GreenMum

I thought I'd get a quick blog in while the kids are running riot playing nicely.

There are lots of newcomers (like me) on the allotments. We are all ready to 'go organic' and beat the bugs by companion planting and encouraging ladybirds and other natural methods.

Then, like me they discover that their plot is full of 'mare's tail' (also called Horse Tail on our site). It grows on long roots deep underground, is tough and (so it seems) impossible to get rid of.

Last year I dug the plot over. Then I dug it again before I planted anything. I thought I would live with it - but you can't grow carrots or parsnips or salad alongside it, and you can weed around broccilli and sweetcorn, but it was almost impossible around the bushy tomatoes and peas.

I dug it again and again (that did kind of work round the beans, but you get a lot of digging space to work with), I set fire to it with my 'weed wand' I tried hard not to let it spread - but every week the same patches had come up with vigour and it seemed futile.

So I decided to spray it (with whatever that stuff is that only affects the plant sprayed and not the soil). The areas I sprayed late last year are much better, so its only the tomato and brocolli and sweetcorn areas that are really bad, plus the new bit (which also has added interest in bindweed and couch grass!)

The other allotmenteers are slowly coming to the same idea - battle with fields of weed all summer or clear the plot first and then live the dream.

If I can upload it, I'll post a picture!

Have a nice evening.

I was going to blog about cleaning chemicals today - and the fact that I can't get my loos clean and free of limescale unless I douse them in 'limelight' every once in a while. People more environmentally friendly than myself will tell you that white vinegar and baking powder will clean almost anything, and they do make a very satisfying noise, but they really don't do the job.

And then my ceramic hob cracked. Really cracked - in a number if places at the same time, and ruining my plans for tea (which involved pasta). We'll have to get another one rather urgently, or it will cold meat and salad for the rest of the week.

I was off to my (not so local) shops today anyway, to buy veggies and meat and take my dyson to be mended (its not that it doesn't hoover, it just doesn't hoover very well).

I also went to collect a Sony CD player and amplifier belonging to the club which had been in for repair. We often get asked if we have a CD player, sometimes people like them for functions. I took them in on Thursday and the chap rang me and said the amp was OK to fix but the CD needed a new laser (or whatever) and he could only use a Sony original, which would cost about £50 (before labour) and I could buy a cheap DVD for that.

However, a cheap DVD is just that - it won't produce music through our speakers and amp. Also, it may well break down and then I'd have to buy another cheap player, whereas if I get the original one fixed it will be as good as new, with new Sony parts, and last much longer, and produce better sound. So against the chaps advice, I got it fixed (although he did see my point about having a better quality product at the end of it all).

There is no fixing the hob though. Luckily it is not attached to the oven & grill, but will cost around £300 to replace.

Now where's that insurance policy??

Over Easter we went to visit my Mother in law who lives just outside Cardiff. She is a keen recycler, e-bayer, car booter and they seem to recycle everything in their doorstep collections there.

Tetra Packs, plastic everythings (meat trays, bottle tops), silver foil - all stuff we can't recycle with our doorstep collections can go in hers. She rarely has to put her bin out.

I didn't even think you could recycle plastic bottle tops.

How can they do it and Surrey can't

My house, shed and garden are filling up with seedlings. I've stopped sewing them into seed trays because I get far too many and I hate throwing solid little pants out. I want 4 plumb tomato plants (so I'll pant 6 out, just in case 2 don't make it..) and I've got about 30. Oops. Its a similar situation with sage plants - loads of them.

I think I'll give the extra to the local school fair. I'm running off little labels for the front of the pot to say what it it and how to plant it out etc. Hopefully they'll make some money out of it.

Otherwise I'll be overrun with plum tomatoes, coriander and thyme

I mentioned the other day that I was a member of a 'trading group' - Kutlets - where you add things you can do to a directory and can use other members services.

Well, my Bay Tree went to a seasoned 'Kutlet' member for their sustainable garden, which is good. I delivered it and got 5 'beaks' (virtual currency) in return, which makes me overdrawn by only 3 beaks (it costs 8 beaks to join per year).

You don't have to have a credit of beaks, ever really. When questioned the FAQ's tell me that as many people leave the group with credits than are overdrawn, and that it evens itself out. It does make the incentive a bit less though - maybe people won't let you have services if you have a huge 'overdraft' of beaks.

I did ask what kind of transactions take place - a lot of allotment produce gets traded, which is a great idea as I am hoping to have some extra later in the year (my greengrocer mentioned this earlier - I told him I'd still drop by for bananas and oranges!

However I have found someone who gives maths tuition - and I want my eldest to get some extra tuition because he has just dropped down a group - and I think it is lack of confidence rather than anything else. I don't want him to have a down on maths at age 8. I wonder if the tutor will be happy to work for beaks -he says he would-. Maybe I can supply his veggies and salad over the summer

I also want to find someone with a van who can make the odd local collection, then I can freecycle larger items. I keep telling my husband we need to swap his Ford Fiesta for a van but he is right in saying we don't need to really. If I can 'Trade' the odd van journey, that would be really worthwile.

I will be well overdrawn on 'Beaks' then - I'll have to sell my stuff (Fantastic Scrumptious Catering Size Carrot Cake (home grown carrots and all) with more vigour - what do you think?

Well, hardly - I don't think we've had a drop of rain this month yet, and I really need to dig a couple of beds on the allotment, which would be SO much easier if there was some rain!

The seeds in the shed are coming along nicely though and gradually moving indoors as I run out of space! I don't have a seed bed (yet) on the allotment, so I plant almost everything in seed trays or pots and then (having hardened them off) plant them outside. Brussel Sprouts don't really like this and are wilting, so I potted them on into deeper pots to see if this helps I know that starting seedlings off in trays or pots is a beginner thing, but then I am a beginner really. My soil is good, but does get a hard crust if it is dry for even a short period of time, so I always think seeds will have a hard time pushing through. (Weeds seem to manage it, of course)

That seems to be the case with the peas I planted a while ago - or possibly I put them in at the wrong depth because only 1 has sprouted. I planted another lot which haven't sprouted (yet) but covered them in potting compost so they could push their little shoots through more easily. (Ahh). I dig in compost and sand for the carrots too. So few came up with the earlier sowings last year that I planted this years under a poly tunnel. They have done a lot better and don't seem to mind the heat in the tunnel. I'm hoping it will confuse the carrot fly that got into some of my crop last year.

I got one of those gardening books for Christmas which gives all kinds of tips. A carrot fly tip was to put in bits of mirror amongst the carrot rows. Apparantly the female carrot fly likes to tbe the only one on the patch, so she buzzes up and down warding off the others. If she keeps seeing another carrot fly (ie herself in the mirror) she will buzz herself off into the ground and not ruin my carrots. As I have got a non-polytunnel section of carrots to pant as well, I've got an old mirror to break up and I shall give it a try! I'll let you know.

Maybe it will rain soon, replenish my water butt and assist my digging.

There is another 'green' group I am a member of that I haven't mentioned yet. It might be too wierd I joined in January and nothing has happened yet.

Its a 'Local Exchange Network Scheme' (LETS) and instead of money you trade skills for a 'virtual' currency (Beaks in our local group). You list your skills in a directory and people can call on your services if they need them. Your account (in Beaks) also gets listed. As it costs 8 beaks to join, I still have a deficit, but some people are hundreds of beaks in credit, so I guess their services are much more in demand than mine.

I offer Cake making, Small Business Marketing advice and I also offer the club room during the week in exchange for 'Beaks'. As no-one has approached me for anything I am thinking the service is very under-used (or just my services... I say no-one aproached me, in fact the committee did, to ask if I'd join and maybe help them with some marketing. I would be happy to do that, but they start their meetings just as I'm putting the children to bed and they meet across town, so it woiuld be almost impossible for me to get there.

They also have a 'marketplace' where you can sell 'things' for beaks so I thought I'd claw back some of my deficit by advertising a Bay tree I have got for a couple of beaks. I can't really understand the point of the market place (when you have Freecycle) but I think it all needs to get going somehow.

You can sell things that cost you money for 'part money part beaks' and I thought it would be wonderful for people to share resources (like use of a shredder or van for instance). I think lots of allotment stuff gets traded.

I'll see if there is any interest in the Bay tree

You probably don't remember 'Potty Time' - which I'm sure was with that bloke from the advert where he stood next to a mirrored glass window and put out 1 arm and 1 leg to look as though he was doing it with limbs on both sides (you probably had to be there..)- the ad was for a chain of shops.

Anyway, don't mind me, I'm in mourning for 'Life on Mars'.

But none of this is related to todays blog which is about potting - potting up seeds to be exact. Sometimes, (not) very occasionally, I completely misjudge how many seeds will grow big and stong in their trays end as I hate throwing them away, I pot them all on anyway.

Also, as I'm a beginner, I tend to start as much off as possible in trays and pots and then move it to the allotment later, as I've had so many disasters when I've sown them directly.

Some plants aren't keen on being moved, so I pot them on (or sow them in) biodegradable pots and then just plant the whole thing. This doesn't always work better - but I keep trying. The problem is, I hate buying disposable stuff, its such a waste. I make some pots from loo roll holders - my leeks did well in these last year. They're deep, which is good for leeks.

But other stuff needs bigger pots, so last year I found a website that gives instructions for how to make a pot out of a piece of newspaper (very Blue Peter). It works really well - you don't need that 'paper pot maker' gizmo I've seen for sale around the place, or jars, tape, staples or anything like that. Just a piece of newspaper.

I'd forgotten how to do it this afternoon when I wanted to repot something, so I had to find a new site with instructions. This one was much better than last years, so I've included a link for anyone who wants to give origami newspaper biodegradable pots a go!

I might rush out and take a picture as well.

Bye

(Michael Bentine did Potty Time, I remember now. I might have spelt it incorrectly, but I was just a kid then!) If anyone knows the shops being advertised (were they 'White Goods' shops like Currys?) please enlighten me!

CIVIC!! 'Lets all go to Civic, Lets all go to Civic, the friendly store, that gives you more' The Old Brain hasn't completely given up the ghost then!!

What a busy day! My husband and I got in the thick of things and spring cleaned the shed! This may not sound like a big task, but our shed is quite large and 'multifunctional', ie not only do I keep all sorts of rubbish in it, plus kids outdoor toys, the buggy (I have a 3-wheeler to take the little one to the allotment in the hope he'll fall asleep in it..), my husband keeps half of B&Q in it as well (when I say half, I mean he has the whole of B&Q but all containers are only half full..) and (most importantly, of course) I use it for sowing my seedlings and potting them on - the shed has a clear roof so is a bit greenhouse-like.

This time of year I need all the space for my seeds - they take over the little lean-to greenhouse, shed space and all my window ledges. My husband has been spending all the time since last years clear out adding half cut bits of wood, paint tins, tools with no use etc etc to the shed by (it would appear) lobbing them into the back.

Anyway, the kids thought it was going to be a bit boring until we got the whole shed out onto the garden and it suddenly became a big adventure.

I freecycled as much as possible as we went on in the hope that things would get collected during the day, but the only thing collected was a bottle of bonsai food. The only problem with freecycling is arranging a time for collection, but my front door is recessed slightly, so I put small items on the bottle recycling bin so people can just drive past and collect them when they like. I have to say it means I freecycle a lot more as I don't have to be here.

On the subject of freecycling, we have made the bar bigger at the club, but I have run out of money to buy furniture so we try to freecycle all the cane furniture that comes up and have created a 'conservatory effect' in one section of the bar. The furniture is light, free and we can freecycle it on when we can afford something else - Wonderful!

If I was analysing the effects of freecycle, I don't think there are any downsides, possibly around here you have to be pretty quick off the mark to get things! If you're giving stuff away (which I mainly am) its only making arrangeents for collection that get a bit tedious - and now I can leave stuff outside, its great'
It would get a 'Best Buy Gold Star!'

The good thing about this blog is that I need green ideas to blog about, so it does motivate me to DO things, instead of just intending to do them!

As a quarter of a year has gone by since I started blogging about green things that affect our family, I thought I'd review it, so I've parked the children in front of the TV, like the wonderful mother I am and will start with food shopping and milk.

This time last year I ordered my weeks shopping from Tesco, who deliver on a Tuesday. The new resolution was go get milk and juice delivered and buy meat from the local butcher and buy veggies (those I am not growing on the allotment) from the local greengrocer. I have to do this while travelling to the club where I work (although I mainly work from home) as its on the way. I then order loo rolls, washing powder, tins of tomatoes etc from Tesco every fortnight.

The advantages have been huge:
The meat is 100 (at least) times better. All my family have commented on it (except the little one who is only 2). The butchers know where the meat comes from and it is superb!
Using Tescos every other week has cut the carrier bag consumption by more than half.
Milk - apart from the recyclable milk cartons, my other big waste product was tetra pak cartons from the gallons of juice we seem to get through. The milkman has pretty much eliminated these.

There are some disadvantages:
It is more expensive (about £10 per week)
The children don't like the apple jiuce from the milkman, so I switched to orange and buy some apple juice from Waitrose (when we're getting little one's cookie after tumble tots!). There is some advantage in we can get 'pressed' apple juice instead of concentrate, but it does create tetra pak waste that (in my area anyway) you can't recycle.
Milk and juice comes in pint bottles, whereas we used to buy a 4 pint and 2 pint carton. When milk/juice arrives (every other day) it takes up loads of space in my fridge, for about 24 hours until we drink most of it. What I could do with are some 2 pint fridge door jugs. In glass, not plastic. I do have litre one which is quite useful, but as we all know 'a litre of water is a pint and three quarters' so not that great for saving space.

I'm sticking with it though, the reduction in waste, increase in quality of food, shopping is more friendly and supporting local small businesses.

Overall a 'highly recommended'

I haven't been blogging much lately. Since January I have been trying to get the club together for the 'Annual Hockey Dinner'. It was said that the club could not be good enough to host the dinner - too run down/cold etc etc so I PROMISED it would be lovely. I made curtains, bought fairy lights to go across the beams, created a trophy cabinet from the TV cabinet, husband made radiator covers, coverted the bar from a big room with a huge bar and not much space to stand and drink, to a big room with a smaller bar and lots of space to sit/stand, and a 'snug'. I bought new dining tables, tablecloths. On a tiny tiny budget we got a fantastic effect and the Hockey lot added final details - balloons and candles (in club colours) on the tables, lillies and lollies in the ladies loo (that went down well!).

Anyway - the culmination of all this effort was on Saturday, and I was a real punter as husband plays Hockey for the club.

And it went well, REALLY well, and people I spoke to loved it. And I did have a hangover Sunday (which was unfortunate because we had all 14 of my family for Sunday lunch for my Eldest's birthday) and my husband had a HUGE hangover (which was doubly unfortunate because he was doing the cooking)..

And now I need to sleep for about a year! (But I can't because its the school holidays)

And Harry Potter went down well as well. Phew!

I'll post a photo when I get hold of one because I'm proud of the achievement! don't ask me to make any more curtains though because I'm fed up with them now