Every year we grow sweetcorn. We have never managed the success of our first year. They are not even a foot tall and they are already flowering at the top. It is probably because they have been too dry see those crispy leaves above. The weeds are lapping at their roots, I planted squash to spread beneath the sweetcorn and suppress the weeds but their growth hasn't been too vigorous either. Never mind there is always next year. Its that phase of the gardening year now the regretful one if only I could have got down their and watered more often......dream.
Of my two boys Huw the youngest seems to have the most interest in helping in the garden. He always asks to help with the watering and he asks to go to the allotment, I'm not daft I know that the interest will wane. He came home from nursery a couple of months ago clutching a packet of seeds he had been given. we planted them and they grew he is now happy because they have started to flower in lots of orangey and peachy colours. You have got to love nasturtiums for their simple, effective and reliable performance.
It was commented to me in person this week that I hadn't blogged for a while.
It makes me think about why. I have not really felt that I had much to say, or perhaps it is that things have been moving on so quickly I have let blogging about it pass me by.
I do have lots to say in that the lotty is the best it has looked in ages.(no letter yet!) That is until this last couple of weeks when the drought stopped and the weeds got a drink and went wild. I think a week of endless weeding and a strimming session will get us back on track. I only have a few more things to put out fennel and celeriac. I also plan to sow some last min crops of peas and soya beans and squeeze some rocket in some where I think.
I'm starting to imagine eating my produce already as things are growing reasonably well. But I know where that has got me before, there is still the chance of disaster yet. My spinach has gone to seed overnight, but I'll just plant another row.
We have had a bumper crop of great strawberries that I picked last monday and there are more coming so I feel it is possibly jam time. Last tuesday was my favourite session at gardening club, we harvested the potatoes from the bags. Its my third year of this session and the look on the kids faces are just priceless even the ones that have seen it before.Rudolf was a surprise with its red skins for some of them. My spuds at the lotty have just flowered I can't wait to see what is hiding beneath after their frost damage earlier in the spring.
I've been busy with the boys, football tournaments, photography things and a bit of art 'me' time as well as all the usual work and home things. It doesn't look like it is going to let up any time soon, but maybe I can squeeze a post in more regularly. Excuse the mobile phone shots again, but this wasn't a planned post.
I have a bit of a problem. My storage box at the allotment is now padlocked shut. How can I be such an idiot?
This is how it goes, for more than two years I had a lock with a key. The lock recently started to get very stiff and I was scared that I would not be able to unlock it. So I took the lock off. Then I visited the allotment after the bank holiday to notice that a window I had been saving for a cold frame had been taken. I was pretty certain that somebody had also opened the storage box, nothing was missing but I was a little unsettled.
I went out and bought a new combination lock, set it, put it on, opened it a couple of test times all is well. I visited the lotty on Sunday no problems. Locked it back up and had a little struggle with the lock but all seemed well. Entered the code today which I could happily tell you now for all the good it is, and nothing happened.
I think when I struggled with the lock I accidently must have reset the combination and now I have no idea what it is. Hacksaw time I think.
Oh and my picture of a lock is beautifully saturated with rain something I am worried that I will never see again.
Occasionally I find my self in crazy scrapes of my own making. I picked Owen up from football and without consideration for what was in the car (car seats, toddler bike, stroller and camera tripod at a glance, oh and now two just purchased bags of groceries). I decided to just pop in to Wickes next door from the supermarket and buy that wheelbarrow I've had my eye on. When I looked at it a week or so ago I thought there would be no problem getting it home. Now that the wheelbarrow was along side my car I was not sure. Owen had a look of concern. Even he could see my ancient clio dustbin might not be up to this.
I made an attempt to get it in and panic began to rise. No go!
I thought I'm going to have to make a phone call and he is going to kill me, I can't do that. By now the eyes that were watching me from halfords forced me to make a very special move just for the CCTV. Yes, I sent Owen scuttling over to a quiet it of the car park with the wheelbarrow, then moved the car.
After 10 minutes of unobserved cursing and jiggling I got it in the car over the back seats, yes it is a two door car, and with our seats slightly more forward than normal we drove home.
Thankfully, I did manage to get it out again and it is sitting in my garden. Just remind me to think about my garden purchases a little more before I purchase them in the future. Oh and my new mantra is "my car is not a van".(sorry for the mobile phone pics but that was all I could manage)
As you may have noticed I have been very very quiet on here. I have been so busy though. I think the allotment is ahead of this point last year (but I have been too scared to check back and see what the blog says). My spuds are in the ground. I have seeds sprouting everywhere. My aim is to avoid a dreaded allotment letter this year.
I am already eating some purple sprouting broccoli and plan to have rhubarb crumble this weekend.
The problem with spring it is over in a blink of an eye so I have also been enjoying its distracting beauty with my camera.
There is so much going on with family life too which will keep me busy for the foreseeable future, but if anyone wants to help let me know. As I don't think the home salad beds are going to be up and running soon and I am cultivating a back garden of thistles again. Never mind eh, its always swings and roundabouts.
There are definitely some huge signs of spring happening and I know that I must not get too over excited. I keep noticing how light it is in the early evenings. Little green shoots are appearing. Yesterday was one of those bright days and we took the chance to visit Bennington Lordship gardens a place that I wanted to go to for a long time. It is only open for a few weekends throughout the year, and February for the snowdrops is one of its main times. There were lots of people there photographing the snowdrops and walking the grounds. I was unable to resist the temptation to get out my quirky camera, and caused the usual amount of curiosity with it. I didn't get the best results with it the flare of the sun on the glass but for me it captured the joy of the early spring sunshine.
Lets hope spring is on the way and there is no late snow.
