Adventures in the life of an English allotment
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 →
Late this afternoon, I ambled down to the allotment. I had hoped that the weather would have warmed up during the course of the day, but no such luck! Wrapping up warmly, I filled the big water bottle with hot water and used it as a hand warmer as I walked to the plot. The... 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 past week has been a constant battle against the weather! Coming back to the allotment after our holiday, it was rather a shock to the system to find such cold temperatures. A drop of over 20 degrees is rather severe! As always, Geoff, Nikki and Dylan had done a fantastic job of looking after... Continue Reading →
Today was a day of two halves. This morning, I ambled down with good intentions of cleaning out the Nest House. I stopped to say hello to Geoff and Cliff and ended up chatting to them for a while despite the cold. When Derek joined us, we all put our heads together to work out... Continue Reading →
Today was freezing. I delayed going down to the allotment, hoping it would warm up later in the day. It didn't. Wrapping up as warmly as I could, I headed down to the allotment mid-afternoon. By the time I had arrived and unlocked the gate, my hands were freezing. Metal seems almost cruelly cold and... Continue Reading →
Late afternoon, I walked back down to the allotment to collect the food containers and water bottles I had left this morning. Lugging down 9 litres of water every other day is harder work than it looks - I am planning on getting hold of a wagon or something similar to make the water transporting... Continue Reading →
The temperature has significantly dropped over the past two days. Going out to the allotment now requires some serious thought about how many layers of clothing are needed to keep warm. As I was only popping out to feed the chickens, I opted for my fleece lined walking trousers a thick fleece top and walking... Continue Reading →
Just before dinner, I dashed down to the allotment to check on Cliff's black leghorn. Each evening I have been going down to make up a fresh batch of antibiotics for her. When I got down there, I was struck by how different the familiar landmarks looked, especially the greenhouse! Making up antibiotics which require... Continue Reading →
The cold and rain that greeted me this morning was rather depressing. Ever since I put up the solar panel, the weather has been either cold, windy but dry or wet and windy. Neither particularly helpful for growing plants or for working solar panels. I'm beginning to think that by putting up the solar panel,... Continue Reading →
Today I ambled down to the allotment with a few minor jobs in mind. I arrived and fed all the chickens. Every single one of them shouted at me, like I could stop the cold wind or make it warmer! I collected five eggs from the main coop and one from Roxy in the greenhouse.... Continue Reading →
The last few days have been incredibly cold, so much so that temperatures have stayed below zero degrees for the last three days. For the UK, this is unusual and makes allotment jobs and projects more difficult to do. Digging for example is completely out of the question, with the ground frozen solid. On the... Continue Reading →
Day two of Storm Christof and the entire allotment site is under several inches of water. There are several plots severely flooded and inevitably, ours is one of them! The last few wet weeks combined with an already high water table has meant the current downpours has flooded vast swathes of the allotment site I... Continue Reading →
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