How would you like to win yourself a vegetable growing pack worth £20 by entering our prize giveaway.
Over the last month we have published 14 clues which join together in numerical order (1-14) and make a sentence.
No matter how bizzare it might seem, just say what you see.
On to the prizes...
1stThe first prize will be an 'Our Good Life' vegetable growing hamper worth well over £20. It will include useful tools, seeds and invaluable equipment. It will be sent by first class recorded delivery.
2nd
Second prize will be three packets of seeds.
How to enter
It is so simple to enter. All you have to do is solve the simple puzzle, the puzzle is based on the story of the Dragonfly Maze at Bourton on the Water. It took us about half an hour to get out of the maze, but you won't have to naviagate around a maze in our contest. At regular intervals we released a clue to help you solve the puzzle. Each post had 1 picture in it, and if you think logically about what the picture shows then you will be able to determine a word that will fit in to the sentence. There are 14 clues. You can view all of the clues by scrolling through the blog, or click the CONTEST tag at the bottom of this post or on the right sidebar.
Let's just remind ourselves of the scenario..
Scenario
A long, long time a go an old weaver lived in the mill at Bourton on the Water. You could say she was a peasant, but she had something that was the envy of the rich. The golden dragonfly which she wore around her neck. The golden dragonfly was stolen one day when the weaver had left home to collect a loaf of bread and it has been kept in the round house by the evil goblin ever since. There is high security in the round house, so you will need to crack the code to locate the golden dragonfly. It won't be easy!
Simply write down what each picture shows to reveal a sentence.
Then just email it to me by 15th August to stand a chance of winning the prize!
Any questions then please feel free to ask.
One entry per person.
Email your entry to blythm@aston.ac.uk
Good Luck!
Martin
We are Martin and Amy and we live in a cosy Warwickshire market town where we enjoy growing our own fruit and vegetables on our allotment and we also keep chickens in our garden. We both love cooking and especially baking bread. Welcome to 'our good life'..
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Introductions
You never know which way it is going to go when introducing chickens. When I had the girls at home. I had 6 at one point. When I introduced Geraldine to Lesley and Carly, Geraldine displaced the other two as top chook and made best friends with the previous ruler of the roost Carly almost instantaneously.
When I added a 6th chicken to the group, it was hell. Emile was attacked and attacked and had to be sectioned off from the others. She was eventually rehomed, missing lots of her feathers, which was a real shame.
When I had the bantams and just the two large fowl before the bantams went to my aunty in Lincolnshire, they got on like a house on fire. All five of them. People say don't mix large fowl and bantams, but why not?
We took the decision to let all five of our current girls free range at the same time today, and it all went off without a hitch..
There was the odd bit of get off my grass from the big girls, but in general both flocks kept well clear of each other and when they came together for some corn there wasn't any trouble at all.
Always be cautious when mixing new hens together, it can go either way, but this was a massive success!
Have a great day!
Big news tomorrow evening!!
Martin
When I added a 6th chicken to the group, it was hell. Emile was attacked and attacked and had to be sectioned off from the others. She was eventually rehomed, missing lots of her feathers, which was a real shame.
When I had the bantams and just the two large fowl before the bantams went to my aunty in Lincolnshire, they got on like a house on fire. All five of them. People say don't mix large fowl and bantams, but why not?
We took the decision to let all five of our current girls free range at the same time today, and it all went off without a hitch..
There was the odd bit of get off my grass from the big girls, but in general both flocks kept well clear of each other and when they came together for some corn there wasn't any trouble at all.
Always be cautious when mixing new hens together, it can go either way, but this was a massive success!
Have a great day!
Big news tomorrow evening!!
Martin
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Prize Giveaway - Fourteenth Clue
Well it's the moment you've all bee waiting for...
The final clue!
Details on how to complete your entry to win the £20 vegetable gardening hamper will be posted tomorrow..
Enjoy the rest of your evening!
Martin
The final clue!
Details on how to complete your entry to win the £20 vegetable gardening hamper will be posted tomorrow..
Enjoy the rest of your evening!
Martin
Grab your popcorn..
I love going up the narrow path to the beehive, it's discreetly tucked behind the shed, and can't be seen from anywhere in the garden. If you know where to look you can see it from the bridge which the main road goes over. I don't feel a threat from vandalism or anything like that because it looks like a pile of old boxes on the side of a slope.
I didn't don the whole outfit yesterday afternoon, I did that in the week. But sometimes I just like going up the path to take a look at the bees flying in and out of the beehive.
I've gone video crazy these last few days, and there is another one to follow tomorrow too.
You can just about make out the flighty bees as they come home...
I appologise in advance for the 'WHAT!' in the middle. Amy was shouting me from down the garden because Barbara thought it would be nice to eat the freshly sown grass seed.
Grab your popcorn now and sit back...
Have a good weekend.
I realise that this weeks post has been mainly chickens, and now bees. How about some fantastic, exciting and amazing vegetable news on Monday? Definately stay tuned!!
Martin
I didn't don the whole outfit yesterday afternoon, I did that in the week. But sometimes I just like going up the path to take a look at the bees flying in and out of the beehive.
I've gone video crazy these last few days, and there is another one to follow tomorrow too.
You can just about make out the flighty bees as they come home...
I appologise in advance for the 'WHAT!' in the middle. Amy was shouting me from down the garden because Barbara thought it would be nice to eat the freshly sown grass seed.
Grab your popcorn now and sit back...
Have a good weekend.
I realise that this weeks post has been mainly chickens, and now bees. How about some fantastic, exciting and amazing vegetable news on Monday? Definately stay tuned!!
Martin
Friday, 29 July 2011
Prize Giveaway - Thirteenth Clue
The end is in sight! Have you worked out the puzzle yet??
Have a good weekend!
Martin
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Who is it?
It's about time I went out in the garden and showed the girls what the roasting tin looks like. Not the bantams of course, they should be laying in 4-6 weeks time. But either Lesley and Geraldine are getting by on a joy ride...
One of them is not laying, but the thing is we can't tell which one. The egg is always nestled in the nesting box at 7am when we go to fill up their feed and water and collect the eggs.. I mean EGG! This has been going on for a few MONTHS now! They are only just over 18 months old, they should still have some kick in them. I know that they say that the chooks peak before 18 months, but I've had many hens before who have been laying in their 3rd and 4th year of freedom.
On the other hand, whoever is laying is very reliable. Every morning she graces us with a perfectly shaped egg which is equally perfect when it comes to taste.
Having the bantams might increase egg production by some degree, but bantams are quite seasonal layers and lay nowhere near the quantities of a hybrid bred purely for laying eggs.
We have a few options. Wait and hope that the other girl picks up her laying habit again, or maybe buy some more hens?
So one of these beauties is getting a rather easy ride. They were definately making the most of the sunshine this afternoon...
I like the later idea, but will need to discuss it with Amy first...
Have a great day!
Martin
One of them is not laying, but the thing is we can't tell which one. The egg is always nestled in the nesting box at 7am when we go to fill up their feed and water and collect the eggs.. I mean EGG! This has been going on for a few MONTHS now! They are only just over 18 months old, they should still have some kick in them. I know that they say that the chooks peak before 18 months, but I've had many hens before who have been laying in their 3rd and 4th year of freedom.
On the other hand, whoever is laying is very reliable. Every morning she graces us with a perfectly shaped egg which is equally perfect when it comes to taste.
Having the bantams might increase egg production by some degree, but bantams are quite seasonal layers and lay nowhere near the quantities of a hybrid bred purely for laying eggs.
We have a few options. Wait and hope that the other girl picks up her laying habit again, or maybe buy some more hens?
So one of these beauties is getting a rather easy ride. They were definately making the most of the sunshine this afternoon...
I like the later idea, but will need to discuss it with Amy first...
Have a great day!
Martin
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Monday, 25 July 2011
100
Since this blog started out in April we have now made a stagerring 100 posts. Don't ask us how, but we have quickly reached such a great milestone. We have already broke the record number of visitiors to our blog in a month in July and we still have just under a week left.
It is so suitable that the 100th post is a celebration of the harvests we have had from our own garden.
We are having home made lasagne for tea and to accompany it we have some of our delicious home grown potatoes, two lovely courgettes. We also have some broad beans and mange tout waiting for tomorrow's dinner.
How exciting.
We have really enjoyed the journey on our blog so far and we can't wait to write the next 100 posts too.
Enjoy the delightful sun. May this be the start of a great week.
Martin
It is so suitable that the 100th post is a celebration of the harvests we have had from our own garden.
We are having home made lasagne for tea and to accompany it we have some of our delicious home grown potatoes, two lovely courgettes. We also have some broad beans and mange tout waiting for tomorrow's dinner.
How exciting.
We have really enjoyed the journey on our blog so far and we can't wait to write the next 100 posts too.
Enjoy the delightful sun. May this be the start of a great week.
Martin
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Fascination
A strange thing indeed.
It always amazes me that despite allowing chickens to have the run of the garden, which you think would be heaven for them. I mean, compost heaps, plentiful grass, weeds and worms to eat. Can't be too bad for a bird can it?
But still, you can't please them and they always seem fascinated to know what's going on inside... Inside the house that is!
If you leave the door open they will be straight in, pecking at the doormat, the curtains and the carpet.
I had the door open this morning, and low and behold something jumped on the sofa. First of all I thought it was the dog, turns out it was ... Barbara!
I wish I had the camera handy. She was quite happily perched on the sofa, and she didn't want to get off either.
It always amazes me that despite allowing chickens to have the run of the garden, which you think would be heaven for them. I mean, compost heaps, plentiful grass, weeds and worms to eat. Can't be too bad for a bird can it?
But still, you can't please them and they always seem fascinated to know what's going on inside... Inside the house that is!
If you leave the door open they will be straight in, pecking at the doormat, the curtains and the carpet.
I had the door open this morning, and low and behold something jumped on the sofa. First of all I thought it was the dog, turns out it was ... Barbara!
I wish I had the camera handy. She was quite happily perched on the sofa, and she didn't want to get off either.
Friday, 22 July 2011
Time
Where the heck does it go? I've been working most of this week so I have not had much time to blog, so I am writing a few posts up now to keep me going over the weekend. I have not had anywhere near enough time to read the blogs I follow, I will be catching up with these from Monday. This weekend is such a busy one, my brother's birthday is tomorrow and we are having a family barbeque, so that should be fun anyway.
In the veg garden, everything is going pretty well. Apart from the fact I knocked a big terrocotta pot full of lettuce leaf seelings over when I caught naughty Margot eating all the tops on the carrots, everything else is good.
This week we will be eating so much homegrown produce. There are broad beans, mange tout, lettuce, raddish, courgettes and...
POTATOES!
Our first decent batch out of the filled up compost bags. Most of them are a good size fornew potatoes, there are a few mini potatoes and a few silly potatoes where the potato is no bigger than a drawing pin.
I can't wait to show Amy when she gets home. I had been leaving and resisting temptation to pull up these potatoes earlier, but the leaves had died back and were starting to go yello and the flowers had fell off over a week ago.
These should be delicious. I fancy a a few of them just plain with some butter and a sprig of mint, and then I think the others are destined to accompany a quiche.
I promise I will catch up with the blogs I follow next week, looks like a lot of reading.
Have a superb weekend!
Martin
In the veg garden, everything is going pretty well. Apart from the fact I knocked a big terrocotta pot full of lettuce leaf seelings over when I caught naughty Margot eating all the tops on the carrots, everything else is good.
This week we will be eating so much homegrown produce. There are broad beans, mange tout, lettuce, raddish, courgettes and...
POTATOES!
Our first decent batch out of the filled up compost bags. Most of them are a good size fornew potatoes, there are a few mini potatoes and a few silly potatoes where the potato is no bigger than a drawing pin.
I can't wait to show Amy when she gets home. I had been leaving and resisting temptation to pull up these potatoes earlier, but the leaves had died back and were starting to go yello and the flowers had fell off over a week ago.
These should be delicious. I fancy a a few of them just plain with some butter and a sprig of mint, and then I think the others are destined to accompany a quiche.
I promise I will catch up with the blogs I follow next week, looks like a lot of reading.
Have a superb weekend!
Martin
Prize Giveaway - Tenth Clue
We're almost there regards the clue.. not long to go now!
Hopefully this paving stone will help you...
Hopefully this paving stone will help you...
Remember that famous saying, say what you see?
Martin
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Prize Giveaway - Ninth Clue
Looking back at number 3, may just be the answer for thee...
Comprende?
Good Luck!
Martin
Comprende?
Good Luck!
Martin
Monday, 18 July 2011
Introducing the Bantam Babes!
Ever since Amy asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year there was only one thing I really wanted. More chickens. Either Lesley or Geraldine are not laying, we don't know which one, but we are down to one egg per day, therefore an increase in egg production is imporant.
We wanted to get something a bit more unusual than a few more hybrids and after much contemplation we decided that Bantams were certainly a good move.
We thought three would be a good number to have. They will have plenty of room in the eglu, they should lay well during the summer, and having three then if one goes broody we still have two lovely playful chooks about whilst the other potentially sits on some fertile eggs.
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We wanted to get something a bit more unusual than a few more hybrids and after much contemplation we decided that Bantams were certainly a good move.
We thought three would be a good number to have. They will have plenty of room in the eglu, they should lay well during the summer, and having three then if one goes broody we still have two lovely playful chooks about whilst the other potentially sits on some fertile eggs.
Well, let me introduce them then. Does anybody know where we got the names from?
On the left is Margot, she is an absolutely gorgeous blue partridge brahma. Seeing as we had already decided on the names we thought that the posh character's name should be attributed to the rare breed amongst them.
In the middle is, Mrs.Weaver, a black Pekin bantam. Mrs.Weaver was Margot's posh neighbour in the T.V series, one of our favourite moments from the Good life is when Barbara throws an egg at Mrs.Weaver on her first day living in the avenue...
On the right is... Barbara, a lovely light sussex. I always fancied some large fowl light sussex but seeing as we had decided on bantams it was great there is a bantam version of this beautiful breed. Seeing as light sussex are a bit more common than the other two breeds and are a bit more sturdy too, Barbara was a good choice of name.
We thought that Tom was too masculine for a hen's name, and we already have 'Geraldine' so we ruled out Jerry because they are too similar.
They are all point of lay. Margot and Mrs.W are about 16 weeks old and Barbara is a couple of weeks older. It might be a few more weeks before we get any eggs, but I'd rather have young healthy stock than one year old or older layers.
The lady we got them from was fantastic and highly commendable. Her whole set up was truly inspiring and her Buff Orpingtons were really world class. National winners in poultry shows. If anybody in and around the Midlands wants any chickens then let me know and I will pass her details on to you.
We will keep you updated with their progress. They have settled in well today and they have been free ranging this afternoon. They may be posh chickens but they still found the compost heap pretty quickly..
Have an absolutely fantastic day!
Martin
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Happy Birthday!
I know it's not until October but...
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The latest members of the our-good-life family have now joined us.
More to follow...
Martin
The latest members of the our-good-life family have now joined us.
More to follow...
Martin
Friday, 15 July 2011
Sealed Pot Challenge - The only way is UP
Today's post is on the subject of that sealed pot again...
This snippet from Disney Pixar's amazing film UP really sums up the whole sealed pot principle. It also demonstrates how difficult it is to not dip in to it.
This clip in general just about perfectly sums up the journey through life, but keep your eyes open for the pot!
If you haven't seen the whole movie, then it is definately worth a watch.
Don't worry, tomorrow's blogpost will be more vegetable growing focussed! Including some really, really exciting news too!
Have a great day!
Martin
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Sealed Pot Challenge
Do you have a sealed pot?
We do....
Thanks to the wonderful SFT, I have found out that many other bloggers have a similar sealed pot. So, a whole group of us have determined a date to smash our pots to pieces. The date set is the 3rd December. Would you like to join us?
The great thing about the 3rd December is that it is just in time for Christmas and when your nearest and dearest ask you what you want for Christmas just tell them you want a nice, fancy, new sealed pot.
We hope our savings can go towards a nice treat. Maybe towards a holiday or something we really need.
Check out SFT's blog by clicking here to read more about the sealed pot challenge.
The next context clue will be revealed tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by!
Martin
Monday, 11 July 2011
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Hatton Village
We spent an afternoon at Hatton farming world and village on Tuesday. We both hadn't been since we were children and with our seperate families. It was going to be interesting to see what we thought of this Warwickshire tourist attraction now that we are 4ft taller than the last time we went.
The farm village is seperate to the shopping village. The shopping village had a nice garden centre and some pleasant designer shops. The garden centre had loads of great things there and they sold chickens too. I can't believe how much garden centres charge for chickens, at £35 a time I certainly won't be buying any of their stock. All of my chickens I have ever owned only cost between £5 and £10 each!
The farm village was really good fun with lots of livestock about the place.
We decided that if we ever had a smallholding we would need to find out what breed of sheep these were because they were just gorgeous...
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They were very wooly, and looked like they carried their fair share of meat too!
They used to have a really nice meadow with pigs roaming around, but this has been downgraded to a cheesy attraction called 'Pig Palace' which was basically a big, blue gazebo with some cardboard cut out pigs dressed as gaurds. I don't understand why tourist attractions feel they have to lower their standards to be more appealing. It is a real turn off. Any way this Gloucestershire Old Spot seemed to be enjoying himself....
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We released our inner children when it got to the funfair and games part of the farm village. This skelter slide was real fun. I love getting in to those old potato sacks and whizzing down the tube. We did question our safety though because the whole thing was swaying with the wind, when you are high up and rocking it is not a great sign.
Amy was glad to be back on the ground. She made me retake her photo because she didn't like the first one I took. So here it is anyway... (Edit - She has been whining all night so I've had to change it to the 'articficial version)
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They had one of those 'Gold Mine' attractions where you get a pan and sieve through the water and find little nuggets of metal which they call 'Gold'. Whilst pondering around the attraction I found my own little golden nugget...
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I wanted to take this girl home, she was so friendly and inquisitive and only too happy to be picked up. Shame, we didn't take a bag big enough to smuggle her out through the gift shop!
We would reccomend this place for anyone passing. Especially if the weather is nice. We had a bit of rain, so the tractor ride was a welcome relief from the downpour. But because of the rain we had to forego the chance to navigate our way through the impressive Maize Maze. Maybe next time.
Have a fabulous weekend! You deserve it!
Martin
The farm village is seperate to the shopping village. The shopping village had a nice garden centre and some pleasant designer shops. The garden centre had loads of great things there and they sold chickens too. I can't believe how much garden centres charge for chickens, at £35 a time I certainly won't be buying any of their stock. All of my chickens I have ever owned only cost between £5 and £10 each!
The farm village was really good fun with lots of livestock about the place.
We decided that if we ever had a smallholding we would need to find out what breed of sheep these were because they were just gorgeous...
They were very wooly, and looked like they carried their fair share of meat too!
They used to have a really nice meadow with pigs roaming around, but this has been downgraded to a cheesy attraction called 'Pig Palace' which was basically a big, blue gazebo with some cardboard cut out pigs dressed as gaurds. I don't understand why tourist attractions feel they have to lower their standards to be more appealing. It is a real turn off. Any way this Gloucestershire Old Spot seemed to be enjoying himself....
We released our inner children when it got to the funfair and games part of the farm village. This skelter slide was real fun. I love getting in to those old potato sacks and whizzing down the tube. We did question our safety though because the whole thing was swaying with the wind, when you are high up and rocking it is not a great sign.
Amy was glad to be back on the ground. She made me retake her photo because she didn't like the first one I took. So here it is anyway... (Edit - She has been whining all night so I've had to change it to the 'articficial version)
They had one of those 'Gold Mine' attractions where you get a pan and sieve through the water and find little nuggets of metal which they call 'Gold'. Whilst pondering around the attraction I found my own little golden nugget...
I wanted to take this girl home, she was so friendly and inquisitive and only too happy to be picked up. Shame, we didn't take a bag big enough to smuggle her out through the gift shop!
We would reccomend this place for anyone passing. Especially if the weather is nice. We had a bit of rain, so the tractor ride was a welcome relief from the downpour. But because of the rain we had to forego the chance to navigate our way through the impressive Maize Maze. Maybe next time.
Have a fabulous weekend! You deserve it!
Martin
Friday, 8 July 2011
Unbelievable
I put some chilli pepper seeds in four small pots about two months ago. They were cheap seeds, and unsurprisingly they didn't germinate. However, I transfered them over to the greenhouse when I got it and still nothing emerged.
To my utter amazement, they germinated a couple of days ago!
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I can't believe it. I had wrote them off, but for some reason I hadn't thrown the soil back on the compost heap. We are already growing 'Cayenne' and 'Fillius Blue' so we won't be short of chillies, but we are now going to be growing these too. The thing is, I can't even remember what variety they are so I will have to post pictures if they eventually grow and bear fruits. They were an ornamental type with a mix of orange, yellow and red chillies.
I think that by the time they are ready to develop fruits it will be too cold to have them outside, so they may go on the window ledge, but the mini greenhouse might still be warm enough. We shall have to see. Well, I'll have to buy a digital themometer..
Have a great day,
Martin
To my utter amazement, they germinated a couple of days ago!
I can't believe it. I had wrote them off, but for some reason I hadn't thrown the soil back on the compost heap. We are already growing 'Cayenne' and 'Fillius Blue' so we won't be short of chillies, but we are now going to be growing these too. The thing is, I can't even remember what variety they are so I will have to post pictures if they eventually grow and bear fruits. They were an ornamental type with a mix of orange, yellow and red chillies.
I think that by the time they are ready to develop fruits it will be too cold to have them outside, so they may go on the window ledge, but the mini greenhouse might still be warm enough. We shall have to see. Well, I'll have to buy a digital themometer..
Have a great day,
Martin
Thursday, 7 July 2011
The Jubilance of July
July. Probably the best month for being a veg gardener. All of your hard work during the previous months have lead up to this point. Over there the tomatoes are doing well, over there the potatoes are almost ready, over there the courgettes continue to come, over there the lettuces get bigger, over there the pak choi has bolted. Everything seems to be doing well (there is always one exception, stupid pak choi!!), and there is little maintenance to carry out.
In fact, it is very nice to pour a glass of homemade lemonade, sit back and look at what we have done. We have turned an old fenced off chicken run into a small producing plot, with plans to make it even better next year! (Hopefully)
We have enjoyed a few completly home grown meals. We used the saveable pak choi leaves in a stir fry last night, with some courgette, spinach, mange tout and some very hot chilli peppers. It was delicious. We've had a nice salad, and a vegetable fritatta, with some courgettes and mange tout in an omelette. It's been great.
We are just waiting on a few other things to mature and then there will be plenty more meals like that to come.
I said there was no maintenance on the plot. Well that is a lie. There are jobs to do, but there is nothing major really. If you afford yourself fifteen minutes a day then it is easy to keep on top of things. Although everything is going well, we need to be vigilant. At any moment, we could see blight overtake the tomatoes and potatoes, cabbage fly wip out the cabbages etc. If we keep a good look out for these things then we will definately be in a good place. Picking the odd weed from between the rows of veg is not particularly stenuous on our small plot.
Yesterday I spent a little while doing some of the simple jobs.
I've given the sunflowers and sweetcorn some support. The sweetcorn are planted in a triangle to aid pollination, but they were all leaning in to the centre and it looked a bit of a mess. So some bamboo canes have been added and I've loosely tied the sweetcorn to them.
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The sunflowers are not in the sunniest spot in the garden, so they have decided to start leaning towards the sun, although they would benefit from a bit more sun, they are not in the world's worst position so these were staked back too. My Grandma and Grandad gave me the seeds for the sunflowers so I gave them three plants in return and these are now planted too..
Since the pak choi plan went bottom side up, there is a bit more space at the end of the plot furthest away from the shed. We have had our cabbage growing in pots in the greenhouse ready for transportation when some more space becomes available. I planted out three of the cabbage plants we planted a few months ago. They are in a good spot by the damson tree.
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There is still time to sow some more salad leaves and lettuce so I did that to give us some late summer salad greens. We will definately appreciate them come late August and early September.
We are really looking forward to the sweet peppers we are growing in the mini greenhouse. I placed them more centrally in the greenhouse as they seem to be growing well. The middle of the top shelf in the greenhouse is the highest point.
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I have always had fantastic luck with chilli peppers but not so much with sweet peppers. We have 4 sweet pepper plants and 5 chilli pepper plants this year, so hopefully there will be plenty of peppers of different shapes, colours and sizes over the next couple of months.
The flowers are going wild in those hanging baskets too..
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I had to pick out a few dead heads, but nothing major. I am really pleased with these!
We are both really enjoying reading everybody's blogs and seeing what you are picking from your own gardens, allotments, window containers, greenhouses, polytunnels, smallholdings and farms. It is amazing that all of us bloggers have different sized growing area. From Rachel with her small city balcony to Mo and Steve and of course Sue with her much larger site. It is superb to see how we all grow things, both similarly and differently.
Have a great day, don't forget to check out some of the other blogs on the right hand side toolbar, and see what everybody else is doing this wonderful summer's day.
Martin
In fact, it is very nice to pour a glass of homemade lemonade, sit back and look at what we have done. We have turned an old fenced off chicken run into a small producing plot, with plans to make it even better next year! (Hopefully)
We have enjoyed a few completly home grown meals. We used the saveable pak choi leaves in a stir fry last night, with some courgette, spinach, mange tout and some very hot chilli peppers. It was delicious. We've had a nice salad, and a vegetable fritatta, with some courgettes and mange tout in an omelette. It's been great.
We are just waiting on a few other things to mature and then there will be plenty more meals like that to come.
I said there was no maintenance on the plot. Well that is a lie. There are jobs to do, but there is nothing major really. If you afford yourself fifteen minutes a day then it is easy to keep on top of things. Although everything is going well, we need to be vigilant. At any moment, we could see blight overtake the tomatoes and potatoes, cabbage fly wip out the cabbages etc. If we keep a good look out for these things then we will definately be in a good place. Picking the odd weed from between the rows of veg is not particularly stenuous on our small plot.
Yesterday I spent a little while doing some of the simple jobs.
I've given the sunflowers and sweetcorn some support. The sweetcorn are planted in a triangle to aid pollination, but they were all leaning in to the centre and it looked a bit of a mess. So some bamboo canes have been added and I've loosely tied the sweetcorn to them.
The sunflowers are not in the sunniest spot in the garden, so they have decided to start leaning towards the sun, although they would benefit from a bit more sun, they are not in the world's worst position so these were staked back too. My Grandma and Grandad gave me the seeds for the sunflowers so I gave them three plants in return and these are now planted too..
Since the pak choi plan went bottom side up, there is a bit more space at the end of the plot furthest away from the shed. We have had our cabbage growing in pots in the greenhouse ready for transportation when some more space becomes available. I planted out three of the cabbage plants we planted a few months ago. They are in a good spot by the damson tree.
There is still time to sow some more salad leaves and lettuce so I did that to give us some late summer salad greens. We will definately appreciate them come late August and early September.
We are really looking forward to the sweet peppers we are growing in the mini greenhouse. I placed them more centrally in the greenhouse as they seem to be growing well. The middle of the top shelf in the greenhouse is the highest point.
I have always had fantastic luck with chilli peppers but not so much with sweet peppers. We have 4 sweet pepper plants and 5 chilli pepper plants this year, so hopefully there will be plenty of peppers of different shapes, colours and sizes over the next couple of months.
The flowers are going wild in those hanging baskets too..
I had to pick out a few dead heads, but nothing major. I am really pleased with these!
We are both really enjoying reading everybody's blogs and seeing what you are picking from your own gardens, allotments, window containers, greenhouses, polytunnels, smallholdings and farms. It is amazing that all of us bloggers have different sized growing area. From Rachel with her small city balcony to Mo and Steve and of course Sue with her much larger site. It is superb to see how we all grow things, both similarly and differently.
Have a great day, don't forget to check out some of the other blogs on the right hand side toolbar, and see what everybody else is doing this wonderful summer's day.
Martin
Prize Giveaway - Fourth and Fifth Clue
Fourth clue
The fourth clue might have something to do with the Goblin's favourite childhood story. Not that he has many emotions left of course!
The cat was sat __ ___ mat.
Fifth Clue
The following picture was crammed in to a discarded chest...
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...what could it mean?
The fourth clue might have something to do with the Goblin's favourite childhood story. Not that he has many emotions left of course!
The cat was sat __ ___ mat.
Fifth Clue
The following picture was crammed in to a discarded chest...
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Pak (of rubbish) Choi
I am really dissapointed with our pak choi.
It has bolted...
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Some of you may not be surprised to hear this as you are a lot wiser than me, but if I knew that they were so sensitive I wouldn't have consumed our valuable growing space with 2 whole rows of this crop. I wish I had grown more lettuce instead!
I have now read that they are extemly sensitive to a real mix of weather conditions. So with the the days of drought followed by periods of sogging wetness, the pak choi did not approve and decided to run to flower.
I was really looking forward to a good crop of this. The good news is that we can still eat the leaves despite it bolting so a nice homegrown stirfry is on the cards tonight. Courgette, pak choi leaves, spinach, mange tout, maybe one of the fillius blue chillies to liven it up a bit. Delicieux!
We are both really enjoying our really healthy home grown meals.
Have a great day!
Martin
It has bolted...
Some of you may not be surprised to hear this as you are a lot wiser than me, but if I knew that they were so sensitive I wouldn't have consumed our valuable growing space with 2 whole rows of this crop. I wish I had grown more lettuce instead!
I have now read that they are extemly sensitive to a real mix of weather conditions. So with the the days of drought followed by periods of sogging wetness, the pak choi did not approve and decided to run to flower.
I was really looking forward to a good crop of this. The good news is that we can still eat the leaves despite it bolting so a nice homegrown stirfry is on the cards tonight. Courgette, pak choi leaves, spinach, mange tout, maybe one of the fillius blue chillies to liven it up a bit. Delicieux!
We are both really enjoying our really healthy home grown meals.
Have a great day!
Martin
Prize Giveaway - Third Clue
You may have to to tilt your head for this one...
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Good luck!
Martin and Amy x
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Raddish
I've never really had much luck with raddish. It always looks promising, but the root never seems to swell to a decent size. This year we are growing raddish in a plastic trough. We divided it into three sections and sprinkled some seed in each section at two week intervals. So we should have 6 weeks worth of raddishes.
The first lot of seeds are now a congregation of bushy leaves with the smallest pin head roots, seeing as this variety is supposed to mature in 21 days, it is almost 6 weeks now and nothing. Do I have a raddish curse? The third sowing are only 2 weeks old so are at the most basic stage of forming. However, the second sowing seem to be as far ahead if not further head than the first sowing, they have caught up nicely and really are beginning to overtake.
When inspecting them earlier today I spotted this thing..
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A RADDISH!!
We had a few more smaller raddishes, some salad leaves we have grown in a tub, some mange tout which we gently boiled, a few more small courgettes and some young spinach. With a freshly laid boiled egg, we had a nice homegrown salad yesterday night.
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Delicious!
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Martin
The first lot of seeds are now a congregation of bushy leaves with the smallest pin head roots, seeing as this variety is supposed to mature in 21 days, it is almost 6 weeks now and nothing. Do I have a raddish curse? The third sowing are only 2 weeks old so are at the most basic stage of forming. However, the second sowing seem to be as far ahead if not further head than the first sowing, they have caught up nicely and really are beginning to overtake.
When inspecting them earlier today I spotted this thing..
I couldn't believe it. I remember that even when I had the allotment I had little luck with raddishes, so to have one worth eating is a real bonus.
Amy loves raddish so this went down a treat.!! She could quite easily eat a whole bag full if they were in front of her, I always thought it was very strange because(..cough!) I don't really like raddish. But then again the feelings are reversed regards Beetroot!
We had a few more smaller raddishes, some salad leaves we have grown in a tub, some mange tout which we gently boiled, a few more small courgettes and some young spinach. With a freshly laid boiled egg, we had a nice homegrown salad yesterday night.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
P.S Don't forget that the first ever Our-Good-Life prize giveaway started yesterday. Work out the clues on the blog as they appear and you could win a gardening hamper worth over £20. You have to be in it to win it.
Click here for more detailsPrize Giveaway - Second Clue
Did you get it yesterday?
Here is the best way to keep a record of the clues.
1 PLAICE
2_______________________
3_______________________
4_______________________
5_______________________
6_______________________
7_______________________
8_______________________
9_______________________
10______________________
11______________________
12______________________
13______________________
14______________________
Yesterday's clue was Plaice. The picture was of a fish, but it was the type of fish that was important, do you understand the logic?
Good luck with clue number 2...
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It's a bit easier than yesterdays!
Bon Chance
Martin!
Here is the best way to keep a record of the clues.
1 PLAICE
2_______________________
3_______________________
4_______________________
5_______________________
6_______________________
7_______________________
8_______________________
9_______________________
10______________________
11______________________
12______________________
13______________________
14______________________
Yesterday's clue was Plaice. The picture was of a fish, but it was the type of fish that was important, do you understand the logic?
Good luck with clue number 2...
It's a bit easier than yesterdays!
Bon Chance
Martin!
Monday, 4 July 2011
Our Very Good Life Prize Giveaway
Hello everybody.
It gives us great pleasure, to announce to you the start of our first ever prize giveaway.
Prizes
1st
The first prize will be an 'Our Good Life' vegetable growing hamper worth well over £20. It will include useful tools, seeds and invaluable equipment. It will be sent by first class recorded delivery.
2nd
Second prize will be thee packets of seeds.
How to enter
It is so simple to enter. All you have to do is solve the simple puzzle which we unravel over the next week or so, the puzzle is based on the story of the Dragonfly Maze at Bourton on the Water. It took us about half an hour to get out of the maze, but you won't have to naviagate around a maze in our contest. At regular intervals we will release a clue to help you solve the puzzle. Each post will only have 1 picture in it, and if you think logically about what the picture shows then you will be able to determine a word that will fit in to the sentence. There are 14 clues. Obviously, you don't have to log on every day, each post will be tagged with contest, and if you click the tag on the right hand side of the blog then all the relevant posts will appear.
The contest is about to begin...
Scenario
A long, long time a go an old weaver lived in the mill at Bourton on the Water. You could say she was a peasant, but she had something that was the envy of the rich. The golden dragonfly which she wore around her neck. The golden dragonfly was stolen one day when the weaver had left home to collect a loaf of bread and it has been kept in the round house by the evil goblin ever since. There is high security in the round house, so you will need to crack the code to locate the golden dragonfly. It won't be easy!
The first clue is on the stone just ahead...
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You will need to write down the word because it is the first word in the code.
When you have all 14 words you will need to EMAIL me with the correct code. My email address is blythm@aston.ac.uk . If you have revealed the code correctly your name will be put in to the hat for a chance to win the first prize. The second name out will win the runners up prize.
It may take a while to get your head around the idea, so if you have any questions then please do not hesistate to ask by leaving a comment.
I wish you the best of luck. There are no stingy conditions, you don't even need to be a public follower of the blog. Just make sure your answers are in by 11:59pm on 30th July.
I will post a clue tracker for you tomorrow. I will also reveal the solution to the first clue so that you can make sure you are on the right lines.
Thanks for your continued support. This is just a small way of saying thankyou to our loyal, followers, friends and family.
Have a great week!
Martin
It gives us great pleasure, to announce to you the start of our first ever prize giveaway.
Prizes
1st
The first prize will be an 'Our Good Life' vegetable growing hamper worth well over £20. It will include useful tools, seeds and invaluable equipment. It will be sent by first class recorded delivery.
2nd
Second prize will be thee packets of seeds.
How to enter
It is so simple to enter. All you have to do is solve the simple puzzle which we unravel over the next week or so, the puzzle is based on the story of the Dragonfly Maze at Bourton on the Water. It took us about half an hour to get out of the maze, but you won't have to naviagate around a maze in our contest. At regular intervals we will release a clue to help you solve the puzzle. Each post will only have 1 picture in it, and if you think logically about what the picture shows then you will be able to determine a word that will fit in to the sentence. There are 14 clues. Obviously, you don't have to log on every day, each post will be tagged with contest, and if you click the tag on the right hand side of the blog then all the relevant posts will appear.
The contest is about to begin...
Scenario
A long, long time a go an old weaver lived in the mill at Bourton on the Water. You could say she was a peasant, but she had something that was the envy of the rich. The golden dragonfly which she wore around her neck. The golden dragonfly was stolen one day when the weaver had left home to collect a loaf of bread and it has been kept in the round house by the evil goblin ever since. There is high security in the round house, so you will need to crack the code to locate the golden dragonfly. It won't be easy!
The first clue is on the stone just ahead...
You will need to write down the word because it is the first word in the code.
When you have all 14 words you will need to EMAIL me with the correct code. My email address is blythm@aston.ac.uk . If you have revealed the code correctly your name will be put in to the hat for a chance to win the first prize. The second name out will win the runners up prize.
It may take a while to get your head around the idea, so if you have any questions then please do not hesistate to ask by leaving a comment.
I wish you the best of luck. There are no stingy conditions, you don't even need to be a public follower of the blog. Just make sure your answers are in by 11:59pm on 30th July.
I will post a clue tracker for you tomorrow. I will also reveal the solution to the first clue so that you can make sure you are on the right lines.
Thanks for your continued support. This is just a small way of saying thankyou to our loyal, followers, friends and family.
Have a great week!
Martin
Friday, 1 July 2011
Glamping
Glamping is camping for glamourous people. You get dressed up in your best frock, buy a pop up tent and set off for the campsite. Ok, we bought the pop up tent but the night's sleep was far from glamorous. I had Amy whining all night, that the tent was leaking and she was cold. It was only spitting, so I said she was being silly. (By the way, I was snuggled up nice and warm and was also completly dry). I can only appologise for dismissing her concerns during the night when I saw how waterlogged her half of the tent was this morning. We are in need of some waterproofing spray before we go again in a few weeks time. Not comfortable to be sleeping in the wet. (Sorry!)
I don't have many memories of camping, other than in my back garden when I was a kid. So the whole experience on Wednesday and Thursday was very new and refreshing. All the simple things were such good fun.
We played games such as tennis, catch, football and boules..
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What tremendous skill...
Getting back to the real basics regards eating and drinking was nice. Boiling the kettle on the gas cooker, and preparing dinner and breakfast in the same way too! The whistling of the kettle was lovely...
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We had chilli con carne with pasta for tea and a fry up for breakfast. Divine!
The tent it self looked good, despite the rain problem later in the night.
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The campsite was really cute. It was easy to find, and the location was stunning. The pitch was well shielded from the wind, we were surrounded by tall trees and bushes. The campsite was lovely and quiet. It was only us, an elderly couple and the members of staff on the whole site.
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There were lots of walks to do. The majority of fields in the area were planted with either rape seed, poppies or broad beans. Some had a combination of all of them where seeds had obviously spread from previous or neighbouring crops...
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We walked through a broad bean field which had a public footpath in the middle of it...
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It looked like they were up for a good harvest anyway.
There was plenty of reading to do in the evening too. We bough almost every self-sufficient book/magazine we came across when we did a spot of shopping in Bourton itself...
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We have definately extended our home library. We bought some great magazines, and some books about chickens, bees and home brew. We also bought some more books when we popped in to the town of Brodway on the way back home. Ooops!
There were no lights on the campsite so during the night it was nice and dark and you could see all of the stars. Due to the brillaint location and landscape we got a good view of the evening's sun set....
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We've only been back a day, and we already can't wait to go back!
We'd like to reveal, that we will be running a blog contest from Monday, which will run for 3 weeks. If you would like to enter the competition for a chance to win a £20 'Our Good Life' hamper including seeds, tools and other great resources then please visit us soon. How to enter will be posted at 5.30pm on Monday!
Good Luck if you decide to enter!!
We hope you have had a good weekend.
Martin
I don't have many memories of camping, other than in my back garden when I was a kid. So the whole experience on Wednesday and Thursday was very new and refreshing. All the simple things were such good fun.
We played games such as tennis, catch, football and boules..
What tremendous skill...
Getting back to the real basics regards eating and drinking was nice. Boiling the kettle on the gas cooker, and preparing dinner and breakfast in the same way too! The whistling of the kettle was lovely...
We had chilli con carne with pasta for tea and a fry up for breakfast. Divine!
The tent it self looked good, despite the rain problem later in the night.
The campsite was really cute. It was easy to find, and the location was stunning. The pitch was well shielded from the wind, we were surrounded by tall trees and bushes. The campsite was lovely and quiet. It was only us, an elderly couple and the members of staff on the whole site.
There were lots of walks to do. The majority of fields in the area were planted with either rape seed, poppies or broad beans. Some had a combination of all of them where seeds had obviously spread from previous or neighbouring crops...
We walked through a broad bean field which had a public footpath in the middle of it...
It looked like they were up for a good harvest anyway.
There was plenty of reading to do in the evening too. We bough almost every self-sufficient book/magazine we came across when we did a spot of shopping in Bourton itself...
We have definately extended our home library. We bought some great magazines, and some books about chickens, bees and home brew. We also bought some more books when we popped in to the town of Brodway on the way back home. Ooops!
There were no lights on the campsite so during the night it was nice and dark and you could see all of the stars. Due to the brillaint location and landscape we got a good view of the evening's sun set....
We've only been back a day, and we already can't wait to go back!
We'd like to reveal, that we will be running a blog contest from Monday, which will run for 3 weeks. If you would like to enter the competition for a chance to win a £20 'Our Good Life' hamper including seeds, tools and other great resources then please visit us soon. How to enter will be posted at 5.30pm on Monday!
Good Luck if you decide to enter!!
We hope you have had a good weekend.
Martin
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