A busy morning

Today, I walked down to the allotment determined to get through my list of jobs. I was short on time as I have an enormous amount of paperwork which isn’t doing itself.

Upon arrival, I joined everyone in the clubhouse for a drink and a chat before heading off to feed our chickens. I checked on Emily and she is still sitting on all twelve eggs. I am fairly certain she hasn’t left the nest but the water bowl had less water in and there were only half the sunflower seeds left. This is good because it means she is eating and drinking a bit. I topped up her food bowl with some porridge oats as I know she loves them.

Next I grabbed a trowel and headed off to Phil’s plot. The other day he said I could dig up some of the self-seeded borage plants as he didn’t want them. I dug up a handful and planted then around the crazy paving. They should make a lovely edging to the paving once they grow a bit.

As I was working Rachael dropped by to ask where Cliff was. He’d popped off site for a bit but was due back soon. Rachael showed me the net she had made for the pond – it was great! Made from bits she found on site, it works just as well as a store bought one. I cleared off some rubbish on the surface of the pond, finding the net effective and the long handle meant I could reach into the middle of the pond to clear it without risking falling in!

With the removal of the greenhouse shield from the plot, I finally could clear the soil of weeds and give it a good hoe. The push-pull hoe is amazing and I am so pleased I managed to order one as well as the mini-rotavator. As an added bonus, there was a sale on so I grabbed a great bargain! Just waiting for the handles to drop in price and I will have my own set of hoes which will make caring for the allotment a breeze.

Shortly after I finished clearing the pond, Cliff arrived. I showed him the net and we set about removing a large submerged pot from the pond. It had previously had reeds growing in it but nothing was coming up and what remained looked very dead. As we took the pot out, I spotted movement. It looked like a dragonfly larvae! We quickly put it back with some mud into a smaller pot and dropped it back into the pond.

I ran into Phil who asked when I was going to unwrap the olive tree. I decided today was the day as the forecast is for hot weather and lots of sunshine over the next few days. We have got to mid-April and there shouldn’t be hard frosts now – British weather permitting! I took off all the string and bubblewrap to reveal the trunk. It was damp, probably due to all the heat of the last couple of days being trapped. It’s good to see it unwrapped and I look forward to seeing it grow this summer.

Onwards to the next job and I grabbed my glass cleaner and cloth to make a start to the glass in the greenhouse. It makes a massive difference and although I didn’t finish it.

Tomorrow I have my parents down and I plan to show off the changes to the allotment – hopefully they will be impressed!