well its sure been a while ....

... since my last visit !

I'd like to say I've been busy in the background, beavering away at my lottie, but sadly I can't claim anything of the sort. Ah well - always next season 'eh :)

So here are my excuses: first we had the rain, then we had the drought, then my OH was away for what seemed like months, in between I moved to a new job at work, then we decided to sell our house which meant finishing all those pesky jobs that we never got around to finishing (or indeed starting in some cases), then OH was rushed into emergency A&E and spent a week in hospital (kidney stone - he is fine now) and then I went on a business trip. Hmmmm is that enough :)

I have managed to harvest some things:
- had fabulous garlic late spring
- OK onions
- fabulous potatoes (still digging them - what a surprise I hear you say cheekily)
- apples (they don't look like the brambleys that the label promised, but will still make a nice apple tart)
- purple beans - managed to save some seed for next year. They are sooooo fabulous chopped up with butter
- peas - enough for a couple of batches of soup
- a few strawberries & raspberries - got some jam made
- a few squashes - pretty small overall, but then I haven't watered at all and have barely visited.
- jerusalem artichokes
- kohl rabi
- tomatoes
- herbs
- beetroot

What wasn't so good:
- my fabulous carrots for carrot fly AGAIN
- peppers
- cucumbers
- sweetcorn
- borlotti beans
- courgettes (gasp)
- florence fennel
- globe artichoke
- blueberries

My house looks fab tho !
Am very pleased - we've had 8 viewings and 5 offers so far ... not quite at the price that we want yet, but not far off now, so fingers crossed :)
We do live here, seriously ! hahah ... you don't even want to know what we did with all our 'stuff'

Kitchen - the rabbit pictures on the left were my birthday present last year from a fabulous English artist living in Paris. I love my kitchen - the black art deco doors are going to be very hard to find again :(





Here is our city garden - the paving is Chinese slate - it is blue and rusty coloured - looks amazing after the rain. That's a Eucalyptus tree on the left (it needs chopping in half - it's only a couple of years old gulp) and golden bamboo against the back wall on the right. The silver tubs have French lavender, lambs ears (no idea of it's proper name, but its those silky / silver leaves that look like rabbits ears - so velvety you can't stop stroking them) and a clematis called Henri - a nod to OH's dad who died a few years ago.



Here's my bathroom - is this getting weird LOL


my living room


spare room / library


and my bedroom !


Hmm, so what other excuses did I list ... oh yes - OH !

So I'm at work and my colleague interrupts a meeting to tell me there is a problem at home - oh I say, is it the cats ! no she says, I think it's your OH. Oh right LOL. So I call him and he is gasping and groaning and it's very difficult to make out anything of sense at all, but it seems he has passed out three times (chipped a tooth !), been throwing up and immobilised by dreadful pain through his kidneys. So I call an ambulance BUT I'm 30 miles away from home (1.5hour drive !!) so I call his friend who has a set of keys. Said friend runs to the house to try and beat the ambulance, but when he gets there, OH has left his key in the door, so friend can't open the door !!! oh no. S'OK he says ... I'll break in ! Managed to persuade him not to and he figured out a plan B.

In the meantime I jump into my car and drive very fast to the adult A&E department ... can you believe I got there BEFORE the ambulance ... which went past me as I was walking up the hospital driveway !!!

I find OH on a trolly, curled up in a foetus position, shaking so violently that I thought he was going to fall off. After a few tests and a scan of some sort the verdict of kidney stones is delivered (to his relief). He is dosed up with morphine, dyctytrecky-something or other, another drug that I've forgotten and a paracetamol (doctor why are you giving him a paracetamol - 'it tops the other drugs off nicely' ....er, okaaaayy !)

Finally, nearly a week week later he has 'passed' the 4mm stone (ouch) and fought off the infection and is sent home :)

Apparently kidney stones are the male equivalent of giving birth ... OH managed not to slap the grinning female nurse who delivered this gem to him haha. So my sympathy to any of you who have experienced the pain.

I've also managed to fit in a business trip to Chicago. I'm not really a fan of the US, but I LOVED Chicago and would move there tomorrow ! What an amazing place - I had a ball - even though it was a work trip :)



This is the John Hancock building:


The view looking down on Chicago at night from the 95th floor bar of the John Hancock building !!! so high, my boss was shaking and we had to leave after just a few minutes :)


Trump Towers !


The city reflected in Trump Towers:


This is Chicago's Millennium sculpture - the Bean ... it captures the city perfectly:






Sunset through the skyscrapers:


So having run out of excuses, I had my first visit this afternoon for what feels like an entire season. It's not as bad as I feared - even the weeds haven't really done much. I shall go for a proper visit tomorrow and start the big clear up. Watch this space haha !

Well the greenhouse is pretty poor - I've barely had time to visit it to water and so it's had to fend for itself ... the strawberries were amazing - the few that I ate during fleeting visits anyway and the marigolds are rather lovely, but my aubergine is pathetic and I don't think my peppers are going to come to much.



My tomatoes are rather disappointing. Now that my OH is back from his 3 week holiday, I might have a bit more time to visit. Remember that naughty kitten mixing up all my labels ... this is supposed to be a Gardeners Delight haha ... but is obviously a Tigerella.



One greenhouse success is my mint - it's now in flower - isn't it pretty ! Typical tho .. just as the peas are ready, the mint finishes !! Sigh.



Let's not even discuss my weeds !! Where do they come from ??

Here is my pride and joy ... if only I knew what it was haha. I think it may be a Sweet Dumpling' or a 'small sugar' ... it does have a label ... if only I'd looked at it.



My Vivaldi potatoes have died down, so I've started to dig them up - fancy, in the right season haha. We've had some tonight in Jamie's 30 minute curry - along with the last of last years Winter Festival, this years garlic and some freshly podded peas. Yum !!



My beetroot germination as been very patchy, not sure why. I will try to sow some more during my next visit. My yellow ones are still very small - I think these ones were Choggia (the stripy ones) ... really must start checking labels LOL. They are sat on a bag of peas that I harvested. Still lots on the plants. The flippin' pigeons have been landing on the netting over the top of the peas and nibbling them !! Nothing is safe ... grrr



Baby carrots are progressing well ... it's really not as big as it looks in the photo. Wonder if I'll get carrot fly again this year. I've not got any fleece covering them, as that's prevented precious water reaching them in previous seasons. Guess I'll just take my chances. Maybe eating them young is the plan ...



We've had quite a lot of sunshine, so I'm not altogether surprised that my courgettes are so small ... I really really really must manure this autumn, the ground is exhausted (bit like me)



Well the spinach has well and truely gone to seed ... it's rather pretty, but I didn't actually get a crop off it .



The dry weather has also seen the florence fennel go to flower before the bulb's have formed. It has the most amazing aniseed smell and beautiful soft fern fronds ... I might cut some for the house





hey hey ! Khol Rabi :)
Doing pretty well ... they've got a pityful net over the top of them, honestly it's minute - even Nick next door laughed when he saw it - but so far so good. Wonder what you do with Kohl Rabi ... it's a wonderful colour.



Peas ! Hurrah. Bag full picked. More to come :)



It hasn't photographed very well, but my vertical squash arrangement is working very well ... well so far anyway



Baby squash - the tromboney one ... forgot its name LOL. Something about Marina di choglia ??? hahah ... MUST start to look at my labels.



My sweetcorn is still very small, but it has all developed tassels ... it could probably do with some more water.



This is what happens when you don't net !!!! grrrrr. My beautiful cauliflowers - had 5 varieties **sob**



Any ideas anyone ? this appeared in just a few days ... it's growing really vigorously ... so it's bound to be a weed or a tree. It's certainly not something I've planted. I'm curious to see what it develops into - occasionally I get the odd thing from one of the neighbouring lotties - black kale etc ... or a helpful squirrel will bury the odd acorn.



The pond was less than half full this afternoon. It had got so low that I took the decision to top it up with the hosepipe. My reasoning was better some water than no water. Hope all the wildlife is OK - my poor waterlilly had finally flowered and now it's under 1.5' of water. I'll find out next time I go up whether I have a leak, or whether it really is just evaporation. Jenny emailed to say she has newts !! I'm so jealous. Mind, you can't have newts and frogs - just one or the other. One eats the other, I can't remember which - maybe the newts are the meanies ? But still - newts !! so exciting. Will pop in to see them next time we are both up there - will try and get a photo. Just lots of baby frogs in my pond.



Another casualty of my absence - the fantastic raspberries have all but finished. This small tub is what I managed to salvage. I'm going to see if there is enough for jam. So cross - they looked amazing a couple of weeks ago, just didn't have time to stop and harvest :(



I don't think my blueberries are going to do very well this year - they haven't had enough water :)



Herbs are always beautiful in flower



This is in my wildflower garden, in front of the pond - no idea what it's called, but it's very pretty.



A cornflower has arrived in the wildgarden - it is stunningly pretty



Argh ... I've got teasels popping up everywhere !!



As usual, poppies are also appearing all over the plot - I have deep red and Nick next door has purple. They are very pretty



I've got nasturtiums - yeay !!



If you are from Sheffield, don't forget to read the post I put on this morning - next one down.

Hello, not much to report - too busy to do more than water the lottie at the moment - during my fleeting visits I've noticed that the strawberries have been and gone (doh), raspberries are about to fall off the bushes (double doh), courgettes have arrived, baby squash is grapefruit size, beetroots have swelled, carrots are growing strongly, peas are more than ready for picking and Javelin potatoes are ready for lifting ! Got lots going on at home, but will hopefully fit in a proper visit and blog update soon.

This is just a quick call out to all Sheffield Allotment holders.

Pat has emailed to advise that at the last Allotment Advisory (council meeting) the members were informed that there will be a consultation with tenants about rent rises 2013 - 2016 (remember that email doubling rents that some of us objected to a few months ago - relevant post here)

This consultation will probably be end of September / October. It is expected that a number of meetings will be held where various proposals will be presented and ideas and options discussed. There should also be the opportunity for submitting ideas / views by letter and email.

This will be discussed at the next meeting of the Allotment Federation - Monday 18th July, at Rivelin Valley Allotments (meet Rivelin Valley Cafe at 7.00 pm). All welcome to attend.

After the rain ...

... comes the drought ! Areas of East Anglia are in drought, with parts of the Midlands, South West and South East in a "near-drought" state. With that in mind I took the opportunity yesterday to fill up my water butts ... no mean feat as half the brass taps were recently nicked from the site ! Just as I finished the heavens opened ... ah the irony :)

It's been my first chance to have a proper look at my veggies since the gales. Everything looks much better than I thought it would. My sweetcorn is a bit yellow, but otherwise it is growing well. Am beginning to have doubts about how closely I've planted it - oh well, too late now !



The borlottos are starting to grow again thank goodness ... just look at those weed seedlings that are sprouting :(



Where do weeds come from ... how come it's only ever my plot that's covered in weeds. I have spent most of the morning weeding my carrots ... it was touch and go for a while, but we made it :) Three varieties (I think - oh for labels haha).



I've started to dig up my garlic - I'm really pleased with them, the bulbs are huge ! Having dug them up - in the rain (what was I thinking), I need to dry them out ... only I knocked down my brick greenhouse. Doh. The first lot are in the glass greenhouse. I'd bring them home but they don't half pong !





My potatoes have just started to flower (note, no weeds :) )



This is Maris Piper. One of my roosters has also flowered - the rooster stems are purple !



My pea plan failed again darn it. Will need to hack my way in - there is a carpet path in the middle somewhere ! Wonder what everyone else does.



Here is my celariac ... now I thought that this was going to be a bulb vegetable, but now I'm confused as it smells just like celery. Must go and do some googling.



My last free bed has been given over to cauliflowers - 4 different varieties. I was drenched by the time I left the plot so I hope I don't regret not netting them !!! Do pigeons fly in the rain ? Let's say not :)



Bloomin' spinach has bolted and gone to flower, think the dry spell has been too much for it. Looks like it'll be headed for the compost heap shortly.



I took home some strawberries, florence fennel, mint (for pea & mint soup) and a lettuce donated by Linda next door.



Flipping ox eye daisies are EVERYWHERE !!! Have ripped up a huge armful and donated it to the compost heap, along with the comfrey plant that has collapsed with the wind & rain.



The plot is also full of foxgloves as usual - they are stunning as usual - dark pink, pale pink and white