More Olympic Gardening ..

This week its been Olympic digging stuff up and Olympic Seed sending oh as well as a trip to, you guessed it, "The Olympic Park" . Before you start reading I also have to warn you that this is an Olympic size blog entry, so you may need to go and get a power drink before you start reading.. 

So starting at the beginning of the week, I left you with the news that I was finally going to make home grown tomato sauce. I did and it was wonderful. I was able to use my home grown shallots as well, sadly the chillies were not big enough last week, (Although they are now) so I had to use shop bought. I am not going to describe the process, I think the pictures speak for themselves. 

It was delicious and I have a few more red ones today so I am going to make some up and freeze it for another day. 

Now digging stuff up - My broccoli never came to much, we had a few heads but the weather didn't do it any favours at all, last week I noticed a strong smell of rotting veg near the broccoli bed and realised that the stems were now rotten and they had run to seed. 

The carrots in the same bed were also in a bit of a state. These were the ones that I had previously dug and found to suitable, only for the residents of Lilliput.

They did look pretty but, I had some purple sprouting broccoli that needed the space, so it was time to dig it up. So the broccoli went to the compost and the carrots were dug and put aside for the dog to eat, as they were no good for us. 

The purple sprouting broccoli then took its place.

So that was them in, elsewhere things are still growing.. Finally I have butternut squash

And my second attempt at peas have appeared, the first lot were rubbish. 

My winter potato collection is also now in. 

Sadly though Blight has struck again. I lost my potato foliage to it and it started on my tomatoes but I thought I had got all the affected leaves off, After a trip to London and 24 hours away from the plot, it took hold again. Thursday I was sad to see that a lot of my Sungold variety were blighted but the Alicante wasn't anywhere near as bad. 

I had to pull out 4 plants and the remainder all had large number of leaves cut off, so lets wait to see if I have saved them. They look a bit odd now and the bed looks empty.

Thankfully it hasn't got in the greenhouse so those plants are still flourishing. 

There are lots of flowers out now as well. I planted them randomly amongst the veg and they look very pretty

Seeds next. I have mentioned a scheme called SeedyPenpals before and this week saw the first round of seed swapping. The basic premise is that twice a year, I swap seeds with a like minded person somewhere else in the Uk or Europe, and then blog about the subsequent successes or failures. The spreadsheet arrived and I found I was to send seeds to a Lady called Clare in Devon and to receive seeds from Solly in Sussex. They both write blogs so If you click on their name you will go to them. Solly's video of the cutting of his Giant Cabbage is a masterpiece and not to be missed (Typed with tongue in cheek) An entertaining round of tweets and emails later and postmen in the south of England were carrying our bounty in their sacks. 

My seeds from Solly arrived very promptly. 

He suggested as it was a bit late in the year, that I planted the dwarf beans in the greenhouse.. Good Idea, so out I went and in they went. 

The pack was marked and put away.

And an entry added in my planting Diary. I don't think I have mentioned this before. I write down everything I plant, when it starts to grow, when I pick it and what it tastes like. This should help me next year to plan my planting better. 

He also sent me Silver Chard, Cavalo Nero, Spinach, Chioggia Beets, and various cabbage and greens. These were all planted in seed trays to get them going in the greenhouse before I plant them out. 

Now what did I send, Well Clare told me she had an allotment and a Balcony and she liked herbs and any veg, so I tried to pick stuff that she can plant now. I sent, Basil, Rocket, Spinach, Broad Beans, and Japanese Onions. and for a bit of colour, some Bird of Paradise that I got in Madiera and some wild Lupin seeds that I picked from the plants on our beach earlier this year. 

They were packed up and with a note from me are currently in the post and hopefully arriving with her this morning. 

Now time for the obligatory pet picture. The chickens were enjoying a few strawberries on the lawn and Gibson was determined to get his paws on them, The chickens though, were not having any of it and they defended their strawberries valiantly .. No fruit for the Puppy.. 

And finally, Our weekly trip somewhere this week was to London. More specifically Stratford. Of the 50 tickets I applied for in the Olympic draw, the only ones we were lucky enough to get were for the Athletics on the evening of the 8th of August. So the morning dawned, raining on the south coast and we set off on our adventure. 2 hours in the car, then and 1 hour on the tube and we finally arrived at Stratford. 

I think you will have heard lots of descriptions of the Park and the Atmosphere on the Tv and they are all right.. having spent 30 years commuting into London I was amazed at how well organised it all was and how easy it was to get on the tube. It was wonderful, everyone smiled, no one pushed or hurried!! 

The park was beautiful with lovely gardens. 

We wandered around for a while then headed to the stadium.

Our seats were almost on the roof, but we had an amazing view. 

So much happend, too much to describe, but the highlight was seeing the 200 metres mens semi-finals with Ussain Bolt.. wow, he looked like he was out for a sunday stroll. (Not quite as easy in the final though)  

We headed back South happy and wondering if we can save up to go to Rio!! 

Well thats it, sorry its been a bit long, but we have had a very special week.. hope you enjoyed sharing it with me.