a weblog with an allotment attached
31 October 2007
Given that I get so many visitors in the run up to Hallowe’en (my spelling might seem archaic, but that’s how it’s listed in my dictionary and I like that apostrophe, dammit!) you’d perhaps think that I would make something of the day here at P’Soup. But no. In the life of this […]
Filed under: Recipes - Non-soup — Clare @ 9:08 pm
26 October 2007
Trying to rein in my seed-buying addiction and exercise some discernment, but there are too many seed catalogues and too many varieties of seed to choose from.
Head hurts.
Filed under: Review & plan — Clare @ 1:31 pm
24 October 2007
Crop rotation is an easy idea to get your head around - in order to make the best use of what nutrients are in your soil and to avoid the build up of disease, move around what you grow where year on year. There are lots of possible crop rotation systems - 3-year, 4-year […]
Filed under: Review & plan, Today's Bible — Clare @ 6:07 pm
22 October 2007
At last! I have been green with envy reading about others planting out their garlic, knowing that mine must surely be about to arrive, and today it finally made it to our doorstep.
I spent an hour this afternoon sneakily avoiding work so I could split and plant the cloves. I have planted 88 […]
Filed under: Sowings — Clare @ 3:58 pm
18 October 2007
At this time of year, right up until Hallowe’en, P’Soup experiences a dramatic surge in visitors - about 5 times as many per day as usual at present and still climbing. If you are one of the many seasonal visitors than do please take a good look around and remember to say ‘hi’ before […]
Filed under: Mulch — Clare @ 10:35 pm
17 October 2007
The street is carpeted with fallen leaves so we have been dilligently filling our leaf sacks. 7 filled so far and 3 to go. Then it’s time for the big guns. We have empty sacks from when the slate chips were delivered and I intend to fill them with leaves too. […]
Filed under: Mulch — Clare @ 8:54 pm
16 October 2007
Most pictures of me from childhood are instantly recognisable, but not this one, or not to me, at least.
Who is that sparky-looking child with the cheeky grin? The crazy cow-lick fringe marks this out as being most definitely me (that and the very helpfully scribbled, ‘me’ on the back!), but this is not how I […]
Filed under: Archive photo — Clare @ 9:10 pm
15 October 2007
I’m waiting for my raspberry canes and garlic to arrive as I am very keen to have something else to plant out. There’s only so much excitement a girl can get from filling sacks with leaves, you know.
Filed under: Mulch — Clare @ 9:18 pm
12 October 2007
He’s rapidly becoming a Friday blog feature.
Filed under: This much I know, Wildlife — Clare @ 7:05 pm
11 October 2007
…in 1972, Claudia Black was born (a fact that is probably of interest only to Owen), and in 2006 I asked my faithful readers to give me some feedback to incorporate into the new P’Soup design.
What I should also be saying is that today is my Dad’s birthday. Though he’s probably far too busy […]
Filed under: On this day — Clare @ 6:48 pm
10 October 2007
After a day of brain-numbing literature searching I popped outside and sowed a row or two of red epicure broad beans. I was only outside for about 30 minutes tops - less time than it took to walk to the allotment and back - but my mind feels clear and I feel like starting […]
Filed under: Sowings — Clare @ 5:30 pm
8 October 2007
Last week I was flattered to discover that Frankie had awarded me an Egel Nest award for blog excellence. Blimey!
I’m never quite sure how to respond when Pumpkin Soup is complimented in this way by people who read it as I end up feeling a bit embarassed and bewildered. I’m not good at […]
Filed under: Mulch — Clare @ 11:39 am
7 October 2007
My autumn onion sets arrived this week and I spent part of a lovely sunny afternoon planting them out in one of the prepared beds.
I have filled the bed set aside for them and still have about half the sets left which will now go in with my winter salads, planted close together. this […]
Filed under: Hard labour — Clare @ 11:45 am
6 October 2007
Looking out the bathroom window this week after a shower I spotted this:
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised really, they are notorious for it after all.
You can’t help but be impressed by the virtuoso show of athleticism.
But I don’t suppose there’s any chance they’ll leave some for the birds, is there?
And I’ll bet he […]
Filed under: Wildlife — Clare @ 5:23 pm
5 October 2007
Those of us who were brought up in the seventies will remember a certain chocolate bar with a jingle that asked this very question. In playgrounds the country over, the reply (Topic!) was replaced with a far less palatable -but funnier - alternative line (Squirrel sh*t!). Remember that?
I bring this up because the […]
Filed under: Wildlife — Clare @ 11:37 am
4 October 2007
I’ve just ordered my seed potatotes for the coming year from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
As usual I think I have ordered far too many, but I do have a friend who will take my spares so they won’t go to waste. This year I have ordered a pile of pink fir apple and this Cook’s […]
Filed under: Review & plan — Clare @ 2:30 pm
3 October 2007
Having finished preparing the appropriate bed, I have planted my herbs out in their final positions.
L-R, back to front: rosemary, mint (buried in a large pot to prevent it from taking over); curry plant, thyme; marjoram, chives; sage, variegated sage.
The plan is that this will be a permanent bed which will also contain (to the […]
Filed under: Hard labour, Review & plan — Clare @ 7:34 pm
2 October 2007
In order to ‘celebrate’ (ahem) the madness that is the first day of term at work, I thought I would post this picture of me, taken on what I have been told is my first day at school. It seems crazy to me that there would have been photographs on the first day. Just […]
Filed under: Archive photo, Mulch — Clare @ 9:12 pm
1 October 2007
Every time I dig over a new bed in the garden, I uncover one or two shiny new conkers, buried in the soil.
I think there might be some rather irritated - and hungry - squirrels in the neighbourhood this winter.
That said, by this morning these two conkers that I dug up yesterday had disappeared from […]
Filed under: Wildlife — Clare @ 4:41 pm