Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Today was a brilliant day on the plot. At lunchtime, I was joined by the Lea family. It has been a couple of years since I last saw the children and it was lovely to spend time with them all on the allotment. The children all love the outdoors and were very keen to help... Continue Reading →
Sad news today. When I went out into the garden to feed the Topknot Gang, Gertie and the Quails, I found that Quinn had passed away. She showed no signs of illness so I am at a loss to explain why she died. Quinn was a very tame quail who always came running to the... Continue Reading →
Over the past couple of days Gertie has been busy exploring the garden with the rest of the Topknot Gang. Unfortunately, she hasn't been accepted by Coco or Trixie but the silkies don't seem to mind her walking near them. Initially, I opened up her coop expecting her to just enjoy the fresh air and... Continue Reading →
This afternoon, I headed down to the allotment with the sole intention of blitzing the weeds. I promised myself, I wouldn't get distracted or procrastinate especially as our Warden is checking plots regularly to make sure they are up to scratch! Once the shed was open, I put my phone onto charge and went to... Continue Reading →
After Gertie spent the weekend with Geoff, we collected her and put her back into her temporary inside run. How Geoff works his magic on chickens I shall never know! I left her on Saturday morning lethargic and not interested in food. Thirty-six hours later, she was bright, alert and eating like never before! I... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I headed down to the plot with only a vague idea of what I needed to do. Weeding clearly, but I hadn't decided where I would start. I opened up the shed and surveyed the mass of weeds. Where to begin? To put off this difficult decision, I went to go and catch... Continue Reading →
My plans for a full day at the allotment today were scuppered by the fickle British weather. Despite living in an era of climate change and increasingly hot dry summers and milder winters, July has been a total washout. As frustrating as the relentless weeks of drizzle are, I find it somewhat nostalgic. I remember... Continue Reading →
After carefully checking the forecast for today, I decided it would be a good use of a day off to spend it at the allotment. It's been ages since I have been able to spend a full day on site, partly due to the weather (first too hot, then too wet!) and partly due to... Continue Reading →
All this week I have been popping down to the allotment in the evening to feed the chickens. I am pleased to report that Gertie tends to eat considerably more in the evening feeds. Sometimes even polishing off another half bowl of food, leaving her crop so full that one more pellet or piece of... Continue Reading →
Before work this morning, I ran down to the allotment. Although I tend to grumble about having to be up much earlier on days I go into the office, I do enjoy blowing away the cobwebs and getting a blast of fresh air to start the day. When I got down to the plot, I... Continue Reading →
So over the past few days, both parts of the Topknot Gang have been spending the day out exploring the garden. Usually, they stay in two separate groups, only occasionally going near each other. Often there seems to be considerable confusion between Cumulus and Asperitas. This can lead to hilarious moments where Aurora, Arcus and... Continue Reading →
Yet again, I got beaten back by rain. The only difference this week is that it was accompanied by thunder and lightning. It was forecast to start at 4pm. As usual I took no notice of the forecast as I headed down. Seriously, how often is the forecast right? I thought to myself, looking up... Continue Reading →
This afternoon, I finally made it down to the plot. We've had some rain this week and I was dreading what I would find. I imagined the weeds would be several feet taller and the greenhouse would resemble an overgrown jungle. Much to my surprise, the plot wasn't as dreadful as I thought it would... Continue Reading →
Despite the humidity, I forced myself down to the allotment this morning. The heat was oppressive even though the sky was beginning to cloud over. My first job was to open up the shed and put up the sunshade. I checked on Maude and Mavis who were clucking loudly, demanding some treats. I headed across... Continue Reading →
Just as I was about to go to bed this evening, I wandered down to the bottom of the garden to call the cats inside. At this time of year, they have zero interest in coming inside at any time after 11pm. Despite trying for an early night, I ended up having to stay up... Continue Reading →
I didn't manage to get down to the allotment until after lunch today. I spent the morning trying to persuade my eyes that I hadn't spent half a day outdoors, so they needn't stream and itch anymore. Typically, they refused to cooperate! But knowing how much more work there was to do, I knew I... Continue Reading →
At the allotment today, just as I began to prune the willow screen, I spotted a very strange, very brightly coloured....thing. I call it a thing because it was like nothing I had ever seen before. Part of it looked like a caterpillar, but it had two retracting antennae that looked like they belonged to... Continue Reading →
After spending all week on the verge of melting into a puddle, we made it down the allotment to tackle what used to be a well-tended plot. As we arrived, I looked at the plot in despair. There were so many weeds and it was going to take hours to get it back under control.... Continue Reading →
The heatwave continues and so does the amount of pollen in the air. It's been many years since I last went down properly with hayfever. Naively, I thought I was free of it forever. Foolishness obviously, judging from my streaming nose and insanely itchy eyes. I had planned to spend most of today on the... Continue Reading →
After a couple of quieter days for Dora, I found she had passed away this morning. It's always sad when we lose one of our girls, especially when they are quite young. Dora was a very timid personality, who rarely came within touching range. She preferred to skirt around the edges of the group, occasionally... Continue Reading →
The Good Life Crewe 
Recent Comments