We are at the midpoint of the year and I am eating strawberries that I grew for breakfast. Forget Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year is now!
The last week of May was not epic, the problem was me (although I’m blaming menopause), I’m just really struggling to be motivated and focussed. I have a lot of things to do and the desire to do none of them but I’m just happy that I can have bare minimum weeks. However, there were some good things, I saw Ma on Wednesday and Sue and Kathy came round for ‘Friday fizz’ to catch up and celebrate Sue’s birthday! Sue and I are also going to the Hampton Court Flower Show in July so that’s something to look forward too!
So this week, I need to find the mojo and get all the things done. I’m in the office Tues and Wed, a visit to Ma’s on Wednesday and Saturday, the allotment needs almost daily visits unless we get some rain and I really need to catch up with the housework! Work is also busy as it’s reporting week and I need to get a grip on it.
So it’s a very non social responsible week for me, which I am going to conquer with coffee and lists. I hope you have a good week.
Finally Chelsea won something and qualified for Champions League. Of course Chelsea Women did the domestic treble this season (at some point we’ll crack Europe as well). And I will take all of that!
Tom Friedman: Will Israel’s War Ever End? I don’t agree with much of what Tom Friedman says about Israel’s attitude to what’s happening in Gaza. I think there will be no peace until they start to think of Palestinians as actual people. What’s happening now though, it’s a genocide. Even the way Friedman mentions the stench of decaying bodies in Gaza and I can’t help but think about how people described the smell at Auschwitz. Israel is a nation founded on terrorism, go and look up the Stern Gang. In trying to prevent the Holocaust, Israel has replicated it, but it’s citizens are the perpetrators not the victims. Hamas are terrorists but they are not the only ones, go and look at what the settlers are doing in the West Bank right now, with the support of the Israeli government. Doesn’t make what they are doing right but view it in all its context. Until both sides start to view each other as people with justified positions and work towards compromise, the war will never end.
Why does Elon Musk love this socialist sci-fi series? This is like when David Cameron said his favourite song was Eton Rifles. Completely and utterly missing the point. Also I’m going to have to re-read the Culture novels. But if sci-fi isn’t your thing, Iain M. Banks dropped the ‘M’ and wrote other books, The Crow Road is a particular favourite of mine…
Not many allotment jobs were not done last weekend.
I did however, weed the beds and surrounding paths where the tomatoes and courgettes are going and talk to several other people and get convinced to help at the bar for the allotment open day in July, so not an entirely wasted weekend!
I have this idea that plants between the beds and the path that separates my plot from my plot neighbours might help with the weeds, but it’s been really difficult to get them to take. Last year, I planted echinacea and santolina and either survived the winter. This year, I’m going for more weed like plants, so I’ve bought, nepeta ‘neptune’, erigeron ‘stallone’, geranium ‘tiny monster’ and a whole bunch of lavender ‘hidcote’ to plant down the sides and hopefully help with some weed suppression as well as add to the gaiety of the plot.
I managed to plant the geraniums this weekend and hope to get to the rest of them this week or at the weekend.
In the polytunnel, two of my cucumber plants didn’t survive and I’ve just put a couple of seeds in the soil where they were and I’m calling it successional sowing! I’m waiting on melons and aubergines, which I’m told have just been dispatched, to arrive and fill out the other bed in there. I really am trying to pack plants in and not have any bare soil.
I’m still in ‘my throw money at it’ era and bought a lot of reduced-price dahlia tubers. I have a bed that up until the weekend was full of pansies and forget-me-nots and I hadn’t decided what to do with it. Now I’m going to add the tubers and see if I can have a cut flower bed. I’m also hoping that if I leave them in a mulched raised bed that they will overwinter and become a ‘perennial’ bed, because I never have much luck with digging them up and storing them.
I did pick an entire box of strawberries this weekend too, it’s taken a lot of work (and many, many attempts) but yay strawberries.
At home, the perennial kale and nine-star broccoli have sprouted as have all my herbs. The summer squash, physalis and beans are taking their own sweet time. I’ll need to take the herbs and brassicas off to the plot as I suspect that they are too hot at home and the basil needs potting on anyway!
My work list is still big but if I can get my head down over the weekend, I’ll have several beds planted up for summer and more weeding done! I know that the weeding is the price I pay for good soil
Here’s my confession, I never have it together everywhere, I can do being social, having a tidy well run home, I can have a really switched on work life, I can have a tidy well run allotment, I can ace looking out for Ma. All these things are possible, they are not all possible in the same week.
Last week, the thing I had to drop was the plot. I didn’t get there on Sunday and so I started this week with no progress and a ton of plants.
However, it’s May and the lighter nights are good for allotment visits so on Monday, I took some plants round and set up a table for storage. I watered, ate some allotment strawberries and weeded some more. The worst of the grass on the main path is gone, and the garlic bed got weeeded. and some of it pulled, but I think I’ll pull it in a couple of weekends time anyway.
Plant table
On Tuesday, I popped around with more plants and also planted the peppers and cucumbers in the first polytunnel bed. I’m using Strulch this year to hopefully retain water and help keep down weeds.
On Wednesday, it rained, for the first time in ages so I had a day off!
Plants in the soil, finally
Indoors, I’ve sowed (late) some courgettes, tromboncino and, french beans. I also sowed physalis, nine star broccoli and cottagers kale – these are for the new perennial beds (the physalis might survive a winter we’ll see!). I sowed three types of basil (greek, red and lettuce leaf) and some parsley and coriander.
A clearer path
I have a lot of work to do, this weekend I need to get some plants in the ground and some more beds cleared. For planting, I want to get the new herb bed set up and plant fennel, lemon verbena, olive plant and maybe chamomile and thyme in there, I have some thyme in a couple of places that aren’t doing well and need to be relocated.
Weeded garlic bed (I did pull some of the garlic too)
I really need to get the tomatoes in the ground and I have some marigolds and herbs to plant in with them. I also need to get the sweetcorn in a bed and sow black beans next to them and I really want to get beetroot and carrots sown.
I also have other plants that need homes, three new alpine strawberry plants to go in the bed next to the patio. Some more chamomile lawn and some more heath pearlwort for the patio. The erigeron arrived and needs planting, as does the geranium and the bloody grapevines, I also need to net the blackcurrants and set up the arches for the blueberries.
Garden snacks
I also need to get the big squash bed weeded, cardboarded and covered with compost in preparation for the 12 squash plants coming in the next month (butternut – sweetmax, delicata, muscat d’provence and crown prince) they will go in that bed. Which I inend to ‘strulch’ that bed too. The other squash bed is completely weed infested, and I think my plan for this year is to chop all the grass down and cover it. Then in the winter, I’ll work on the rehab, there is a lot to do with that side of the plot so one less task would be helpful to my mental and physical heath. There is still so much weeding to do.
Fixing England’s water isn’t just the right thing to do – it can be the start of Labour’s fightback. As a Thames Water ‘customer’ – it’s a monopoly I have no choice of who I use, I’m so angry about the latest price rise, my bill over 10 months has gone from £35 to £53 – for no discernible change in service, if my bills are going to be high and they are, then I’d rather it was owned by the state and didn’t paid out dividends. One of the reasons that the last Tory govt was such a failure is that there was nothing left to sell of and public infrastructure shouldn’t be in private hands…
We told young people that degrees were their ticket to a better life. It’s become a great betrayal. Most of the under 30’s in my team are earning a lot of money (more than double what I am) but buying property without family money or a hefty deposit is almost impossible. Think about it, the one bedroom, no garden flat I rent is valued at about £550,000 in zone three (yes really!) and a salary of £80,000, you could maybe borrow five times your salary which gives a mortgage of £400,000, which would need a deposit of £150,000. Average salary in London is roughly £44,000 (the House of Commons Library puts it at £835 a week in April 2024). You want to know why the younger generations are experiencing a mental health crisis, what future do they have to look forward to? I’m aware that buying a property is not the be all and end all, but security of tenure is and there is a distinct lack of social housing about (and if you were earning £80k a year, you wouldn’t be entitled to it) and private rent by and large isn’t secure. What’s happening is hopelessness, something must change because this is untenable, it’s been untenable for years for most working class kids (I’ve been banging on about it for at least 25 years) but it’s now becoming difficult for middle class kids. Marx is increasingly looking prophetic…
‘One father threatened to stab the referee’: why does kids’ football bring out the worst in parents? I was brought up with the saying ‘the referee is always right’. Even when they manifestly aren’t right, they are. To the point that when my brother was sent off for being lippy to the ref (he was still in primary school, I think), my mum took him home and he missed the end of season celebration (my mother did not play!). More parents could do with that attitude.
‘Stealing joy’: the sadness and symbolism of the crime at Sycamore Gap I just don’t get it, why would you do it? I don’t have any attachment to the tree and if it had blown down, I would have just thought it was a shame. And it is just a tree. Cutting down a tree isn’t as bad as any of the really bad things that are happening in the world at the moment but it’s the act, cutting down a tree that brings joy to go viral. It’s the mindlessness of it, ruining something because you can that feels well, evil.
I took the garden bin back and completely filled it up, which tells you more than you need to know about the amount of weeds on the plot!
I wanted to plant up a bed with the strawberries that arrived this week. So I did some weeding of the first and second of the ‘back beds’. The real issue isn’t the beds, it’s the weeds coming in from the paths, so I did a bit of weeding there. Both beds were topped up with compost and strawberries went in. There were some plants left over, so I filled in some spaces in the towers as I weeded them, yep there were weeds in my strawberry towers
It doesn’t look like much now, but it will!
The other bed already has some perennial leeks and volunteer nasturtiums in it so I sowed parsnips and chives.
That done, I dug up some stray raspberry canes for some new plot neighbours, who wanted raspberry canes for their newly build cage. Then it was time for the polytunnel. The poly beds were dry as a bone, after weeding them, I watered hard and then topped up with new compost. I’ll water those beds every day as I’m hoping to get peppers and cucumbers in by the end of the week.
On Monday I took the peppers and some of the tomatoes to the plot and they are in dire need of being in the ground, so it might be sooner rather than later!
Polytunnel prepped!
The plan for the poly was to keep it simple with peppers and cucumbers. The question is, ‘have I ever managed to keep it simple?’ The answer is no. I bought some more plants. The revised plan is peppers and aubergine (that might give me some fruit this year after nothing last year) in one bed, in which I will also companion plant basil. In the other bed, some cucumbers (I have space outside for cukes too) and melon and, this is the hail mary, watermelon. The cucumber and melon I’ll train up and the watermelon can roam (and hopefully cover the bed). Hope springs eternal and yes, I very much did get carried away. The melons aren’t due until the end of the month or beginning of next month so it’ll be a while before they go in but I’ll be watering the soil anyway.
This is the last part of the main path that needs a weeding session, then I can start at the beginning again!
I also set up a water bin for next to the polytunnel, I need to get the bins empty and situated around the plot to make watering easier but for today the first one is set up. I also topped up on the mint container that I’ve been using to keep the polytunnel door closed!
I’m so pleased with this!
I had then planned on getting squash bed sorted but I got sidetracked by the patio area. It’s been getting more and more overgrown, but I weeded the bejesus out of it, moved the tin pot at the back and rehabbed it with some new mint plants, I also weeded and watered and topped up the alpine strawberry bed, cutting back the salad burnett and giving the rose bush from the rose garden a small trim to get it out of the way. I also weeded the path by the patio bed.
I also rehabbed the pot behind the patio and put some mint in it.
Moroccan and mountain mintBusted cherry tree
I still need to assemble the arches to get the fruit area netted and prevent the birds from doing more damage, they have already had a go at one of the cherry trees. It was the little one I bought last year.
Apricot tree
The new trees seem much sturdier, and came from You Garden, I bought two cherry trees and an apricot, bare root and on sale so £9.99 each, and they are doing really well. I don’t expect fruit this year but they are bedding in well.
The plot is looking great at the moment as it begins to fill out and bloom.
PoppiesComfrey
So the plan for next week is to keep on doing stuff.
I would like to get the herb bed set up by the asparagus patch and sort out the weeds by the shed and up the side path. Mostly so I can plant the new geraniums (tiny monster) there, which I’m hoping will keep the weeds down. Hope springs eternal.
Potatoes and a weedy squash bed
I also want to weed, cardboard and cover the future squash bed and I’ll need to reweed the surrounding paths and maybe add wood chip.
Can you see where the garlic is?
The garlic bed needs attention and the square beds next the asparagus patch need sowing (I think carrots and beetroot in these two.
Square beds
Finally the tomatoes and peppers need to go in the ground
Waiting for their final move
I also need to water the plot every day and the rest every other day, so that will help keep me on track, the best medicine for the garden is the gardener. It’s a lot to do but it’s really taking shape..
Will Harris runs a regenerative farm in rural Georgia and this book is about the land he farms and how and why he came to be farming it in the way he does and what his way of farming has done for the health of his land, his animals, and his community.
It’s a great story, the man has a way with words (credit also goes to his ghost writer who helped get the essence of him onto the page and to him for acknowledging her work!) but it’s not just a story, it’s about how industrial farming happened, what he did when it didn’t make sense to him anymore and the unexpected benefits and pitfalls of doing it. I particularly enjoyed the story of his farm deciding to get into chickens and creating an all you can eat buffet for the local eagles…
As someone who tries to eat as ethically as I can, I will admit I really struggle with the idea that to save the planet we should all be vegan and eat impossible burgers. I can’t see how eating UPF’s that are vegan are better for you and the planet than buying decently raised meat and fish.
Harris has come to understand and believe in closing his loops and having multiple outputs, not just money, for him, the resilience of the land, animals and community is an output. He believes that this way of farming is better for the environment (George Monbiot would disagree) and it’s an argument that makes sense to me, but it’s not a free for all on eating meat as so much of it is not raised regeneratively. He also argues that with food and farming, you have to put your money where your mouth is and that’s really hard to do and very hard to do perfectly.
I’m probably not explaining it very well but Harris does and he’s really lived it and you should go and read this book, I can’t recommend it enough.
Working from home has spoiled me, this week I was in the office for three days last week and it was tiring! It was also productive and rewarding to be in the office and spend time with the team, but I do need to give some thought to how to set myself up for success if I want to be in the office more often and I do!
Whichever plants are having sex at the moment, are my nemesis, because hayfever has been kicking my arse. I can live with nasal congestion, but the sore, constantly watery eyes were a problem, and it makes my face sore (probably from all the salt water). On Saturday, I got some anti-histamine eye drops, problem solved!
I went to Mum’s on Saturday as per and we shopped and then I did my usual (changed the bed, hoovered, mopped the floors and cleaned the bathroom sink) I also cleaned the hoover because it was bad but doesn’t it suck that you have to clean the things that you use to clean everything else, it’s annoying!
I did food prep on Saturday night and allotment on Sunday and that where the momentum I’d had for the week fell apart, I had a long bath, did some stuff and was in bed at 9:45.
Plans for this week are run of the mill. It’s going to be warm again, so I’m watering everyday. I’m also having Friday off for some Mum admin, I’ll stay with her on Thursday night and then go back on Saturday so we can go to the farmers market on Saturday, I’m going to Christelle and Mike’s on Saturday night, then it’s more plot and weekend work for Sunday.
I thought this was a good place to update on my progress (or not) on my May goals.
Home
Mum’s every Saturday and Wednesday evening. Saturday’s are working fine but Ma has been less than enthusiastic about Wednesdays, it has however, encouraged her to go for a slow walk around the block every day. We skipped last week but I’m over on Thursday and there will be quite a bit of walking for her for Friday and Saturday. With any luck, the new painkillers will help with her hand pain and help her with her walking stick!
Flat. the state of the flat is not immaculate but it’s been more under control this past week.
Golden hour and a proper sleep schedule. Golden hour yes, getting up consistently yes, bedtime at 10pm – it’s a work in progress
Menu plan and cutting out the crap. Menu plan yes, cutting out the crap, better, I did have a fab at Ma’s on Saturday but I’m getting better.
Work
I was in the office Tues-Thurs last week, I’m planning for Monday and Tuesday but probably not on Wednesday, although never say never.
Exercise
I’ve had 11 days (today doesn’t count yet) and I’ve closed the rings on 8 days, so I’m happy with that. I’ve also done morning yoga, three days.
AllotmentTasks
I will write about this at length for Wednesday but here’s a brief update
The polytunnel set up (with plants) – set up for plants, no plants yet
The beds all cleared – I have six beds cleared. Parsnips sowed and bed planted up with strawberries
Tomatoes and summer squash planted – I’m hoping to get them in this week but the weather is still quite cool at night
The blueberry and fruit tree area netted – not yet
The rosemary pruned – mostly done, I have some more to do, when I start with the iris beds
To have made a start on sorting the iris and rose garden/pond – I cleared the patio which is part of that ara
During Lent I didn’t eat any sweet stuff I hadn’t made at home. For me it really cut down on how much sugar I consumed, because it’s the tradition fight between greed and laziness. Surprisingly, I’m more lazy than greedy but when I do bake (other than cakes for Mum!), peanut butter cookies are one of the things I eat.
The recipe I used is from here. I do deviate a bit. I only have natural peanut butter (this one) so this what I use. I was feeling like I really needed cookies, so I did not wait to chill the dough the first time I made them but I did do it when I made them after Easter and I didn’t see much of a difference. (I didn’t press a fork into them either because why?) I don’t need my cookies and biscuits to be perfectly uniform!
Anyway they are pretty good if you need a quick-ish cookie.
