Saturday 4 April 2020

Busy day


Today I moved 1 tonne (1000 litres) of compost/soil by myself from my driveway to my back garden.  It took me about 3 hours and I'm knackered now!!!  But my new raised beds in the back garden are ready for planting.


I attached the 'thingy' across the middle of the larger bed that stops the bed bowing with the weight of soil.  I had to drill holes etc etc but felt rather pleased with myself 😊 I also topped up all the beds at the front and every single pot and planter that I own.  I am ready to get planting and sowing now!!


I pulled up all the kale, leeks and parsley and I am processing it all.  In retrospect I'm wondering if I should have let it grow for another month. Ah well, too late now.


Here are the kale shoots I was talking about.  Since I 'discovered' them I've now seen/read about them several times elsewhere!!


I also saw a video on how to use all the parts of a cauliflower.  Here is my coleslaw using the cauliflower leaves instead of cabbage.  It was amazing!!


Kale chips, not the prettiest photo but OMG they are very moreish and very tasty!!


After 18 days without visiting a supermarket, I braved a visit to Sainbury's.  It was ok.  I queued outside for 10 minutes and then got everything on my stock up list except GF flour.  I think I could now last several months without another visit if I really had to.  One impulse buy were these reduced bunches of beetroot.


I baked them and they're now pickling themselves in spicy vinegar.  Recipe HERE although I didn't have a spice sachet so I just added some mustard seeds, dried chillies, bay leaves, cloves and black peppercorns to the vinegar.


My gin club parcel arrived today.  It's my last one as it's definitely a luxury I do not need.  It contains a Hong Kong gin in a very pretty bottle.  I will enjoy that another time. Tonight I was too tired even to open the bottle so I'm just having some wine instead.

I hope you are all well and coping with this enforced lockdown.  I'm finding that living on my own without the structure of going to work is challenging.  It's giving me lots of thoughts about how I need to plan better for my retirement next year.

Please stay safe and stay home everyone 💗 xxx

12 comments:

  1. Gosh you've done well to move all that soil by yourself in one go! I moved some boulders today from one part of the garden to another and after an hour I gave up! I was shattered. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully we'll get some of the heat they are promising. Having been retired now for 10 years let me tell you this in no way will prepare you for it! I'm not entirely sure how I pass my days normally but its not how I'm passing them at the moment! I feel very loose endy and can't settle to anything and I'm spending a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing! I keep expecting my attitude to change but so far its not happening! Stay safe and clearly you're staying home! xx

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    1. Well done on moving boulders!! I'm finding that the 'busyness' of school life Mon to Fri makes me enjoy the solitude of my weekends. However, the solitude of life at the moment is rather challenging so I need to think more carefully about what I do if I'm not teaching xxx

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  2. That must have been very hard work I can see why you are knackered, a good workout, well done you.

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    1. Every part of me aches!!! But I was determined to get it done in one day :-)

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  3. Gosh I'm extremely impressed with all that dirt shifting. I wish I could have it delivered here but that's not an option as far as I know so I was buying bags of soil as and when I could. Is it just me or is it a beautiful colour? I love the sight of healthy soil! Anna

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    1. Thanks, I think I'm just about recovered!! I'm really impressed with the quality of the soil. It's made from 'green waste' and is supposed to be good for growing fruit, veg and flowers. Fingers crossed!

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  4. What a busy day you have had and achieved so much too. Looking forward to seeing the garden beds in progress. Thanks for sharing. Stay well.

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    1. Thanks! I've got lots of seeds started so can't wait to start filling it with plants! :-)

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  5. Bit late with commenting, but well done they look fabulous. Can I ask what your new beds are made of? I'm toying with the idea of buying recycled plastic ones so that I don't have to worry about them rotting.

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    1. Thanks! They're Link-a-Bord beds. I got mine from the Harrod Horticultural website. They're made of 100% recycled plastic and supposed to last 20+ years. They really are easy to build and they're maintenance free. They're not as 'pretty' as my wooden ones but once they're filled with plants and flowers they'll look better.

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    2. Thanks for the info, have been and had a look at them on Harrod Horticultural and on their own site. I see you can have them in a rather dashing blue. I only have space for something small so I may well treat myself to a couple of these. When normal life resumes....
      The allotment looks great. A project for many years to come!

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  6. Goodness, those beds look lovely! Well done! I think you earned a good rest tonight.

    Thanks for sharing all you are working on. We are on Stay-at-Home orders here in Minnesota in the US too and I am teaching online (university). Today and Monday are Easter holiday so, I sewed face masks for us. It was nice to do something not on the computer! Not quite dry enough here to get in the garden, but soon! That will help my mindset immensely.

    Enjoy your holiday! Lea

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