An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

I would like to say a big 'thank you ' to Lynda http://foodfunfarm.blogspot.com/ for giving this online award to my blog.Especially as I am new to this 'art form' and still learning the basics! If you’d like to read more about the Arte Y Pico Award , you can do so by visiting the website here. (In a nutshell, it is an award given to creative blogs with interesting material and design who’s writers contribute to the blogging community.) These are the rules and regulations, followed by my nominees for the next five deserving winners of the Arte Y Pico Award : 1) Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language. 2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. 3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the awar...

My own mother Catherine ( Nana Percy) R.I.P. 25/04/2008 with her Yorkshire terrier Percy. My mother in law Alice ( Nana Mopsy) R.I.P. 3/04/2008 with her boxer Mopsy Nana Sam! Myself with Sam, a cavalier King Charles spaniel. When My grandchildren Stephen and Gemma were small they were lucky enough to have all of their grandparents and great grandparents alive. This caused some confusion especially in my own case as my children had called my mother in law Nana Murray, but now to their children I was Nana Murray! So... to distinguish which Nana they were talking about my mother in law became known as Nana Mopsy after her dog and my mother became Nana Percy after her dog, I was still Nana Murray as I had no dog! I recently acquired H.R.H Cavalier King Charles Sammy. He used to live with my daughter Kathryn, then the kids had got another dog, a Golden Retriever called Shila. Sam and Shila got on fine but then Shila had puppies ( 7)! They were Retriever/Labrador cross and all went to good ...

The globe artichoke is related to the thistle. Its leaves are eaten, along with the bottom part of the flower. It makes a delicious starter or lunch ,simply boiled whole and served with melted butter, or a vinaigrette for dipping the leaves into. Break off each leaf and draw the soft fleshy base through your teeth. I knew it had to be related to something nasty! I think it is the armadillo of the vegetable world, almost daring you to eat it. We have them growing around some of the allotments, I don't, as they have never appealed to me as a vegetable. There is one big violet tipped one on the patch next to ours and most of the others are 'babies' off of this! They seem to take root and grow at a tremendous rate. The lady who has that patch told me to take one and try it out,which I did! I used a very basic recipe, just boiled in water with lemon juice for about 20 minutes. I also bought the real butter...Kerrygold.. as it is salted and melted some of this. When the artichoke...

Aisling said the photo on the left reminds her of the old joke " how many does it take to change a light bulb"?! Kevin and Ben showing off their work. Kathryn naming out whats planted in this bed. She put in Beetroot, Radishes,and seeds of Leeks and Brussels Sprouts,which are up already! By accident more than design we may have the Leeks in at the right time as they are a winter vegetable. Parsnips were late going in as seed but they are up, and they can be left in the ground for the first frosts. Kathryn also has Pepper plants in the small green house.

Kevin and his BF and cousin, Ben. They love getting down and dirty! I dont think they know they have made earwig traps or else they have been watching gardening programmes on their own! Ben lost his snazzy headgear to the scarecrow.

This is daughter Kathryn, who is my allotment partner. I am showing her the fronds of our Asparagus which we are leaving to die back again this year. Stephen came up to see how we were coping without him this year.The girls just come to brighten up the place!

Our near neighbours on the allotment, they are usually in the field next to us, but they were probably safer in the stables on the Open day.