Adventures in the life of an English allotment
Sad news when I got down to the allotment this morning - Emily has died. She was a cracking chicken and an incredibly successful broody. The coop won't be the same without her. Geoff has done a stirling job of looking after her since she left her chicks. By my reckoning she must have been... Continue Reading →
There are many different types of rain. Some comes at you sideways, finding every gap in your clothing and flooding it. Another is so light it's like walking through a fine mist. Today's was the British classic, drizzle. Unless you have lived in the UK, drizzle may need a little explanation. Drizzle is always accompanied... Continue Reading →
This morning I dashed into town to pick up a carrier to prepare to pick up the new chickens. Armed with two large carriers, I walked down to the allotment and put them into the greenhouse. I spotted Geoff in the clubhouse and stopped by to say hello. Upon arrival at the clubhouse I discovered... Continue Reading →
This morning I decided to take advantage of the temporary pause in the rain and walked down to the allotment earlier than normal. I arrived to find several people already down including Steve who was busy with a saw, hacking apart the huge milk container by his greenhouse.As I walked down the plot to see... Continue Reading →
After work this evening, I walked down to the allotment to check on the water levels. I arrived to find the site empty but I found the flood levels have dropped. In some places, the water had completely drained away and even the larger areas had drained significantly. I went into the greenhouse and found... Continue Reading →
This morning the rain had finally stopped although it looked like it would start again at any second. It has rained throughout the night and all of yesterday so we were very concerned that the entire plot would be under water. We arrived to find the flooding was significant on our side of the site.... Continue Reading →
The notoriously fickle British weather has played it's trump card over the last 24 hours. Rain. Lots of it. In some places, a month's amount of rain in 12 hours. Everything is wet, flooding of motorways, roads, pavements as well as allotments. It has been raining non-stop since yesterday evening and I was intrigued to... Continue Reading →
Today I went down to the allotment late to find several people still on site. I opened up the greenhouse and fed Emily and the chicks who scoffed their food like I hadn't fed them in weeks. After a while, I opened up the run and Emily and the Plymouth rock chick jumped out and... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I walked down to the allotment in the sunshine. Thankfully the rain had stopped and I wandered down to the main coop to find all the chickens sunbathing. I fed them and went back to the top of the plot to open up the greenhouse. Emily and her chicks were hungry and made good... Continue Reading →
This morning, I dashed down to the allotment in the pouring rain. The rain we have had for a few days has boosted the growth of the plants but also the weeds. The chicks have got so much bigger and have feathered up more. Our Plymouth Rock chick is almost completely feathered out now and... Continue Reading →
This morning I arrived to find Phil and Steve had been busy sorting out the hives. They had removed the frames from the nuc box and placed them into the box. Unfortunately, Phil had forgotten to check the frames as he was transferring into the hive. They took exception to Phil moving the frames for... Continue Reading →
Today was overcast and I dashed down to the allotment between rain showers. Everyone was taking cover in the clubhouse, warming themselves up with a cuppa and a slice of meat pie brought by Steve. We put the world to rights before moving off to our own plots. I opened up the greenhouse and checked... Continue Reading →
I opened the curtains to see rain. Sheets of it. The allotment definitely needed a good soaking but I had hoped it would have stopped in time so I could do some jobs. By the time I got to the allotment I was soaked. I joined Phil and Geoff in the clubhouse in the hope... Continue Reading →
The weather has finally decided to do something useful and rain. The allotment is overdue for rain and it will help top up our waterbutts which have been dropping rapidly as I have been watering the plants regularly. Emily continues to sit beautifully on her eggs. As far as I can tell with a quick... 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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