Carrots and Kids

Firsts

It has been another lousy year in the garden. Partly my fault and partly the weather. And there appears to be an all-you-can-eat evening cafe for rabbits that has set up business at the allotment.

But let's not focus on the negatives.

Let's celebrate the positives. There is much to be grateful for but I admit I am struggling a bit at the moment. I am in the doldrums and I haven't a clue why (so unlike me).

I aim to combat that with knitting and baking bread. I had a book token (I know, how quaint!) so treated myself to Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf. I like his Short and Sweet which I received for Christmas so I'm hoping this will be just as good.

It was published a while ago and should be just the ticket for making fancy pants bread. It's subtitled Contemporary European Recipes for the Home Baker.

I've also been enjoying the first strawberries from the plot and the first sweet peas from the garden. Everything seems so much later this year but all the more sweeter for it.

{Finding My Bliss}

Perhaps I shouldn't admit this on a gardening blog, but for the whole of 2011 I fell out of love with growing my own.

That's not to say that I hated it. More like I couldn't work up any real enthusiasm. I was busy in January working on things that didn't light my fire and instead of sending me running, open armed, into the garden it made me feel a bit downbeat about everything.

So I took the decision, some might say stupid, to give up work entirely. And except for the odd paid for blog post that is what I did.

I slowed down and turned my attention fully to the home. Boring for some. A rejection of feminism some (not I) might argue but for me and my family it was utterly the right thing to do.

And this passion for all things home, for doing more things myself, for eating a more healthy, wholefood diet has seeped into lots of areas including the back garden.

The wonderful weather this past weekend did have me if not running, then briskly walking into the garden, mug of coffee in hand to Sort It Out.

As I bossed around my "helper" (he who made much of the mess with some garden alterations and let it all sit there messily throughout winter), I exhaled deeply.

Yep, I was finally reuinited. Welcome back gardening bliss.

 

{Baby Steps}

Life has been very hectic and I'm not terribly good at hectic.

The good news is that it's now slowed down considerably. The bad news is I'm sofa bound with a poorly six-year-old with whom I kindly and inadvertently shared
my tonsillitis germs. And yes, I do feel guilty.

And while I do love the snuggles and stolen time, I am feeling quite anxious. There is so much to do! Bulbs to plant! Broad beans to sow!

So while she naps I nip outside. It's time, time for baby steps. It will hopefully all get done, just maybe not at the pace I'd like!

{Found: Gardening Mojo}

This year, as reflected in the blog, my focus changed a bit from the garden to the home. Some of it was through necessity; we had a foreign visitor and, previewing the house through a stranger's eyes, there appeared to be lots to do. Oh my.

Work also ramped up slightly. I mean, I wasn't running a multi-national corporation or anything, but with no outside help or multi-tasking skills it meant something had to slide. And that was the garden.

It suffered as did the allotment. And yes, I did feel guilty. Horribly. But now I'm back, armed with a newly found mojo and some plans/seeds/bulbs to sow and plant now.

I've been up to the allotment and attacked it. There was no other word for it. I'm going to sow some onions, broad beans and potatoes for Christmas.

Then I'm going to get the strawberries under control, keeping five runners from each plant (by planting them directly in the ground if there's room or in pots) and hauling up some lovely well-rotted manure to spread on the other beds (leaving the one marked for carrots free).

Lastly I'm going to cover the empty, manured beds with old carpet or black plastic. And I shall do the same at home, except I plan to plant some salads and direct sow some flower seeds.

That's the plan. I was going to make a start today but life (namely small boys and cold bugs) had other ideas so I'm here telling you about it instead.

What I've discovered is that I no longer feel happy taking solo weekend allotment trips, not when I have all this time during the week. But I've also got to be more organised. I could have spent yesterday up there instead of working in the house but thought that's tomorrow's job. Little and often shall be my mantra. And particularly when it's dry. I have to remember that.

What are your gardening plans this autumn?

{I'm Going to Grow My Own Drugs}

Not those kind of drugs. The James Wong, help-you-with-your-ailments kind. I've been reading his book and making a list (which started out as a distraction project from Mother Worry).

I'm torn between using one of the rear raised beds as my Lotion and Potion Patch or part of the front garden that will soon be adorned with builders' materials but will eventually need planting with something.

After consulting James Wong I've concluded that I want to grow just about everything. But for now my list (which I will no doubt change) includes:

• The usual herbs (rosemary, lavender, chamomile, lemon balm, mints)
• Valerian
• Feverfew (although have eaten this in a sandwich and it was Not Nice)
• Caraway
• Borage
• Chaste Berry
• Evening primrose
• Angelica
• Marshmallow

And somewhere there will be (probably hidden away, hopefully) a small patch of nettles and dandelions. I am actually really excited about this and obviously will not be able to wait until next spring. Nope, I'm going to have to source some dried herbs and get James Wong's other book from the library and maybe this one from Neal's Yard too, oh and source little bottles and pots...

:: Apologies if you got two copies of yesterday's post. That's what you get if you write blogs late at night ::

{Reclaiming}

I'm not sure I can string a coherent post together. Exhaustion, online fatigue (I really, really must take a break from reading blogs and Twitter) and thoughts that flit out of my brain just as quickly as they flit in means I'm finding this tricky.

Oh I have lots to say, but I'm not entirely sure they're not all variations of the same thing. Plus, every time I write a post I get at least one person unsubscribe (I get very helpful emails informing me). Which is fine, I'd just rather not know about it. I don't know how many subcribers I've got (probably around two now?) but it's a bit...off-putting.

If I write about gardening people leave and if I write about something else people leave. So what I'm trying to say is - I'm reclaiming my blog. It's all for me. If you like it enough to comment or link to me that's lovely but if you dislike it enough to unsub, well...*shrugs*.

I'm not going to write about the riots. We know it's so awfully shocking and heartbreaking. I've tried not to watch any news with little people about but have talked about it with my teens. I've also listened to some interesting debates on Radio 4 and it's given me, in my little sheltered world, much to think about.

As I type this in my dressing gown it's pitch black outside but I can still hear the combines harvesting. That's quite comforting. I know I've been terribly guilty about taking where we live for granted but it's something I deeply appreciate now. Silly me.

So here's a list of things I'm thinking about that may (wahey!) make it into a blog post or two one day:

1. My plans for September: they are mounting up
2. A new blog? Can I be arsed? Should I just change the focus of this one? There's so much else I want to say, other than about gardening
3. My new "cafe area" in the garden, no less
4. Self-reliance
5. My role as a full-time mum
6. My would-be potting shed
7. Our back garden
8. Choices we've made
9. The blogs I love (am thinking of writing some blogging love letters via email)
10. The summer holidays.

Oooh, my brain feels like it's just been decluttered.

{The Best Thing In My Garden}

There is something in my garden that is perhaps the ugliest thing (if you discount the puppy). It takes up so much room and there's really no way to disguise it.

It's not my greenhouse, raised veggie beds or a stunning bit of planting (oh how I wish!). It adds nothing of any beauty to our garden but it's the best thing and I wouldn't be without it.

Our TP climbing frame must be ten years old and has been in constant use since we bought it when most of the children were but twinkles in our eye.

The range of accessories available for it has been greatly reduced and now I think wooden equipment is the way to go. It would certainly look better but was out of our price range back then and I'm not about to swap it now.

But every day I send up a little prayer of thanks that we bought this climbing frame. It was a lot of money for us back then but it has been worth every penny (even if it does make our garden "look like Toys R Us" as a visiting relative very rudely pointed out the other day).

What's your favourite thing in your garden?

Simple Life Projects

Just lately I've been streamlining my life. Simplifying it. Not for any particular reason but I just feel compelled to, which is slightly odd but I'm going with it.

This simplifying has taken on many forms, but it all boils down to the same thing: shedding. So I've shed excess weight (34.5lbs so far!), possessions and commitments.

The latter includes things that are coming to a natural end (like the gardening club) and endings that I've initiated. I've discovered that I don't want to spend vast tracts of my life and time online (you may have noticed...).

This freeing up of my time and space means that I can concentrate on getting to grips with a few projects such as:

• Planning and eventually transforming one of my raised veggie beds at home into a herb bed. I've never had one this big before so the possibilities are quite exciting
• Creating and making my own potions and lotions using the herbs
• Major decluttering and organising in the home (this sounds boring but it'll be transformative, I tell ya)
• Learning to make my own clothes. Sewing machines frustrate me no end but I'm determined not to be beaten!
• Baking bread - regularly
• Becoming more proficient at knitting. I'm still ploughing on with my little project and will update soon
• Learn to crochet
• Photographing with vintage cameras and film.

Of course, life will still have it's stressful moments and days (she says wearily) but I'm hoping my responses will be different. I'm hoping that my "work" will give me solace and some grounding instead of the little things, like taking photos, being blotted out by the dark clouds of anxiety.

I'm always on the look out for future project ideas - do you have any you're planning or doing right now?

Loving What You Have

Is it just me or is it sometimes a struggle to remain happy and content? Especially when confronted with what others have. It's something I'm mindful of and most of the time I'm happy that my Contentment Dial is registering at least 90 per cent. Yeah, there's always room for improvement.

But my contentment levels just don't flip over to "Full" all by themselves. It requires some effort to get them there; I have to give myself a stern talking to or ignore the lovely things, homes and gardens that other people have.

We live in one of the beautiful areas of the country, it's just been made into a National Park, but it's a bit like Beauty and the Beast as the ugly side of that is incredibly high house prices. Particularly if you'd like a four-bedroom house, one with a smidgen of character or a very rural one with a big garden.

So we choose to live in a house that is completely characterless, save for the bodies residing inside, and a garden that seems to have shrunk as the family has grown.

The garden is a mess at the moment as we need to visit the tip after a tidy-up, there is a second-hand shed (a potting shed!!) waiting to be built, grass that has never recovered from the chickens, a washing line that is in direct line of bird-powered fire, and a forlorn swing seat that needs new cushions.

But what you can't see are the plans: plans to make it better. Because this house and our small garden are what we have. And while it may not be like nearly everyone else's here it is ours and it's more than a lot of people have.

Oh look, I think the Contentment Dial just hit 95 per cent.

******************************************************************************************************************************************

:: Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed a new badge in the sidebar announcing nominations are open for the MADs Blogging Awards. I won it last year and that was lovely, a real high point for me as my usual achievement amounts to managing to get the washing in before it rains. Thank you to whoever nominated me (and if you voted last time).

The blogs that have the most nominations go through to the next round. If you like my photos and want to put this blog forward that's great (and thank you). But no worries if you don't - the Contentment Dial will still be in the 90's! ::

How To Win £15,000 For Your Local Playground

My children are lucky. I know that. They have a fairly spacious garden to play in (one that would be nicer if only I had the inspiration and money to implement any wonderful ideas), an allotment to dig around in and a park down the road that's recently had a revamp.

If I pop them in the car we can visit woodland, some left natural and others with sophisticated timber trails, secure play areas, recreation grounds and one park with a lake, boats and (oh what bliss!) a kiosk where I can be revived with a hot chocolate.

They also live in a National Park with hills, footpaths, streams and fields galore. In fact, writing this, it has made me realise quite how lucky they are.

I know a lot of children aren't, those that perhaps live in cities with limted acess to nature. Some have to make do with vandalised play equipment.

If you know of such a playground, if your child's nearest one could do with some new equipment, then enter Ready for Ten and Play England's Parents For Playgrounds campaign and you could win one of five £15,000 prizes to have it renovated in time for the summer holidays.

The campaign is being fronted by celebrity mum-of-two Patsy Kensit, herself a passionate believer in the benefits of play and fresh air. She's not the only one. According to a recent survey, nearly 90% of parents worried that outdoor play was becoming a thing of the past.

In this sophisticated world our children live in, it can be quite easy to forget about the simple things, like going to the park.

Some of you may know that I write for Ready for Ten but I haven't been paid for this. I'd just like to spread the word about this fab campaign. Because children and the great outdoors? Yes, that's what Carrots and Kids is about. Patsy Kensit has written a lovely post about why outside play matters. I'm wondering if that means she's my new boss....