Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Over the last few days, the weather seems to have turned. It definitely feels more like autumn than summer and the torrential rain more like winter. At this time of year, if the weather is still good there is still lots going on, harvesting and weeding as well as putting in the winter crops. The... Continue Reading →
Today, despite the rain, something very exciting happened. I put Pop out into the tree pot and left her for a few minutes to enjoy the greenery and a fresh chunk of courgette. Leia had laid another egg and assessed my every move as I cleaned out the bedding. When I finished, I checked on... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I pottered down to the allotment determined to make a start on the community garden pond. Over several months, the weed in the pond has started to choke the water plants. When I arrived, Cliff was busy putting the finishing touches to Sarah and Liz's pond so I went to sort out the... Continue Reading →
Yesterday and today's rain has left the plot flooded yet again. The fruit trees, willow and bark path have worked well up to a point but there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop the water table rising to the surface! I didn't realise how high the water table was until I walked onto... Continue Reading →
I arrived down on site at midday today, determined to do some more weeding and cleaning out the greenhouse. When I arrived, I spent a few minutes sitting in the shed, looking at the plot. I am so pleased with how it has transformed this season. The new sections have made my life much easier... Continue Reading →
When I arrived on site today, I found Sarah and Cliff hard at work digging an enormous hole for the new pond. Cliff had spotted a perfect container on another plot and the plot holder was happy to donate it. This saved huge amounts of time and effort as we didn't have to buy pond... Continue Reading →
I walked down late to the allotment this afternoon. I ran into Sarah as I arrived and we had started to have a chat when Cliff joined us. He had managed to find a large container for Sarah and Liz so they could build their own pond. We discussed where was best to put it... Continue Reading →
The rolling in of the first storm of the season has left the site in disarray. I spent several minutes sheltering from the heavy rain in the main coop. As per the usual way of things with Aggie, she spent several minutes upsidedown as penance for repeatedly attacking my feet. Each time I put her... Continue Reading →
This evening I ambled down to close up the greenhouse door. The weather had been quite windy and the door always has a habit of throwing itself off the runners during strong gusts. As I approached the main gate, Pam came dashing out looking rather frantic. She looked around, spotted me and came rushing up... Continue Reading →
The rain has set in for the next couple of days so I times my walk to the allotment for a short break in between the showers. Upon arrival, I went to chat to Geoff and spent a while setting the world to rights. I had brought down some kitchen scales and Flubenvet - a... Continue Reading →
So a quick dash to the allotment this morning before a day out and about. Upon arrival, I shouted hello to Geoff who was busy cleaning his coop and checked the greenhouse. Leia was visible, shouting at me for some reason. There could be so many reasons, that I have given up trying to work... Continue Reading →
Despite growing very little veg this year, I managed to harvest two beautiful little squashes (plants courtesy of Liz and Sarah) as well as Ken kindly giving us a small melon. I am always amazed at the variety of fruit and vegetables that can be grown on site. Here in the north of England, the... Continue Reading →
After a rather sad start to the morning, I walked to the allotment hoping that there wouldn't be anything wrong with any of our other girls. Fortunately, all the others seem to be ok and Pop seems to be going from strength to strength. I joined Cliff and Koko for a chat whilst Pop spent... Continue Reading →
Sadly this morning, we lost Georgie. Rescued from a commercial farm where she lived with thousands of other chickens. She never went outside or had the opportunity to eat all different types of food. In her 13 months retirement with us, she has enjoyed spending time outdoors, eating all sorts of different treats and spending... Continue Reading →
Another sweltering day even after another spectacular lightning storm last night. My first job when I got down was to put Pop into her wheelchair with some food and give her a thorough checking over. Yesterday she got caught in the downpour and I was worried she might have caught a chill. After a little... Continue Reading →
I dragged myself to the allotment this morning. The incredible lightning storm of last night has done very little to break the relentless humidity of the past few days. By the time I arrived on site, I was melting. I set up Pop in her wheelchair with some food while I sat and chatted with... Continue Reading →
Late this morning, I walked down to the allotment. By the time I arrived, I was dripping. The heat was unbearable! I grabbed Pop and put her in the tree pot to have a scratch around. Cliff was down and I showed him the chicken wheelchair. To show him how it worked, I grabbed Pop... Continue Reading →
So after some online research and browsing of an Austrian webpage, I discovered chicken wheelchairs are actually a thing! Unfortunately, the only place I could potentially order one for Pop was in Australia and there weren't posting to the UK currently. Undeterred, I asked on a chicken forum whether anyone else knew about wheelchairs and... Continue Reading →
Yesterday when I cleaned out Leia and Pop's coop, I had moved Leia into the top section of the nest box and dumped Pop rather unceremoniously in the Plymouth Pear tree pot. I was halfway through clearing away the old bedding when I heard some clucking coming from the pot behind me. There was Pop... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of days, there has been no significant events or exciting adventures. I know that now I have written this, there will instantly be several incredibly noteworthy events happening simultaneously. But allotment life has gentler days when all that needs attending to is the chickens and time on site is spent chatting... Continue Reading →
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