An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

We have finally dug out the last corner of the plot, its been sitting under plastic sheeting for months to break down the high grass.The plastic was removed and the dead grass could be easily pulled away making it possible for a fellow plotter to come in with a rotavator to break up the ground.  We then dug it over thoroughly and removed the scutch grass roots and the stones.  I went on a road trip near Kinsale on Mon and brought back 4 bags of seaweed in the boot of the car! Wellie boots are compulsory for this task. I did'nt want to get seaweed from the harbour area as it is possibly polluted with diesel from boats and various other unmentionables. The seaweed was not loose at the waters edge so it meant  collecting it at low tide, and taking conservation into account. I took a large scissors and  cut approx half of each plant leaving the roots still attached to the rocks.The 4 bags only covered about 1/3 of the proposed potato patch for next year so at le...

The Pumpkin patch after the recent heavy rains. There are 4 plants here and at the moment romping all over 'their' patch.I have usually planted pumpkins where I would have dug up the first early potatoes but this year we didn't have any earlies so seconds and main crop are still in the ground and the pumpkins needed their space out of the pots. This is a patch which was under plastic to kill off the overgrown grass, it has just been roughly dug to loosen the earth and some compost from the Municipal site put down. Some of the grass is beginning to come through again but hopefully the pumpkin foliage will keep most of it down. They are stretching out at least 4 to 5 feet now from where they were planted with loads of flowers and small pumpkins along their length. This is the largest at the moment, about tennis ball size, the rest are less than golf ball size. We are now wondering how many to leave on the stalk to mature and will we cut the stalks at a manageable leng...

 We have learned over the years its a mistake to sow everything together as you end up with a glut of different veg and if it is a hot summer as this one has been (so far) then you don't want to be cooking every day to use up the veg. I had some of these seeds which are Sutton's Speedy veg they are ready to harvest in 10 weeks from sowing which would take us to the end of Sept and into Oct therefore  utilising  the ground as much as possible and for those of us paying for allotments that is the bottom line. The first early spuds, a lovely variety called Premier has just vacated its space so I have followed up with planting out my leeks and also sowed these veg varieties in any spare space. Baby beets,turnips and carrots.They are picked and used small so are tender and tasty as we can vouch for the carrots which we have been using in another bed already!  Thinnings of an earlier sowing of the Speedy baby veg and sugar snap peas with the Premier e...

 Lettuce of varying colours and stages of growth under the plastic cloche. Spinach at the very far end is coming on slowly.  Blossoms are coming out on the broad beans, these have really taken everything the very unseasonable weather has thrown at them.They are not quite as tall as I would expect but hopefully they will continue growing while producing blossoms and pods. Semi permanent brassica cage in place today, not a very pretty sight but hopefully (a word we seem to be using a lot of this year) a useful one!  More rain with some sunshine today, other parts of the country  have thunder & lightening so we shouldn't complain down here! I have worked out an easy method of uploading photos and text, just do one photo at a time, Simples! Networked Blogs have been sharing my blog onto FB almost as soon as I hit the publish button. I found with the last post it took nearly 24 hours to do it?! I think it is now one of the services on FB payment plan!

The plot is taking shape but the weather is not helping, which is everybody's complaint on this windswept isle.In view on the left side are onion beds, 1 red baron and 2 white then potato beds.Across the back fence are raspberry canes ,rhubarb and globe artichoke ,all moved from the previous plot at the Hydro Farm. White fleece, back left side is covering one of Billy's raised beds. I sowed carrots, Pak Choi and beetroot in the bed today and covered with enviromesh, even the carrot fly may be deterred with the cold weather, but covered the bed 'just in case' ! The second raised bed is empty awaiting top soil and manure to sow courgettes which are on the bedroom windowsill as I speak hoping the weather will improve before June to put them outdoors. There is a space left beside that bed to take the Sweetcorn which are struggling in the back garden at the moment. I had moved them outdoors at home to harden off but had to cover them today with fleece to protect th...

Unbelievable sight out on the allotment today! This is just one (forefront) of our 5 rhubarb  plants bursting into new life.I should have covered them just in case of severe frost but it was a quick visit and I was caught for time, hopefully I won't  regret the decision! The whole reason of the visit was to pull the remains of the Brussels sprout plants to give to the hens to nibble for greens. It was a beautiful bright and sunny day , a complete contrast to yesterday when we had to drive with lights on ALL day!  I just had time for a quick look around and I was amazed at the new growth breaking through, above some daffodils                                                                                                  ...

 I went out to the plot today, it was bleak, windy and wet and I was the only one there! I gathered most of the sprouts and some of our Rosemary.The sprouts were divided up between 3 houses for Christmas dinner and there are still quite a few left on 5 plants that are producing. Rosemary is going wild as I keep forgetting it is there! Garlic and Rosemary roasties for dinner. The carrots in the barrel did not make the grade for dinner, lots of green growth but minuscule carrots!I think I should have brought the barrel home to be close to hand for watering regularly.We have a bit  of upheaval coming up with the plot in the New year, explanations later!  Some Christmas preparation at home, cranberry sauce made last night. I am not a lover of Cranberry sauce on my turkey but like it as more of a chutney! Christmas cake iced, the 2 halves are D. Michelle's who divides a cake between 2 people who just like a little 'taste' of Christmas cake.The cake was almond ice...

I could not think of an attention grabbing title for this post so calling a spade a spade this is simply about Brussels Sprouts, love 'em or hate 'em. We grow them every year usually quite successfully but this year growth has been slow and we have 6 plants at varying degrees of growth even though they all went in the same day! Three plants went to seed so were brought home for the hens to enjoy.    The netting which they were under was too short as they were growing up against it, apart from making the taller ones bend over the white butterflies could still lay their eggs on the leaves. I don't know how late in the season they stop but they are still very visible around our plots.     The fruit cage is no longer needed so the canes and netting were recycled for the sprouts. I had to put some support canes in place for a few which were bending, topped with empty yogurt bottles to avoid getting our eyes poked if we are in the cage.The...

 Kevin and myself went out to the allotment on Fri afternoon, it was not just sunny but absolutely roasting! I watered all the plants in the greenhouse and it felt like a sauna. The tomatoes are ripening slowly.Harvest included: 2 courgettes lettuce Small Red Duke of York potatoes 2 cucumbers some french beans & small tomatoes blackcurrants,strawberries,red gooseberries & blueberries.The strawberries and cherry tomatoes went to Jack who eats them like sweets!.Not enough fruit to make a summer pudding so the gooseberries & blackcurrants were added to apples to make a summer fruit tart.The blueberries go on my cereal in the morning. The long green plant at the top of the photo is a Brussels sprout plant gone to seed, the 4th of 10 to go.It was brought home to the hens and I tied it to the fence.Within a very short time it was a skeletal shape hanging from the fence! Waste not want not. Kevin noticed some of the globe artichokes and asked to take some home...

I went out to the allotment on Sat evening to gather the sprouts for our Christmas dinner and to send in a photo to matrons Christmas veggie blog The plot looks cold and dismal now and my fingers nearly froze dislodging the sprouts! The pigeons have decimated the top growth on the stalks, definitely the culprits from the amount of droppings on the leaves and around the ground.The netting had blown off again and left the plants unprotected. I left them as is so the birds can enjoy the remains! I also brought home the herbs for cooking, rosemary for the garlic and rosemary roasted spuds Sage and thyme for the stuffing Parsley for everything else I have one jar of the 3 I had made of piccalilli for those cold turkey days!I had made it from a mixture of all the allotment veg using a recipe of matrons Do visit matrons blog to see the array of Christmas veggies,lots of ideas there for next winters plot!

We have a new resident on the Hydro allotments!Zwena has added a lamb and there is a companion arriving in the next day or two.Willow is the German Shepherd standing guard with Owen and lamb.I am always fascinated at Zwena's control over her dogs, Willow is a young dog and is in the process of being trained. Owen and Lamb who I don't think has a name yet! A seed sowing marathon was in progress today before I went out to the allotment in the afternoon.Matron visited Cork last year and very kindly brought me some packets of her own saved seeds. This one is Lazy Housewife, a Victorian heritage variety, read about it on matron's blog. Recycled tall plastic containers with ready drainage holes underneath and most of them have clear covers making an instant incubator for small amounts of seeds. They came with soft fruits from Aldi. Dog beans!Also from Matron,they have a stunning colour but are plain broad beans! The windowsill is filling again, peppers on the left,I am leaving th...

I have not spent much time on the plot in the last couple of weeks due mainly to the weather conditions but yesterday was sunny and not too cold so I was able to do some clearing of beds.I dug all of the carrots ,a bit late probably as there is some worm or slug damage to a lot of them . I also cleared all of the sprouts as they seem to be early this year and I was afraid they would be past their best for the Christmas dinner! I spent last evening blanching and freezing the sprouts and some of the carrots with another session of carrots this morning.I must do an inventory of what is actually in the freezer for the winter. I pulled 2 leeks as D.Aisling is making pots of Leek and potato soup at the moment. The leek bed with the cleared carrot bed in the foreground. The beds further down were cleared by Kathryn and Gemma and covered with manure for the winter.It all looked a bit bleak yesterday. The blackcurrant bush which I pruned a couple of weeks ago, I took put about a third of the ol...

I wonder where those 2 weeks went to?! I know the birthday celebrations went on a bit, I have been away for a few days (will do a post on my trip to Limerick ). I had a chest infection and have been off the cigarettes now for 7 days (who is counting?), not being able to breathe is as good a reason as any to give 'em up! Sitting at the computer has been curtailed as I would automatically reach for a cigarette. I did not go to the allotment last week as I did not feel up to it so this morning I did remember to take the camera and also do some winter tidying up. The harvest is winter warming veg, carrots, parsnips and cabbage, most of which have now been added to a big pot of soup which is cooling before blitzing with the blender. Would Pirates of the Caribbean like some real life veg from Davy Jones locker? These are what grew of our Celeriac plants, the photo makes them look quite large but they are less than golf ball size in reality!I added one of them to my pot of soup just to m...