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Blog & Allotment Update 28 April 2017
The month of April has been a sprint from start to finish for me, and I want to explain. It’s not that I haven’t had the time to update the blog. I’ve actually sat down and started typing most days. It’s just that there is something major going on in the background that I can’t talk about quite yet. This time next month it will all be in the open and you will probably understand why I’ve been sitting on my hands. Normally I hate when people put up vague updates about ‘exciting things’ but I promise that it will be public within the next month so feel comfortable explaining…
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Allotment Update 2 April 2017 #Ad
We’re not long back from the allotment after another gloriously sunny Sunday spent in my happy place. I took the big camera down today and had great craic documenting all the new life that’s popping up all over the place. If you follow me on Facebook you’ll know that I’ve been sharing regular updates from the plot using Facebook Live video and I hope you’re enjoying the news. Have you spotted this week’s Lidl brochure yet? I’m delighted to say that my homegrowing tips and advice are free for you to pick up this week to go along with the seedlings and produce that will go on special tomorrow morning…
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Homegrown Food 2017
Every evening when I get back from the allotment I look at my hands. They’re not as soft as they used to be, yet the children still say my touch is just as light as when they themselves were pumpkin-sized. They’re not the prettiest hands you’ll see and after a long day working at the plot there will always be a little lingering dirt even after the third soak. These are the hands that nourish my family, I grow food, and then cook it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way This is my seventh year of growing my own food on an allotment but I grew some food…
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Just One Seed
We walked to the allotment with heavy feet this week. It was neglected because we had neglected it. Life got in the way, which is ironic really considering how much life is entwined within the plot. Our lives, our material stuff, we allowed them to get in the way.
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Growing Our Own Food
It’s that time of the year again, when the weather becomes a little bit warmer, the days longer, and we begin to consider willingly spending more time outdoors. Walks to school/work etc don’t really come under the same heading. In the Spring you see a rake of shops and garden centres selling all the accessories so you can grow your own flowers or food. Nowadays it’s obviously seen as a bit of a fashion statement because there are plenty of stylish items that look brilliant on sale too (they wouldn’t last jig-time in my house). You’ll (as always) see a big increase in my pictures taken outdoors while working at…
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Allotment Tour June 2015
It has been a hectic few days but I always have to go to work at the allotment. I sometimes feel embarrassed answering the phone and confessing that I’m at work because the truth is, this doesn’t feel like work. Growing our own food, showing the children how to fend for themselves, animal husbandry (we keep free range pigs), and all that we do is a way of life. I spent the past few days in Dublin city centre and there is nothing more grounding than going up to the plot to get work done.
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Homegrown Food Is Pretty Fantastic
When we sowed our first seeds in the front postage stamp garden six years ago, I never would have thought that we would be where we are today. What started off as a bit of a project; to grow a few things to eat in the Summer, to show the children how food was grown, and to get back to our roots (see what I did there) has blossomed into a way of life. Homegrown food is pretty fantastic.Now we have an allotment; it’s 10 metres x 20 metres (200 sq metres), and this year for the first time the role of tending to the allotment is shared equally between…
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Allotment Tour
I’ve not been out running this week. Since I smashed my record time at the Park Run last weekend, my left knee hasn’t been right so I have had to rest it. I figured for the vlog this week instead I’d give you a bit of a tour of the allotment. I’ve trimmed the video a bit because I didn’t realise how windy it was on Sunday morning! Also the 6-year-old displayed some pretty spectacular comic timing with the water hose about halfway through. Messer! Some background information for you:
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Temptation Everywhere!
I dropped the 6-year-old to school and I walked home with the small boy; like we always do. Yesterday I had to nip into the Supermarket for some messages on the way and my heart sank. Right at the front door there was floor to ceiling displays of sweets and chocolate based on a Hallowe’en theme. It was a couple of metres long and I have to walk past it to get to the fresh fruit and vegetables. Couple that with the massive aisle ends of chocolate (most popular brand in Ireland), also of fizzy drinks, and the cash register gauntlet of sweets and chocolate it’s difficult to say no.…
