In my opinion, buying food has not only become expensive it has also become a nightmare. One minute it's low fat then it's the right fats or it's sugar free, but what about the artificial sweeteners? Then there's the traffic lights system which is a joke, as Cocoa Cola has four green traffic lights which would imply it's the healthiest drink on the market. And now we've got UPF's or Ultra Processed Foods.

What you might not know about UPF's is that the majority of the ingredients, Corn, Soya, Wheat and Oats are all sprayed heavily with Glyphosate. How do we navigate this madness?

Glyphosate is the main ingredient in the weed-killer Roundup® and is the most widely used chemical herbicide in history. I won't drone on about the big pharmaceutical company Beyer or the company it bought out, Monsanto, as I would be here all day.

So how can we reduce this cancer causing chemical in our food that we buy and eat? What we probably don't realise is that we have all the power to make a change, we can choose. We can choose to eat healthier fresh, non-processed foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables thus reducing our reliance on contaminated processed products. We can take this a step further by choosing only organic products or of course grow it ourselves or buy organic, preferably from local farm markets.

One thing you should never do is buy Roundup® from your garden centre.💀

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now haha!

Lottie News!

The wildlife last month was Frogs, this time it's Birds, Wood Pigeons and Parakeets to be exact. Both are after feasting on the Sunflower seeds that were drying on the flower heads that I'd saved in my poly tunnel. I thought it was mice pinching my seeds, but the arrival of a Wood Pigeon made me think differently. The Parakeets, who on the one hand can make a very loud squawking noise when flying about can also land on a sunflower head like a silent ghoul in a horror film. They then stare at you with their motionless bright green bodies and their beady eyes when you catch them eating your seeds. I have to say they give me the creeps.😕🦜

There was quite a bit of harvesting going on last month. I had a record breaking Onion coming in at almost a whole pound in weight and an Amish Paste Tomato that was 1lb & 3/8 oz or almost half a kilo! I don't start out to grow big veg, it just happens. I don't know if it's due to doing the no-dig method of gardening I do or it's the organic fertiliser I use as I don't believe in 'green fingers' or 'green thumbs' depending where you come from in this world.

This season I got my first decent sized Uchiki Kuri and two Delacata Squashes, which I'm very pleased about. I also finally got some Strawberries from my experimental guttering as well. I've now managed to propagate some of the runners from the surviving Strawberry plants and have re-populated the guttering. Fingers crossed for next year.

Some of the high winds we had last month nearly uprooted both my tallest Sunflower and my wooden Bean arch...Beans and all. They say with climate heating we're going to have to expect stronger and more frequent storms, so it's going to be prudent to make sure things are well pegged down or supported in the future.

Last week I saw almost 400 bags of well rotted manure and wood chip onto the allotment site...not all mine I should add. I'll be covering my beds with an inch or two of the compost and topping up my pathways with the wood chip over the next few weeks. That should keep me busy.

Have a great weekend everyone. 🌱💚🌱