Time of abundance... and the Big Butterfly Count...

This week...

Oh the joys of the allotment... well half an allotment plot...

Tomatoes are looking great... fingers crossed we don't get blight (again)
this year... if we do at least there will be plenty of green tomato chutney this year !!



























Black Berries are abundant again this year and I'm still picking Gooseberries ...

More lettuce leaves sown and others ready for the plate

 Plenty of beans and courgettes...

Lots of apples growing on the tree..

My little bench to sit and ponder on...

The butterfly habitat behind... nettles covered with eggs...


I always leave plenty of leeks to flower for the bees to enjoy...

First cucumbers for three years... four so far and very yummy!!

The first of the squashes...

The squashes and sweetcorn patch is really lush...

Then where would we be without the comfrey feed... it might stink but it makes everything so lush...

I've also been picking and hanging Lavender, Melissa, Sage, Mint, Peppermint and Marjoram to dry...

Then my two  lovely vintage Fabric buys...

I'm thinking of cutting some squares out of this and adding them to a white duvet cover...

What do you think??

Huge fabulous fabric, which I think is probably Boras... If you know what it is do let me know....

Hooray it is Boras 'Lago' by Saini Salonen

Then I found these beautifully made cotton curtains last sunday...
I just couldn't resist them...

I thought Maud might like them...

I love them!!



But three frustrations this week the TV box broke, the shower broke and well let's not say too much about the loo..

* update the blockages were caused by roots!! lush roots grown through the old dry sealed pipe work and growing inside the U bend.... very common the chap said... Hmmm... the whole lot has got to be dug out and replaced!


Instead let's celebrate the masses of Butterflies...

Have you joined in with the Big Butterfly count yet??

http://www.bigbutterflycount.org/about


Have a lovely weekend...
Smiles Cass x

Allotment visit and merging

The sun is out here for the second day in a row...

Yesterday a friend and I spent a few very enjoyable hours up at the allotment, planting Broad Bean plants, some lettuce seedlings and building a hum dinger of a fire... all the blackberry, raspberry and gooseberry prunings gone up in flames... along with a fair bit of unwanted ivy.

I do always leave some ivy for the wildlife but it can rather takeover! Sadly I totally forgot to take my camera ... next time potatoes  hopefully eh...

I'm shattered today... now off to shower and wash the smoke out of my hair... was just too tired yesterday went straight to bed...

Hope your garden/ allotment clear up is well on its way too...

I feel a spurt of seed sowing approaching for the season ahead!!

I am about to merge my two blogs..


Till next time sending smiles Cass x


Update...  the merge has now happened...

Allotment August 2012

So how is the allotment today...
well see for yourself... it has been a slow challenging year...

Just planted out some more lettuces, parsley and newly sown seeds... please slugs leave me some to actually eat!

I have to cover small things with chicken wire otherwise the rat patrol have a tendency to to use the nice fine earth for other things hmmm...

Celery on the left celariac to the right doing well...

I have just planted some carrots and beetroot behind...

I have some spaces this year, sadly I have lost all my tomatoes due to blight so this plot is full of nasturtiums an marigolds... I leave some leeks to flower each year for the bees and then for leeklets to plant out later... if you look carefully (by the white chair) you can see two heads ready to plant  soon.

I have only just started picking my Runner and French beans, some I've had to plant twice due to serious slug damage. I grow four types French -long green flat, small green and purple flat and a nice long runner.

I grow marigolds everywhere too, I dry lots of heads and then put them in oil out in the sun to infuse making calendula oil to make ointments.

I do love Borage and so do the bees I have Blue and White this year!

Behind in the netting Mange tout and Peas that I've been picking for a while


















The four Courgettes plants have started picking up now with a bit of sun...

Dark green, stripy green and yellow long varieties and a round green... I feed them with Comfrey.

I'm growing a small sweet variety of corn on the cob and the little ones you put in stir fry too this year... under them a trailing Trumpet courgette and yet more nasturtiums...

The black berries are going mad as ever, the red currants and gooseberries did really well too.



The first lot of my squashes were eaten my the rather huge slugs, only two plants out of eight survived so I've had to grow more and managed to swap for two more, not sure what will happen as they are normally romping away by now and they are still tiny...

I still have 4 squashes to eat from last season so as long as I get a few I'll be happy.


So there is my colourful little plot at the moment, ups and downs as every year...

How is your plot doing??

The Abundance of Early July

The start of real abundance...

I grow four types of courgette the standard yellow and stripy green long ones...

























a round green one, fantastic for stuffing...

and Trompet which has fantastic flavour used small as a courgette or let it grow big, harden and store... makes fantastic soup...

I had some grow to 75cm long last year and weigh nearly 2kg and still fab... the plants are prolific producing mad and often phallic shaped beauties...

Some other things I'm picking at the moment...

I planted my runner beans out very early so have been eating them for a few weeks now... the French beans needing a little more warmth are just flowering...

I grow a variety of Mange-tout that will also if left turn into tasty peas... they have excelled themselves.. next year I will have to build a taller frame...

I do love Rainbow Chard, small in salads or gently steamed with a freshly poached egg...










































Here are some of the leaves, flowers and herbs I'm picking at the moment for my salad bowl...

A truely colourful abundant time of year...

Enjoy

Up At The Allotment Early July 2011

This is the 4th year of having an allotment, due to having C.F.I.D.S  and some rather irritating physical limitations I have had to rely on some rather wonderful souls who give of their time and muscle to do those things I just can not do...
I am fortunate to have a couple of fantastic neighbors who are always willing to help when they are there and water when I am just not able to get there at all...

So I like to think of the allotment as a real creative sanctuary not only for me but for others to come and connect with nature...

I am totally Organic and like to work along side nature

- covering, mulching and under planting to keep weeds at bay.
- Sinking pots to water and fed plants
- plant comfrey and nettles to feed my plants encourage Bees etc and use medically
- have a pond and wild areas
- allow plants to flower so I can collect seed
- use companion plants
- using found or second hand stuff where ever possible


So I'll start to show you around...

At the back of the my plot is a little raised bed, it is a sheltered spot but is in shade for most of the day, so I grow mainly salad leaves, some I transplant out into one of the main beds, there is also chives, fennel and parsley there at the moment.

I leave some of everything to flower and collect the seeds to plant next year....
At the moment in seed there are various chicories at the back and in the foreground to the right Cos freckles...

I also allow some of the mustards and rocket to flower to use in salads...

Chicory in Flower...
The added bonus to seed saving is enjoying the rather beautiful flowers...
















To the left is one of my wild beds: 2 varieties of Comfrey, nettles, cleavers and Mellisa (Lemon Balm)...

Medicinally for me: juicing, teas and footbaths

For the Bees and Butterflies

For Plant feed, mulching and compost activating.

To the right of these beds is a home made cold frame and my lovely inherited blue shed...

Fortunately the shed's roof was refelted on Monday by Tim who reclaimed his neighbours old shed felting and just turned up and set to work...

Great timing as yesterday we had some much needed rain and as you can see the old roof was rather lacking...

Hopefully the water butt will have filled up a bit too...