Call the police, somebody stole November! I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden I’ve been catapulted into December!

Christmas Party with the Young Operation Farmers

But I’m not that bothered, ‘cos it’s countdown to CHRISTMAS !!!

The last of the veggies

Up in the top garden, we harvested the last of the heritage beetroot, which I have to say, grew really well, so I’m pretty chuffed with that. There’s only one crop left in the veg beds now and that’s the purple sprouting broccoli.

My guest post for Mr Plant Geek

I was chuffed to bits, when Mr Plant Geek asked me to write a guest post on his blog – he’s like a ‘social media gardening guru‘! I chose to write about ‘heavenly herbs’, as we’ve planted loads this year and enjoyed scoffing them too. You can read the article here

Mossley Community Orchard picks up its first award

Well done to my mates, who volunteer at the local orchard in Mossley as it won the Community Orchard Awards for Greater Manchester. We planted the first of the fruit trees in March 2017 and every now and again I’ve been back to help with a bit of maintenance.

Here’s a video of when we planted the first trees

Weeping willow

In summer my Mum was sat in the top garden, admiring the willow tree, she said, “you know, that’s by far my favourite thing in this garden”. Literally, two weeks later it shrivelled up and died in front of our eyes. We think it suffered from the heat this summer. We are all absolutely gutted. We’re going to stick with it until next spring and if there’s no sign of life, we’re going to dig it up and rethink the planting in that area. I’ll keep you posted.

First of December, first Christmas Party

So, the 1st of December, heralded the first of the Christmas celebrations as me and the other Young Operation Farmers enjoyed some festive fun. We raised every single penny that we spent on the party and then we all chose at least one thing we wanted, that would make it special. I chose a fire and then we could toast marshmallows to make s’mores. They were scrummy

Work hard, play hard is my motto and after partying like a pro, there was a lot of cleaning up to do. Me & my mum and Grandma did the last bits of tidying up at the community kitchen and I have to admit I was shattered, but just as we were locking up I heard the call of a peregrine. I looked up as it swooped overhead before landing on the nearby church. I felt like it was the icing on the cake of a fab day!

Three weeks left at school for me and then it’s Christmas chill time. Hope you’re enjoying the start of the festive season. Have you got any winter crops in your veg beds/allotment? Have a great week folks!