Adventures in the life of an English allotment
So today I headed down to the allotment with the aim of redoing the pond by the shed. The pond base is a massive tree pot which our beautiful olive tree came in. However, over the past three years, the liner has degraded to such a point that it hardly retains water. Happily, I had... Continue Reading →
After a wonderfully relaxing holiday, I trudged down to the allotment this morning dreading what I would find. In my mind's eye, the weeds were waist deep and would require days of hacking back to rediscover the plot below. Having seen the amount of sunshine Crewe has had over the past week, I knew the... Continue Reading →
I took advantage of the dry weather to make some progress on the plot today! It's been very damp and drizzly most of the week and with yet more rain forecast for tomorrow. I grabbed the weed bucket and slowly made my way down the path, weeding as I went. It seems almost impossible to... Continue Reading →
I swear that our animals, despite being in two different locations, can communicate and conspire together. I don't know how they do it, but judging from today's adventures, I'm guessing telepathy. Our first sign that something was amiss was my cat, Vasili, coming in limping on his front paws. We had hoped he would walk... Continue Reading →
Busy day today but I managed to squeeze in cleaning out the Topknot Gang's coops this evening. Coop cleaning can be such a faff and usually takes ages. As my husband got busy prepping dinner, I challenged myself to see if I could clean both Omlets before dinner was ready. Removing the old bedding completely... Continue Reading →
With the sun out and showers forecast for tomorrow, I decided when I woke up this morning that today I would finally clean out the chicken coops. It's incredibly difficult to clean the allotment chicken coops over the winter due to the water being off and having two large wooden nest boxes to clean. Plus... Continue Reading →
Yet again February and March have disappeared in a blur of work and holidays and somehow it's April and I've not started growing anything! It doesn't matter how many years I have the allotment, I always seem to end up planting late. I promised myself I would get things growing in February after last year's... Continue Reading →
Between a lunch of hot cross buns and a roast lamb dinner, we headed out to the allotment. We've had a busy couple of weeks and I've been very aware of how much progress others on site have been making on their plots. There are a ton of jobs that need doing on our plot... Continue Reading →
I ambled down to the allotment later than usual this morning. I was greeted by Maude and Mavis at the door, looking distinctly unimpressed when I merely said hello and disappeared off to the Main Coop. With the big girls all fed, I moved onto the New Coop. Gertie made short thrift of the food... Continue Reading →
I'm writing this after collapsing at home. Fed up of waiting for others to volunteer to sort out the pond on the Community Garden (over a year and still waiting!), I decided that I had had enough of our hall being cluttered with the pond liner. I messaged Nikki to see if she would be... Continue Reading →
This afternoon I discovered some exciting signs of spring on site. It's been a long, cold and dark winter and the current cold weather makes it still feel very much like winter. But over the past week, small changes have been happening. Small buds are appearing on the fruit trees, the bees are coming out... Continue Reading →
How has another week gone?! It's always the same at this time of year. Somehow January and February disappear and all of a sudden it's March and almost nothing has been done! After a day out with family yesterday and the majority of today spent doing jobs at home, I headed down to the allotment... Continue Reading →
There really is nothing better than getting outside and getting stuck into digging to clear away the cobwebs after feeling under the weather. The relatively dry weather over the past few days has meant that our usually water-logged plot seemed like it might be dry enough to dig over without running the risk of sinking... Continue Reading →
Poor Gertie. She is holding her own well at the moment but she isn't happy. The others are tending to give her space but as yet, I haven't spotted anyone preferentially staying with her yet. I may yet have to strong arm one of the others into the role by putting them together in a... Continue Reading →
Browsing the internet in the early hours is never a good idea. Unless it involves chickens. I was perusing several chicken groups I follow on social media when I spotted an absolutely stunning mauve- coloured booted bantam who was looking for a new home. She comes from a very reputable local breeder who I have... Continue Reading →
I may have been somewhat over-enthusiastic yesterday in Wilkinson's. Hauling the loot home took ages! This morning after breakfast, I raised our egg boxes to find three big ones to put on the window sill in the dining room. There is always something so exciting about putting the potatoes out to chit. Maybe it's because... Continue Reading →
So this morning, wrapped up warmly, I headed out to the allotment. It's been a busy week and I wanted to make inroads on weeding the raised beds that Geoff kindly has let us use the past couple of years. As I arrived, I ran into Ken. It was lovely to see him looking so... Continue Reading →
As I smashed the ice on the top of the waterbutt before work this morning, I wondered about how warm the last few winters have been. It seems so much colder this year and I have to keep reminding myself it's January and cold weather is normal at this time of year. The Met Office... Continue Reading →
The weather has been abysmal the last week, alternating between pouring with rain, blowing a hoolie or a combination of both. But a short dry spell this afternoon gave me an overdue opportunity to clean out the chickens and quail in the garden. The Topknot Gang are in fine form although Trixie is still limping.... Continue Reading →
Another year gone! It seems only yesterday that it was the start of 2022. Doesn't time fly when you are having fun? I always love spending today looking over the blog, reminding myself of all the changes, successes and failures during the year. I've tried to pick out some of my most memorable adventures but... Continue Reading →
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