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 Veggie Plot Update

With summer well underway here in the UK and temperatures soaring, I thought it was time to give you a little update on our new veggie plot.

(It's not quite tropical for us up here, in the North East of Scotland...but still it's very nice, thank you) 

The plot is coming along nicely, especially when I look back at the first photo's that I took in back in February.

We're not quite self-sufficient in fresh produce yet, but we're getting there.

The raised beds are doing well...housing onions, garlic, fennel, carrots, and brassicas (cabbage, sprouts, broccoli) .

The only failure so far has been our cauliflower...or lack of.

The seedlings didn't stand a chance with the early temperatures. 

We've made a note that we shouldn't sew them so early next year.

The tatties (or potatoes) are doing really well with six different varieties. 

They are flowering now so we won't have long to wait to lift them and see just what we have.

The fennel has also been a huge success. 

We have far too many and will have to be inventive in how to use them all.

I'm happy to report that our cabbage, sprouts and broccoli are another success.

Here's the parsnips still in their toilet roll holders... hopefully they aren't being restricted and we have prime specimens underneath the soil.

The peas and runner beans are also starting to flower. 

I can't wait for the snap of the pea pod being opened and the juicy sweet jewels held within.

Once these flowers die off we can start to lift our potatoes...well hopefully we'll have a reasonable crop. We have staggered the planting, so that we have a steady supply to harvest.
I sound so confident that there's something lying there, don't I?

We have quite a few beetroots so if you have any tips on how to use them I'd appreciate it.
I'm not sure other than to slice into a salad or to pickle them.
I was rather delighted to find that the broccoli are sprouting too and there's a couple of sprouts appeared within the cabbages!
Obviously, someone's organisational skills at the seedling stage went slightly awry.

We also have herbs, lettuce, artichoke, blueberries and strawberries.
Growing blueberries is completely new to us and we're hoping that they actually can survive up here with these temperatures. We have three small bushes that are located in the Tardis (small plastic greenhouse) and one has flowered, so I'm hoping the berries will follow.
Here's our first strawberries.
I feel we should have a strawberry ceremony...perhaps including ice-cream, meringue or maybe I'll just pop one straight in my mouth!

We should be well set ready for the start of Wimbledon if these beauties are anything to go by.
How do you prefer to eat your strawberries?
Have a great week...if you're in the middle of these record temperatures then stay cool and know that it will pass... plus there are some that would love a few more degrees up on the thermometer.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

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, 

Veggie Plot (Part 2)

Easter Weekend is renowned for being the biggest gardening weekend of the year here in the UK. 

But we've actually been busy since February, when we decided to finally tackle the land at the side of our house, that had been left to nature and untamed for the last 20 years.

I know crazy, but I needed to give my hubby a mission now that he's retired.

(Click on the link if you'd like to see the first post about The Birth of our Veggie Plot)

But we didn't just grab a spade and start digging...oh no...hubby had to measure, draw and cogitate for a few days before any of the garden equipment saw the light of day. 

See... this is what happens when someone retires...they have time to do all this preparation and every conceivable connotation.

But there's no need to rush into anything....just so long as we actually manage to grow something before the seasons disappear.

Below is a photo of his plan. 

He insisted that I include it in the post for you.

My answer was..."you should start a blog of you own and write your own posts about the whole journey"

At this stage he appeared to go deaf!

(cough)

Anyway...let's get started.

It's been hard work, but hubby has loved being out doors every day.

I'm afraid I have to confess...I'm a fair weather gardener.

I need sunshine to inspire me.

 Here's hubby measuring the drills for the early potatoes (or tatties as they call them up here) 

I have mentioned before that he has a touch of OCD haven't I?

Here they are... the early potatoes, but he's a little disappointed because there's no sign of them now and they were planted on 1st March. 

He blames me for nagging putting pressure on him, saying that they needed to be planted as time was getting on. 

But we are in the North East of Scotland and so the ground has hardly had time to warm up yet.

Patience is needed and fingers crossed!

So with the ground bed dug, it was time to move on to the raised beds.

We liked the idea of using reclaimed timber sleepers for the raised beds.

It was a good job that our son was available to help with the muscle work. 

I have tossed a caber in the past (now there's a whole new story and not one for today) but I thought I'd let the guys flex their muscles on this lot.

Once again measurements were meticulously executed with spirit levels, tape measures and string.

And things started to take shape.

Thank goodness that we didn't do the three layers of sleepers that we first thought would be ideal. That would have taken a huge amount of soil.

At last planting could begin.

Initially carrots, garlic and onions (both red and white)

The centre cones are very technical...they're empty toilet roll holders!

Hopefully, they will protect the precious little carrots from the elements until things start to warm up a little.

The rest of the seedling are cosy and enjoying the sunlight in our study! 

Isn't that where they're supposed to be?

(I'm making a case for a greenhouse...so seedlings are crammed onto every window sill, all over the house)

See I wasn't kidding...they're everywhere!

I'll be sure to give you a progress report when these little darlings head out into the big wide world of our veggie plot.

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

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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.

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

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