Allotment Corner #1

We here at Cheezey Towers have recently acquired an allotment to augment our garden veg patch.
Why we need so many vegetables when there are only two residents of said household is a little unclear to me but Mr Cheeze assures me that this is an entirely necesary undertaking and so here we are. We took posession of the allotment a few weeks ago and, as you can see from the photos, it has been neglected somewhat for quite a while so there is much to do to get it ready for planting in the spring.

                                                      The weedy plot!

So far we have managed to clear one small area of weeds by covering them with tarram sheeting to smother them and then  removing any stubborn ones by hand, the sheeting was then moved to another area to smother the weeds there. Yesterday we decided to take some compost from the compost heap at home to add to the weeded area, which will then be rotavated into the ground once we have a large enough amount of compost. So we loaded up the car with a few bags of compost and employed the services of a small person to help us with the weeds (you can hire a small person for a day for very reasonable rates, the usual being roughly half a dozen toasted marshmallows and a couple of chocolate biscuits).

View of compost bin and rusty old wheelbarrow garden ornament with assorted stick  pile accessories.                                                                                             

                                            Area cleared so far.

We have also inherited some raised beds, shown here to demonstrate the level of weed infestation.

Our small person appeared to have little experience with agriculture and seemed slightly out of his depth when it came to weed removal but we have high hopes for his potential as the project progresses. As an incentive we have agreed to a pay rise in line with his gaining of expertise. He soon hopes to reach the dizzying heights of 1 family size bag of crisps and a giant bottle of pop.

                                             Yay, dirty hands!!!  (Pic by Joe)

                                                                                                (Pic by Joe)

                                                                                                      (Pic by Joe)

                                         This mud don' arf stick to yer trowel!! (Pic by Joe)

                                                                                                     (Pic by Joe)
After carrying multiple heavy bags of compost from the car Mr Cheeze then turned his attention to the tree which needed pruning back, as he is an avid fan of anything sharp and/or pointy he had a lovely time cutting and chopping whilst our small employee and I messed about in the dirt dealt with the weeds.

                                           Mr Cheeze surveying his territory! (Pic by Joe)

                                                               (Pic by Joe)

Then it was time to return to Cheezey towers so our small person could collect his wages - toasted marshmallows, chocolate biscuits and lashings of ginger beer (well a cup of tea, we have'nt got any ginger beer). Stay tuned for more on the allotment in future posts!

The Great Haribo taste test!!

Introduction

Earlier this week my fellow archaeologists and I sacrificed our lunchbreak to partake in an investigative challenge on your behalf, dearest reader. In these times of global recession and financial hardship we know the question on everyone's lips is 'Are we getting value for money regarding our fizzy confectionary?' Casting aside all concern for their own comfort and welfare, my brave co-workers gathered together after weeks of gruelling training to put their own lives on the line tasting sugary delicacies so YOU don't have to. Our thoughts go out to these intrepid souls in their time of sacrifice and great courage.

Methodology

It was decided to compare the brand named Haribo Tangfastic sweets with a cheaper alternative from a well-known cut price supermarket. They were judged on size, taste, fizziness and price to decide which was the best value for money. The first comparison, price: Haribo = £1.19, Fizz Mania = 79p.

The participating confectionary



Size comparison, the Haribo is on the right. Note the discrepancy between the fizzy crocodiles, the cheaper sweet is by far the bigger!



Once the size comparison test was complete the tasting could begin! Each candidate was provided with a sweet, the identity of which was unknown to them in the grand scientific tradition of the blind testing technique. They then judged the sweet for fizziness, chewiness and fizz longevity.                                                  

Alas! The strain became too much for one of our valiant colleagues and we attempted to revive him with a tasty morsel, to no avail :-(

                 However, he later recovered and was able to continue with our endeavour :-)

Results

The overall consensus of the brave souls participating in our test was thus:

The Haribo was slightly fizzier and the sour taste lasted slighty longer, although they were of a softer consistancy and smaller overall.

The Fizz Mania were larger, chewier and cheaper and tasted just as nice (one candidate thought they were nicer and two thought they were so similar they could'nt choose between the two).

Therefor it was decided that if you are a lawyer or a banker (boo!) or some other rich bastard well off person then the Haribo is probably your confection of choice. However if you too are an impoverished archaeologist or other low paid, downtrodden, overworked, shat on, fucked over............... sorry, low income worker, then the Fizz Mania offer much better value for money with just as good a taste experience.

Our thanks go to those brave, intrepid souls who sacrificed their breaktime to bring you this information so vital in this era of economic deprivation, our thoughts are with them all!


If you would like our investigative team to compare and contrast any other product for your information then please comment below with your suggestions and we will try to accommodate you (ooooh missus!!).