Beach day

 

We live about an hour's drive away from the coast, but for some reason, although I really love the seaside we don't often go to our 'local' beaches.  We prefer to go on days out to the hills and countryside.  But in the last couple of years since we've started looking after our grandchildren during school holidays, it's become an annual event  to take them to the beach. That's where we went this week--to Morecambe beach.

Anyone who knows the Lancashire coastline may not think that Morecambe is the ideal place to go, but we have found the perfect spot, away from the crowds. We can park the car nearby, have a picnic on the seafront, then walk down to the beach. 

The children love the beach, they are in their element just digging in the sand or climbing rocks. Paddling would have been nice too but the tide was out and in Morecambe Bay it goes out a long way.

Nothing changes really with beach days. As we sat there in the sunshine I was transported back to when our children were young and even further to family holidays when I was a child. Children love to play on the beach--writing their names in the sand, building sand castles, collecting pebbles and shells.

As for me, well I just love to walk along the beach barefoot, with the sun warm on my back, or to sit and watch the children play. It's a good feeling.

A bit of TLC

 

Last weekend I decided to give the garden a bit of love and attention. It's been neglected recently in favour of our new allotment.  But I felt I needed to have some time with it, to enjoy it's beauty before plants went over and  also to do some much needed work.

I pulled up weeds, hoed, cut back hardy geraniums, deadheaded. It was very quiet, I got lost in my own thoughts as I worked and the garden seemed to wrap itself around me.

I also noticed things. I looked at the borders where I have been trying to achieve some colour effects. These haven't all gone to plan but they looked good anyway.

This was a new border last year and has filled out really well. The astilbe have put on a good show this year. The colours in this border are pink, blue and purple with splashes of yellow from foliage like the grasses and heuchera.

This border looks a bit of a jumble of plants.  It's known as 'Phyllis's border' and was newly rearranged this year after we had the big conifer cut down. Things seem to be growing better here now, but I may need to tame it a bit.

This is what I call the 'yellow border'-- you may wonder why. Originally I wanted it to have a yellow theme because most of my garden borders have a lot of pink in them. So I planted yellow plants, then I allowed some orange in. I thought it needed a contrasting colour so I planted some blue which does work quite well. At the moment the dominating colour is the red of the crocosmia lucifer. Pink is not allowed in this border. I think I need to work on the yellow/orange theme a bit more.

I enjoyed my time in the garden, giving it the love it deserved.  I think it gave me a lot of love back.

New allotment week 7

It's our seventh week of working on our new allotment and I am now beginning to feel we're getting somewhere, even though it still looks like a building site or scrapyard (I'm not sure which).

The plot came with four sheds which is a bit too much for anybody. We've decided to keep two of them, one will be for general storage, the other more of a potting shed.  Richard has built staging and shelves in the potting shed and it's looking good now.

One of the sheds was taken down this week leaving a lot of rubble, but also lots of space.

There was a lot of interest from grandchildren, who wanted to see what grandad was doing.

Richard has also made some more raised beds and  my daughter Helen and I have dug the ground over and put the beds in place.

We have found that the soil is mainly clay, but there are some areas of good soil.  This better soil  we have dug out and put into the raised beds along with our own compost and anything else we can get our hands on to improve the soil structure. We have started to empty the compost and manure bins at our old plot and bring the stuff over to use on our new growing areas.

We are also finding loads of stones and boulders as we dig over the soil.  These are being used to make drains, or as hardcore for paths.  Nothing goes to waste here! The wood for the raised beds has all been found on the site.

We now have vegetables growing too, in the first lot of raised beds at the front of the plot. We've planted red cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

 As we progress we are building a sort of plan in our minds as to how we want the plot to develop.  We are pleased that we have spent very little money on the plot so far.  All the materials for building raised beds, making the compost bins, and shed staging have been found on the plot. The next stage in the plan is to take down the fourth shed--the big metal cabin.  This will not only create more space but  will also provide materials for building more raised beds.


Thanks for reading my blog, feel free to comment.

Meanwhile back at the old plot

Running two allotments as we are doing at the moment may seem like hard work, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Whilst the new allotment demands tons of attention, the other one is pretty much well organised and ticking over quite nicely.  Perhaps that's because we've had it now for nearly three years and by now we've got it sorted and easy to manage, after all it is only a small plot of four big raised beds.

When we started the new growing season we didn't know that we were soon going to be offered a 'proper' allotment.  We sowed peas, broad beans, french beans, cabbage, squash, beetroot, radish and carrot and  we planted onions, garlic and potatoes. So every now and then my daughter and I walk down from our new allotment to the old one to check up on things. It's not a problem as it's only a couple minutes walk along the lane.  We're glad we've got stuff growing there as the new allotment was not in a fit state to start growing things immediately. 

I walked down to the old plot the other day and was pleased to see how well most things are doing. The only bad bit was that the potatoes we've been growing in bags were affected by blight as were others on the whole of the raised bed plots.

The cabbages are coming along well and I evicted a few caterpillars. I picked the first lot of broad beans and noticed that the first crop of peas are almost ready.  I also picked radish and baby beetroot.

The broad beans were lovely we had them in a risotto later that day.

Summer salad growing

I don't think I've had so much salad growing in my garden as I have this summer. I think that's partly due to the  52 Week Salad Challenge which has given me some interest and motivation. I've also had more space to grow salad crops this year because now the allotment is more established I've gradually stopped growing veg in the raised beds at the top of the garden.  I like to grow salad at home rather than the allotment, it's so easy to just pop outside to pick a few leaves or herbs for our meals.

At the moment I have red mizuna, red salad bowl leaves, little gem lettuce and watercress which I am picking regularly. There are seedlings of mustard, rocket and lollo rosso just getting going. So far there is no slug damage, I keep a close eye on them, they can disappear overnight when the slugs are about.
 

In the cold frame I planted out some cucumber (marketmore) .  Last year's attempt at growing these at the allotment produced two tiny cucumbers. I don't like to be defeated so I'm having another go. My attempts at growing tomatoes are also a bit hit and miss as they usually get affected by blight. But I keep on trying so I've planted three tumbler tomato plants in tubs.

Around the garden the herbs are growing in pots. There are several types of mint, sage, sorrel, thymes, marjoram, oregano and parsley. I've also sown borage seeds. I've been  surprised at how quickly they have grown into big plants and the flowers are so lovely.

Down at the allotment there is radish, spring onion (red and white varieties) and beetroot.  I've also sown fennel seeds at home which will be planted out at the allotment when they are ready.

I was pleased to receive two packets of Sarah Raven salad mixes from the Veg Plotting giveaway. There's a summer mix and a winter mix, I'll be sowing these soon.

Well there's plenty to keep us going for the summer, but my next challenge will be to continue to sow and grow for autumn and winter.

Garden v Allotment

I have a bit of a clash of priorities at the moment. That is between the garden and the allotment.

The allotment is new and needs a huge amount of work doing to it and we're desperate to get some areas ready for growing by the autumn. We also really love going there, it's something new, a challenge and it's great to see progress.

But every time we leave home to go off to the allotment I feel the garden pulling me back. I can almost hear it saying, "Don't forget me, I need attention too!"

 I haven't forgotten the garden. I walk around each day  looking at all the jobs which need doing and seeing what flowers are currently in bloom. I really miss it. There are so many flowers out now that I feel I'm not enjoying them as I should. I want to say,  " Hang on in there, I'll be back with you soon!"   because before long they will be gone for another year. When we return home from the allotment I greet the garden like an old friend. I feel happy to see it again and realise how much I've missed it.

I know I'm lucky to have both a garden an an allotment, so I'm not complaining. I just wish I had  more time for both.

Summer berries

 

There are lots of berries in the garden at the moment, that's if they've not been eaten by slugs in the very wet weather we've been having. Strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, they're all delicious. My favourites are strawberries and raspberries. You can just eat them as they are, with cream or ice cream, or make them up into flans, sorbets, mousse, cheesecake, the list is endless. I found this recipe for a berry compote whilst I was going through my recipe file the other day.  It's really easy to make and will keep in the fridge for several days.

Berry Compote
serves 6
8oz (225g) strawberries
8oz (225g) raspberries
4oz (100g) redcurrants
4oz (100g) blackcurrants
6oz (150g) sugar
3/4 pint (375ml) red wine
1 cinnamon stick
pinch grated nutmeg

1. Pick over the soft fruits, discarding hulls, stems and leaves. Quarter strawberries
2. Put the sugar in a large pan with the wine. Stir over a low heat until dissolved
3. Add prepared fruits, cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer for 5 mins or until fruits are softened but still hold their shape.
4. Leave until cold. Spoon into dish, cover and chill for 1 hour.
5. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

 Nutrients per serving
calories 180 protein 0g total fat 0g (saturated fat 0g) carbohydrate 35g fibre 6g


I didn't have any redcurrants, so I used extra of the other fruit. I used last year's raspberries and blackcurrants  from the freezer it was a good way of using them up to make room for the this year's harvest. I didn't have any red wine so used up some port we had in the drinks cabinet. More expensive and probably a sweeter taste, but was  delicious and very boozy! Probably too boozy, I'll try with wine next time!