The Dig Issue at The Guardian

Out of complete coincidence I went to a Bloggers meet up group a couple of months ago and met with some other Bloggers in the 'Diff. (Cardiff!) Some were food enthusiasts, pub writers, fellow geeks and fashionistas. A real fun mix of people who talked about their passions and blogging techniques.

After the meeting and talks I gained the attention of a Guardian journalist and I was asked if I would like to write about my plot. To be honest, I have never really thought about my blog in an "audience-appealing" way which I know sounds daft seeing as it's open to the whole world to read! I blog about the plot because it's fun and it's a nice record to have of what you have done each year. I don't do it to gain attention. It's quite humble really!

Writing posts on The Dig Issue is easy as it just flows when you're on the plot and looking around you. Writing for The Guardian is a bit more "Ooh blimey!" Somehow though, I did manage to scramble my thoughts into a coherent fashion and wrote an article in 800 words that summed up my allotmenteer experiences. Somehow it just flowed and worked and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. (blow of a tiny trumpet!)

The link is here if you would like to read it. :)

Gourd Lanterns

Halloween will be upon us soon and even though we didn't plant any squashes - we were left some Gourds in the Greenhouse from a mystery allotmenteer. I couldn't actually cut any open but Dave managed to make some lanterns which are very impressive! Just need some tealights to go inside them.



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Green Fingered Family

My dad has always been into gardening and I knew that his mum enjoyed growing vegetables too. In fact, she insisted that I got manure onto my plot when she found out about my new gardening hobby. "Get manure, it makes all the difference" she said.

I am very lucky that my dad has such a great interest in his family tree as I have recently just found out that my great grandfather had an allotment for over 40 years! I couldn't believe it. Even more staggering is that his father (my great, great grandfather) was the Head Gardener for Deepdene House in Dorking, Surrey. (Since demolished in the 1960's)

Very much a green fingered family!

Here is a photo of my great grandfather, James, on his plot which ran alongside the railway he worked on and the very first photo of me on the plot in 2006. A very similar pose!!