Plot on the Lough

Plot on the Lough A dedicated dye plant garden with a load of organic, chemical free veg thrown in for good measure!

Who else is devastated at the speed of which Winter has come upon us?I've canned, dehydrated, jammed, pickled and frozen...
26/11/2024

Who else is devastated at the speed of which Winter has come upon us?

I've canned, dehydrated, jammed, pickled and frozen so much this year.
Even though we had a tough start in the Spring, I finally managed to grow decently sized beetroot!

Squash, don't talk to me about squash.
I'm definitely not losing two beds to squash ever again. It was my biggest fail, and to be brutally honest, what I managed to grow was disgusting. I now know for sure I do NOT like sweet food that's supposed to be savoury. . The cooking of it also gave me severe anxiety.

Fun fact : I have Osmophobia.
I LOVE my food, but strong cooking smells, especially grease, gives me severe anxiety.
I haven't had this all my life. I only developed it around 10 years ago. I'll write about that again when I make an exciting announcement..







PeasI love peas! I have just planted my second lot to give me a later crop.These are blauwschokker, a European heritage ...
20/07/2024

Peas

I love peas! I have just planted my second lot to give me a later crop.

These are blauwschokker, a European heritage variety mainly used for soups.
They are absolutely gorgeous and taste very much like a marrowfat pea. I tried them as young pods in a stir fry and nearly sliced the tongue off myself, so I think I'll stick to the Shiraz in the future.

I can't ever plate up peas without shouting "D'ya want paaaees?" in a southern accent. There was this fabulous wee dinner lady called Annie Geddis who served our dinners in St Patrick's primary school. She would always say "D'ya want paaaees?" And that has stuck with me for life. Even my mum says it! 😂

32 years later and Annie is still remembered. It goes to show that it's the little things people remember.

Anyway, I'm well chuffed with my paaeees!




This is my second year of sowing my dye garden. Well, it's more like a dye jungle as I've packed so much in this year. I...
14/07/2024

This is my second year of sowing my dye garden. Well, it's more like a dye jungle as I've packed so much in this year.

I have woad, dyers chamomile, scabiosa, Hopi sunflowers ( you can probably tell by my jewellery that I'm obsessed with anything Navajo, Zuni and Hopi) different types of Coreopsis, cosmos, hollyhocks, indigo, calendula, yarrow and a manner of other plants growing to extract dye from.

Originally I started allotment journey in December 2022 with the intention of growing dye flowers only. Then we became obsessed with growing food, so we ended up with two plots and have packed both to the rafters.

This year has been a challenging time for growing anything, stunted flowers, slugs, losing cucumbers/squash etc to mushy stems. But I am still delighted with what I have been able to achieve so far.

Do not give up! Slowly slowly wins the race.





Breakfast yesterday!Duck eggs from Thank you!Homegrown chive flowers.Homegrown onion chutney, made by my precious moth...
20/05/2024

Breakfast yesterday!

Duck eggs from Thank you!
Homegrown chive flowers.
Homegrown onion chutney, made by my precious mother
Tatey bread from
Tomatoes were shop bought because, it's May!

I have to say, this was deeeelish!

That's the last of my brassicas harvested and out of the ground. I am so excited for this year's crops. I won't be sowin...
27/04/2024

That's the last of my brassicas harvested and out of the ground. I am so excited for this year's crops. I won't be sowing broccoli again, it takes too long, it takes up too much space and I'd much prefer lots of kale or chard in its place.

I'm looking forward to this in a stir-fry later on.

Has anyone else overdone it with seed sowing?

I currently have 137 tomato plants, yes, you read that right. And no, I don't have a polytunnel. 😳


Address

Ards Allotments
Newtownards

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Plot on the Lough posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category