An onslaught of photos from A24a :)

 Here she is, our first born A24a, in all her current ummm, glory?What a crappy grey day, week, month it has been eh? The ground is sodden -

It's not necessarily cold but that horrible dampness is in the air that just gets into your bones and sort of makes your nose run and make you feel like you need to pee lots. Sorry to be crude but it's true :)

So everything is budding that should be, the Blueberries, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Cherries, Apples, Pears, Plums etc - but I shan't bore you with photos of endless buds, hahaha. I'm not that evil! Imagine a fruit tree budding and you get the idea. Though that doesn't mean that we are merely taking this for granted, oh no! - each bud had been oohhhh-ed and ahhhhh-ed over and genuine excitement is hard to hide.

But here is a little collage of some of the more interesting things that are going on.... forgive the lighting it was harsh and white.... 

So down the left hand side we have:

 A beautiful lettuce still hanging on, what a gorgeous colour it is!!

Bolting Kale

And Garlic - you need to click on the photo to get the full glory :)

In the middle here is:

A newly cultivated bed all ready to go - yipppee

My favourite Dogwood cut back and ready for a new year

And on the right we have:

Rhubarb being forced - it's so acidy yellow inside and then there is some poking out the side too - this plant just wants to grow and grow and that is okay with me :) I can't wait for my 1st Rhubarb and cream (I hate custard) of the year

And lastly our Purple Sprouting Broccoli is showing signs of survival after the pigeon attack - hoorah.

And this is the view from the other side and I think it looks pretty darn good! Especially when you consider the state of the plot I am standing on to take this photo - it's just all dead like this; sure I'd like to see it full to the brim with lovely budding plants and a shed and beds etc but at the moment, to be honest, I am kind of enjoying that fact that it is making our plot look so good - hahahahaha. I'm not really that evil - you would feel the same, I just tell the truth ;)

More tomorrow - the other plot :) HUGS  xxx

A seedless gripe

Boo hiss! Damn it all to heck! And other such stronger rants - you get the idea, I'm sure ;) Andy and I are STILL sitting here with this blasted flu, I was even delirious earlier singing songs - what was all that about?

Not a seed packet to be seen, the catalogues aren't even in the house, no broad beans sown as is usual, we haven't even thought about it all. Oh this isn't good. What do we want to grow this year? I don't know! What new varieties are we thinking of trying? You tell me. Is our plot a haven of freshly prepared soil, manure and the usual seaweed all ridged up and tidy? Blushing I must quietly say 'no'.

The old is still to be removed, the soil loved and fed, the gardening implements oiled, sharpened and the shed tidied. Dare I even confess....I don't know where the lottie stuff is and though Andrew DID work out the new rotation, I haven't a clue. These few photos were taken as 'before snaps' of parts of the plots a few weeks ago. I think we are both blessed that the camera battery died (of shame??) and I only got these.

A 24a

 A 14b

Blasted Pigeons have eaten our Purple Sprouting Broccoli - I'm too upset to talk about it

 We do have purple Kale

Well, it's still like that, umm, it's probably worse. *hangs head*

But Andy has started in the back garden of this, our brand new house. Lucky we have a plan - it has been there for about a year now, slowly evolving and then going back to the original :) But it has been started - hoorah! As it is a brand new house, the garden area is mainly stones, hardcore, a very light frosting of muck (I wouldn't even call it soil) and quite a lot of wood, plastic and weeds. Lovely. But as we are going for raised beds we have seen this as somewhat of a silver lining - Andrew didn't have to dig much before he was at a good solid floor for some concrete and here are the photos to prove it.

I shan't tell you too much about the plans as I really would love you to share in the journey with us but I will say this - I have a super clever hubby who is building me a retreat, a veritable extra bit of Eden to call my own.

Leaving you with love in the form of this..our freckled ally

And this....allotmenteers' porn :)

But still....not a seed in sight - oh dear!

Bloomin' Monday (on a tuesday, I know) and poor weather

The weather out there on the other side of the window is echoing my mood; I look up at it, listen to it and feel like I am staring into an odd sort of mirror. It's miserable out. It's dull and cloudy, light rain has started and the cold wind  is blowing a minor gale. Even the thoughts of volcano ash mixed with the clouds out there make me think of my fuggy head, the frustration that could explode from me any mintue and the utterly burnt out body I'm living in (I know I should see a Dr but I can't face it.)Weather has such an amazing effect on us I think we all must suffer, at least a little, from SAD, I know I do, though often a bright sunny day can be like the world laughing at me.

I got my voice back today, I had a bit of a flu over the weekend. I'm tired from it but diffentatlely feeling less bunged up thank goodness. Anyone who has shares in kleenex hankies - you have me to thank for the bonus, haha.

So then, I guess you know what I'm going to say...I haven't been to the lottie apart from half an hour on Saturday. Andrew has though of course and it seems everything is doing well bar the sweetcorn (Swift F1 ) of which there is no sign of any germination. He bought 'F1 Sundance' today and is going to be planting it here beside me in front of the tv any minute now.

We just had a late dinner, our own PSB (yes, again!) and Spinach included - oh how wonderful is that? We realised at the weekend that we haven't had a week yet this past year when we haven't eaten something from our own plot - that's kind of amazing and really, congratulations to Andrew for all the effort and planning he puts in!

The photo is of the row of gorgeous yellow tulips we planted in amongst the wall flowers that Bill grew. They are stunnning and such a happy colour. Plenty more were that came from, I just need to get my bum into gear and upload the photos I have and take more.

That's all for now my friends, just wanted a little chat and you know I can see blue sky peeking through now, so thanks for listening xxx

Purple Sprouting Broccolli - the results (Plus HAPPY news!)

First off - major big kudos to me, I'm outside, alone! This is the first time I have sat outside at Mamma G's house since we moved here at the end of January. Even before that I hadn't been one for sitting outside at my old home - I feel exposed, and embarasssed and a little paranoid. But here I am and though I can hear grass being cut 2 doors up, the only other sound is that of some very happy birds in the trees and bushes all around Mamma's garden. This is a great garden, a complete sun trap and not over looked, there is also the most beautiful magnolia ever right in front of me and the smell is intoxicating. So, this is what I've been missing.....

*****

But on to the PSB I hear you cry!

Well, out of a judging panel of 2 (Andy and me) we have thought about this a good bit over the past two PSB dinners we have had.  The first was a fresh baby salad (from the lottie - thinned out salads from the coldframe and the tender pea tips) steamed PSB and spinach and lamb dish on Saturday. Well YUMMMY!

The second was last night (well we wanted this to be scentific!) and saw us eating a butternut squash, bacon and PSB rissioto. YUMMY!!

So the verdict is - PSB may take a hell of a long time to grow, the plants may look like they are dying but then one sweet, sweet day a purple sprout appears and then another and then loads come out all at once. "Hoorah!" you say to yourself and pick some with joy in your heart take it home and eat it right away - heaven. Yes I said heaven for the Gaults offically LOVE PSB and I demand that all negative references to it from myself in the past be withdrawn and also that you grow it too!

It's hard to describe you see and I just want you to experience it yourselves. It's not brassica-y, there isn't any sharpness or bitterness, it isn't overly 'green' tasing - just oh so pleasant on the taste buds. So pleasant.

So there we go.

Verdict 1 - being outside (especially now the lawn mower has stopped) is not that scary really (though  I did take a valium and am sitting right by the door;  it's early days).

Verdict 2 - PSB is fab and though it may look crap as a plant and turns green when you cook it so it looks like normal broccolli sprouts IT IS WORTH IT!

Thank you and good afternoon, I'm off inside now, half an hour is good enough for the first time xxxxx

P.S. Just came in and told Mamma what I had acheived - big bear hugs and giggles all round, I can't stop smiling :) :) :) my cheeks hurt. I need a lie down, hahahaha

Boys a dear, I'm a sleepy girl

I've just woken up! I know, it's getting close to 2pm! Now I was up earlier and fed Maggie and had breakfast, checked e-mails got washed and dressed - you know, the usual. Then I sat down to read my book and lo and behold here I wake up, book on the floor and I've lost time, hahaha. Thing is I'm trying really hard to keep my eyes open still, I wonder if the whole matchstick thing works?

I was looking at the last batch of photos I took at the lottie over the Easter break and found some you might like. Random I know but I thought I'd keep my wee story but Rowallane Gardens for tomorrow.

First off, the weather was so terrible here that the electric poles came down all over the show (lucky we weren't affected) and it took the gallant Northern Ireland Electricity repair men a good few days of putting the mess right ( poor loves out in all weathers up high ladders and what not). But on the up side Andrew found these on their way to being dumped - they're off the very top of one of the said poles, he wanted the glass too but it was broken. They're a bit odd to have at the lottie but we like them - answers on a postcard as to what use they could be used for. Or maybe they are just art - there for our enjoyment....

We took a dander round; as I showed yesterday Andrew had been seed planting like a mad man earlier that day so there was little left to do. Well, that's not technically true - I should imagine a really mad man would scatter seeds liberally all over the place and maybe eat some and put the rest in his ears....Andrew put out small amounts in perfectly straight rows and labeled them etc = not quite mad.

LOOOK!!!! ---drum roll---- PSB! Yes we have some little spears of the elusive purple sprouting broccolli! Bask in the glory with me... No I haven't pilfered someone elses and placed in amongst our leaves, nor have I painted a green spear purple, this is real and I am going to eat the whole dam thing myself in one mouthful to see what all this bloomin' fuss it about. I shall report back in due course.

Then as this blog is never all about 'proper gardening stuff' I have to show you Bill's beautiful border of mini daffs and Colin's new little Jack Russel puppy - aaawwww.

Hugs and kisses and through the sleepiness I am feeling better today - yipppee.(Thank you to all who left lovely comments about my photography in a gallery post - it's starting to sink in I think; there's a quiet little glow around my soul, it's surely helping me.) Maybe I needed sleep, maybe I need more sleep. Umm let's think about this, conquer some of the mountain of ironing, proof read a new archaeology book or have another nap which may be of great benefit to my mental health.... ;)