It's been a long time

Having had lots of problems logging in (in no small part due to transferring from Tiscali to BT and subsequently losing access to all emails) I have finally managed to wade through the google "help" pages and regain access here! Whoop whoop.

Clearly the main growing focus for me has been our gorgeous son - who, not surprisingly is growing at a decent rate, and is quite literally off the chart.

Anyway - you guys having seen him for a while, so it's only right I post an update pic.



Well, here we are again almost at the end of another season - this will have been my third I think. Several things growing well, and some that have not faired too well at all.

Going well:

Sweetcorn - albeit once again growing at 45 degrees due to the wind.
Beetroot
Carrots - in the tubes, in a wheelbarrow
Cabbages - but have mostly been eaten by something
Kohl Rabi - just need to figure out how to cook/eat it
Beans - Runners, French Dwarf & Climbers
Rhubarb (after initial worries)
Raspberries - although the plants are threatening to take over the plot unless I get busy pruning!
Potatoes - although I'm not sure if they were blighted or not (guess we'll find out when we try and store them)
Squash - Chicago Warted Hubbard. This was a real surprise, it's a HSL variety and I'd almost given up hope on, until the weekend when we had some friend over and they helped with some weeding in return for roast dinner. During the process I uncovered a football sized fruit looking really good, so I'll keep an eye out for more, and watch this one with interest.
Chillies - plants from last year are all fruiting well, with some already dried and stored
Broad Beans - Martock. Seeds saved form last year and plenty of plants/pods. All died now, but will have more next year.

Not so great:

Peas - again, far too few planted and not tended properly
Onions - some decent sized, some like shallots. All planted at the same time.
Courgettes - only just started producing fruits now. Bout 5 varieties and only 1-2 plants are fruiting.
Baby corn - planted at a similar time to sweetcorn but seems a long way off any cobs starting.
Swiss Chard - got forgotten about
Tomatoes - 1 tomato fruit growing from 3 plants. Don't think I'll bother next year, maybe try some outdoor varieties

The plot still needs a lot of work to get it to a point where input is minimal from me - having Hayden has really made me realise that time on the plot will be a premium, at least until he's toddling.

Plenty of plans for the winter months to include moving my compost bin and adding another two. Hard pruning the apple tree. Creating more raised beds - maybe a nursery bed of some sort. Creating a bit of a flower bed under/around teh apple tree to help attract beneficial insects. Get the rest of the plot "bedded out" and create mulched pathways between to help surpress weeds.

I've been a bit lax with the camera as I've not been posting here so have seen little point, but hopefully now I'll start to log progress again and have some visual references too.

Until then - it's good to be back.

Wooohooo!! I'm back

Finally managed to get logged on after many many attempts/emails etc.

I can get back to logging my progress - or lack of it!

So much to say, so little time to say it.

Proof of Bean

Sorry, been a bit pre-occupied of late. Can't imagine why!

Oh yeah, this little fella!





Life has not been the same since he arrived - yet I'm still hopeful I'll be able to keep at the allotment, and grow him some good old veg which can of course be mashed and frozen!

Changes happen daily - and I don't mean just the nappies. Each day I come home from work and he seems to have changed again since I saw him last. The photos above were taken a couple of weeks ago, he looks different already.

I'm in danger of gushing here, but he is the most fantastic thing to have ever happened.

Can't wait to buy him his first pair of wellies, and a spade.

Look out for his first blog!

Back to thge gardening stuff - I've garlic and autumn sown onions sets in the greenhouse along with some allium flower bulbs. I've now also sown some broad beans - Martock harvested from my last seasons crops, so I'm hopefull they'll germinate and grow.

I've also planted various bedding plant seeds - hopefully to give a bit more colour to the garden this year and encourage both Bean, and bees into the garden (though perhaps not at the same time?). I'm twitching to get some more seeds into propagators indoors - tomatoes, chillies, basil.

Seed potatoes are once again chitting on the kitchen floor by the back door - Kestrel, Pentland Javelin and Sante.

Recently bought a small bag of spring planting onion sets too, as I seem to run out of onions to use early in the year, so hopefully will bolster stocks this year and be able to last right through.

Anyway, just a quickie for now. I'll hopefully be able to update again soon.

Who's the daddy?!

Well, that'd be me! My beautiful wife gave birth to our gorgeous son last Saturday - in actual fact, in about an hours time he'll be exactly 1 week old.

When people say that having a child changes your life - they were severely under-egging the cake. Having our little Hayden is the most profound experience I've ever known and he's altered my/our life in so many ways - every one of them for the better.

With the recent weather ("the worst snow for decades") we've not really had much chance to venture out, and certainly not to the allotment, though I'd dearly love to get out into the fresh air with him. If we're not careful, he's going to start thinking the world outside is permanently white!

Back to work n just over a week, and I'm dreading having to leave him home. I've only known the guy for just a week, but my heart aches whenever I'm away from him.

I'm looking forward to sharing life with our little Bean, I'm sure I'll post on here when he gets his first spade!

For now, tata.

Bean's arrival, back problems and Christmas

Not great as individual excuses, but combined they've all I've got to explain my reasons for not gardening and blogging.

Back when we visited Tuscany I felt a twang in my lower back, but having had several of these in the past I thought nothing much of it and get on with the holiday and made sure I performed my exercises every morning/evening which had always sorted it in the past.

After we'd been back a few weeks I saw no real improvement so bit the bullet and booked to see my osteopath, something I had put off due to the £30 a session fee. Again after seeing no real improvement I eventually went to the doctors and asked for a referral. Having had surgery on my back in the past to rectify 3 slipped discs, my doctor referred me back to the same surgeon/specialist. Once I'd seen him I was sent to have an MRI scan which confirmed what I'd feared - more slipped discs. This time the disc that had been operated on before was fine, having not much disc left it didn't really have much to slip. The problem this time is the discs above and below the "healed" one.

So, I was then booked in to have an epidural (at this point I had to check he was looking at my notes and not LadyWaynes). I've just got back from the hospital having had the needles stuck in my back and I feel ok.

It was a very surreal experience - I was taken from my room down to the operating room, and was one of several having the same treatment that day. I was laid out face down, and had a tap inserted into my hand - from that moment on it's all a bit fuzzy. I remember feeling the needles going in, and it being quite painful, but it was as if I was detached from the pain. I do however remember saying that hurt out loud, but I can't be certain.

Came round not long after and seemed very chatty, then taken back to my room where LadyWayne was quite happily watching some tosh on the telly - don't ask me what as things were still a bit fuzzy at thi stage.

Food was brought round a little while later and I was left to recover, with only the odd occasion where the nurse came to check bp and so on.

Just home now and the drugs are wearing off slightly, so I can again feel a "niggle" down my right leg, but I guess that's to be expected.

Fingers crossed the injections work, otherwise it's another operation, which whilst it doesn't worry me - I am concerned that I will not be up to full health to assist when Bean arrives - which is only just over 4 weeks away if all goes to plan.

The early signs are good, but I don't want to get my hopes up just yet. Cross your fingers for me.

In terms of growing I haven't done much other than plant onions and garlic in pots and put them in the mini greenhouse along with some bulbs of various descriptions.

The plot is looking decidely untidy, but with the abundance of cardboard we've acquired due to all the baby stuff I've simply covered a few of the beds and placed black bags full of leaves swept off the lawn to hold it down.

Here's hoping 2009 is a healthier year.

The importance of labelling

This year I "successfully" (as in the plants have yet to die) grown 4 varieties of chillies - all of which have fruited to some extent. When sowing the seeds/planting them on I labelled them each with "chilli" and the initial of the variety - J=Jalepeno, PT=Purple Tiger, T=Twilight and C........

For the life of me I cannot remember what the C stands for, I have searched back through my posts on here and on The Grapevine to no avail.

Lesson for today children - label clearly and comprehensively.

Anyway, probably wondering why you haven't heard from me for a while? No? Well, I'll tell you anyway.

A combination of badly timed weather and a slightly dodgy back (yes, again) has mean that I have not been on the plot for soem weeks now, and I haven't really been able to do anything productive in the garden either - so little point on reporting if there's been very little going on.

I've been off work now for 2 and a half weeks, and I'm going somewhat stir crazy as a result. Been to see my osteopath several times - who in the past has managed to solve whatever problem I've been having. This time however, we seem to have drawn a blank. I'm on a cocktail of painkillers and still I have bouts of severe pain down my right leg (sciatica) which can keep me awake at night. I finally managed to pluck up the courage to ask my GP to refer me to a spinal specialist (something I'd been avoiding for fear of having to have a second operation which could result in fusion of vertebrae). My GP reassured me, stating that it's very unusual for them to operate a second time.

Anyway, I'm currently waiting to hear back (2-3 weeks wait apparently - and that's private!), and I've been referred to the same specialist that operated on me last time - which does give me some confidence as he fixed me in the past.

I'm now looking forward to just getting myself fixed so that I can make a bit of headway on the plot and get things ready for planting out plenty of fresh veg to help feed our new arrival when they get here in February - I'm planning to grow plenty of baby-friendly veg, and hopefully make the plot more productive.

LadyWayne has suggested that she may help out a bit more next year - she's suggesting going to the plot during the daytimes with Bean to potter about. Time will tell of course.

I'm not going to lie - my back has really been getting me down of late, and I am actually looking forward to getting back into the office tomorrow to hopefully take my mind of it for a while (with the aid of painkillers). Fingers crossed.

Timing seems to be the biggest factor in this gardening lark - some will tell you compost in the most important thing, others will suggest hard work etc, but in my epxerience timing is everything. Timing is the one thing I seem to be unable to get to grips with yet - my garlic is still as yet unplanted.

2009 should be better - there's always hope!

Not wishing my life away...

But, where does the time go?

It’s been ages since I’ve been to the plot (or posted here) – or even done any real gardening.

A combination of rubbish weather, nursery preparations and a dodgy back/hamstring/sciatic nerve has kept me away.

A couple of weekends ago LadyWayne and I gave the garden a bit of a spruce up – mowed the grass for what I think will be the last time this year, clipped back a few of the perennials, and swept up the leaves (not that you’d know to look this morning after last night’s winds!!).

I’m now at a point where I’m concerned that I’m getting behind – the greenhouse needs emptying (I’ve moved three chili plants indoors already – 1 each Jalapeño, Purple Tiger and Twilight) and cleaning, onions/garlic still need planting, ground needs turning over and the dead plants on the plot need lifting and throwing on the compost.

I still have a few things in the ground – parsnips, celeriac and purple sprouting broccoli (which I fear has outgrown its netting), but with people coming to visit, the fact that the ground is sodden, and whenever I get the time to go to the plot the weather is dire, time has slipped away.

It’s only going to get worse I’m sure when Bean arrives!

Anyway – one must look to the positives…

Bean will arrive in around 13 weeks or so – doesn’t sound that far away when you say it like that does it? There’s Christmas to look forward to. My neighbours are top of the list to get a plot.

Having pretty much given up on this year (I hear shouts of “again?” from the back), I am starting to think ahead to next season and what to grow/concentrate on. Let’s consider year 1 and 2 as foundation years. Not that one ever stops learning of course, but I now have a good idea about what grows well on the plot, where the most exposed areas are, what problems I’ll face etc .

So, plans for next year revolve around Bean – R-Kid, not the runner/string/French/broad varieties.

Potatoes seem to do well – so they’re definitely on the list.
Squashes – I know to get them in earlier this year.
Carrots – will plant plenty more this year, and net them in.
Parsnips – as per carrots.
Sweetcorn – plant them somewhere more sheltered, or plant something to shelter them.
Swede – root crops seem to do well.
Beetroot – will plant successional.
Peas – planted earlier and will plant closer together.
Beans – seem to be foolproof.
Onions – will plant more (and soon!).
Garlic – as per onions.
Courgettes – will plant a few varieties – including yellow ones, just to make things more interesting.
Apples – will take the ladder to the plot come harvest time.

There are other things I intend on growing, but in terms of staple crops, those are mine.
As you can see – there are a large number of “mashable” veg among the list, which is deliberate – I aim to get Bean eating as much home grown from an early age as possible. Teaching them what’s in season, what/how to cook, etc. Stuff I never really had as kid, but wish to an extent that I had.
Time (or the lack of it), will tell of course!
Of course, sitting on one’s backside isn’t good either – physically or psychologically, so I’ve been busy doing other things. The main “thing” being the nursery, and I’m pleased to report that it’s just about there now – just awaiting the arrival of the cot and more importantly, Bean (although they will be in with us initially of course).

2009 is going to be an interesting year – for many reasons. 2008 was just a hint.