What’s cooking (April to June)

Awesome post and thank you for sharing Helen have a blessed day

Growing out of chaos

At the end of March I took stock of what we had been eating from the garden (and allotment). I was pleased that we had in fact been eating quite a lot, especially in comparison with what we had been eating when I first started growing my own.

The last three months have produced much the same results. This time round what we have got from the garden (and allotment) has averaged out at three different crops per day. Some days that was in fact as many as six different foods but on others there was just the good old standby: cress!

Overall, the picture in terms of ‘what’ isn’t much different from the first three months of the year. Still mostly green, with a few radishes thrown in this time. Funnily enough, though it is said that radishes are easy to grow, I have found them to be somewhat…

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The Best New Children’s Books Summer 2014 in the Guardian.

awesome update

Clairesallotment's Blog

Well what a surprise this was on saturday morning. Mark saw on Twitter or Facebook from a friend of his that my little book “Lottie and Dottie Sow Carrots” was one of those reviewed in The Guardian’s supplement on saturday. So I rushed out to get a copy and read it. It’s still sinking in that it’s on the same page as books written by Dick King-Smith, Sandi Toksvig, Tony Ross, Enid Blyton and Malorie Blackman to name but a few. My little words would be nothing without the most amazing pictures drawn by Marijke Van Veldhoven. She’s absolutely brilliant, thank you for being my illustrator. I was so excited, that I wanted to share this with you.

I’ve got a review in The Guardian…not my local one, but the national paper!!

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Sunday 29th June 2014 – Show me a sign….

lovely post and thank you for sharing

Clairesallotment's Blog

Back on track with my walking training for my Shine Night walk in September. Today I decided to walk from home to Hatchlands Park. According to my Google Maps app on my phone it should take 4 and a half hours to walk there, but to me that seemed rather a long time, so I reckoned I could do it in less time. So off I set at 9.45am with instructions on how to get there. It’s 14 miles from my house, which is quite a long way to walk. But I had my music plugged in, a big bottle of water and some food to eat on the way. I guessed that it would take me about 4 hours to walk there, so Mark and Emily got there earlier to have lunch, and then I would find them when I arrived. George wasn’t there, as he’s at Scoutabout,

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Month 4 of Garden connect nearly forgot to post

As you know I’m part of a growing community called Garden Connect. The idea behind it being that if growers from all over the world grew the same types of vegetables, in the same way, at the same time of year it would be rather interesting to see how each person’s crops progressed and the harvest each country produced (or states and counties within each country). The layout of the garden has been designed by Matt (the creator of Garden Connect).  Courtesy of Matt of Hiemstra Gardens

my beetroot looks like it slowly growing had to move them from the end so I could get to the cold frame
now I have already harvest some kale lettuce no parsnips have herniated but here is an up to date photo

Nothing is growing in my other washing up bowl what so ever

I have a lettuce and kale snootiest from it which was fantastic
rather a shot one this month have a blessed July

Garden Connect – Month 4

Lovely update Sophie perhaps the toms are a bush Varity my ones in my connect bed are not growing a tall thanks for the reminder I nearly for got since I just blog once a week now have a blessed day

The Forget-me-Not Cultivation Blog

As you know I’m part of a growing community called Garden Connect. The idea behind it being that if growers from all over the world grew the same types of vegetables, in the same way, at the same time of year it would be rather interesting to see how each person’s crops progressed and the harvest each country produced (or states and counties within each country). The layout of the garden has been designed by Matt (the creator of Garden Connect).

Courtesy of Matt of Hiemstra Gardens

Month 4 Update

Just a very quick update this month.  I realised I’d nearly gone past June without posting my update (my bad).

The good

• Cucumbers have slowed their growth right down.  The leaves started to turn yellow which was rectified quite quickly by applying a generous watering of Epsom salts however the growth is taking a while to come back.
• I’m…

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Back in the Saddle

Awesome post Jen thank you for sharing have a blessed day

My Make Do and Mend Year

Finally, after 5 weeks, my sewing machine is back!

Apparently it needed more than a service…
Even to my inexperienced eye, this looks pretty broken.

It has now been repaired and my machine is back in place, ready for action.

What I really want to do is to start having a go at making some more of my own clothes.
The only things I have done before from scratch have been heavily supervised, but I want to develop the confidence to start making my very own wardrobe full of my own creations (and it will give me a chance to start using some of my fabric stash..!)

With this in mind, I have splashed out on a brand new book (I felt a bit bad about buying it new, but I couldn’t find it secondhand, and I did buy it from my local independent book shop!)

It’s written by…

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Public art: free thinking

Awesome and thank you for sharing Liz have Blessed day

Green Lizard's Blog

Since I moved to The Netherlands there’s been a key event in the summer months in The Hague that gives me good reasons to go into town.

It’s possible to visit at any time day or night on any day of the week and totally free.

There’s an Annual sculpture exhibition that is located on a leafy fifteenth century avenue called Lange Voorhout. If you translate it literally it means for long timber but basically this walkway is a good stroll along a tree lined avenue, so the translation works well enough.

It has always had crisp white shale to walk on and a green canopy overhead. The peaceful pedestrianised section enables visitors to take time to investigate the pieces.

Each summer it becomes the home of an exhibition of imposing sculptures. Each is carefully labelled and most are large.

In my recollection they are often international and are…

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10 Life Lessons From A Navy Seal

Awesome and lovely post and thank you for sharing

Morning Story and Dilbert

Vintage Dilbert
June 29, 2013

#1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

During SEAL training the students are broken down into boat crews. Each crew is seven students—three on each side of a small rubber boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy.

Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surf zone and paddle several miles down the coast.

In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in.

Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously tossed back on the beach.

For the boat to make it to its…

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Up with the garden path 2014 Part Six: is it root or is it rubble?

Lovely post and thank you for sharing have a blessed day

Growing out of chaos

I’m now onto what I think will be the toughest part of sorting my garden out. I’ve chopped off as many of the hawthorn branches as I can, which means it is over to the digging now.

Three to four years ago, I removed about ten overgrown bushes (not sure what they were) from the back half of the garden. It took a lot of digging and a lot of pulling – and they came out. The roots were not extensive and there wasn’t much in the way of builders rubble to contend with.

The patch I am now working on now, though, is a whole new challenge! My guess is that this area has never been worked on, so no wonder I’ve already come across quite a bit of stone. And of course the hawthorn has roots, which hopefully do not extend too far into the garden.

That said…

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Plastic-free July: It’s almost July!

Good luck with it and thank you for sharing have a blessed week

westywrites

I love June as a rule, but this year I feel like I am clinging on to it, savouring every moment, because soon it will be July. Plastic Free July to be precise!

Arrrgghh! I have to confess I’m feeling a bit scared, and a lot less organised than I was aiming for, when I decided to take part in this challenge! My list of to do’sis only partially complete, and it turns out that I won’t be able to just sit in the house avoiding disposable plastics during the summer holidays (!) so the calendar is filling up with events that are going to be interesting for Little Ms Plastic Free July – that’s me!

I am going to stubbornly ignore my obstacles however, and square up to the pledge I made, like the grown woman I am! There will be failures along the way (hardly breaking news if…

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