I Think I know The Problem

Something's been vexing me a bit lately and that is the question of how I'm able to do all the things you're supposed to do at the correct time at the gardening club but am totally unable to do this at the allotment.

I've been wracking my brains to fnd out what the magic ingredient is at the club and so far have only come up with the fact that I'd be letting people down if I was as flaky at school as I am at the allotment.

So, could it be the weather? No, as far as I can tell the climate is not balmy at school. It is just as wet and cold there as here. Perhaps it just feels warmer, being surrounded by children chattering and other adults rather than the sound of silence, pheasants and my own thoughts.

Perhaps it's the inconvenience? Nope (again). I have to get in the car to go to both places. And lug stuff. And climb slippery steps.

Could it be the time factor as it's sometimes easier to get things done when you only have a small window of time to do them in? For me, it concentrates the mind and I'm better with a deadline. Hmmm, I don't think so, I don't have hours and hours to while away at the allotment. It is not a parrallel universe there where time stands still. I have as little time to spare there as I have everywhere.

GOT IT! I think I have the answer.......but I need to do some "research" first. No good knowing what the problem is if I don't know how to fix it....

Allotment Tips for the Time Poor (that's everyone, right) # 1

Really, I feel a bit presumptuous giving others tips. I mean, have you seen my allotment lately? Well, no you haven't, because it's too awful to photograph, and neither have I, for which there is no excuse.

It is rather a case of feast or famine where the allotment is concerned; I'm either up there all the time or not at all. So it was with some trepidation that I dragged the whole family up there yesterday. Yes, there were a few howls of protest but as far as I can see unless 12-year-old boys are eating, on the Playstation or riding their bikes there are always howls, so I ignored them.

While pulling at the weeds and ordering others about I did think "oh, I must remember this for next year" but as my memory is appalling I'm writing it here.

• Tip 1: Plant nasturtiums between rows to suppress weeds. These plants are so easy to grow, look pretty and (best of all) seem to thrive on neglect, which is just as well.
  

• Tip 2: Butternut squash (and I'm assuming pumpkins) are also easy to grow, are tasty and make a lovely alternative to courgettes, which are also great and prolific but sometimes a bit too prolific.

• Tip 3: Paving slabs are wonderful laid onto bare earth between beds as they don't rot and suppress the weeds wonderfully. I've tried all sorts of paths - bark chippings (messy and expensive) and carpet (great hidey holes for slugs, rots and doesn't suppress weeds) and slabs have been the best. I recycled mine which were no longer needed from our garden but if you had to buy I guess this would be the most expensive option.

• Tip 4: Raised beds are ideal for allotments, allowing you to work your plot in bite sized chunks, reduce digging, and easily improve the soil but (yes, there is a but) they also make superb homes for slugs and snails. The wood also eventually rots and then you have to start again which can make it a bit expensive. I loved my beds but have removed the rotting wood and just kept them as beds, edged with my paving paths. This, I think, is the perfect solution. Well, I hope.

Now I have a bit more free time and I've broken my allotment visiting drought, I plan to spend more time at the plot. At least I'll be getting fresh air and not spending money so it's all good. I just have to dig out the flask as I can't be too far away from coffee (even if it is decaf, sigh).

A Carrot Family Trip to the Plot

We have, somewhat surprisingly, managed to get up to the allotment. All seven of us. Doesn't often happen but it's nice when it does.

Thankfully we were the only ones up there save for a friend's husband who was morosely staring at their weeds. But I'm always amazed that it isn't full and bustling when we do visit at the weekends. Amazed and thankful this time as our youngest managed to forget the Golden Rule about others' plots (no damage done).

Don't worry, he's on our plot here

I wonder when others do go up there. Maybe they have a secret army of elves who come out of the woods at night and tend to their perfect plots. Or maybe they're retired and so visit during the day when generally I don't. Hmm. I know which theory I prefer.

Anyway, we managed to put in a couple of hours before everyone started to get a bit rebellious and moan about biting red ants, hunger pangs and baby brothers stealing the one strawberry they had been carefully nurturing.


We weeded, Hubby laid some old paving slabs that are my new paths (I've given up on everything else). Weeds will still be able to grow up the sides because they aren't a perfect fit having been salvaged from our back garden but they look nice. I think Hubby gets exasperated about this "looking nice" business but for me it's important.

Mud flower pot castles were made, on the newly laid paths

It also gave me a chance to outline my plans for the raspberry canes ("see like those over there") and to pick and eat a few of the fruit, sow some autumn carrots (which I didn't water) and plant an autumn gourd, oh and make a bit of an entrance to my plot (more of that later, I don't want to spoil you). A bit of work got done and nobody was too miserable or argumentative. Outright success in my book.

Raspberries were munched

And Exhale...

I needed to be soothed but eschewed my usual chocolate. Or glass of wine (well, it was 9.30 in the morning) or a pick-me-up-book (really, really trying hard on the book buying front).

So I took a detour Wednesday morning. Head still fuzzy from the previous day's migrane (luckily it just started as a bad headache so I was able to do the gardening club. But it progressed. Rapidly. Adding five children and six after-school activities to the mix does not help. Have I mentioned I don't love Tuesdays....).

With three children in tow, one of whom was off poorly with some lurgy that she later shared with me, we mooched up to allotment. No tools with which to dig. No plants to put in the ground for the slugs. No camera even (that's an old picture), we pottered.

We were only up there for a short time. But we were on our own. And were there long enough for me to exhale and fill my lungs and spirit with a lush, green boost.

Gardening Woes

I'm feeling a bit despondent about the gardening club at the moment and I'm not sure why.

Well, undoubtedly one of the reasons why is thanks to whoever pulled up a lot of the plants during the recent half-term holidays.

One of the club members discovered the vandalism and replanted them but there were some casualties. I wondered why some lettuces were in the bean bed. It does make me feel a bit What's The Point? If the slugs don't get the plants, vandals will.

There's also no room for a greenhouse/growhouse type thing so makes growing by seed tricky, to say the least. No money for them either. I take plants from home, tomato plants today, and use at the school garden but I haven't the room to grow double of everything and I do so want to grow produce that we might sell to pay for Autumn bulbs, green manure and other stuff I just haven't thought of yet.

I'm also realising that I wouldn't make a very good teacher; the children seem to whip through the work and then want to leave early to go and play and I'm not entirely sure what to do about that. Nor about the requests of "what shall we do now" that are made at least every 30 seconds. I wonder if I should get them working in small groups with a leader?

The allotment's making me grumpy too. It's so scruffy, especially compared to Lovely Plot Lady's. And nothing's growing. Hubby thinks I should give it up and have beds at home but I Will Not Be Beaten. I hope.

"You Can't Be A Little Bit Pregnant. You Either Are Or You Aren't"

No, not me! Goodness, let's not go there. This was organic gardening guru Bob Flowerdew. Not that he is pregnant either, but he was talking about organic gardening.

I was listening to him on Radio Four's Gardeners' Question Time (gosh, did I just really write that? Snort, I can't believe how old, how like my mother, I'm becoming. And I'm not yet forty....). Anyway, I was listening to my beloved Radio Four (or Radio Snore as it's quaintly nicknamed in this house by other, less discerning people) and I never usually listen to this programme.

That's not for any particular reason - I just don't seek it out. I thought it was Boring. I admit when a lady came on about her aspidistra that is failing to thrive I nearly found myself falling head first into the chocolate birthday cake I was making for my 12-year-old.

But, really, there's loads of chat about veggies. And Bunny's on it. One man asked how he should combat pests on his veggies; get in there early and spray, deal with them when they arrive or just give up and buy his greens at Tesco.

I can see how tempting it is to go for the last option. Honestly, the one thing that could make me give up my allotment (community garden) is pests. So I was interested in what they had to say.

One panelist was very jokey and not particularly helpful but Bunny said if she was in danger of losing a crop, then yes, she would spray. And there are some things, like slug pellets, which have been certified for organic use.

My ears pricked up at this bit. I have been using the "safe to use around children and wildlife and certified organic" blue pellets. I'm not sure they completely eradicate slugs and snails but I'm sure my plants are looking less ravished thanks to them.

But Bob waded in with his organic club rules which state No Organic Certified Slug Pellets. Ever. And his pithy pregnant quote. If that's the case then I am a little bit 'pregnant'. I apparently garden organically "a bit" or, according to him, not at all.

So, am I cheating? Is the only way to get rid of molluscs to remove every. single. one. by. hand? Let me tell you, that is not going to happen. I know about the usual grapefruit, slug pubs, hair, coffee grounds, egg shells route to a slug free plot. I think I'm going to try them all, including those expensive nematode worms. I'm just not sure I'll have room for the veggies after all that.

Do Allotments and Little People Mix?

Or do allotments and babies go together like slugs and lettuce - naturally in theory but in practice a big NO!

One of the reasons I started this blog, among a myriad of very boring ones, was to show it was possible to keep your allotment while busily growing a family. It's something I feel quite passionate about.

I read with a twinge of sadness and a heap of understanding when Jane Perrone, the author of The Allotment Keeper's Handbook, recently wrote about her decision to give up her allotment.

Starting a family is undeniably life-changing but with a lowering of standards (or none at all in my case), a dash of selfishness and a bit of determination I really believe that allotment lovers can hold onto their plots.

This is the time when both could benefit hugely from having an allotment: cheap, organic veggies (good for breastfeeding mums, tired dads and weaning babes); somewhere safe and immersed in nature that's a change of scene from the back garden (change being as good as a rest); a sense of community (vital for mums who can feel isolated) and the chance of a bit of guilt-free peace (essential for sanity saving). Frankly, my allotment is the only space on this planet that I don't have to share and where I selfishly do what I want.

I know how hard it can be; our youngest used to cry when at the plot which I eventually neglected until allotment administrator grumpily threatened to give it to someone else. I shouldn't have let it get into such a state but it was the kick-start I needed. This year's different due partly to increased energy levels and playgroup looming on the horizon.

I found it harder to keep up with the allotment when pregnant. Rewind to a year ago and I'd do things differently - I'd cover half my plot with weed suppressing material or green manures and plant easy veg, brought from garden centres, in the rest. Onions, garlic, strawberries, runner beans, sunflowers, rhubarb and probably a space hogging courgette or two would the absolute most I would grow.

Once baby is here looking after a little one is, I think, easier, especially if you're breastfeeding. A bench, picnic rug, buggy or sling and the book Lia Leendertz's book The Half Hour Allotment are essential.

I know gardening is even easier at home; I'm growing veggies in pots and have lots of seedlings on the go for my containers and the allotment. Doing it this way means I get the best of both worlds - Dressing Gown Gardening and Pottering and Escapism Gardening.

But with the advent of huge waiting lists now at most sites, guilt is bound to set in when the weeds do. Should we be so hard on ourselves? It's not our fault councils are failing to provide enough allotments. And what if it is Mr Jones, on the normally productive end plot, who through no fault of his own is temporarily struggling to maintain his plot this season? Would we demand that he be turfed off or would we cut him some slack?

I know names can always be added to a waiting list a couple of years down the line but I think the satisfaction of Keeping On is immense and not to be underestimated. Just lower expectations and think of visiting the allotment as you would a trip to the park; little and often and heaps more interesting. The early years really do, sadly, go by in a blink. That's the one thing that sustained me during my dark allotment days - things could only get easier, time and energy would become more abundant.

I don't want to elbow the traditional, retired chaps off allotments but I'd love to see an army of mums or dads growing their own on sites, with a babe on a blanket legs wiggling, digging for a better, healthier life.

Carrots 1 Me Nil

See me waving my hands in the air? That's me, conceding defeat.

Yep, the carrots have won. Don't want to grow this year on the allotment? Fine. Only one brave seedling breaking the Great Carrot Seed Strike 2008 and showing up for work? Great.

That's perfectly OK with me, you deserters. I have dozens of carrot seedlings, pots of them, partying down in containers at home.

And no, I won't look at the wonderful, incredibly straight rows of carrots growing just a few yards away, sown by Lovely Plot Lady.

Instead I shall brandish my fork and confine you to a dim and distant memory, soon, fingers crossed, to be replaced with lovely rows of my own. Last night, while being eaten by midgies, I sowed a rainbow selection of carrots.

Carrot tape was my number one choice but, and it's hard not to feel there's a Carrot Conspiracy going on, it's disappeared - poof! - off the face of the earth.

When I got home I then sowed some spring onions, another plot no show, with some Parmex carrots in a beautiful wooden container. The children will probably refuse to eat these orange marbles but they're apparently great in pots and 'suitable for clay soils where growing carrots can be a problem'.

Hear that my little orange friends? You may have won the battle but I'm going to win the war!

Allotment Therapy

Desperate times call for desperate measures and so early yesterday evening found me bouncing and gear-crunching in Hubby's jeep to my allotment with my red trug filled with seeds, tools and plants and Maltesers in my pocket.

As usual I was the only one up there, except for two visitors; one a would-be allotmenteer asking about waiting list lengths and a pheasant. But, apart from that, I was alone which was just how I liked it. I even politely turned down the offer of help from my eight-year-old.

After my customary hopping from foot to foot and lip chewing check on my beds I decided, finally, what I was going to do.

The first job was to nick some of the canes Hubby had enthusiastically used for the sweetpeas, which weren't looking too healthy. Not entirely sure what I do wrong with those, but they never look wonderful.

Then it was onto some very therapeutic weeding of the onion bed, accompanied by the peaceful cooing of wood pigeons. Bliss! I was a tad disappointed to discover only two spring onions had made the effort to germinate.

More disappointment was found in the carrot bed which proudly displayed one carrot! One! And that was after I had sown them lovingly in a soft bed of compost. But I will not be defeated. Instead I'm going to soak some seeds overnight in this organic seaweed solution and see if that will help. Plan B is to sow them at home in paper pots and later transplant them complete in their newspaper bed. Let's see if they like that.

The most fun was had with the slugs. In an effort to make my plot look prettier I gave the grass and weeds on the outside of the beds a good trim and discovered Slug City. So I lined them up on the boards and chopped away, feeling very satisfied. Sometimes I stabbed. I'm not usually aggressive, unless you're a slug feasting on my peas. Hopefully that tasty green restaurant has now closed.

I didn't get all my jobs done; the sugar snap peas came home with me again along with the morning glories. I did hurriedly plant some climbing french beans around the few remaining canes I had, but it was more a square than a wigwam. The nasturtium bush was also quickly planted in, of all places, part of the carrot bed. It was a busy and productive time and just what I, and my allotment, needed.

Moonlit Gardening

Me and my allotment have been reunited - at last!

I managed a visit on Friday evening and was unexpectedly accompanied by a friend who did a good job of weeding while we did a good job of chatting (read gossiping). It was very companiable and we got loads done and the nicest thing was I didn't feel a bit vulnerable, like I sometimes do, when there in the evenings.

Rather like last night. It was eight o'clock when I finally bumped and bounced up there driving Hubby's jeep. I was grateful it got me up there quickly but - ugh - I couldn't drive it any distance and certainly not with children inside.

It took me a while to find my groove; I was a bit perplexed as there was so much to do and I probably felt a bit overwhelmed.

Then my neighbour turned up, she of the Lovely Plot, and I found out about the communal shed! Who knew? Well, not me. Obviously.

I was feeling a bit miffed because I could've sworn I had some canes stored at the little bit at the end of my plot. I took some runner beans and sweet peas that I wanted to rehome around two cane wigwams and, well, I couldn't. Bit tricky with no canes. I'm not entirely convinced that someone else hasn't used them but as I would rather not Go There I'm blaming my appalling memory.

Lovely Plot Lady was also lamenting her parsnips which germinate but then grow lots of roots instead of one. That was good to know, which probably sounds horrible, but her plot looks so wonderful that you automatically assume everything grows wonderfully too.

Once she'd gone though, I did start hearing funny noises. It was getting quite dark but I would not leave until I had watered everything. As it was almost completely dark by this time that probably means the weeds got a good drink too.

My peas and broad beans are doing really well but there is only one carrot valiantly poking its head through the hard crust of dried clay. There is still so much to do - the wood making up the beds needs replacing, two beds are still empty and need filling with winter veggies, salads, courgettes and pumpkins. I'm actually thinking of visiting the plot at six thirty in the morning, just to get things done......

Hey, Hey Mister Blue Skies

Ah, at last.....t-shirt wearing weather.

The seedlings, human and green, like it as much as I do. We all feel better for a bit of sun on our back.

My Morning Glory, which I took a photo of yesterday (goodness, where did I find the time? It was such a busy, headachey blur) have come on even more so I've taken another photo just to bore everybody.



And the carrots in the great Carrot Tape v Carrot Seed contest are peeping through with the seeds winning, at the moment. But it's still anyone's race and I wouldn't place your bets just yet.


I've also snapped my leeks, Autumn Giant I think they were, because I swear in the ten minutes I opened the growhouse to the time I went back to water them they had visibly grown.





I am a little disappointed that there's still no show from the corriander. But maybe it'll surprise me as patience isn't a strong point.

And the allotment? I haven't been up there except for a flying visit at the weekend to show it off to someone. I'd like an allotment, she said, I keep thinking I ought to get one. But it's the time isn't it. Where would I find the time?

I looked at her, wondering if she thought I had a special time-turning gadget like in Harry Potter. She has adult children, works in the family business which seemingly affords her an okay amount of time off and has two dogs to walk. I wish, I thought while busily pulling up baby bindweed, that I had such "little" time.

Still, it's all a compromise and about priorities. Cobwebs don't even register with me, let alone make it onto my list of priorities whereas they do with her. I suggested that she put her name down and by the time, say in two years, she had made her decision she would be somewhere near the top.

Tomorrow evening, when Hubby comes home, I shall make it up to the allotment, I've promised myself. Tonight though I have a date with the cast of High School Musical and about two thousand screaming pre-teens.