The first planting of the year

What could I be planting out at this time of year I hear you ask. Well to be frank in an attempt to be green we have planted out our Christmas tree in the hope of a bigger tree next year. Hopefully it won't break the allotment rules if we harvest it within the year.

My helper will grow too by next year, so I wonder which will be bigger in December.

New year and a restart

I have made a bit of a new year resolution in the style of many previous years. However this time most of the things I have resolved to do are the things I already do. Sort of. I just want to do it with a bit more oomph.

I need to grab the gardening groove again.

I need to take even more photos.

I should do a bit of art work each week.

I should blog more.

I want to turn my random walks into fitness walks.

So here is my first blog of 2012, a good start to the resolve. Accompanied by some trial pictures with my new lensbaby today.

My word for the year is going to be 'organised' and I need to be to stop me getting so irritated with my progress.

Happy New Year.

Santa

Today's activity on the advent calendar was to go to the school fair. My eldest is in his last year at first school and one of the year 4 perks is to help in Santa's grotto. He dressed as an elf and this seemed to be more special to him than I imagined. He put his costume on very early today he actually came out of school wearing it. So he caused a stir when I quickly nipped into Morrisons.

As for his little brother he just enjoyed seeing Santa.

Advent has begun

With all its chocolate goodness and a full activity calendar.

Half term hopes

The weekend has passed in a flash, it is the weekend at the start of half term. My son has plans for his week, I suspect he wants to mooch in the park without me or flop in front of a wallpaper of cartoon network. He has a distinct lack of years to be a pre-teen but he is forging a moody sort of Independence already. For once I am off work and accompanying him for the week in its entirety. Although there is a day he will be doing football.

I have plans for my leave and some good activities up my sleeve. I'm expecting quality time.

He will have to join in to some extent. At the end of this week I want to have something to show for it, a cleaner more sorted house, some art work/photography completed, the allotment a little bit more spruced up and some good memories of fun. Hope to catch up with some old friends too, if not in person.

Might even carve a pumpkin in preparation for Halloween.

We are booked to do some Cambridge festival of ideas events. So hopefully when I review the week there will be lots to tell.

Snatched time

I really shouldn't be doing things this way but as ever the limited time of a weekend is significantly squeezed. It is not as if I want it to be this way I have to be and that is that. I'm lucky as I will shoe horn in some things I want to do over the next couple of weeks but that will rob me of gardening time I am sure. This weekend I visited the allotment and that was great but tinged with a little dissatisfaction. Taking a four year old so that John would get space to fix a light switch and put up a curtain rail was less appealing. You know you are not going to get much done before you started. Ho Hum.

Each week I think I might go down there after the school pick up one evening it is a bit of a pipe dream I fear.

At the allotment I realise that I have definitely grown the smallest squashes in the world. Then turban one was a reasonable size and that was the only one that made the grade. It's shape and strong colours are fantastic I can feel a little photography and even drawing coming on, if I get time. Oops I'm pushing the theme here.

Still I cleared the tomato plants and the recent warmth has rushed the fruit from green to red, so I had loads more tomatoes than I had banked upon. I have turned them into passata this evening. So this weeks menu might be tomato soup, meatballs with spag the rest can go in the freezer.

I did buy my little helper some chocolate on the way home, not for his help of course, but for his upbeat and positive attitude about going to the allotment. He was also amazed to see what happened to the tomatoes.

Sorry about the pics only the mobile to hand today.

Endings or beginings

A visit to the allotment today and the impending start of the school year gives me that feeling that the growing is over and it is time to start again and to look forward again to changes in the season. It is that time of year of slightly mellow regrets and thoughts of not letting it happen again next year, but I will. It is as inevitable as autumn following summer that I will repeat the similar planting blunders as before but there may be some lucky breaks as well.

Today, I harvested some tomatoes and beetroot and seed saved at the same time. I collected from the sweet peas and swiftly took a seed pod from someone elses Hollyhocks, it was Celia that put that thought in my head and I want those for the garden. Despite seed collecting I also did some some sowing today some japanese spinach which according to the packet you can grow all year round, I'm not sure what it will be like. I have also bought my over wintering onions today.

When I looked around the plot today I realised that I have a lot to do just to tread water. In my head though I am brewing a little dream of upgrading the storage box to a proper shed. Then wouldn't a little greenhouse be just nice too. Dream away.