Harvest Time On Our Plot

Hello everyone...welcome to a new week.

I'd thought I'd share our harvest from yesterday. 

If you are a follower then you'll know we only started the veggie plot back in early February, so we're thrilled with the outcome so far.

Here's a quick recap for anyone who may have missed the birth of the plot.

(click Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)

In case you can't make out what's in the white bowl... it's blackberries.

I'm linking up with Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk 
 Seasons
and Good Random Fun.blogspot.co.uk

Have a great week everyone...have fun and keep smiling!

The Plot Thickens

It's time for an update of the veggie plot today.

Before I start let me just explain that it's quite a challenge growing certain veggies here in the North East of Scotland. For example today started off with sun, then the hail arrived and we've had quite a snowdrift after lunch and now we're on to rain! 

I think other than fog...that about covers the whole range of weather.

So let's begin our update...

The raised beds are finished and have parsnips, carrots, cabbage, sprouts and fennel.

I'll be sure to show you the plants at a later stage. 

Hopefully they'll survive this coming week of wintry weather.

The pot at the end of the middle bed is actually a collection of herbs that I used to keep by the kitchen door. We need to replant these....making sure that we keep the mint contained.

I don't want mint taking over the whole plot as it is prone to do if left without any restraints.

The observant of you might notice the new chuckies (or gravel).

We underestimated just how much was needed so we are waiting today for another delivery of 3 tonn.

The old telegraph pole that I managed to convince the authorities to replace has now found a new home. Hubby used his chainsaw and split it down the middle and laid this rather impressive edging.

And so on to the next stage of the plot...the chicken coup.

Hubby put the coup together as it was flat packed and he said it was the easiest instructions he's ever had to follow (thanks Chicken Coops Direct)

This particular coop is the Devon design.

I was surprised by how small the coup actually was when assembled, so we've decided to buy an additional run for here and also a tunnel for the other garden, so that his 'girls' will be safe, but happy.

(I actually caught him looking at a girlie website early one morning...but thankfully it was the feathered clucking kind!)

I'm not sure when his 'girls' will arrive but we're nearly ready. 

Or I think we're ready...it's like a penthouse, but the flooring is supposed to be arriving any day.

Hard wood chippings apparently are the best! 

As I said...nothing but the best for his 'girls'

I just hope they actually lay an egg!

(New's hot of the press...Gust of Arctic wind whipped through and carried two cloches and smashed them against the granite wall of the wood store...ho hum. We've only had them a few days!
Heaven knows where the little plants maybe by now...maybe on their way to Norway)

Have a great day whatever you're weather is doing...we'll just keep hunkering down for now.

Thanks for popping by my place.

I'm linking up with Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk apparently Elvis has been spotted over there, 

The Birth of the Veggie Plot

We have been back in Scotland for nearly four years now and we've always thought that at some stage, we would like a vegetable plot. 

Finally in the last few weeks, the work has started.

Our house is situated on land that was once a farm cottage. 

I've mentioned in the past that when digging in our garden, we've surprisingly found cobblestones under flower boarders. 

Both delightful, but at the same time terribly hard work.

There's also the ruined barn (the folly) and an old outbuilding that we use for a wood store.

So it was with extreme trepidation that my hubby started excavating the new proposed veggie site.

I thankfully was only recruited to keep a photographic record... which was fine by me. 

Don't worry the fields behind have had a farmer with his plough to work them and not my hubby.

They're not on our plot!

I thought it might be a good idea to perhaps ask the farmer, if he could swing his tractor with the digger attachment in through our gate. 

I would provide fresh baking and copious cuppa's, but apparently there might be a gas pipe running along this plot, so it's gently gently for now.

So far he hasn't found any cobblestones...
just huge granite boulders!
Like this one...











Hubby has had to devise and engineer a solution to be able to lift them....
























An old scaffolding tube came in handy as a lever... plus a lot of huffing and puffing












There's a saying that gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it.

I'm wondering how long hubby will enjoy spending his days digging, now that he's retired.

It's certainly different from what he used to do.

It's hard manual labour, but so far so good... he's enjoying it.

I've always thought he had a touch of OCD and seeing the way in which he's working the plot does nothing to alleviate this thought.

There's still such a long way to go, but as long as the weather isn't too bad we'll hopefully get there.

The tatties (potatoes) are apparently in the post, so the pressure is on.

I'll be sure to give you a progress report when there's something more exciting to report.

In the meantime... enjoy getting outdoors and having fun.
I'm linking up with Image-in-ing.blogspot.co.uk and Our World Tuesday

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you again soon.

Gardening forever... housework whenever

This sign was given to me by my sister a few years ago. 

As you can see it's had a life! 

In fact it's a very well travelled sign, having covered three continents. 

It did have a stake, so it could be stuck into a pot, but somewhere along the way it fell off. I've always been fond of it, not only because it was a wee gift from my sister, but the sentiment is spot on as far as I'm concerned. 

I'd much rather be outside (weather permitting) instead of ironing, cleaning bathrooms or moving dust from pillar to post. 

So imagine my delight when I received some lovely happy post this week from Twinkletoes2day with the same saying....

'Gardening forever... Housework whenever'

... AND a  very special Toby Poby drawing!

Now if that doesn't make you smile flying through letterbox I don't know what would? 

Whilst I'm mentioning gardening, I thought it might be an appropriate time to show you a little produce.

(little being the operative word here) 

I've not organised the area where I'll have a beautiful huge greenhouse, raised beds, chooks and bee hives. Ha! All in my head of course or possibly in about Phase 15 of our renovation plans. 

(We're only onto Phase 2... but anyway I digress) 

I did have a little play though and for the first time I have grown courgettes... with some success. 

We had the four shown above and my word I have to say they were delicious. 

There are still some growing, so we might be lucky and have another meal soon. 

I love the beautiful flowers but so far I haven't eaten one. 

But then with success there were a few disappointments... my french beans to name but one. 

I had big plans for them but unfortunately so did the snails!

Don't laugh if I tell you that I harvested two... YES TWO... that's not a typo.

Here they are...

But they are stunning specimens if I say so myself. 

(I can hear you laughing...but there's more)

I cooked these two and cut them in half so that we each could taste them. Again, they were delicious and just reinforced that we will grow them next year, but be ready for the slug invasion.

I think my best results though, came from two old compost bags... I planted tatties (potatoes) in them and was rewarded with 2 kilos!

I'm about to plant more so we can have our own for that special day in December.

I'll leave you with a few pics of a beautiful visitor to our plot...

Remember 'if a garden is finished... then it's dead'

Thanks for visiting.

I hope to see you again soon!

Producing Potatoes

I didn't plan to post today, but then I thought I'd share my excitement with you.

Have I won the lottery, received happy post or found a long lost relative? 

Nope none of those things but I'm still hyperventilating and excited.

Why you may ask...?

Well the tatties (potatoes for anyone outside of Scotland) have produced babies and quite a few at that! I'm shocked to say the least because they have managed this feat even with masses of neglect. 

It just goes to show if I can grow them then anyone can. 

I do plan one day to produce a beautiful veggie plot... all neat and tidy with raised beds and Monty Don's (gardening guru) type greenhouse, potting shed alongside numerous cold frames and masses of healthy produce for us to just pick and eat as we wish. 

Hey there's nothing wrong with dreaming big. 

Heaven knows where I'd steal the time from to attend to all this additional work, but it's on the plan. I think it may be Phase 23 of our renovations but it is there.

So where did I grow these little golden jewels? 

Well I used an old compost bag!!! 

(or two to be precise in this instance)

Yep it's that easy.

 I bought the potatoes that I'd like to grow and eat, and then left them to chit.
I'm not being rude here...that's the official term for letting the tatties grow little sprouts (not the green Christmas type veg, just to clarify as we're talking veggies here) but little roots.

Here's a link if you're interested in reading about chitting...click here

Leave a little compost in the bottom of a rolled down compost bag (or any container for that matter, as long as it will allow for more compost to be added later). 

I like to think that I'm making good use of the old tough plastic compost bags by reusing them. They work perfectly but don't forget to put a few holes in the bottom of the bag to allow drainage. As the potatoes sprout their new green leaves you need to add a little more compost up the stalks. This process is repeated as the stems grow and roll up the bag to allow more depth for the tatties to grow. They need to be kept in the dark and receive plenty of watering. (This is another part of my neglect and surprisingly they forgave me ...well with builders, renovations, visitors and generally my absentmindedness what do you expect?)

But look what came out of those bags...

How fantastic are these little beauties? 

(I weighed them and there's about 2.5 kilo's)

There were two different varieties of which I can only remember one... Désirée

I did leave the label in each bag but one has completely disintegrated. 

I don't mind what variety they are... I think they look scrumptious and I'm certainly going to do the best I can for us all to appreciate our own produce! 

Here's another post that I did when living in Melbourne and used plastic grow bags with as much success if you'd like to know more click here.

Okey dokey... that's it for today folks

It's great to have you stop by for a natter.
I hope to see you again soon 

Fruit and Veg....

Initially I wasn't sure if the pesky possums were the culprits who devoured our figs, but then I witnessed the frantic flight of a blackbird, when I came into the garden and caught him off guard...'Who me?' 'No siree'...

Not content with our grapes, they are also partial to fresh figs. Maybe he's trying to get his five fruits in...

Thank goodness my blueberries haven't come to fruition yet! 

But then we share this planet, so I don't really mind especially when I hear him sing. I also picked a bowl full of figs earlier in the week, so we have enough for our needs. But these where the last two!

Devastation...

 

But it's not all bad news...I promised a little while ago that I'd show you my beans....what do you think?

Remember back in January when I planted them and they sprouted so quickly ~ well here they are...

 Not bad eh?

Do they usually grow this quickly?

(Yawn....) It's getting late and I've been busy in the studio today, so I need my beauty sleep now...I also want to try to finish my book. Oh so much to fit in and so little time!

I hope you're having a fun packed weekend...whatever you do keep smiling :D

Silent Saturday.....(due to sore throat)

My son has been so generous that he's passed on his terrible cold to me....I woke this morning feeling my throat had been cut, so we've had a very quiet day here today. The boys are probably ecstatic but they're making the right sympathetic noises and providing copious cups of tea.
So I thought I'd have a quiet post today....just letting the photos do the talking for me.

Here's some of my produce...

 

I'm happy to report I have runner beans too but I'll have to show them another day...

This one makes me laugh ~ is it my fever or does that look like a little alien?

And then there's the mutant trees????

Opening their arms to harness the power currents running through the electricity power lines....

Now I'm frightening myself...I think the fever may be reaching a peek and I need to lie down....

I hope your weekend is going well and not weird like mine LOL 

Keep smiling :D

An Update...

I've stayed away from posting these last few days because when I started to create this blog, I wanted it to be nothing but positive...in both its content and creation. You didn't miss me???
Anyway, the reason for the little absence was that my daughter left Melbourne last Friday for Scotland. I know how could she...I even hid her passport but she found it! : (
So as you can imagine my heart was heavy and I didn't feel like blogging, but then I had a serious talk to myself and decided to concentrate on all the wonderful days, hours, and minutes we were able to spend  together and to look forward to getting together again soon : D

She'll probably not be happy with me posting this photo but I thought it was fun.

So on to my post for today...I've got lots that I could post but I thought I'd include a little update for you.

When we moved house there were the usual few casualties ~ one sadly being my chilli plant.

So when I saw this multi-functional chilli that is both colourful and dramatic, ornamental and edible, you guessed it .... I just had to have it.

The mature fruit can be removed for use in culinary dishes, both hot and cold. The sweet fruit is well suited for use in salads ~ perfect for this hot spell ~ but also in mediterranean and asian dishes, or even a dramatic garnish.

Its the chilli salsa variety..so another hint there to its potential...

Then I couldn't miss updating you on my Jack and the beanstalk story...

They have actually reached my head height already...can you believe it?...I can't. But I noticed today that there may be a problem lurking....there are some white little fly's under a few of the leaves! HELP! What should I do...does anyone have any advice? I really would be interested to hear from you....please :-?

And now onto a success.....my figs...  : D

I can't believe this next photo because I'm sitting here in 35 degress celcius but on Saturday evening we had dinner outside and there was just a little nip in the air...just enough to have our first pot belly fire.

I'd bought it way back in June for our wedding anniversary but just haven't had the right conditions or occasion to light it...well Saturday was its maiden flight as it were. Guess what....it was perfect.

As I mentioned we're roasty toasty here today and have been in fact so far this week, but maybe if you're in the middle of your winter or up to your ankles in frosticles, then this might warm the cockles of your heart.

 
I'm away to watch Andy Murray playing in the Melbourne Tennis Open so need to put on my tamoshanta and paint my face in the Scottish flag (I'm joking ; D )



"GO ANDY" (well I'm a Brit with Scottish connections, what do you expect?)

Enjoy the Tennis everyone...whomever you support : D