Harder than I thought

I’ve sat here stewing for the best part of a week over the fact that I can’t get straight out and dig for my dinner, and I have discovered that waiting is really hard, so I think I may need to change the subject for a while.

I would talk about how I enjoy cooking, but the very thought of it is enough to make me feel ill at the moment. My suspicion is that I’m dealing with low blood sugar, as I’m tired, nauseous and cold. I’m somewhat headachey too, but that could very easily be put down to work related stress (those who know me can attest how true that is).

The other down side is that feeling so droopy is not at all conducive to getting out in the garden and whipping it into shape, no matter how good the weather is. It’s just awful, everyone else’s garden near me is at the very least tidy, with the grass at a sensible height, and mine is full of weeds, too long, and I feel too limp to pay any attention to it. I had to force myself out of bed today. I would happily have stayed there all day, but no matter how rough one feels, some things have to be done.

I’ve even gone and placed a dotcom grocery order (shocking by itself) that has a loaf of bread on it. I mean to say, things must be grim if I’m not feeling up to loading the breadmaker!

I’m going to raid the vitamins, have some fruit juice and have an early night I think.

Sad, deflated I suppose…

I’m so disappointed. I really wanted – and still do want – to get out and dig something, grow something, watch it happen and marvel at it all.

I’ve been told I have to go on the waiting list. That meanie Person at the Office lied to me, and I hate him without even knowing his name! I truly thought I’d be able to get going virtually straight away. I’d been out hunting up prices for stuff I thought I might need, and I was riding such a wave of anticipation, and it just isn’t going to happen yet.

Sigh. My garden is truly not big enough or protected sufficently from marauding people to consider growing anything except flowers and herbs; besides which the soil is barely good enough for grass. All the nice flowers are growing in pots!

I’ll make a start on getting the garden looking how I’d like it to be and hopefully by the time I’m happy with it I’ll be able to get the fork into an allotment. At least I know how I want the garen to look. A bit of grass with lots of scented old fashioned stuff around it, and just enough space for the washing line in the middle.

Nervous chatter

I’m bracing myself now. Tomorrow I get to go to the Corn Exchange in Town and find out if there are any allotments near me. If there are, then I can get out my pitifully poor equipment and start digging for Britain – or at least for my supper someday down the line!

There is a very long list of things I want to grow in my pocket, and I was very aware on the way home from work that I know nothing, but nothing about how to grow veg! Come to think of it, I know very little about growing fruit; soft or otherwise, too.

When do you plant potatoes, and which types are more disease resistant? And carrots? All I know is how to eat them. Beans? I think you just shove them in the ground and encourage them up a pole and then pick them, but I’m probably hideously wrong, and someone who knows a bit more about growing fruit and veg than I do is probably laughing very hard at me.

I am also not sure if I want help. I really want this to be something I do and learn from. If someone helps me, I’m a little worried that I’ll turn into a bit of a passenger with my own allotment, not learn anything and the people who have helped or are helping will turn around and tell me they hate me!

Here’s hoping that it’s all ok

Big Plans or Pipe Dreams?

I’m very excited. I’ve decided I need an allotment, and I’ve been told by the council that there are some available here in Town, so I shall be going this weekend to investigate and get started.

I really hope it works. I want to do it for a whole selection of reasons.
-My garden is tiny and the soil is pretty poor
-I need to cut my bills, and growing veg for a “mostly veggie” seems like a good way to go it
-I need to find other forms of exercise. While my legs are fairly toned from the cycling I do, the rest of me is lagging a long way behind.
-I want the opportunity to meet people. Growing things in a communal setting sounds like a good way to go.

I have millions of ideas of things I want to grow, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fit them all in, but at the moment I know I’m bracing myself for a huge amount of digging before I can put anything in the ground at all. I want the stuff I grow to have the best chance possible, so I have already concluded that I’m prepared to use chemicals as well as the more organic things. Slug pellets for one. I refuse to let the horrible little creatures anywhere near my tender growing plants!

I have already negotiated a trade. Father is prepared to help in exchange for food, and Father used to keep an allotment before I was born and while I was tiny, so this is a very profitable exchange.

Other than the assistance, I have nothing. I also have very little idea of what I’m letting myself in for other than going to a patch of ground where I’m growing things regardless of rain or sun. I have ideas of things I will need, and things I want, but nothing really more than that.

Yes, while I am excited, I’m also a bit scared. I think my biggest fears are that I’ll either lose interest and have wasted money on my hands rather than reduced bills, or that disease will strike and I’ll have nothing to show for the hard work I’ve put in!