An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

I went out to the allotment this morning in glorious sunshine but it was freezing cold.There has been snow as far south as the Wicklow mountains and it is still only October!It is definitely glove wearing weather out there from now on.The remains of the sunflower left in situ to feed the birds for the winter, it is growing on the plot next to ours which is used by Liam and William The last rose of summer left blooming alone! Also on the plot next door, there is not a leaf left on the tree just this single bloom glowing in the frosty sunshine. Our winter produce did not look very colourful until I added our pumpkin, which weighs in at 8 lb. Two kids up the country in Co Leitrim I think, grew a 550 lb One!!!We also have the first of the sprouts from one plant and the swiss chard which is still going strong. The celery under fleece to protect from frosts. I was a bit late as we had quite a severe frost last night. Although if the head I pulled up today is anything to go by they are not ...

I was tagged from Annas paints a few days ago.I needed time to figure out this link business for once and for all!I have typed in this line about 10 times so far...But...by George, I think I've got it!! Being tagged has rules 1/ create a link back to the person who has tagged you 2/Tag at least 3 other people, with links to their blogs 3/ Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged 4/ Post the rules on your blog 5/write 6 things about yourself ( another hard part)! I am tagging: Jo ,who blogs from South Africa Margaret another allotment lady in the UK Latane writing about her life and looking after her husband who has Alzheimers I enjoy all my favourite blogs,just because your name is not here does not mean I don't enjoy yours!I think tagging helps to highlight new blogs on the block. 6 Things about me: 1/ I have always loved crafts ie; knitting/sewing/painting, anything creative 2/ I would have loved to do Art after I left school but it was not an...

Our pickle day was a great success, thanks mainly to Chris and Maeve who did most of the pickling and brought lots of goodies! Zwena also produced some delicious calorie laden cakes as usual but nobody complained about the calories! Chris had brought some lovely potato and leek soup with savoury cheese scones, there was apple and treacle tart , festive queen cakes and a deadly but delicious chocolate gateaux.There were dips of various chutnies and jams also.Not a feast for the faint hearted! All served in Zwena's farmhouse kitchen as it was too cold and wet to venture outside. Some of the jams and pickles laid out, Plum & Star Anise jam,onion marmalade,Rhubarb& Ginger jam,Apple& lemon curd,Plum jam,Basil mayonnaise to name a few! Chris and Maeve are still harvesting radishes and white turnips and salad leaves. A close up of the lovely finish Chris had given to the jars. We all save our jars so they have various produce lids on them, Chris bought some hessian fabric and ...

We had put the new strawberry plants into the now cleared out greenhouse to shelter for the winter.I read an article in Kitchen Garden (UK)magazine which said they should be left out to get a couple of frosts and then put in, it is recommended to get strawberries going early next year. So out they have come to await jack frost! The garlic is just peeping above ground and it looks as if it has all germinated! Garlic is supposed to be winter sown so we will have to wait and see the results.Last year we put it in, in late Spring and while it grew to about this height that was it, then it just died back The overwintering onions have also taken off. They are a special winter sown onion,we got them in Atkins seeds in Cork but I'm sure most garden centres will have them but they disappear fast! The birds take a fancy to them and pull them out of the ground but they can be pushed back in again. I only found 2 or 3 pulled up. It gives the onions a head start for next year.

This is actually two posts to cover the final chapter in our pumpkin saga. This is the biggest of the bunch by far, weighing in at 30 KGS and measuring 61 ins in circumference! If we had had a good summer and the compost heap got heat and sunshine it would probably have been even bigger as Zwena has had a 40 kg one in the past! All of the pumpkins gathered in for today, some have been left on the plants to continue growing as there are still lots of small ones and the plants have not started to die back yet.The seeds were just scattered on the top of the compost heap ( horse manure) and left grow away without any further care or interference. Zwena is not just posing ,she did push the wheelbarrow up from the allotment ! A photo shoot of the produce!Ours is the one on the extreme right there are also some lovely gourds which the photos don't do justice to as they are all so colourful ! A close up view, the big one is going into the English market to the Good Food Stall if anyone is...

This is a close up of them still lurking in the undergrowth, before the harvesting operation. Smaller ones further up the bank Another Monster that was not visible until now! Zwena ceremoniously taking the knife to the star of the show Action snap of Zwena unhitching another pumpkin

The title is the comment daughter Aisling made when she phoned me at the allotment this afternoon. Our Blueberries were not performing because they were in the wrong soil! They like acid (Ericacious) soil , I got this advice on http://www.irishgardeners.com/ There is an excellent thread on blueberries for anyone wishing to grow them. I dug over the end of the fruit bed and added the patch where Kathryn dug out the peas so now they have an L shaped des. res. I priced the largest pots around, some shops were charging up to 11e for them but good old B&Q (Homebase in the US) had them for 6.45e. They are 30 cms, which is the largest I have seen. I filled the bases with about 2ins of gravel for drainage, dug out a big hole and added some more gravel for the base of the pots to rest on. Blueberries don't like their feet wet! One of the pots in the ground. The Blueberries in their new bed.They were easy enough to dig out of their original positions as the root balls were not very big,...

I found this photo of Kevin, my right hand man and gardener in chief. He is about 8 months old and is showing a keen interest in plant pots already! Kevin with the very first head of lettuce we grew on the allotment the first year, I think it was all that was growing there at the time With his own set of gardening tools at last, trying to make a straight line for sowing. Fully kitted out for the Irish summer, rain never deterred him from coming out!

I have been missing from the blog for a few days, I have not been out to the allotment either. With the nice autumn weather we have been having there were lots of things to catch up on at home.I did get around to making the beetroot pickle though. I got a simple recipe on vegboxrecipes.co.uk Up to 2kg of fresh beetroot 1&1/2 litrs vinegar 1 tbsp whole coriander seeds 1tbsp whole peppercorns 1 bay leaf 100grm sugar (optional) What I liked about this method is the beetroot is baked in tinfoil in the oven so any juices that escape can be poured from the foil back into the pickle. Scrub the beetroot wrap in foil ans bake at 180 c for 2 hours until tender While they are baking make up the pickle as follows Put vinegar, coriander,cloves, peppercorns and bayleaf in a large pan,Bring to the boil for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and cover the pan.Leave the flavours to infuse for about 2 hours.Strain before using.If you would like a sweeter pickle add 250 grms sugar before boiling .Sti...

We are having a 'Pickle day' on the allotment at the end of Oct. Chris is organising it. It is going to be a swop day for produce and/or advice. I have to admit I have never pickled anything before and can only remember tasting a glutinous brown goo once and have never tried it again! I thought I should try something for the pickle day and so what I brought home from the allotment the other day was sitting there and I thought what the hell....! Chris had left me a recipe ( pinned up in the greenhouse) for beetroot pickle but Angela had tried tomato chutney using the red and green tomatoes. i went online and found a simple recipe on www.sausagelinks.co.uk ( lots of lovely easy recipes) The one I used is: 1kg Cooking apples,peeled and cored 1kg Tomatoes (red or green or a mix) I also added the small green peppers I had 500ml vinegar 500g onions 250 grm dried fruit 500grm soft brown sugar half teaspoon: cayenne pepper, mustard powder, ground ginger or other spices Or you can ch...

Last year once we had picked the final lettuce we had nothing in the allotment for the winter. I think we had put so much work in to clearing the plot we needed a rest from it. This year even though all the summer veg has now been cleared away there is quite a good crop coming on through the winter months. The purple sprouting broccoli under its netting is doing well but we have to keep checking the netting is secure on the ground to keep the rabbits out. The leeks, earthed up again. they are growing fine but I am not sure when they should be ready? The Celery also earthed up is doing OK. It must be covered with fleece in case of an early frost. The parsnips now have the bed to themselves since the beetroot was taken up. And last but not least our Sprouts. They are under netting too and I cleared the ground around them of yellowing leaves etc to stop any slugs etc from overwintering on them. I did have to pick off a few snails again but not as many as last time. So...there is still q...

A lovely autumn harvest.The last of the summer? grown veg from the allotment.Kathryn and the 2 girls were out on Sunday and got peas ( the ones the rabbits had left)!The rabbits got under the netting and chewed a lot of them again. She also got the last of the cucumbers .I cleared the rest of what we had in the greenhouse. Tomatoes,some still green, small oddly shaped peppers, one had gone red, I pulled all of the beetroot, going to try my hand at pickling them.I also got some Swiss chard , pulled after the photo was taken. Another cauliflower, small but perfectly formed but they turn in to this.... The florets just grow up in to long stalks! After clearing the greenhouse I moved in our strawberry plants in their pots as we do not have a bed for them at present. The permanent fruit bed is undergoing major restructuring. The remains of the greenhouse plants were put on the communal compost heap and I added the compost to the now defunct carrot barrels. Kathryn has late carrots in a be...

The pumpkins growing on the bank!They are spreading out thick and fast in all directions.There are quite a lot, I could not count all of them but there are two HUGE ones. This is the biggest one skulking in the undergrowth! It measures approx 54 ins around the 'equator'! I could not even give an estimation of the weight, but I could not move it a fraction, it is heavy!! This is our little pumpkin, the leaves have all died back and we are not sure why, maybe the cold weather or could it be pumpkin blight?! The pumpkin itself appears OK and is ripening slowly. I measured it and it is only a trifling 25 ins compared to its bigger cousin. It is being fed but the position obviously does not suit it, maybe too exposed ? I think pumpkins are ideal candidates to grow on a compost heap,as the compost sits there doing nothing while breaking down so the pumpkins would act as a cover.The bigger ones on the bank for anyone who has not been following their progress are growing on top of a h...

This is actually 3 posts! I went to Cobh this morning to see the QE 2 which is visiting there. Cobh has a great maritime history, it was the last port of call for the ill fated Titanic before she sailed to her doom and in to the history books. A pub bearing the name of one of the big liners of the last century 'The Mauretania '. This is the statue of 16 years old Annie Moore with her 2 brothers, (I cut her head off )! She left from Queenstown to find a better life in America.Books have been written about Annie's life in the new world. Titanic memorabilia on sale in one of the shops. I visited New York last year with my son and we went to Ellis island, it was where emigrants from all over the world were processed for entry to the US. It is now a huge heritage site, I have to say it is an eerie place ,even now.This is me standing next to the Annie Moore statue there, Annie was the very first person to be processed through Ellis Island. This is how Barry and myself may hav...