Today I headed down to the plot early with a long list of jobs to do. The sun was out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s been weeks since we had such beautiful weather!
My first job was the most important, catching up on all the site news with Cliff and Geoff. It’s been ages since I managed to get down when the majority of plot holders are on site. The best bit of spring is everyone reappearing on site – in short succession, Dave the Plod, Alan, Billy, Andrea, Darren and several others came by to have a chat. Dolly even made an appearance which of course meant I had to spend several minutes playing fetch with her. She’s a bundle of furry energy with an unrelenting need to run.
Deciding I should actually get some work done, I headed into the greenhouse to water the seeds trays and to check if anything had started growing. To my delight, several trays were showing signs of life. The spinach, broccoli and sunflower seeds are all sprouting with several trays still to go (assuming all the seeds grow!). No sign of the tomatoes yet but from memory, they tend to take longer to come through.
By now, it was far too hot to stay in the greenhouse so I opened up the shed and grabbed the secateurs. The fruit trees at the back of the plot have gone a bit wild so I began with the pear tree which was making it difficult to get to the compost bins by the main coop. There was one branch which the secateurs wouldn’t manage so I pottered across to see Lee to borrow a saw. Armed with a rip saw, it took mere seconds to finish pruning the pear and I made a start of the braeburn apple tree. This tree was last pruned by Mick the Greek several years ago and it’s very back heavy. I cut a few large branches and anything overhanging Phil’s plot. The branches which are overhanging Phil’s chicken coop I left as they are unreachable without a ladder.
On a roll, I decided to take a short break and have lunch in the shed to take a break from the heat. It was so lovely sitting there listening to the birds and hearing the chatter of busy allotmenteers across the site. After lunch, I headed back to the fruit section and pruned some of the fruit bushes, again making sure nothing overhung Phil’s plot. Before I gave back Lee’s saw, I took off some branches off the apricot tree in the hopes it might actually produce some fruit. I doubt it as there hasn’t been any blossom on it yet but I live in hope.
Next, I fed the chickens. All of them demanding treats and I spent a few minutes cleaning out and refilling their food and water bowls. But all this was to delay the biggest job for today. It’s a job I loathe doing as it takes forever – cleaning out both nest boxes. Sweeping out all the old bedding takes forever, especially in the nest house as there are so many nooks and crannies to try and clear before spraying the entire inside with anti-mite stuff. After clearing out the Nest House, I headed over to the New Coop and cleared that out too. The nest box was made by Will and it’s a marvel. The roof is extraordinarily heavy and needs propping up when cleaning out. I borrowed a plank of wood from Sarah and Liz and under the close supervision of Foxy and Bonny, I swept out all the old bedding.
Leaving the nest box to air, I headed back to the shed for a quick drink and to check what else needed to be done. A little while later, I headed back to the Nest House to put in some new bedding. I had blocked off the entrance so that the Feathery Menaces (Flo and Greta) wouldn’t be able to escape through the open door. As I was putting in handfuls of new bedding, Andrew appeared to let me know that the chickens in the New Coop had escaped! I panicked. The New Coop is next to the site boundary hedge which contains a myriad of different inaccessible hiding places for a marauding chicken! As I dashed across, I spotted Foxy perching on the edge of the open next box. Closer inspection revealed Bonny sitting on the roof support bar in the middle of the nest box. Unceremoniously, I grabbed each and deposited them inside the nest box, scolding them for their law-breaking antics. I am fairly certain I heard sniggers from Sarah, Liz and Andrew and I muttered several choice words about Foxy and Bonny’s bid for freedom.
In the run, I discovered that the run-side door was open, in my rush to sort out the nest boxes, I had forgotten to close this door! Shutting it with a bang, I went back to the Nest House, finished putting in the new bedding and dragged the rest of the bedding over to the New Coop. That nest box is deceptive. It doesn’t look like it would need that much bedding but it swallowed nearly half the Easibed. As I finished, Andrew appeared with some weeds to give to the chickens. Feeling rather like I was rewarding Foxy and Bonny for their bad behaviour, I threw the dandelions into the run where they were immediately gobbled up.
One final check on the girls in the Main Coop and it was time to shut the shed and head back home for dinner. It’s the first day in a while that I have felt like I have made significant progress on the plot. The weather combined with the promising seedlings in the greenhouse I took as a good omen for this growing season being successful.
The Good Life Crewe 
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