My Wits’ End - Lost in my Allotment

My Wits’ End - Lost in my Allotment My allotment - my Wits’ End. My place for peace and growth.

“Would you like soil in your tea, sir?”
18/08/2026

“Would you like soil in your tea, sir?”

TL;DR: Large White/Cabbage White caterpillar found a space to pupate after eating my kale. Photo 1 = Caterpilar yesterda...
24/07/2026

TL;DR: Large White/Cabbage White caterpillar found a space to pupate after eating my kale. Photo 1 = Caterpilar yesterday; Photo 2 = 24hrs later.

I never really mind sharing with the wildlife. If we want the butterflies, we need to feed the caterpillars right? After my home Kale was absolutely decimated by caterpillars I was really happy to find one of the caterpillars in their pupation station.

Took a photo just over 24hrs later and you can see it’s already shed its skin and formed a Chrysalis.

For a bit of fun, I decided to enter Royal Tunbridge Wells in Bloom and the judges are coming tomorrow! 😨 Nothing like 3...
14/07/2026

For a bit of fun, I decided to enter Royal Tunbridge Wells in Bloom and the judges are coming tomorrow! 😨 Nothing like 3 heatwaves and some windy days to help prep!

My daughters (6 and 3) were both out helping dead head, prune and water the roses this evening and we think it’s looking pretty good! The girls are really excited to find out if we’ll get a certificate 🥰

Have entered the allotment, wildlife pond and best planter category too.

Has anyone else entered a local “In Bloom” competition this year?

They say we make the biggest sacrifices for our children but I say we make them for our plants.After finally sitting dow...
10/07/2026

They say we make the biggest sacrifices for our children but I say we make them for our plants.

After finally sitting down on a Friday evening, I realised I hadn’t watered our plant babies in the greenhouse or allotment for three days in this heatwave 😨

So I did what any good plant dad would do and jumped in the car [sacrificing the perfect parking space right outside our house] and drove to the allotment to save my babies.

If looks could kill, then I’d be composted.

When I saw what had transpired [or, ironically, stopped transpiring] it was clear I had barely made it in time.

Not since 1666 has so much water been fetched and poured in such heat.

It’s been an incredibly stressful end of year at school/work and I’ve had a bad patch of mental health hit at the same t...
09/07/2026

It’s been an incredibly stressful end of year at school/work and I’ve had a bad patch of mental health hit at the same time.

This coincided with a lack of quality time at the allotment - a bit of a chicken and egg situation.

But I’m thankful for getting some photos of the times I did get outside. I’m thankful for the big harvests of onions and courgettes and some garlic.

Hope everyone else is getting on ok in this heat … rain forecast next week thank goodness!

Remember it’s not just the heat this week … UV index is going up to 8 on Wednesday and 7 on other days 😦
22/06/2026

Remember it’s not just the heat this week … UV index is going up to 8 on Wednesday and 7 on other days 😦

Overdid it in the the sun today, and the greenhouse was HOT while I put the tomatoes in the ground! Mrs O planted out th...
14/06/2026

Overdid it in the the sun today, and the greenhouse was HOT while I put the tomatoes in the ground! Mrs O planted out the butternut squash, and the kids decided to do an experiment planting some grass seed from the wild area in different places.

Wits End Cafe had a flower arrangement too!

Good grief.This weekend marked 5 years since my dad died. He loved the outdoors, gardening and he even landscaped the g...
07/06/2026

Good grief.

This weekend marked 5 years since my dad died. He loved the outdoors, gardening and he even landscaped the garden (all clay) when we moved house when I was 7.

Life these days is so busy minute to minute, I could easily say that I don’t have the time to miss him. But I make the time and remember him each time I’m at the plot digging clay, fashioning things out of spare wood, or fixing lawnmowers and other gadgets.

Today I took my mum to the allotment as her and dad were always in the garden whenever I rocked up at theirs. We both said he’d have loved it here and would have loved getting involved! Mum potted up some tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers and chilled out by the pond while I bundled around doing bits and bobs.

The ladies of the house were busy weeding and sowing too this morning - a proper day of fresh air, hard work and quietly remembering Dad.

Today was a home garden day - with the wheelbarrow planter the focus! I up-cycled my parents’ old wheelbarrow this time ...
30/05/2026

Today was a home garden day - with the wheelbarrow planter the focus! I up-cycled my parents’ old wheelbarrow this time last year and it was time for the summer plants to go in!

Our town has an “In Bloom” competition and I’ve decided to enter it this year [you get a £5 voucher just for entering] with the wheelbarrow entered in the “best planter” category.

After getting my hands in the soil and removing the old pansies and violas, it was time to head to nursery to choose some plants! I hadn’t been before so darted in and they had so many good quality and fairly priced plants!

I decided to go for things I’ve never grown before and see how they do including some Gypsophila, Nemesia and Osteospermum.

Thinned out one of the rose bushes while I was there, as lots of crossing branches meant there was no air flow.

Nice to take in the first flowers from some of this year’s new roses - ‘Mottisfont’ from the was particularly showing off.

Definitely a rewarding day on a sweltering day (which I’m sure wasn’t meant to be so hot!) 🥵

Photo of Cakey who loves the garden even more than I do 🐈

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