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 →
Three tiny beaks
So today was a day I have been looking forward to for years. For my birthday, my husband had agreed to let me get some silkie hens! I adore these ridiculous looking chickens with their 5 toes and beautifully soft feathers. I have held off getting silkies for years due to concerns over Marek's disease... Continue Reading →
Autumn Tidy
Late morning, I ambled down to the allotment to feed the chickens. Happily, the weather was dry and there even was a hint of sunshine. Upon arrival, I found Phil in the Clubhouse. It turns out Steve has done a big clear out of the clubhouse, taking out the chairs and carpet. I walked across... Continue Reading →
Crash, bang, wallop!
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 →
End of Summer
Over the last few days, the weather seems to have turned. It definitely feels more like autumn than summer and the torrential rain more like winter. At this time of year, if the weather is still good there is still lots going on, harvesting and weeding as well as putting in the winter crops. The... Continue Reading →
Big steps forward
Today, despite the rain, something very exciting happened. I put Pop out into the tree pot and left her for a few minutes to enjoy the greenery and a fresh chunk of courgette. Leia had laid another egg and assessed my every move as I cleaned out the bedding. When I finished, I checked on... Continue Reading →
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
This afternoon I pottered down to the allotment determined to make a start on the community garden pond. Over several months, the weed in the pond has started to choke the water plants. When I arrived, Cliff was busy putting the finishing touches to Sarah and Liz's pond so I went to sort out the... Continue Reading →
Flooded by the Water Table
Yesterday and today's rain has left the plot flooded yet again. The fruit trees, willow and bark path have worked well up to a point but there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop the water table rising to the surface! I didn't realise how high the water table was until I walked onto... Continue Reading →
Building the Ponderosa
When I arrived on site today, I found Sarah and Cliff hard at work digging an enormous hole for the new pond. Cliff had spotted a perfect container on another plot and the plot holder was happy to donate it. This saved huge amounts of time and effort as we didn't have to buy pond... Continue Reading →
Wind Damage
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 →
Mid-season Tidy
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 →
Is it even summer?
Where oh where has the sunshine gone? Judging from how wet and rainy June and July have been I suspect we have had our "summer" in May. Today was overcast and I walked down to the allotment to check on Pop and to go a few jobs. When I got into the greenhouse, Pop looked... Continue Reading →
Rained off again
Despite the south of England enjoying a mini heatwave, up here we have reverted to the age old relentless rain. This meant that I couldn't use the mushroom dowels or clean out the chickens. Tracy was down and we spent a while checking the loofa plants in the greenhouse. It continues to grow at a... Continue Reading →
Musical chickens
This morning I got down to the allotment early and was half way through sorting out Pop when Phil dropped by to say hello. It turns out that the remaining white leghorn cockerel is being picked up by the local farmer today. We had a chat about what to do with Leia's chicks as four... Continue Reading →
Back with a Bang
After spending a much overdue few days away, I arrived down the allotment this morning to find major changes had occured in my absence! As I walked through the gate, I saw Dave the Plod busy fiddling with something that suddenly spat out an enormous tongue of flame. It turns out, Dave was burning weeds... Continue Reading →
Rained off
I had decided that today was the day I was going to build the vertical garden using pallets, weed fabric and compost. As I opened up the curtains this morning, I was greeted with overcast skies and rain. Great. Plan suspended until the rain stops. Despite the rain, the chickens needed feeding so my husband... Continue Reading →
Planting in the Stumpery
This morning I ambled down to the allotment under an overcast sky. Despite the clouds, the air felt humid. Upon arrival, I went straight down to the main coop to check on Pop. I opened the nest box to find she had vanished. Previously, the absence of a chicken usually meant someone had popped into... Continue Reading →
Never board at the Allotment
Today was an epic long day at the allotment. I arrived with one plan but ended up doing something else. Initially, I went to have a look at the stumpery. It's looking much better although I decided there was no point in re-organising the logs until we had enough to fill the stumpery. Pondering what... Continue Reading →
Building the Stumpery
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 →
The Adventures of Charles the Racing Pigeon
So today was another one of those memorable and eventful days at the allotment. As with these days, things started off quietly. I went down to feed the chickens in the main coop, collected four eggs and sorted out their food (tons left) and water (also tons due to the intermittent torrential downpours). I spent... Continue Reading →
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