Adventures in the life of an English allotment
The rolling in of the first storm of the season has left the site in disarray. I spent several minutes sheltering from the heavy rain in the main coop. As per the usual way of things with Aggie, she spent several minutes upsidedown as penance for repeatedly attacking my feet. Each time I put her... Continue Reading →
This evening I ambled down to close up the greenhouse door. The weather had been quite windy and the door always has a habit of throwing itself off the runners during strong gusts. As I approached the main gate, Pam came dashing out looking rather frantic. She looked around, spotted me and came rushing up... Continue Reading →
This evening as the heat of the day was beginning to relent, we walked down to the allotment to put Pop back inside. It was still horribly hot. Pop had managed to shuffle herself to the corner of the run. While impressive, it was rather frustrating because it made catching her difficult. I managed to... Continue Reading →
This morning I got down on site early as today was the day for cleaning out the chickens. It's a long job, usually taking a couple of hours. However, today it took all day. Part of it was my fault for getting distracted with other jobs partway through. Having to go home to sell a... Continue Reading →
After finding a local-ish advert for lots of rockery rocks going for free to a good home, I dragged my husband into the car and we set off. We drove for about fifteenth minutes to Rode Heath and finally pulled up at the right house after spending several minutes trying (and failing!) to find the... Continue Reading →
Today was a very busy day at the allotment. I got down early to make sure I had fed the chickens before receiving a cockerel from a colleague who took three of our work chicks. Unfortunately, she can't keep Napoleon so I had arranged for a local farmer to come and collect him. Abi arrived... Continue Reading →
This evening, I walked down to the allotment in the blistering heat. It has been insanely hot today, it hit 31 degrees by 10am and the temperature continued to climb. Even at gone 6pm, the temperature was awfully high. As I arrived on site, I spotted my poor monkey puzzle tree was beginning to wilt.... Continue Reading →
This evening I managed to find some free tree trunks requiring pick up in Whitchurch. We bundled into the car and arrived at the lady's house which was tucked away down a tiny bridle path next to a canal. It's was incredibly beautiful. Most of the tree trunks were enormous and wouldn't fit into the... Continue Reading →
This morning I popped down to the allotment early to clean out the shed before a colleague from work came to visit with her girls. I borrowed a broom from Tracy and swept the carpet out before doing some general tidying. The torrential rain has soaked the plot to saturation point yet again. We will... Continue Reading →
We were down on site early this morning, ready to help load up the skip with all the rubbish on the car park. The pile has been steadily growing for weeks and I wasn't sure even the world's biggest slip would fit it all in! Our first foray down to the car park found no... Continue Reading →
I walked down to the allotment this morning, never dreaming of how much would happen. There are weeks when nothing much happens then everything seems to happen on a particular day. Today was that day! After saying hello to everyone, I began to clean out the chicks. Steve dropped by and said they looked a... Continue Reading →
My husband popped down to the allotment this morning to sort the chickens. He found Leia off her eggs. We hoped this was just her daily break from sitting. Later in the afternoon we both went down for a little fresh air. Upon arrival we discovered Leia sunbathing outside. Idiotic bird! Unfortunately, this probably means... Continue Reading →
Today I walked down to the allotment armed with my monkey puzzle tree. I bought it about eighteen months ago and it's now too big for its pot. It was time to pot it on and move it into the greenhouse. The kitchen windowsill isn't big enough to accommodate a bigger pot! I rummaged around... 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 →
Today I walked down to the allotment in fits of excitement. Tracy had sent me a couple of photos half an hour earlier of four black pallets stacked on our plot. I couldn't wait to get started! When I arrived, I immediately went to feed the chicks. They seem to be doubling in size every... Continue Reading →
Yesterday afternoon a parcel arrived. Recognising the sender and the feel of the parcel I knew that tomorrow Cliff would be a happy man. I dashed down to the allotment this morning, armed with the parcel and set out to find him. I found Koko sleeping in Cliff's shed so I was confident of finding... Continue Reading →
This morning I dashed down to the allotment before my husband. Abi was dropping by to pick up another three chicks for a friend's family in Sandbach. She arrived as I was unlocking the gate which was impressive timing. We walked down to the patio, picked out three chicks and she disappeared off to drop... Continue Reading →
This morning we walked down to the allotment complete with a picnic lunch. Today was coop cleaning day and the sunshine is vital to make sure all the boards are dry before going back into the coop. When we arrived, we opened up the greenhouse door and checked on the chicks. They are so big... 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 →
And just like that, it begins again! The Allotment Federation's annual seed sale always marks the beginning of the new season - a time to plan in earnest, finish off digging the plot (assuming it isn't flooded) and clear out the shed/greenhouse/coop (delete as appropriate). I love the sale because it's one of the few... Continue Reading →
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