Adventures in the life of an English allotment
This morning I ambled down to the allotment to clean out the greenhouse. It's been overdue for a few days and we managed to get hold of some new shavings late last night before the shops closed for Christmas. I arrived on site and stopped to say a quick hello to Geoff. Due to the... Continue Reading →
With a sudden influx of wheelchair orders, I dashed down to the allotment this morning intending to quickly feed the chickens. As it turned out, I spent quite a bit of time with Cliff trying to plug any tiny gaps in the coop to ensure no wild birds can get in. The sparrows are very... Continue Reading →
With the rapidly impending DEFRA deadline for ensuring every coop is secured against wild birds, we dashed down to the allotment armed with a 50m roll of scoffolding netting and a bag of cable ties. Unfortunately, there have been a a number of bird flu cases in Cheshire and across the UK over the past... Continue Reading →
This morning I ambled down to the allotment to check on how our latest arrival was settling in. As I came onto the main path, I found Cliff and Geoff enjoying the fresh air and having a chat. Somehow half an hour passed by as we put the world to rights and caught up on... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I walked down to the allotment ready to sort out the enormous builder's bag of mulch my husband dropped off outside our greenhouse last night. There was far too much for me to use but I took the opportunity to finish off the fruit section. Each time we get chippings, I always forget... Continue Reading →
Today was quite what I thought it would be. I anticipated an afternoon of pottering around the plot, doing ood jobs and, weather depending, clean the main coop out. As soon as I arrived, I went to see Pop who I had placed into the nest box last night. There she was, by the front... Continue Reading →
It was a long day yesterday and I barely had time to stop let alone complete the blog. So here it is, very late! I walked down early to make a start. The greenhouse and the shed needed cleaning and tidying, weeding and general sorting amongst other jobs. It was going to be a busy... Continue Reading →
Today I trotted down to the allotment, marvelling at how changeable the British weather really is. Yesterday was showers and overcast. Today was boiling. Not dry heat which somehow is more tolerable but the sticky, oppressive heat that makes everything difficult. All the usual gang were there when I arrived and after a preliminary check... Continue Reading →
After work today I ambled down the allotment. Although it's been a lovely week, it has been exhausting and I was glad the week was over. When I arrived, my first job was to water the loofa plants. I can't believe how much they have grown since I last came down. I am sure if... Continue Reading →
Upon arrival on site this morning, we discovered that there had been a fox attack. The fox had managed to get into one of the broody coops, got the broody hen and made off with all the eggs. It's been several years since we had a fox attack because everyone has strengthened their coop designs.... Continue Reading →
We went down early today as we had an important visitor coming to pick up three chicks. Between us, we filled up their food bowl and water bowls and let them into their outdoor run. I then dashed off to clean out the pet carrier ready for transport the chicks to their new home. Whilst... Continue Reading →
It's the only downside to having more than one coop. The cleaning. So much cleaning! It takes ages to do the main coop, in fact, it took most of yesterday to do it properly. The greenhouse isn't a proper coop but it's been used that way for over a year now. The hardest part is... Continue Reading →
Today I dashed down the allotment to check on Dolly. She has a blocked crop on one side and I tried (and failed) to get a dose of cider vinegar down her. When I went in this morning, she didn't look much better. I managed to catch her and tried to get out some of... Continue Reading →
Today I dashed down to the allotment in my oldest clothes, ready to tackle the mammoth task of digging out the main coop. Over the last few days, Cliff has been busy spraying the coop with diluted jeyes fluid to kill off any bugs or disease in the coop. This was a temporary fix before... Continue Reading →
Work has been crazy the last few weeks and I have barely made it down to the allotment, let alone had time to post an update. Now however, this shall be rectified! Over the past few weeks the weather has been horrendous, repeated deluges, high winds and cold snaps so it has been difficult to... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of weeks the deluge has continued. I have given up hoping the plot will be dry enough to dig over before Christmas. I suspect I will now have to wait until the spring as the next torrent of water is due to arrive shortly. Today we bought six bags of landscaping... Continue Reading →
This morning I escaped my mountain of paperwork and disappeared down the allotment for a couple of hours. Upon my arrival, I went around the site to check on the bees. The wild bumble bee hive wasn't active and there was minimal activity in the other three hives. The high wind and threat of rain... Continue Reading →
I had to run into work this morning quickly before going down to the allotment. Upon my arrival, I was met with some bad news about one of the chicks. Cliff had checked on Emily this morning to find her and only two chicks. No sign of the third. After several minutes searching he found... Continue Reading →
This morning, I was up early ready to stalk the postman in the hopes the hatching eggs would arrive. They arrived in a carefully taped package and clearly labelled fragile. As keen as I was to open it, I decided it would be safer to open it down the allotment rather than risk any damage... Continue Reading →
This afternoon after work, I popped down to the allotment to feed the chickens. The weather was increasingly wet so I took shelter in the coop. After feeding the chickens, I had a good look at the nest box. I was pleased to see the shed felt additions seem to be working and have kept... Continue Reading →
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