Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Yesterday, my husband called me to the kitchen to see a black kitten on the patio. It was very dark outside and hard to see as it was incredibly shy. But I caught sight of it hiding under one of the patio chairs, it's eyes gleaming, reflecting the light from the kitchen. Small, high-pitched meows... Continue Reading →
This afternoon, my husband and I pottered down to the allotment. There has been almost no let up with the rain over the past week and it's made it very difficult to get down to the plot and work on it. Armed with the ladder from home, our task today was to prune the tops... Continue Reading →
Over the past two days, we have made huge inroads into the jungle of weeds which used to be our plot. On Saturday afternoon, I headed down and focused on clearing the nettles, doc plants and other weeds from the back of Geoff's plot. The nettles are lethal and it was challenging to cut them... Continue Reading →
I had meant to write about this exciting development a couple of days ago but finding time to write has been tricky over the last few days. Our site Clubhouse, closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has left us at the mercy of the ever fickle British weather. It's all very well in... Continue Reading →
Considering how wet this summer has been, any day when the British weather isn't trying to emulate the height of the monsoon means it's time to get down the allotment. Even rarer are the days where the sun is actually visible and the sky changes from drizzle grey to blue. Days like today can't be... Continue Reading →
Today was a brilliant day on the plot. At lunchtime, I was joined by the Lea family. It has been a couple of years since I last saw the children and it was lovely to spend time with them all on the allotment. The children all love the outdoors and were very keen to help... Continue Reading →
Despite the humidity, I forced myself down to the allotment this morning. The heat was oppressive even though the sky was beginning to cloud over. My first job was to open up the shed and put up the sunshade. I checked on Maude and Mavis who were clucking loudly, demanding some treats. I headed across... Continue Reading →
Between a lunch of hot cross buns and a roast lamb dinner, we headed out to the allotment. We've had a busy couple of weeks and I've been very aware of how much progress others on site have been making on their plots. There are a ton of jobs that need doing on our plot... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this after collapsing at home. Fed up of waiting for others to volunteer to sort out the pond on the Community Garden (over a year and still waiting!), I decided that I had had enough of our hall being cluttered with the pond liner. I messaged Nikki to see if she would be... Continue Reading →
Earlier this week, I walked down to the allotment before work to feed the chickens. Granted it was still quite dark and I was half asleep but I quickly noticed a problem with the roof of the main coop when I struggled to open the door. The roof panel by the door had bowed downwards... Continue Reading →
This morning saw both of us down at the allotment again. I can't remember the last time we were both down two days running! Determined not to waste the momentum from yesterday, we grabbed the ladder and made a start. The final three panels went up relatively easily although the apex panels proved much more... Continue Reading →
Armed with only a vague plan and a handful of tools, we headed off to the allotment early to tackle the roof. I'm not going to lie, it was rather a daunting prospect to get the scaffolding netting, greenhouse shield and old roof panels off and put up the new roof within a day. Especially... Continue Reading →
Shortly after lunch, I dragged my somewhat hungover husband down to the allotment to make a start on the jungle. As he fed the chickens, I walked around the plot, trying to work out a plan. I decided that if we could clear some of the main beds then other jobs such as clearing the... Continue Reading →
Another momentous day with the chickens today! This afternoon, I walked across to Nikki's house to help her and Dylan set up their new Omlet Classic. Buying second hand is an excellent way of getting hold of one. The only downside is the lack of assembly instructions which can make what should be a short... Continue Reading →
Today was productive. Very productive! With my husband's help, we managed to clear most of the plot of weeds. The sunshine and rain over the past two weeks has meant the weeds have gone berserk. I armed my husband with the WolfGarten soil tiller and left him with instructions to clear the weeds on our... Continue Reading →
As I came home at lunch time I received a call from Cliff. He had spotted another swarm, this time on Phil's plot. Promising him I would be down, I yelled to my husband and headed back out. When I got to the site, I found Cliff and he showed me where the swarm was.... Continue Reading →
This morning I dashed down to the allotment to help load up the skip with broken glass. The three back to back storms caused absolute havoc with everyone's greenhouses. Most of us lost some glass and a handful lost all their glass. To keep everyone safe, we have been storing the broken glass in designated... Continue Reading →
After lunch, I pottered down to the allotment, determined to finish planting in the greenhouse and to clear some of the weeds from Geoff's raised beds. Last year Geoff kindly let us grow some vegetables on his plot and I have been meaning to clear the beds for him so they were ready for him... Continue Reading →
Today was a day spent running between home and the allotment. Our first job today was to get the roof on the shed in the garden. In order to improve the strength of the roof panels, I added some extra batons to the edges. My hope was that this would not only stabilise the roof... Continue Reading →
Today was a very exciting day. A day that for us chicken keepers means the end of months of lugging gallons of water down to the site. On days when the coops needed cleaning out, I would occasionally have to do two trips, one for the chickens drinking water and another to collect enough water... Continue Reading →
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