The Time Has Come At Last He Said...

I can't put it off any more...

I have completely kettled my Google account so everything is associated with the wrong bloody email address. And so this is "Adieu, mes amis"...

(what a poncy git!)

However. Fear NOT! My trials & tribulations will continue at Mr Toad's Plot (the second). See you there.

Have a look at my first posting - about FaceBook!




... and then he was gone.

Gnaaah! Curses...

I wonder if any of you can help me...

I've maade a bit of a faux pas; I set up a google email address for my daughter, but didn't realise that I was actually associating it with MY Google account and once you've tied a Google account and one of THEIR email addresses together it can't be undone! Never ever ever ever...

I've emailed them, but no joy. As far as I can tell I'm knackered.

So I've set up a NEW account for me (the old one will become Ruby's) including a new Picasa account etc etc. The Problem is this blog!

Does anyone know of a way to either:

• Associate a blog with a different Google account, or
• Move all blogged enties to a new blog?

Unfortunately I think I already know the answer to this, but you never know...

First harvest!

Here's the offspring hard at work...


We Got WORMS!

Asparagus! Just two more years & I can bloody eat some of it...


Donaldson's Patented Pidgeon Scarer - there's advantages to being a techie a.k.a. a large supply of discarded software CDs


And finally...
Our first ever harvest (ta daaaaaaa)

Essential Allotment Equipment - Vol #1

Howdy y'all,

Well, as promised, here's the thrilling review of my first attempt at using my shiney new Kelly Kettle - what I reckon to be the perfect allotment based brew-up tool as it uses anything combustable as fuel (leaves, twigs etc... even camel shit apparently).

It comprises a metal bowl that has the fire in it & a chimney that sits on top - the chimney is actually a water jacket that holds the water to be boiled and acts as a flue to fan the fire.

Here's a picture of it post boil so you can see its parts (oooer)

the wet patch is because it boiled over & NOT because I got too excited!

Here it is in action:

cool eh?

Here's a glamour shot without the flash:

The boil:

And here's the results:

There you go: quick brews & much more fun than a camping stove or a flask...

The Return Of Toad

Hiya folks, sorry about the delay since my last post but I have been very, very idle...

Ho hum.

Unfortunately life encroached onto my allotment time & I wasn't able to get there for 4 bloody weeks! During this time haven't been wasting my time - oh no - I've been (trying) to propogate seeds. I carefully & gently hardened them off thereby killing just about every last one - it's a good job plants don't scream!

Anyway, I did manage to get up to the plot yesterday for a few hours of frantic weeding with my new wonder hoe (see picture). Then I wondered what the hell has happened to all the stuff I planted... The onions I can see, but everything else is missing apart from a few heavily chewed leaves at ground level. I guess I'll have to plant some more stuff but protect it a bit better - bugger! The soft fruit bushes are looking okay though.

I had my chitted spuds with me so I thought I'd dig one long trench & plant all them... So THREE long trenches and one knacked desk-jockey later all the spuds were in.

Unfortunately by then I'd run out of time so I didn't get a chance to plant my other fruit canes nor pumpkin seedlings.

The very good news is that the man-with-the-tractor has ploughed my plot so it's looking great... Woo Hoo!

The bad news is that I ran out of time so I couldn't make a cuppa with my new wonder gaget - a kelly kettle. However, I'm determined so I'll probably try it out in the back garden. Pictures & brew-review to follow.

TTFN.

Hell's Bells. An Expert!

A friend of mine, John Grundy (a.k.a Johnny Snakeman) has started a gardening blog, Get Grubby With Grundy, and he actually knows what he's talking about... I know - it's weird!

There's only a couple of posts on there at the moment, but they're very comprehensive (Compost & Training Climbers) & I'm sure he'd welcome a comment or two.

Sod it! Let's just plant something..

I went up to the plot this Sunday to do a bit more clearing and stuff. I've read all about critical temperatures for germination, frost damage, soil temperature measurements etc etc. But as I was loading my gear into the car I thought "Sod it! I'm going to bloody plant something."

After all, my main aim for this year is to get the plot ready for the next one & learn a bit about the whole process - so if I actually produce something that can be eaten this time around then that's a (huge) bonus.

I've planted some asparagus crowns & onions in my long raised bed (which I may yet split into two - who knows) & dug two other beds each about 2m square and planted parsnips & carrots in one and broad beans & peas in the other. If it's too early or I've done it wrong then so be it...

Extreme allotmenteering! Knarly dude!

Only a quick visit

My folks were down this weekend so I only managed to get to the allotment to show it to them. We decided it would be a better use of our time to go to the local Moroccan restaurant, drink rather too much wine & watch the belly dancers...

I say! Ding Dong!

I've also added a new link on the right, there; "Pushing Up The Daisies", a rather loquacious Aussie plotholder in France. Well worth a look.

Enough of this off subject rubbish. It won't happen again... Until next time!