It was an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot zucchini - 10 / 10 thread - all welcome

[FrannyandZooey]

For anyone who wants a boost to their general health. The suggested goals are:

EAT 10 PORTIONS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES EVERY DAY - if you don't usually eat much fruit and veg I would build up gradually or you could upset your digestion.

DO (AT LEAST) 10 MINUTES OF EXERCISE EVERY DAY - can be yoga, stretching or something more energetic. The plan is that the idea of doing 10 minutes is not too daunting, and having started you may well find you want to do more.

There are no restrictions on what you eat so long as you get your 10 fruit and veg as well. The focus is not on weight loss but on improving our energy levels and hopefully our general mood and well-being. Sign up below and post here to tell us how you're getting on and how you are feeling.

Basic guidance on what constitutes a portion of fruit and veg here and you can download more detailed information by following the link at the very bottom of the page

Greetings LilyMunster. Is there real mud under your fingernails?

Night Franny

DD and I had real mud under our fingernails on Sunday. We planted radishes, lettuce, spring onion and parsnips. 1 yr old dd was really helpful

Night night lovely ones

Ds bought a purple pepper the other day,I cannot bring myself to eat any
Purple pepper is just plain wrong

Dd2 and I planted broad beans today. Probably a month too late but heigh ho.

Pink, could your dd use a little partyish/fairyish dress? Sort of bright and shiny. It is lurking about here, yours if you want it

Is it the sort of purple thaty is nearly black? We had one once and it was most odd - like putting an apple to your mouth but tasting orange.

Yes Toot that's the kind
I keep staring at it but am frightened to taste it

Ds is just fascinated with it & carries it about in his case of interesting things.

yes, my fingernails, gnawed as they are, are sporting some fab mud edgings, despite much scrubbing.

more planting tomorrow (tho cant do broad beans (sob) as they get blight round here for some unknown reason.)

and my chickens arrive tomorrow! so its eggs eggs and more eggs (and cake) from now on... yum

Oh dear, didn't know broad beans could get blight. We had blighted tomatoes lasdt year

Lully, it is like green pepper really. Honestly.

Now, who knows how to grow a bean in a jar of water? Yopu don't just drop it in, surely. We are doing a crop outside, one inside in a pot, and one educational one in water - if I can find out how.

Right, I must go to bed. I should have gone ages ago but was lured by all you lovely chatting people

Oh wow! A fairy party dress. Yes please TooT! Do you do paypal? What's your email and I'll send you my address.

This isn't because 'the poor child gets shoved out to play in the mud' is it? We do let her play indoors with things that sparkle too!

yup all my toms went last year to blight. but was a pretty big probl;em nationwide last yr... so hopefully we'll all fare better this year [hopes]

will attempt braodbeans in the greenhouse... and will have some toms in and some out...

with blight you just have to be on the lookout, and then brutal with the cut-your-losses approach... cut all affected stuff off and burn it. its a fungus. theres something in have to mix up in water and spray with too... and apparently theres a blight warning thingamy on radio 4 before weather which is likely to lead to it, so you can guard your vulnerable crops with fleece or polythene covers...

Here is a thing about growing kidney beans, trying one in water. I just skimmed it and it sounds very complicated. But you'll probably breeze it!

Ooo, all this talk of veg planting is making me I am on the waiting list for an allotment but I am itching to get started.

Tooticky, when I have done growing things in school, I soaked the bean (not sure which kind they were but not kidney) then put in the a jar stuffed with kitchen paper type stuff - white is best. Then you just keep the paper damp and the bean grows. You can also do it in a sandwich bag. And carrot & celery tops in a jam jar lid. I think I read you can do it with pineapple to but I may have made that up.

Oh, F&V count: orange, juice, spinach, roast baby tomatoes, huge mushroom, grapes, kiwis, raisin. So 8. But about 5 hrs til bedtime so hopefully some more.

good intake UR

Why thank you Bee!

Another late night?

yes - but am dithering and not writing. How are you? How's tricks?

Just got DS off to bed so am enjoying the peace and quiet before I embark on some cooking or tidying or something else that should have been done hours ago.

I'm a big ditherer too.

enjoy it ur - the potering is one of the nice things and I think after a day of child rearing the brain needs to unravel.

How is MrsC?

I am doing an essay on attachment. Can I just say FZ it is making me very cross with your mum. I am cross that she is not celebrating in your preganancy.

When I was pregnant my not very gushy dad said said 'oh look at your holding my genetic future in your belly.' for some reason it was very touching.

FZ - your bump is beautiful and your body is very very clever.

Okay.

Essay.

Bollocks.

actually he didn;t say 'belly' I have an awful feeling he might have said 'womb'.

FZ - you are not in nmy essay - it reads like that but you are not - it just made em think about you.

I have been thinking of MrsC too. Hope she is ok.

Attachment Bee? Like relationships and attachment disorder type stuff?

It's a shame when parents don't seem very touched when their children are pregnant. My mum was amazed and couldn't take her eyes of my wriggling tummy. And my Dad was the most supportive person when it came to breastfeeding which really took me by surprise. Probably different for in-laws but mine came to stay when I was 5 months pg and consistently ignored me to the point of dashing out of the car, leaving me to struggle with 5 bags of groceries on my own and then they didn't bother to hold the door and let it slam right in front of me. Grrr.