My allotment, which I have had for 7 years now, is one of my passions and gives me so many benefits:

– fresh air and exercise (when the weather is being kind!)
– something to occupy me on fast days – or any other day
– meeting people with the same interests
– an engagement with nature, the seasons, the weather and wildlife
but best of all
– plenty of fresh, cheap, organic, unusual and delicious fruits and vegetables 🙂

If you’re getting fed up with jogging, gym machines and other repetitive exercise, maybe you could consider this as a way to broaden your horizons? I’m not trying to sell anything, I just wanted to share an idea, in case it’s something you’ve never considered (I know many of you probably do it already)
I know many allotment sites have very long waiting lists, but not all do, and if you have some spare space in the garden perhaps you could grow some veg at home.
Does anyone else have an allotment, and how has your life changed since you started?

Now is the time to start – and composted chicken poo makes great fertilizer!

Grrrr to squirrels and grrrr to pigeons!
One of my projects for this weekend is to use up some of my surfeit of squashes in some sweet and spicy slow-cooked squash chutney – hoping it will be a bit like mango chutney – to have with curries. I am quite keen on roast squash, but I’m the only one in the family who is, the others only seem to like it in soup (and the spicier the better) so I’m having to get creative with it.
I’ve currently got potatoes chitting, garlic and broad beans growing and leek seeds sown. Tomorrow I will be sowing tomatoes and chillies 🙂