Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Yesterday I did something a bit different. I went down to my grandfather's house in Plymouth to collect cuttings from his legendary apple tree. Legendary not in any great sense but because it was the only plant that he managed to grow successfully in his tiny back yard. The bathroom in his house overlooked the... Continue Reading →
Early this morning, I walked down to the allotment determined to get lots done before it got any hotter. The temperature over the next week is supposed to rocket up into the high 20's/low 30's.As I arrived, I opened up the greenhouse, fed three hungry chicks and a grumpy Emily before making a start on... Continue Reading →
This evening after work, I ambled down to the allotment to get Emily and her chicks in. Poor Geoff had tried to get them back into their run and they had led him a merry dance. Understandably, he gave up and left them too it. Upon our arrival, they were all happily chilling out in... Continue Reading →
This morning I decided to take advantage of the temporary pause in the rain and walked down to the allotment earlier than normal. I arrived to find several people already down including Steve who was busy with a saw, hacking apart the huge milk container by his greenhouse.As I walked down the plot to see... Continue Reading →
After work this evening, I walked down to the allotment to check on the water levels. I arrived to find the site empty but I found the flood levels have dropped. In some places, the water had completely drained away and even the larger areas had drained significantly. I went into the greenhouse and found... Continue Reading →
This morning the rain had finally stopped although it looked like it would start again at any second. It has rained throughout the night and all of yesterday so we were very concerned that the entire plot would be under water. We arrived to find the flooding was significant on our side of the site.... Continue Reading →
The notoriously fickle British weather has played it's trump card over the last 24 hours. Rain. Lots of it. In some places, a month's amount of rain in 12 hours. Everything is wet, flooding of motorways, roads, pavements as well as allotments. It has been raining non-stop since yesterday evening and I was intrigued to... Continue Reading →
Today I went down to the allotment late to find several people still on site. I opened up the greenhouse and fed Emily and the chicks who scoffed their food like I hadn't fed them in weeks. After a while, I opened up the run and Emily and the Plymouth rock chick jumped out and... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I walked down to the allotment in the sunshine. Thankfully the rain had stopped and I wandered down to the main coop to find all the chickens sunbathing. I fed them and went back to the top of the plot to open up the greenhouse. Emily and her chicks were hungry and made good... Continue Reading →
This morning, I dashed down to the allotment in the pouring rain. The rain we have had for a few days has boosted the growth of the plants but also the weeds. The chicks have got so much bigger and have feathered up more. Our Plymouth Rock chick is almost completely feathered out now and... Continue Reading →
This morning I dashed down to feed the chickens before work. It's so calm and quiet aside from the dawn chorus. Everything is still and covered with a dusting of dew. The lupins are starting to come out and I can't wait to see what they look like when they are fully out. The chickens... Continue Reading →
I thought it was time to share all the beautiful flowers around the site. Most people are trying to help the bees by planting different bee friendly flowers. In May, the allotment has flourished with the warmer weather and regular rain.
Today, Steve and I checked on the new hive. It was hardly ideal weather as it was quite windy with rain showers, two things that bees absolutely hate. Added to this, we couldn't find the bee suits after Phil had taken them home to wash a couple of days ago. So armed only with a... Continue Reading →
Despite the overcast weather, it was pleasantly warm as I walked down to the allotment this morning. I arrived laden with chicken supplies. My husband had dropped me off at the pet food supplier before he left for work so I could stock up on vitals including chick crumb, grit, porridge oats, sunflower seeds and... Continue Reading →
It was a very exciting day today - I had an unexpected parcel arrive which contained two stunning chicken jumpers! A friend from home who is a knitting whizz has made them for our new rescue chickens. I ran down to the allotment to put them into the shed, ready for use at any moment!... Continue Reading →
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