On the Allotment

Well, this time of year is normally pretty quiet for an allotmenteer, but because of the mild weather there are still caterpillars eating my cabbages! JeeZ!

I/we have recently cut down all our raspberry canes and tied the new growth to the new stakes I hammered in at the weekend. My god, our allotment looks cared for again!

It must now be at least 6 months since we bought any fresh or frozen vegetables and it looks like we may have planted too many potatoes last year, so this year we are cutting down and planting a whole bunch more onions and garlic instead. The new planting regime will start in a few weeks with cabbages and more onions as well as cauliflowers, peas and broad(favia) beans. Salading will go in as early as poss (under cloches) and we should have our new fruit trees delivered in Febuary as well...Now we just need to move the vines, strawberries and goosberries and we are pretty much sorted for the new season! Organic home grown food, can't beat it!

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They did it again!

Once more, Station Road and Main Road Edenbridge have been dug up with temporary traffic lights, aarrgghh!!!!!! This is the third time in a month! And now there are 2 sets simultaneously, will they ever give it a rest? Are there any regulations/guidelines that limit raod dig-ups within a set period?

I just don't know any more!

Current Mood: aggravated

Stolen from a friend who stole it from qualistarian who stole it from several of his friends.

Get anyone you know to do this! Very enlightening....

I want to know 20 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked,
never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each
other. I really don't. You are obviously on my list, so let me know
with whom I am friends!

1.Your Middle Name:

2. Age:

3. Single or Taken:

4. Favorite Movie:

5. Favorite Song:

6. Favorite Band/Artist:

7. Dirty or Clean:

8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:


HERE COMES THE FUN ... ... ...

1. Do we know each other outside of LJ?

2. Whats your philosophy on life?

3. Would you have my back in a fight?

4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?

5. What is your favorite memory of us?

6. Would you give me a kidney?

7. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:

8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?

9. Can we get together and make a cake?

10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?

11. Do you/have you talk(ed) crap about me?

12. Do you think I'm a good person?

13. Would you drive across country with me?

14. Do you think I'm attractive?

15. If you could change anything about me, would you?

16. What do you wear to sleep?

17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?

18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you?

19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?

20. Will you repost this so i can fill it out for you?

You scored as Rock. </td> Rock 67% Emo/Punk 0% Heavy Metal 0% Relaxing Music 0% Gangsta 0% Whats your genre of music? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Fantasy Goth. You are a Fantasy Goth. You may or may not actually be a goth, but "normal" folks see you as one of those weird kids, and you are probably considered a geek by quite a few. Click on my name to take my other tests if you liked this one. </td> Fantasy Goth 100% Old-school Goth 92% Anything-Goes Goth 88% Understanding Outsider 67% Romantic Goth 58% Death Rocker 58% Industrial/Rivet-Head 29% Cyber-goth 25% Ethereal Goth 25% Perky Goff 13% Confused Outsider 8% What subcategory of Goth best fits you? created with QuizFarm.com

There you are ! The title says it all....

Oh to be 32 again! Yuh, right!

Still there's fun in youth and a lot more to learn by the time you get to my age! Hey! If you get to my age, I'll be 52!!!! Bugger that! :lol!!!

Mat's Livejournal

Well, it's that time of year when we have a glut of courgettes and cucumbers and the tomatoes are ripening faster than we can eat them!

The allotments have been great fun and very productive this year:
New potatoes - in sacks
Main potatoes - 1/2 in sacks, 1/2 in the ground.
Courgettes - frozen soup and ratatouille
Lettuces - still growing
Cucumbers - relish and fresh eating!
Tomatoes - ripening well....
Carrots - had a lot of white carrots!
Radishes - used long and round varieties! Long are better!
Turnips - All gone :(
Kol Rhabi - keeps in the ground quite well! Grate into salads!
Sweetcorn - still on the cobs
Broad Beans - Frozen....About 6lb. Ate the rest.....
French Beans - Frozen...About 3lb. Ate the rest....
Runner Beans - Frozen...About 6lb. Ate the rest...
White Onions - Stored in nets
Red Onions - Stored in nets
Spring Onions - Eaten and in the ground for pickling...
Raspberries - Frozen...About 3lb
Summer Squash - Ripening in the kitchen and on the plants!
Pumpkins - Ripening
Summer cabbage - Grated for Coleslaw and still in the ground.
Rhubarb - wine! frozen! puddings!
Beetroot - pickled....Used some fresh...
Garlic - dried and strung
Spinach - still growing, some frozen.
Chard - pick fresh for use.

For the winter we have planted:
Cabbages
Savoys
Swedes
Parsnips
Pumpkins
Spinach
Chard
Lettuces
Scorzonera
Brussel Sprouts
Leeks
Squashes

And soon to be planted for next year:
Garlic
Peas
Onions
Spring cabbages

It's ok this growing stuff and I have made so much wine this year, we almost have our own wine lake!
Currently I have Ginger and Rhubarb ready to drink, with 1gall Crab Apple, 1 gall Blackberry, 1 gall Elderberry & 2galls Cider in the making!
Soon, the Sloes will be ready to pick for wine & Gin and I'll also be picking Hawths & Rosehips as well.

This weekend we found a wood owned by the National Trust not far from home where you can pick Puffball fungi!!!! Amazing! On top of the amount of Field Mushrooms we have picked in the last few weeks, the area of Edenbridge is an astounding larder of free food!

Just need to start fishing again!

Chickens seem to be the next logical step!

Well, it seems the road is still dug up, but the water main is being renewed to each stopcock.....When is it our turn? They constantly renew services past the end of our road, but never along it.....Hmmm

Current Mood: accomplished

So, I seem to recall a little comment I made a few months back about the local roads being constantly dug up by contractors......Then around 4 weeks ago, they were reinstated and and everything was fine until.....2 weeks ago, they dug the bloody road up again!!!

WTF?????

I mean, really, what gives with Sevenoaks and Edenbridge councils digging up Main Road and Station Road in Marlpit Hill and Edenbridge?

Fer chrissake! Give it a rest!

Let the damn road get used a little at least!

I bet it will get dug up again with 3 weeks of the latest stuff being relaid. The new build properties at the old Haxted Motors' site ahve had some services instituted, but any bets on whther there will be any more before they are all sold?

Oh, and Prescott?? You're an arse! If you really think continually building new houses in an area where we have had a drought order for the best part of the last 6 months is a good idea, I suggest the best thing for you to do is go back to the wet and windy wilds of north Yorks and die there!

Ever noticed how time can just run away with you?

I haven't realised until now that it's a month since I lasted posted here.....

I have been to Belgium to play cards, and spent a lot of time on our allotment watering and weeding. It is a busy time of year for us allotmenteers, I have:
picked 2 crops of Broad Beans
Picked 1 crop of French Beans
Picked lots of: Kol Rhabi, Pak Choi, radish, lettuce, raspberries, Arran Pilot new potatoes, courgettes, spring onion.

I have also planted plenty of pumpkin, squash, tomato, scorzonera, chard, lettuce, spinach, carrots, turnips, swede, leek, apple trees, vines, sweet corn, runner beans, cucumber for eating and for pickling.

It's fun, but hard work. Maybe one day we will be smallholders, but for now, it's the allotment.

Great little community as well! Make lots of new friends!

Well, I wrote to Edenbridge Town Council and received a very nice letter in reply.

The Town Clerk (that is SOOOOOO Dad's Army!) was informative and not at all patronising. In all I was very impressed with the Edenbridge Town Council response and attitude toward my enquiry and it gives me hope for the future that I will have similar responses about future issues.

Here is the relevant paragraph from the council's letter:

"Members are free to join any lobby or campaign groups and speak out on local issues. When a matter that may be relevant to the group comes up for discussion the individual member has to weigh up their personal level of involvement to ascertain whether a reasonable member of the public who knows the relevant facts would think it likely that their judgement of the public interest would be prejudiced.
I have passed a copy of your letter to Cllr Robson should he wish to make a person response."

Some of it straight from the Code, some of it not.

I'm quite pleased as it turns out Cllr Robinson did indeed object to the erection of the mast, despite not signing the petition. The petition was passed to the Town Council as well as Sevenoaks District Council, something else I was not aware of.....

Tags: http://www.edenbridgetc.kentparishes.gov, http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk
Current Location: Work!
Current Mood: peaceful
Current Music: none

Apparently Edenbridge is the first town in Kent to be made a Quality Town, or have a Quality Town/Parish Council.

I was curious, so I looked it up.......http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/quality_parishes/default.htm

Has anyone else heard of or experienced this scheme in their local town/village/parish?

All seems a bit back-slapping-your-doing-as-your-told-by-the-government to me, but I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the whole system on a daily basis!

I mean, really, they want us to approve of another comms mast on one of the sites where I have an allotment!!!! Come on! Money for nothing? What about people's health, for crying out loud!!! (again)

Tags: http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/quality_pa, http://www.edenbridgetc.kentparishes.gov, http://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk
Current Mood: cynical