And another Week.....

Time is just flying by - I have 5 weeks until all the children are home from school for the summer - eek!

DS1 was on a residential school trip last week for the end of Y6/ post SATs - they went to here and had a fantastic time - and brought home piles of wet, smelly laundry from the water activities! It's taken me until yesterday to catch up on the washing/ drying because of the incessant rain we had here over the weekend :(  Now I just have the ironing mountain left :)

I have finally planted all my potatoes and a load more carrots. I still have some onion sets to put in (oops!) - I figure they'll be smaller but it's better small onions than wasted sets, I guess!

Wednesday Witterings...

Well, it's mid afternoon and I'm shattered, but in a good way!

Yesterday after I posted I put 5 buckets of chippings/ shreddings around the beans (to both act as a weed suppressant & to help keep moisture in). The shreddings were from some woody bushes we took down a couple of months ago and have been living in a heap behind the garage waiting to be used/ diposed of. They will eventually rot down in to the ground, too, so I'm pleased with that.

I also potted on 15 tomato plants and 9 peppers. I found 3 kilos of unplanted seed potatoes (eek -  shall be overrun with potatoes at this rate!) so planted some of those and started to empty the compost bins to earth up the other potatoes.

Two loads of washing were line dried and the majority of it ironed whilst watching CSi last night :)

In the flylady spirit I did some swish and swiping and some tidying in the lounge.


Today I have fully emptied both compost bins and refilled the smaller one with half-composted 'stuff'. The rest of the compost has been wheel-barrowed to the back of the house and used on potatoes. I have tidied and swept down one side entrance (the unused one) - clearing all the winter leaves, weeds, rubbish, mud, empty snail shells and empty plastic pots from down there. It now has neat rows of potatoes in bags/ pots.

I also have a Little Tikes slide to clean and dispose of. I would like to get that cleaned this week and advertised in the local paper and netmums asap. The eldest 2 will get the money split between them as they bought it. Still masses of tidying and potting on/ earting up to do (and about a kilo and half left of seed potatoes to plant!) - I will aim to finish it all by Friday. I need to buy some compost now (I'll go to Aldi tomorrow) - I've totally ran out of homemade - what's still left to compost may be ready in the summer holidays if I'm lucky. I am pleased with what I've achieved, but it is at the expense of doing anything in the house. I'm just off to tidy the kitchen and then vacuum downstairs, before heading upstairs to do more tidying... argh!! :) I then really need a shower!!

Tonight I have a WI committee meeting - after which I may join some friends for a social drink & BBQ if I'm not too tired!!

Tuesday Thoughts...

Ah - bliss! The sun is out today, and everything seems so much more 'do-able' as a result! The first load of washing is out (a second load is in the machine) and I have finally planted the runner beans in the garden! I am so far behind on the gardening this year - April was a write off after my dad dying and sorting out his flat and all the sheer exhaustion from dealing with it. I am going to pot on some tomatoes and peppers in a moment, after making a cup of tea to take out with me, earth up potatoes, plant courgettes in the garden and see what else I need to do (may as well get it done whilst the weather is here and I have the inclination)

It's half term here this week, so I have all 4 children at home. Mr G is working, so we have no majorly exciting plans, much the their disgust! I have pointed out that there is nothing to stop them contacting their friends to see if they want to go out/ come round etc, but that's not good enough!

Bank Holiday Blues..

Whit Bank Holiday Monday today, and it has rained from 6am - 4pm here. I put all my canes in on Saturday for my beans (having first had to clear the area of weeds, canes, toys, rubbish and stones) and wanted to get them planted today, but it was not to be. Still, the garden has received a much needed watering. I shall plant them tomorrow instead - the rest of the week is meant to be much nicer.

Yesterday we went to a family barbecue - lots of food, great company - we had a really good time. Met lots of really nice people :)

Am hoping to be reasonably productive this week - shall try and post regularly on here to keep a note of my progress!

Growing Our Own

I have varying success with this, depending on how much time and effort I put into it.

This year I am (will be in some cases) growing potatoes (maris peer, maris piper, pink fir, anya & Rooster potatoes), runner beans (teeny beenies - full height climbing plants but the pods only grow to about 6inches in length), peas, onions, tomatoes, peppers, butternut squash, chillis, carrots, an aubergine, spinach, mixed salad leaves. We have an eating apple tree, a plum tree and a pear tree, but all are quite young and don't yield much as yet. I may get a few other plants from car boot sales or similar - ie: cheaper than garden centre prices!! My courgettes and cucumbers haven't germinated, so I'll try and get a couple of plants of each of those, too. I'm also growing coriander, mint, thyme and chives.

I grow it mainly in tubs/ pots and bags. Courgettes, onions and beans will be planted in the garden, but the rest isn't, for varying reasons. It works generally well for me.

I'm not sure it makes much overall difference to our shopping bill, but nothing beats eating freshly picked tomatoes, freshly pulled carrots or freshly dug potatoes - plus it's good for the children to see and learn about veg growing.