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Clare Louise

@4mcds_bloomingplot

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Mum & wife, 2 boys & 2 labs 👬🐶🐶
Motherwell Allotment Est 2021

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A wee hiya from me ✌🏻

After a flurry of new followers, I thought I'd reintroduce myself, I'm Clare Louise, a married mum of 2 now adult boys, and 2 red fox labradors living in Lanarkshire, just outside Glasgow - yes world cup fever is real 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦🐶🐶🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I love a holiday, spending time with family and friends and cheering on the boys in whatever they do 💯

Like many of us, I found gardening during lockdown starting with a wee pack of 10p reduced runner beans seeds and some plastic cups and pots trying to entertain my youngest son during the home schooling period, then followed it was a bag of tatties, a wee pot of strawberry runners from a neighbour, some garlic, a few onions, lettuce - I was hooked never mind the wean 🌱

In 2021 I discovered an allotment site I didn't know existed, ran home, told my husband and within 4 months I was offered my first plot and the rest is history 🫶🏻

I dapple in growing flowers, mainly for pollinators and prettiness but growing veg is where my heart lies. My allotment is my haven, my safe space and one of the inly places I truly switch off 🥰

Recently having a diagnosis of adenomyosis, a gynaecological condition that affects 1 in 10 women, the only cure is a hysterectomy, not something I'm against but I'm doing my best to home medicate with natural, organic, homepathic remedies with produce grown on my plot and using in different ways however this year, I've had to scale back my growing because if the pain I've been in ✨️

My top tips for anyone starting on their growing journey, wether a plot or garden, no matter the size:

🌱 only grow what you like to eat
🌱 understand and get to know your growing space
🌱 if offered an allotment site, try visiting in wetter weather, not hard in this country try, and look for puddling on your plot, it will help to understand how bad it can get, not all veg like wet roots
🌱 have fun, and don't stress, we don't always get it right, in fact sometimes we can get it very, very wrong, it's part of the journey

Come along, let me know your plans for the weekend and if your knew, let me know a little about you 💚 by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Saying cheerio to October with a wee last minute Halloween event down the plot 🎃

Painting pumpkins, arts and crafts and bulb planting 🌼

With a week to organise it was great fun, but next year, bigger and better and more sustainable, however the main priority, all the kids in the community got a pumpkin, got to dress up and had fun 🧡

Now the pumpkin spice can do one, I'm ready to get organised for Mr C 😉

#allotmentsofinstagram #allotmentlife #allotmentcommunity #scottishallotments #forgewoodallotments by @4mcds_bloomingplot

The bean arch is gone, yes I'm sad, but I'm not going to dwell 🫶🏻

You see, as the storm approaches I want to remind you that wirh every disaster yes its makes us angry but in the long run it brings a change ✨️

With that change, in my experience has always been stronger, better and builds a resilience in me I didn't know I had 💚

Stay safe and hunker down 🌪

#allotmentsofinstagram #growinginscotland #allotmentblog #scottishallotments #stormausten by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Am I crazy, yes absolutely 💯

Living in an extremely wet and freezing part of Scotland, never mind the UK, its probably risky however...

The bigger waste of my time is lifting, cleaning and drying, pretending I'm storing then come February I remember I haven't stored them, they're a soft mouldy and a shrivelled mess 😂

Plus half of these haven't flowered yet and the best ones were all direct planted 🌸

Are you lifting, or leaving? What's your thoughts? Will they survive??

#dahliaofinstagram #dahlialover #dahlia #winterprep #allotmentflowers by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Sunshine & homemade compost 🤟🏻

Pure gold!

Perfect consistency and no smell 😉

iterally made from food waste, veg scraps, dead flowers, weeds, brown cardboard, spent coffee and fallen leaves from last autumn 🍂

Now this is a small win I'm taking 🤎

What do you add to your compost that you think I'm missing?

#homemadecompost #allotmentsofinstagram #scottishallotment #compost #composting by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Not often I post other content to the grid but it is still some beauty in nature 🐶🐶

Beautiful frosty morning walk with Mac & Maestro living their best life 🫶🏻

Unfortunately last night we had the first of the fireworks starting 🤬 so it was a joy to see Maestro run wild in woods instead of cowering - swipe ⬅️

We also managed some pretty frosty snaps too ❄️

#autumnwalks #labradorsofinstagram #redfoxlabrador #frostymorning #naturetherapy by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Lightly Spiced Butternut Squash Soup 🍲

Nourishing your body, one bowl at a time! 💚

Packed with goodness from ginger, turmeric, garlic, butternut squash, carrots and a wee chilli this soup is full of anti-inflammatories and a comforting way to support my adenomyosis 🫶🏻

✨ Supports a balanced diet
🌿 Full of antioxidants
💛 Provides essential nutrients
🥕 A simple way to nourish your body

Food isn't a cure, but small, mindful choices can be part of looking after yourself from the inside out and I'm doing everything I can to help 🥰

Using homegrown onion, garlic and chilli - the recipe in the captions if you want to call it that 😉

#gynaecology #adenomyosisdiet #antiinflammatorydiet #homemadesoup #homegrownfood by @4mcds_bloomingplot

The first proper parnsip of the season is out 🙌🏻

After the really harsh frost hit last week I thought it was the perfect time to start lifting the nips as the frost will have converted some of their stored starch into natural sugar 🤩

This is essentially the plant turning on its defence mechanism to help protect the plant from freezing resulting in a sweeter, richer flavour 🤤

Not the longest, but I'm happy with that 🫶🏻

It's going to be a nippy winter 🤍

Have you grown parsnips this year?

#allotmentsofinstagram #scottishallotment #parsnipseason #winterveg #organicvegetables by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Homegrown, homemade coleslaw 👌🏻

Plot to plates don't have to be fancy and suave, it's also about taking the basics and making what you love 💚

For us, its coleslaw - not much needed, onion, cabbage and carrots and whatever else you like to add, then a good dollop of mayo 😉

Stored in an airtight container in the fridge this will do us til the weekend, if it lasts 🫶🏻

Ps the mayo isn't homemade cause I don't have time for that 🙌🏻

#homegrownfood #reducingupf #growyourownfood #plottoplate #scottishallotments by @4mcds_bloomingplot

I know, my expertise knows no bounds 🙃

This years popcorn results, every cob unpollinated, frosted and now...

Composted!

Follow me for what not to do, and plenty of allotment fails 🙌🏻

#allotmentblog #allotmentfails #growinginscotland #scottishallotment #octoberallotments by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Part 1 of:

Free plants?! I'm in in 🙌🏻

Free plants taste the sweetest 🍓

Infinite strawberries loading ✨️

Why buy new plants when you can just make them? 🌱

Tell me ehat Free plants are you finding in the garden?

#freeplants #strawberryrunners #strawberryplants #allotmentsofinstagram #scottishallotment by @4mcds_bloomingplot

Growing flowers 🫶🏻

Not something I claim to be very good at, veg is my bag, but we know we don't get veg without pollinators, and we don't get pollinators without flowers 💐

90% of this vase of flowers are pollinator flowers from the garden and plot 🌼

Featuring subflowers, verby b, scabious, calendula, clary sage, snapdragons, dahlia, miscanthus grass and a wee twig from a tree 🌿

I need to learn how to stop these snaps from sulking though, they look so sad 🙈

#cutflowerpatch #plotflowers #pollinatorposey #flowerfriday #growyourowncutflower by @4mcds_bloomingplot