running around this morning with usual weekend happenings, I was hoping the weather would hold out for the afternoon, and as it turned out it did. With only about two hours left of daylight and my iPod tuned into the local BBC Radio station to listen to the football, I carried on where I left off on Thursday. Now I know I've mentioned in the past that I'll have two or more tasks on the go at one time so that I don't get bored and can flit from one to the other, but the thing is, I'm doing so well and getting so far that I want to keep going. If it wasn't for the fact that it was getting dark and I was loosing the feeling in both my little toes, then I think I my still be there now. The path does go one more slab further, but as I said, it was getting dark and the other photo I took doesn't do my work justice. The mound you can see is clumps of grass, roots and all. That will be put in a pile upside down behind the shed and covered. I've been told it should rot down in two years ready to be mixed in with my compost. As for the two shopping bags, the are mainly full of couch grass roots and dandelions, with the soil being so soft, they are coming up really easily. I think I need to start bringing over from home the rest of the slabs which I've collected over the last year, because I've used up most of the ones I have at the allotment. That will be an interesting day. But for now, a bowl of steaming soup made from potatoes, onions, parsnips and a marrow, all grown at the allotment to warm my chilled bones. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Is Winter just around the corner?

                                  

We are well over half way through November and it was a glorious day at the allotment. We have only had one or two frosty mornings so far in this area, Winter is only a few weeks away, yet today it felt like very early Autumn.

      

Oops! Anyone got any glue?

                        

I started to lay the path that will go down the middle of the plot. Now my plot is starting to look how I want it to look, except for the last slab I laid which I dropped on account of it being so big and heavy. I managed to get them across town intact and the last step of putting it in place, it breaks. I still have more slabs at home to lay and the broken one can be replaced, but for now, it can stay were it is.

Finished squash patch.

                         

Once those slabs were laid, the squash patch needed clearing. No more is going to grow this year. It took no time at all to clear, so in my task to get rid of the grass paths, I set to work on more digging. I am happy to report that all the trouble I've had in the past with the couch grass seems to be coming to and end at this side of the plot. So I'm hoping that if I keep on top of the weeding, I should see the end of it or at worst, keep it to a minimum.

                                                              

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself with the way things are looking so far. I've never really carried on with my plot after September harvest. I've always taken home what's grown, when things have stopped growing, that's when I've stopped going. Only to spend weeks try to get rid of weeds that had established themselves during Autumn and then get myself behind when it came to planting in the spring. So I'm really hoping that Spring 2014 will be the easiest so far and with that one of the best harvest to come at the end of the year.

I will also be taking part in a transatlantic project. A few things are still to be sorted yet, but I'm sure it will make for good reading. It won't be me crossing the Atlantic to do a spot of garden. If only. I'm hoping to make a proper announcement soon, so watch this space. Till next time and thanks for reading. 

Ugly veg? Who cares.

                          

Octoparsnips

I just dug up, this afternoon, the first of this years parsnips. As with the carrots, it was an experiment. Only this time I'm rather pleased with the results. In my five years on the plot, I have never had any real success with any of my root vegetables. If you've read one of my previous post on my carrot crop, the parsnips are bigger by far and even digging them up, the sweet smell of the parsnips seemed to fill the air. They are certainly not the kind of vegetables you would find in the supermarket, but they are the best, sweetest, roasted parsnips I've had. It makes you wonder if the supermarkets have got it so wrong. As Joni Mitchell said 'I don't care about spots on my apples, leave me the birds and the bees, please!'. I have re-named my parsnips as octoparsnips, I just need to get to myself to the patent office.

My experiment was to start off the seeds in my greenhouse at home in some newspaper pots I had made, then when the seedlings got to about three or four inches, I transplanted them to the allotment, paper pot and all, so as not to disturb the root at all. I had tried it before in the past in modules, but only a few worked after transplanting, too many fell apart as I tried to plant them.  

                                                     

My Japanese onions are doing very well at the moment. Some have sprouted up about three inches tall. Nothing with the Red onions as yet, but they'll be in the soil for nine months so plenty of time I guess. And even though the strawberries won't ripen, they are still trying their best to fruit.

Never say die strawberry.

                    

Re-use and Recycle.

This week I haven't been able to get to the allotment due to work, but it hasn't stop me thinking about being there. Sometimes, I can look at an object and I think of how I could use it in some way. For instance, I bought a cheep hose pipe, no fancy holder, just a hose. With a large empty reel I found in the bins at work, I can store the hose pipe neatly in the shed rather than have a skinny green python covering the shed floor. 

                               

The neighbouring plot looks so well kept, it makes mine look like wasteland. But let's face it, it doesn't take much, believe me. He has these metal poles with two loops at the top at right angels from each other to rest canes then drape your netting on top as the picture shows. I don't know how much the metal poles cost, but even if they only cost a few quid, how many would I actually need? How much would it all cost? I got to thinking, I have some plastic curtain rings that haven't used for years and at work there are always some meter long plastic poles in the plastics bin. So with I've managed to fix in two curtain rings in to do the same job. Best of all, it's all free. 

  

                                            

As long as it keeps the bloody pigeons off, I will be happy. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Digging in the dark.

Back to digging away again. It feels like I haven't done much. But looking at old photos, and not just from this year, I can see how far I've come.

        

Before

        

After

                            

For a long time, this part of my plot has been left to fallow. Because in one year I had left it untouched, it has just got worse and worse over the years. But I've been told it's not all bad for the soil, it's just digging up all the weeds that's a pain. I was getting so stuck into the task at hand, that I didn't realise how late it was. Well it wasn't actually that late, but it was getting quite dark, thanks to the clocks going back a few weeks ago, that, and the on set of autumn. I'm now getting close to where the squashes are, and it has pretty much finished producing for this year,  so it should only be a case of just tidying up. The rest of the plot will be plain sailing after that. I did give burning the brambles another go, but again, it's still to damp. I think I'll just dump them behind my shed and be done with it. Till next time and thanks for reading.

A game of two halves.

I been very lucky with the weather lately, whenever I've been off work it hasn't rained. Today has been no exception. It did rain, more on than off, up until this morning. But when I opened the curtains, the sun was beaming. So straight after breakfast, a lunch packed, on with my boots and away I went.

The first thing I always do when I get there is an inspection to see what's happening and what needs to be done, even if I already have a plan of what I want to do.

The two and a half marrows are still OK, the courgette has seen better days in its short life, the pumpkins are not getting any bigger, the parsnips are still there waiting for the first frost, and lastly, more and more onions have started to show, not even an inch tall yet, so I apologise for the photo not showing much, but next to each pebble is a little shoot popping up. Still waiting for the Reds to show. 

Japanese Onion sets

                                 

So, a day at the allotment, split into two halves. In the morning, because I haven't done anything for a while with it, the brambles was my first port of call. I managed to dig up some more ball roots but one is still so stuck it's like the sword in the stone. It didn't matter from which side or angle I tried, it would not come up. I did start to burn some of the branches that I had cut a few weeks ago, but even though they aren't green any more, it just wouldn't start. I guess all the rain we've had hasn't helped. 

At about mid day, after a lunch break, I left the brambles and went to do some digging and again, all the rain we've had played a part in make my day not the best I've ever had. It was defiantly a day for wellies. I only wish I had realised before. So much mud was stuck to the bottom of my boots, I now know how Elton John felt while filming 'Pinball Wizard'. It's slow progress, but no root is being left behind. And that was my day on the plot today. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Leaf mould.

                          

It's always sounded to me like something trees suffer from and you'd need a tree surgeon to sort it out. It turns out that it's quite good for the soil and gardeners love it. On the down side, it take bloody ages, two year in fact. If you put the damp leaves in a black plastic bags and keep them in a dark place out of the way, you should get some good black stuff to mix with your compost.

Well I've made a start. There are plenty of leave in my garden falling from my trees and the neighbours trees, and plenty more to fall over the next few weeks. I didn't realise how many bags I'd need. I squashed them down as much as I could, hoping that they will still rot down ok and what I've bagged up is all behind the shed at home. Next year I'll have to find a different hiding place and rotate them each year. But seriously, two year. The guy who burgled our house and was then found guilty only got nine months, and he was rotten to the core. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Still life.

At this time of year, even the best kept plots look way past their best. Mine is no exception, but that said, there is still a fair bit of activity going on.

The onion sets I planted a few weeks ago have started to show. The 'Hansel and Gretel' trail of pebbles I left over each bulb has showed me that they are not weeds and I know not to pull them up when I'm weeding. For now it's the Japanese onions that have popped up, the reds are a bit more shy I guess.

 Two and a half marrows

                         

To my surprise I have two and a half marrows that have seemed to come out of nowhere. I was going to tidy up the squash area only to find the marrows, a courgette not much bigger than my finger and two cricket ball sized pumpkins. It would have been nice if the pumpkins could have been ready for Halloween, but maybe we'll get to eat them instead. 

 Late harvest

                         

This lot of veg may look impressive, but unless you are from Lilliput or the Shire, then you've only got a meal for one here. I could see that the cabbage and the cauliflower where small, but the beetroot with all it's foliage and all I got was ping pong size beetroot. Not trying to sound too ungrateful but I would have liked them to have been a bit bigger. Beggars can't be choosers.

I did do a bit more digging. Not much to say that you haven't already heard, more roots came up and I got a bit further along. I'm hoping tomorrow's weather will be OK to carry on. Till next time and thanks for reading. 

Sick day.

It's been another great day to be at the allotment, but the chesty cough has turned into a full blown 'Man Flu', so as much as I wanted to go, I couldn't force myself to go. So instead, I started sorting out all my seed packets that I mostly get free with my gardening magazines.

                            

I've got a four drawer box labeled with the four seasons, which will help me sort the seeds out. Luckily they are all within their 'use by' date. Carrots are the only seeds I have tried sowing directly in the soil and I've had no success with them at all, so I've never tried it with anything else. But now I know that they can be very difficult to grow, as you can see, I've got plenty of other seeds to experiment with. What's the worst that can happen? They don't grow. I've got a lot of planning to do. Because I'm crop rotating, I'm looking up which ones are part of which group. 

I've also got a scrap book for my newspaper cutting with tips on planting, weeding, etc. One tip for the spring, that now make obvious sense, is to wait for weed seedling to start showing before you sow your own seeds. 

Till next time and thanks for reading.

Times they are a changing.

I've been away for a week and even after a four hour drive and a bit of a chesty cough, I still wanted to make my way to the allotment. It had nothing to do with the fact that City were playing at home. Well more fool me, the wind must have been blowing the wrong way, because I could hardly hear a thing from the football stadium.

The main reason for the title is that we haven't had a frost yet. I'm certainly no expert, but I'm sure that by this time of the year I've had to scrape ice of off the car windscreen when I've got up for work early in the morning. Is it global warming? Can we follow what our fathers and grandfathers did at any time of year any more? We need the frost to come soon, I want my parsnips. They taste so much better after the first frost.

Aside from the lack of frost and having to wait till I got home to find out the football result, (another good win for City) it was a good day for digging. The sun popping out of the clouds every so often and the soil is still so soft, the weeds and the couch grass roots are coming up nicely. As with my strawberry patch, I'm going through every clump of soil to make sure I don't miss anything. I also re-dug the strawberry patch, grass seeds were starting to show, so they soon came up. Just a short one today, but till next time and thanks for reading.

                            

Man's best friends.

Rockin' Robin

I carried on for a while today with the brambles. While I was clearing, a robin had come quite close, pecking at bugs I've uncovered. So rather than boring you with saying the same thing over again, I thought I would mention all the animals that I've seen on my plot since I first started here. It is very common that robins, in the UK, are not so timid. Over the centuries they've worked out that gardeners need them as much as they need the gardeners. The European robins not so much. I came to the shed once after some time away from the allotment, and the damned birds had made a nest on the shelf in the shed, on top of my gloves. Had to get a new pair. It was funny every time I went in and made the slightest noise, their little beaks popped up, open and chirping.

Toad in the Hole

 This toad was hiding under a paving slab. Didn't actually notice it at first, thought it was a big pebble, then it started to move. I'm not saying I jumped three feet high, but it did give me a start.

Busy Bee

As we all know, without bees, there would be no gardening. So I will be looking into which plants will be best to attract them.

Frog in a Bucket

As well as toads, I'm always seeing frogs. This little fella was in one of the buckets I have dotted around the place to collect all the stones, it also had quite a bit of water in it, but not enough for it to be able to get out, as much as it tried. Carefully, I moved my hand underneath the frog, lifted him out and put my hand flat on the grass. He just walked off. 'Now go and eat some slugs' I said to him. 

I hope to see many more creatures, great and small, that are helpful on the plot. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Dig for victory.

                                                                                                              

Another good day for digging, so I carried on next to where I left yesterday. I'm trying to not only get rid of the grass path to replace them with slabs, but also win the war against weeds and keep them at bay. It was much the same as when I was digging the strawberry patch, plenty of twitch and dandelion roots, but it was a bit easier with the soil being so soft. Some people walked by and stopped to chat. I was glad to hear that I was doing it all properly, pulling out all the roots, more accident rather than design. Still clueless, but learning bit by bit.

I didn't think I could compost the twitch and dandelions, but I'm letting them dry out and when it has all died off, then I'll put them in with the other stuff. It was killing my arms, taking them home to put them in the bin.

Normally, at this time of year, I've stopped going to the allotment, but it's usually because I'm doing the same thing over and over and I've got bored, not returning till March or even April. What I've tried to do this time is to do different things every so often, have two or three jobs on the go at once and it seems to be working. I'm getting lots done because I keep going, and this time of year, it's not growing back so quickly if at all. Keep checking this blog to see if it works and how I get on. Till next time and thanks for reading.

A good day for gardening.

                          

Today was a good day to do the gardening. A warm dry day and because it's rained all week, the soil's nice and soft. So I planted my onion sets, Red onions and Japanese onions. I thought it was going to be a five minute job, but it was fifty bulbs of each. I put a trail of pebbles on top of each bulb planted, like the Hansel and Gretel trail. In the photo, the Red onions are furthest away and I have to wait till August to dig them out. The Japanese onions can come out in May. I put in some bricks as stepping stones so I don't disturb the soil too much when I have to weed.

                          

I finally put my finishing touch to what will be the strawberry patch. The original brick path goes along the length of the plot and as it reaches the end, it's a curved right angle. I wanted a definite end so, with some spare bricks I have, made a small path across. As yet I don't know what  going to do with the rest of the area. The grape vine is near by and I would only like to grow plants that will either provide me with food or will benefit the plot in any way.

                         

I brought home the cauliflowers today. They are not much bigger than cricket balls but I'm not leaving them any longer because they will probably go to seed. 

I left the brambles today because it too much of a nice day to be in the shade, plus I wanted a break from clearing that area. Change is as good as a rest as they say. Till next time and thanks for reading.

   

       

Not quite prize winners, but hopefully tummy fillers.

                                   

One potato, two potato.

Today I went to the allotment 'Hut', where you order your seeds, compost and where all the big decisions are made. I went to order my potatoes for next year, my first earlies will be 'Rocket' and my main crop will be 'Maris Piper'. I have never done earlies before, only ever had a main crop. I chose them because they are supposed to be resistant to eel-worm which is what I had in my potatoes this year, and I also found out which variety I had this year, they were King Edwards which are definitely not resistant, great for roasting but are no good to just boil, they turn to mush, not mash. While I was there, I spoke to the chairman of the allotment committee. I told him about planting potatoes where the rose bushes were to then loosen the soil ready for the strawberries. He told me it was a good idea, but to feed the soil with compost and just leave it on top, let the worms work it in over winter, because both the roses and potatoes take a lot out of the soil, and so to give the strawberries the best chance possible, I went back later on in the day to do just that. With another bin full of my own compost I waited for the rain to stop and made my way down there. And it was another nice evening at the allotment. I had also spoke to him about the nest in the compost heap, just keep moving the compost about. they will soon go. I had asked a lot of questions and I felt that there were no stupid questions. Just because he knew, he didn't automatically think I should. Always good to ask, I'd never learn otherwise.
Till next time and thanks for reading

                                                  

That fine rain that gets you soaked through.

Can you spot the difference between today and yesterday?

                          

It was one of those days, today. You open the curtains in the morning and the sun's beaming. You get yourself ready for the day and it starts tipping it down, actually, it was that fine rain, gets you soaked through. And I did get soaked through, while cutting the brambles. I managed to clear quite a bit today, even with the misty rain, but then it really started to throw it down. I stayed in the shed for a while hoping it wouldn't last, but sitting there wet and getting cold, I decided to go home. But it was because of this blog that I went back, if I don't do anything then I've got nothing to write. The rain had stopped and I still had nearly two hours before I had to fetch the girls from school. All in all I was pleased with the amount I managed to do today. The pile of clippings is about as tall myself. I will burn them this time around. It's only going to get bigger. Let's hope the weather stays dry. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Welcome to the jungle.

Today, before starting

We did quite well with the blackberries this year, but now they are all gone and the fact that they are weeds and out of control, today was a good day to start cutting them back. Armed with my hedge clippers, I got stuck in. I felt like Indiana Jones, without the whip though, poison darts coming at me from every direction. I did get attacked, but that was due to nettles and brambles piercing my skin. I was bilingually foul mouthed every time that happened. It wasn't much fun having bramble branches springing into my face either.

Spring last year

Eighteen months ago, I did have it all clear to ground level. I did think that was a good job well done, but as you may have read from a previous blog, they all grew back, worse than before. This time I dug out the root ball, and boy did it have balls. I'm not even half way through yet, I still need to get the plum trees under control, but it was good having the afternoon sun shining through and warming my face in an area of the allotment that hasn't really seen any light this year.

Left hand side of picture is the pile of clippings for this year, and last

I managed to clear a way to my compost heap which I haven't seen this year. And a member of the wildlife community has made the most of that fact, having burrowed in and making itself at home. The hole is too small for a fox or badger, but what ever it is, it can't be doing my veg any good. So the landlord is back now and an eviction note is in the post. I'm just hoping they will see that they are not so hidden now and go somewhere else.

And now for the 'And finally' part of the news. The mystery of the bashful brassica has been solved. I have cauliflowers, heads no bigger than a cricket ball or baseball, but this time I'm not waiting for them to get any bigger.

Till next time and thanks for reading.

The Versatile Blogger Awards.

I was nominated for this award by EJEbeauty who is a beauty blogger (and also my daughter), the basic principle behind this award is to give up and coming bloggers, who provide a good quality blog, in terms of images, the text and engaging posts regularly, more of a chance to break out into the limelight as when blogger's are just starting out it can be very hard to get your blog noticed.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my daughter for nominating me for this award and helping me with this chance to further my audience.

The Award Works Like So:

- Display the Award Certificate on your blog.

- Announce your win and thank the blogger who nominated you.

- Present 15 deserving bloggers with the award

- Link your nominees in this post and let them know of their nomination with a comment.

- Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

Blog's I Nominate:

http://allotment65.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.allotment-garden.org/

http://www.allotments4you.com/

http://allotment81.blogspot.co.uk/

http://allotmentjunkie.blogspot.co.uk/

http://allotmental.com/

http://veggies-only.blogspot.co.uk/

http://cadalot-allotment.blogspot.co.uk/

http://garden-of-vegan.tumblr.com/

http://allotment5andahalf.wordpress.com/

http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.co.uk/

http://carletongarden.blogspot.co.uk/

http://tinyfarmblog.com/

http://yougrowgirl.com/

http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/No-Dig-Gardens-blog.html

7 Interesting Facts About Me:

- Even though I'm of Spanish descent I love a Sunday roast, real ale and a cuppa tea

- In a house full of women I've learnt to let go of the TV remote control

- And can appreciate a good chick flick!

- Despite the fact it's a children's film I have a lot of love for Despicable Me

- Thanks to my music taste, my two teenage girls have a love for The Beatles over Beiber

- The last concert I went to was Monsters of Rock!

- I was in Spain and saw when the replica ships of Christopher Columbus, La Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria set sail again.

Little baby steps.

My shadow helping me today.

 Yesterday, I don't mind telling you, I was wondering if it would all be worth it. But today, after only doing another meter, I did feel like I was progressing, even if it was only a bit at a time. But what I am doing is making sure that for each little bit I do, very little or even no weeds or roots are left behind. If this was a business, then it would've been cheaper to either to put some weed killer down and keep it covered over for a while or to dig the whole lot out and put in new soil. I'm just glad it's not a business, for a start, I'd be sacked by now (or fired if you reading this in America), secondly, I am enjoying digging it all over, making sure I'm getting everything out that shouldn't be there. And today I had my little shadow with me, my youngest daughter. Both my daughters have helped me out. My youngest has helped me at the allotment by collecting stones, weeding, planting, watering and, because I can't leave her at home alone, just keeping me company. Today she was there helping me get rid of what I missed. And picking bunches of grapes just to nibble on. Well the strawberries are about all gone. My eldest has helped me with my blog and all the problems and stuff I can't work out. The night I, no, she set up my blog, she can down stairs to make herself a cup of tea, saw me with the laptop and asked what I was doing. "I've set up my blog" I said all chuffed with myself. "No dad, that's an email account". So I ended up making the tea. She actually started me off thinking about having a blog because she has one herself. Hers is about make up and beauty products. Not in a way that 'hey, I look 18 now', but more as a make up artist. Her blog is here

I'm hoping that next weekend will be just as nice as today. I don't want stop. I want to finally get my plot looking how I want it. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off.

Another afternoons session trying to clear the strawberry patch. But all I'm digging up is twitch or knot grass or whatever it's bloody called. It's like sticking my fork in, lifting it up and getting what only looks like spaghetti. I managed to fill three bags full of weeds and roots from only one and a half meters. There must be about another three or four meters left. It feels like it's never ending. I do hope it all be worth it in the end. On the plus side, I came home with four strawberries today and we are into the first week of October. There could've been more but them pesky slugs have been at them. With it being October, bonfires are allowed on the plots now. They are band from July through to September, but now I can start getting rid of the old rose bushes that I dug up last week. I still have a massive pile of dried brambles that I cut last year. I plan to have a major clear out of all the brambles by next spring. Keep an eye on this blog and see I get on. 

                                       

A quick update on the marrow soup, today was leftover day. We had a roast chicken dinner yesterday and with what was leftover, chicken and vegetables, we put them in what was left of the soup. Delicious! Till next time and thanks for reading.