Death to weeds!

Today I got down to the allotment very late as I has several jobs to do in town. I found several people by the clubhouse although no one stayed too long. Geoff, Cliff and Cliff were all enjoying the breeze whilst Mick the Greek and the others were busy working. I chatted for a while and got a handshake from Coco, Cliff’s gorgeous spaniel. She is a regular on site and has not yet appeared on here.

Cliff often brings her down to socialise with everyone. I often spot her curious face peering at me from behind the flower pots by Cliff’s shed. Today, she was in her other favourite spot – on a chair next to Cliff outside the clubhouse. Coco is quite shy but she will shake paws and let you stroke her if Cliff is nearby.

My first job was to feed the chick. I decided to let her loose in the greenhouse as she seems so much stronger the last few days. She wasn’t happy about being caught but she settled down to scoff her growers pellets and sunflower seeds. It was great to see her walk around with less wobbles.

I opened up the shed and enjoyed several minutes wandering around the site looking at the flowers other people have grown. Some are really spectacular.

My wanderings took me to the main coop and I set about cleaning out the coop. I bought a new scraper a few days ago as my original one is still missing. I have no idea where it is but I am assuming the chickens have eaten it. I refilled their food bowl and topped up their water. These were ignored, knowing their treats were coming. I threw out the oats and sunflower seeds which were greeted with enthusiasm.

I went back to the greenhouse to check on the chick and sit with her for a while. I watched her explore the greenhouse, walking far more confidently than before. Due to her exploring more, I decided to tidy the greenhouse. Long overdue tidy I should add. I reorganised all the plant pots and moved the pet carriers to the back corner. This opened up a path all the way around the run so Leia can walk all the way around. She immediately went to explore the new area.

The humidity was high so I took lots of breaks as I tackled the nightmare weeds. I decided on a mix of pulling the biggest out and hoeing the rest. It took quite a while but it definitely looks better. I need to rake up the cut weeds to fully tidy it but here’s hoping the weeds don’t grow back too quickly!

The wormery towers needed some more food. They have been busy at work, eating through everything I had put in. I collected several handfuls of weeds and put in a thick layer before adding shredded paper. I dampened the paper, sprinkling it with water from the water butt. Rain water is technically better for the worms than tap water. I keep hoping that they will start moving up to the next box but as they process the waste, the level drops lower. They will get there in the end I guess.

Before I left I decided to take Leia outside onto the patio area. She spent a happy quarter of an hour walking around the patio area. I did have a few nervous minutes when she looked like she was going to walk away towards Phil’s plot. I knew she couldn’t get far but I didn’t want to have to chase her across several plots to get her back. Happily, she turned back towards me and scoffed some more mare’s tail. After a while she started to eye up the greenhouse door and to my surprise, managed to get herself inside.

Shortly after she took herself inside, my husband arrived and we had a walk around the site, admiring the flowers in the community garden. We spotted that Steve or Phil had put up two false wasps nests in an effort to protect the bee hives. There were still loads of wasps around but definitely less than before. We had a laugh at Holly who was enjoying her dust bath and Polly who glared at us from her perch.

As we left I spotted we had a couple of squash fruits growing as well as a couple of marrows. I am so eased they have survived the repeated drowning this year!

We also spent some time looking at Phil and Cliff’s gorgeous white leghorn chicks. They have grown so much in the last few weeks!

Exhausted and covered in dirt from head to toe, we called it a day and went home for dinner. Tomorrow will be a lazy day now that the weeds have been hacked temporarily into submission.