Moving & Harvest as Therapy

They say moving house is stressful, more stressful than a divorce even. Well thankfully I haven’t a clue about divorce but moving, yes. This will be our seventh move and we pray our last.

This one has been the most stressful in some ways. We know how much can go wrong and before we’ve been relatively laid back. If this one falls through then we’ll find another has been the attitude. This time we’re moving to our dream and whilst we know logically there must other places as good or even better that we could afford, this is the one we’re in love with.

So much stress, a lot of sorting out and packing with more to come. We’ve signed contracts, monies are organised and fingers crossed, the contracts will be exchanged on Thursday or Friday followed by us moving on the 15th October. I’ll post more about the new place when the contracts are exchanged.

Today having been spent in frantic phone calls, arranging dates and re-arranging dates with removal companies, solicitors and our buyer, I’d had enough and was ready to blow. So off to the plot.

For now all I have left to do is to try and get the allotments in some semblance of order for the new tenants and harvest remaining crops. Over on plot 29 I’ve still got courgettes, a few runner beans, tomatoes and peppers.

The plum tomatoes and peppers are the same varieties we’re giving away with our books. I’ve got to say the Incas tomatoes are brilliant. They’re firm and the skins come of easily after scalding which makes them ideal for bottling or just cooking as a breakfast tomato. The flavour is superb, quite sweet yet very tomato-ish.

Normally I grow Roma as a plum tomato, I’ve tried San Marzano and another variety whose name escapes me, but this is the first to beat Plum Roma.

The chilli peppers, “Hot Stuff” are very productive but they’re a bit slow off the mark. If we’d had started earlier, it would have been fine but we’ve a lot of green chillis that won’t have time to turn red. Not that it affects the flavour much, but we do like dried red peppers.

Back over to plot 5 where I got out my kneeling stool and sat down by the carrot barrels to finish those off. Considering we’ve been having carrots from them all year, an amazing carrier bag full.

More important than the carrot crop was that, by the time I’d finished, the steam had vented and my shoulders un-knotted. Some people pay for therapy, I harvest carrots.

Posted in Allotment Garden Diary
3 comments on “Moving & Harvest as Therapy
  1. Steve in Salford says:

    Dear John

    Relax it will all be over soon, easy for me to say I remember the last time I moved which was in 1993 thinking, how did I fit all that in the last place. Well some items are still in boxes in the spare room and having inherited a partner over 8 years ago now (been living together for the last 6 years) all the way from Mexico, things really have got out of hand.

    We have once again come to that point of having a thorough clear out, they are a hoarder can not buy one toothpaste or for that matter one pair of jeans, we have sock mountain over two chest of drawers and enough is enough.

    Having recently had a leak from the apartment above has meant we have had to move most of the items out of the bedroom. That is now about to be fixed finally after 9 months and the room will be decorated soon after.

    Items will be moved back in and we will shunt the bed from from large room to the small room when summer turns to winter easier to heat, not that we did last year.

    As for me I am hoarder as well (there I have said it “I confess my sins”) but of electronics mostly reel to reel tape recorders, oh there are several whole ones and several not so whole ones.

    So the time has come for a good sort out this has been ongoing for some months and odd bits like redundant paperwork have been shredded and composted. There is more to go yet, I now separate out the kitchen waste and that is composted as well, along with tippings from the hoover and tumble driver.

    About to ask the local hairdresser for hair clippings as well, in addition to a local timber merchant for sawdust and the local veg shop for dead and dying vegetables all for the compost heap.

    The more organic matter I can lay my hands on the more compost can be created from waste their is compost and ultimately great tasting fruit and vegetables.

    But back more to your troubles with your chillies how about making some green chile chutney or jam or relish? Or pickle them? I know time is tight but at least they will find another use rather than leaving them. Even if it means you pick them the day before you move out, take them with you Freeze them….yes I know more to lift and move but all is not lost and will all soon be over.

    All the best for the move and we all look forward to regular updates once you have moved…onwards and upwards.

  2. John says:

    Hi Steve

    Well I certainly won’t be wasting the chilli peppers 🙂

    Thanks for the reassurance as well.

    John

  3. Steve in Salford says:

    No Problem John I am sure that Val will thank you when you offer them to her to do something with. May I suggest that you duck at that point lest the Le Crueset or the rolling pin should come your direction, if they are not packed already.

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