New Video: The Archway Adventure
I finally got round to making my hazel archway and I made a step by step video to show you all how I made it, enjoy! 
Archive of ‘Red Wellies’ category
A Few of My Favourite Things
I love taking photographs, It’s an addiction which can also be a curse (especially when I should be weeding instead of taking photographs!) I do believe however, that everyone needs to take photographs, they don’t have to be brilliant, in focus or even straight, but cameras are there to capture life in all its glory. How else are we going to remember holidays, faces of friends and relatives, pets and those childhood years. You can always delete but you can never go back in time and capture after all!
My allotment is my happy place, a place to escape and simply do what I love. I spend half of my time there and I must say that I enjoy every second of it. It’s not neccessarily what a ‘normal’ 24 year old would be doing during the weekends but I love it, and thats more than enough for me.
I have to admit that I get very distracted with photography (and cups of tea for that matter) I often find myself weeding and at the same time finding a new viewpoint of my allotment that I had never seen before! I like to photograph my favourite things as well as self portraits and I may even dig my macro lens out for some close-ups. Maybe it’s the curse of being a blogger or having a creative Dad, or maybe it’s because I like making scrapbooks so much? I do know however that in years to come, when I’m sitting with the grandchildren I can tell them stories and show them photographs of my little lottie which will hopefully inspire another generation of gardeners.
April- Lottie Update
categories: Allotment, Filming, Ghillie Kettle, Planning, Plot 15C, Red Wellies, Review, Spring, Youtube
So I tried to make a short, quick update on how my allotment is so far, whats been growing and what’s been done. Turns out I just can’t stop talking about my plot so the short video turned out to be 26 minutes long… Opps!
I hope you enjoy watching it
The Survivor
The clocks turned back on Saturday which means longer days, yippee! Goodbye to the evenings of darkness and hello daylight!
It’s a super busy time of year with seeds being sowed, potatoes being planted, ground being dug and lots of DIY projects on the go, so a few more hours of daylight is a welcome sight. This also means that I can pop up the allotment after work and get on with the endless list of jobs before having dinner a little later then usual.
I had just entered the allotment gate and was walking up the little pathway towards my plot last night when I spotted something red in front of my shed. I instantly knew what it was as I have been waiting for this little beauty to bloom for a few days now, and boy oh boy was it worth the wait. Unfortunately all the other tulips in my galvanised tub had been munched on by those pesky deer so it looks like this might be my one and only tulip this year. However, this one little flower made me smile and it made me realise that its always the small and simple things that make us the most happy
Mothers Day Treat
The day for spoiling Mothers has come around yet again (although really we should be telling them we love them everyday of the year!) This year we decided to visit a beautiful garden centre to have a good look around and to treat the Mother to a cream tea in the cafe! As you can guess it was extremely busy, what with it being Mothers day and officially being Spring, the perfect time for gardening.
We had the most delicous cream tea (and the first one of the year!) before doing some shopping in the sunshine. I managed to pick up some Chamomile Lawn and two pretty Saxifraga alpines to plant amongst my stepping stone pathway up my allotment. I also finally found a packet of Borlotto seeds which will be growing over my willow archway and I got my Mum to pick out her favourite sweet pea seeds so they can join the borlotto beans on the archway. My Mum choose ‘Sweet Chariot’ which she told me also used to be my Grandads favourite flower, making them even more special to my heart. After our little trip out we stopped by the allotments on the way home so I could cover my swiss chard up and give my Mum a tour of my plot. All in all a good day, I hope all the other Mummys had a lovely day too!
Dig for Victory!
I am happy to annouce that it actually stopped raining for two whole days in a row! Along with the sunshine came the hope and excitement that Springtime is just round the corner, as well as the eagerness to start doing some work. I have really missed spending time up my allotment and I try to visit it at least 3 times a week just to have a quick peek in all its sorry state. However, now the weather is starting to pick up I can finally start preparing for the year ahead. There is a lot to be done down on plot 15C but first on my long to-do list is to dig the pea area and the flower patch so that I can start planting my seeds. I am going to be planting my peas in succession so that I won’t get a large glut of peas in one go, therefore the first double row needs to go in the ground in the next few days. In about a months time the next double row of peas will go in and then so forth until the pea patch is full… thats the idea anyway!
I must admit, I actually missed digging and weeding. I know that sounds weird but it felt great just to get stuck in, get dirty and finally get round to enjoying some gardening. I was able to start using my new Draper tools which have been waiting to get digging for months now (and I made sure to clean them before I put them away!) I also managed to get some filming done so hopefully my first video will be up and live next weekend!
I am going to be super busy over the next month, aswell as all the seeds that will need sowing in March I have a galvanised roof that needs attaching to the shed, a vintage trough to fill up with compost and a pallet picket fence needs to put up over the next week or so (the pallets are currently living on my potato bed and I need to plant my earlies!). The next job however will be to dig my flower area, I have a verbena plant waiting patiently in its pot and a cold frame that needs to be made and erected.
The best part about today? The sun shining, bopping along to the radio whilst digging and simply enjoying a cup of well earned tea with a perfect view
The Start of a Good Year?
I have had my lottie for 7 months now and I am lucky enough to say I am still enjoying last years crops. My swiss chard is still growing well and the beetroots and carrots are stored in the ground waiting to be cooked up. The garlic is also still growing, although I’m a little worried about the yellow tips appearing on the leaves. I managed to get some broad beans in the ground in November and they are surprisingly growing really well (although I think thats down to the cat in the house behind scaring all the mice away!). The gooseberry, raspberry and black currant bushes are all starting to show signs of life and my strawberry plants are still hibernating. However, it is January and I know we are more likely to get snow in the next month so I am expecting and preparing for the worse (and raiding the recipe books for something other then quiche to make with my swiss chard!)
On other news I planted 2 cranberry bushes in hanging baskets underneath my reclaimed windows and they look perfect! I was debating whether to put flowers there but cranberries won with an outstanding vote, I am planning on making cranberry sauce with them for christmas dinner (if I dont eat them before that is!)
The Welly Destroyer!
categories: Red Wellies, Winter
Once upon a time I owned some lovely and very patriotic welly boots brought from Joules and I loved them. I wore them all the time, even when it wasnt raining! One day one of the adjustable straps fell off, and not soon after the other one dissapeared too. 6 months after buying them a hole then appeared in the seam around the foot which meant they weren’t very useful as welly boots anymore. With a great sigh and after much thought I realised I better buy some new boots, the rainy season was just beginning and storms were on the way! I don’t over exaggerate when I say it took me ages to find a pair I liked but I finally settled on a beautiful red pair by Barbour, and the best part? They were in the sale!!!
I absolutely adore them, I feel like a big kid who insists on wearing them 24/7! They are very thick and strong so hopefully they will last longer then 6 months, we shall see