Thank god we paid the mortgage off

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82058614#Comment_82058614

Thanks! I need to head over there and get reading!

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82058861#Comment_82058861

@Cherryfudge - it is me - they are my favourite. I sent Black Russian seeds to @foxgloves to try them - I'm a real fan of them. I have grown two varieties - a sort of salad, round version, which I mostly chop, freeze and then batch cook into passata, and the beefsteak version that is just lovely in a simple salad. I pick them slightly early, because they are a heritage variety and my experience is that inevitable greenhouse gribblies like them too, for their high sugar content - and then ripen them on my kitchen windowsill for a day or two. Great sliced with basil, oil, salt and pepper. I hope that helps

ladybird1106

They sound like a nice tomato,I’ll keep an eye out for some Black Russian seeds. I’ve started growing more heritage veggies for flavour.
Cherryfudge I have 2 big freezers to accommodate all the veggies/fruit that comes off the plot.
At the plot I tied in the tomato plants and weeded the greenhouses. Hoed everything and everywhere. Watered the pumpkins, squash and courgettes. We have our first courgettes forming 🥳. Bean area was mulched and watered. Started taking out the spent broad beans. Plot neighbour advised me that my sweetcorn was developing suckers and I needed to cut them out otherwise they won’t fruit. Since they been growing for 60 years I’ll sort today. Mr🐞 continues to dig the leek bed over.
FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY

• free exercise- we were at the allotment for 6 hours yesterday 🥹😮‍💨.
• harvested the 1st row of potatoes and washed them on site -free water that was then used to water my herbs.
• harvested broad beans for future meals.
• used nature’s tumble dryer.
• breakfast - homegrown strawberries and Tay berries on pancakes with yogurt.
• snacks - homegrown apricots and cherries
• tea- pesto and veggie pasta - homegrown basil, garlic, candelua petals, peas and broad beans.
• harvested dill, parsley, basil, garlic chives, oregano and Welsh onions to make herb pancakes this morning with sautéed (olio) mushrooms 🤤.

Time to yoga 🧘🏻‍♀️ apparently, very stiff this morning.

Love 🐞

Cherryfudge

@Suffolk_lass , thank you! I'm looking forawrd to trying them - nowhere near ready yet but a good sturdy plant and popular with the pollinators, so I have high hopes. I'll bear in mind to harvest slightly early as I begrudge my crops to the 'gribblies'! (Great word).

@ladybird1106 - lovely to have so much freezer space! Or maybe not space as you have so much allotment produce. Those pancakes sound yummy.

Our courgettes are forming, too. In a week or so I will need freezer space…

VintageHistorian

What a fabulous list of meals from the allotment.

ladybird1106

Thanks vintage historian, we have to get very creative when gluts happen.
Another day at the plot yesterday. Managed to finish getting the brassica netting in place. It covers at least a 1/3 of one of the plots. We use old tent poles( the bendy variety) so that we can walk upright underneath it, it keeps the pigeons at bay. Mr🐞 has wombled the poles from work when on patrol over the years. He often came across tents just dumped in the middle of nowhere. Anyway the pigeons had figured out it they sat on the netting they could get to whatever was underneath. The poles stop this. Mr 🐞finally finished digging over the leek area.

FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY .
• free exercise- 4.5 hours at the allotment.
• planted future meals ( we planted our 260th leek, kale and cauliflowers) and watered brassica area.
• tea was spring veggie risotto ( broad beans, peas, onions, garlic and carrots).
• snacks -apricots.
• car and dw programmed to come on when electric is cheap.
• toilet roll squeezed to make it last longer ( the theory being that it doesn’t roll in your hand therefore you use less).
• bath and shower water saved to flush the loo.
• purse emptied of change and put into the change pot.
• £30 leftover from the £200 I withdraw to cover weekly spends ( shopping /petrol etc. Will take £190 out this week. Put £10 to top it up to £200 and put £20 in an envelope as my first contribution to my £500 target.

I’m off to a friend’s today for lunch. Picnic in the garden. I’m taking homegrown apricots and lettuce, tuna (cupboard) and pizza wheels ( ys from the freezer). Dropping 2 sacks of dog food at another friend’s house on the way.
The youngest is meeting mum in town for lunch and then is off to the chazzer to volunteer. It’s their first official shift as they have finished their college placement 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳. Super proud of them.

Hope you all have a good day, hugs to those who are not well or end up having a rough day.

Love 🐞

Cherryfudge

Very well done to your youngest!

Enjoy your time with your friend.

ladybird1106

Thanks cherryfudge had lovely time with my friend.
Had a very distraught phone call from the eldest around a particular issue yesterday. Once they calmed down we discussed a plan of action. Anyway as predicted once they rang in the evening crisis had been averted. Think they are most upset that someone has gone behind their back and then denied they had and what they had written but they had cc eldest into email they had sent. Educated idiot. Unfortunately for them eldest has the upper hand ( and always had) and nothing ticks them off more than people lying. So, we’ll see how that ends. Eldest is not a malicious person but won’t stand for crap and certainly won’t be as generous with their time to said person.
We didn’t go to the plot last night as I was super tired. Unfortunately once I got into bed , I think I slept for about an hour and then was wide awake till 3:30am.
FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY .
• breakfast was homegrown apricots and yogurt.
• tea was salad sandwiches- homegrown lettuce.
• shopping came to £38ish.
• car and dw programmed to come on when cheap tariff is available.

Love 🐞

ladybird1106

Yesterday was bit of a spendy day as I took my mum for afternoon tea to say thank you for all the support she has given us over the last 5 years. She has stayed with us 2 or 3 nights per week to help me get the youngest to college. We made a good tag team and reckon we were about 65% 🤣successful getting them to go. Couldn’t have done it without her and remained sane.
FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY.
• used homemade compost feed ( a mixture of comfrey, nettle, worm sweat and banana liquids) diluted with water to feed all my future meals. A very smelly job and of course I managed to slop it all over myself.
• breakfast was homegrown grown apricots and yogurt and tea was salad with homegrown lettuce.
• free exercise with all the walking up and down to the tap at the allotment and lifting heavy watering cans. Took me about 2 hours.
• sowed ingredients for future meals, lettuce, spinach and beetroot.
• car, dw and wm programmed to come on when cheap leccy is available.
• water from showers saved to flush the loos.
• letting my favourite lettuce bolt to produce seed for next year. Unfortunately my attempt to produce seed from my kale and savoy cabbage didn’t work as the pigeons got to them🤬. Also saving some beans from the broad bean plants. Sage leaves have successfully dried, just need to pack it into some jars.
• harvested our first courgettes, sent these to my FIL via the youngest.

Today I’m volunteering in the morning and then pop to the plot to hoe and water the greenhouses as we have baby tomatoes and cucumbers coming.
Love to everyone

🐞

ladybird1106

Phew yesterday was hot and it’s going to be hotter today. Unfortunately my car started playing up and I’ve had to take it in to be looked at. The fatal words of “ of its an old car x but I’ll see what we can do” happened. Discussed with them that I’d already planned to test drive loads of vehicles when I get back of holiday ( we go tomorrow 🤞). They were relived we had begun to think about it as the car has been in several times this year and you can only put sticking plaster on so many times, plus he didn’t want it to come as a shock if it can’t be sorted. Mum been taking her car there for over 40 years, my uncle uses them and I’ve used them for at 30 years so we know them well. They know I run my cars into the ground and they know about the youngest, so always fit me in if I have an issue. Anyway hopefully 🤞 it’s fixable.
Volunteering went ok.
FRUGAL WINS FOR YESTERDAY .
• used nature’s tumble dryer.
• hoed and watered future meals at the plot.
• didn’t buy anything as I was too busy sorting out the 🚘

Best get the washing out. Unable to start packing as we don’t know if it will be 2 cars or 1 car going tomorrow. It’s a holiday with mum. So pleased we kept the youngest old electric chair (although they asked if they could stay home as the old one isn’t as comfortable) as that can be lifted into mum’s if we go in 1 and we will have to pack light🤣.
love 🐞