We went to the allotment on Saturday full of good intentions and almost as soon at it was there, it started pouring down. So we had a cup of tea, which is the fulfillment of all my shed/greenhouse based dreams. So I’m not complaining about the rain at all, the plot needs it and hopefully my rhubarb will perk up.
The rain stopped and we ventured out again, Ma to weed and me to sow radishes and work out what to do next. Then it rained some more. This happened twice and we decided to go home. We’d managed to lay some paving outside the greenhouse where it got really muddy, weed, sow raddishes and spray the broad beans with soap spray to deter the blackfly. I’m considering some ant killer on that bed because the little buggers are farming the aphids but I’ll soap spray them and see how it goes. I also tackled a couple of stray raspberries coming up in the raised beds.
On Sunday, we started early. Ma tackled the grass on the edge of plot and weeded the rhubarb. I didn’t take a photo but I should have, she did an amazing job. I got the easier task of sowing things in big middle bed.More rocket, another row of lettuce, lambs lettuce, spinach, beetroot, nasturtiums, cosmos and stock. I have no idea if sowing flowers in the middle of a salad bed is a good idea but I’ve done it.
More rocket, another row of lettuce, lambs lettuce, spinach, beetroot, nasturtiums, cosmos and stock. I have no idea if sowing flowers in the middle of a salad bed is a good idea but I’ve done it.
I also planted some leeks out. I think I did it wrong but I’ve done it. If they die, the die, we did cover them with net to stop the bastard foxes digging in the bed, they’ve already killed a couple of my cucumber plants.
By this point Ma was done, so she made tea and I sowed some more cucumbers and some beetroot and spinach as a back up against slugs.
There is still a list of outstanding work so next week in addition to watering and weeding, we need to:
- plant the strawberry runners into pots
- plant out the winter squash
- drill some holes in the tank we’re not growing anything in, it’s waterlogged right now
- plant out the chives in the herb patch
However, the stratch proof coating has decided to degrade and it’s annoying, because my prescription hasn’t changed, last week I wore a different pair of glasses to work every day. Now I know that my glasses are similiar but no-one noticed. Not one person, not even my mother.
Most of us put a huge amount of effort into our appearance, with make-up and glasses and hairstyles. It makes a huge difference in how we feel about ourselves, but the truth is that hardly anyone notices.
Well maybe not a midlife crisis but certainly, I’m firmly middle-aged and although I’m mostly quite happy about it and not that concerned about getting old, it’s strange to not quite recognise your face.
This was the view from my bedroom window on Tuesday night. It did not lead to a lovely sunny Wednesday but it was beautiful!
Below are the courgettes, and yes I’m aware that’s probably too many but I did 4 last year in a bed that size and it worked, so we’ll see!
Because we have a greenhouse this year, we going to grow some tomatoes and peppers in pots in there. 
I also sowed french beans, parsley, coriander, carrots, and spring onions because we need to be getting on with that. The carrots and spring onions were planted in the bath after we’d filled it with compost (I seem to spent all my money on compost right now and I’m not making nearly enough!). However, we did get luck because Dionne has a car and bought me three big bags so that was one thing I didn’t have to do this weekend.
The red onion were done for and we pulled them up, planting the patty pan and one of the crooknecks in that bed. The radishes I sowed there gave me my first crop and I must sow some more.
One of the things that I notice when I look back is how often I need to re-learn lessons that I thought I already knew. I also notice that each time I fail and I fail often, is that I fail a little less and thus each failure is also a tiny improvement.
Mostly it’s about discipline and focus. I have a tendency to go off into what I want to do, not what I need to do. So I’ll spend an evening reading and forget to hang the laundry, when that chore would have taken 10 minutes and then I could have picked up the book! I’m better than I used to be, nowadays, I get the washing up done before I pick up the book. Although I can treat cooking dinner as a chore and grind it out, I slip on other things. So I need to start again.
One of the things that I’ve noticed is that if I focus on the little things, the bigger things sort themselves out. Start with the basics and the more complex things, seem less complex and challenging. So here is my re-focus list….
Self Care. Four years ago (ish) I wrote a
Over August, we started to try and rehabilitate the raspberries, we also planted a tiny strawberry bed from some runners.
I made plum gin from my own plums and got excited about the tomatoes
In October and November, with things really dying down, we did a bit of rearranging. We bought another 6 raised beds and laid down more weed suppressant.
We also measured and sorted out where we wanted a shed to go and planted garlic, onions and broad beans for next year.
In February, things were starting again and we replenished the woodchip, with much swearing from Ma!
We also dug over some areas for herbs and started to think about growing things again.
At the end of April, we finally got a shed.
And here we are a year later. The plot looks like this. 
Nic Dempsey 