Adventures in the life of an English allotment
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 →
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 →
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 →
I arrived down on site at midday today, determined to do some more weeding and cleaning out the greenhouse. When I arrived, I spent a few minutes sitting in the shed, looking at the plot. I am so pleased with how it has transformed this season. The new sections have made my life much easier... Continue Reading →
Despite growing very little veg this year, I managed to harvest two beautiful little squashes (plants courtesy of Liz and Sarah) as well as Ken kindly giving us a small melon. I am always amazed at the variety of fruit and vegetables that can be grown on site. Here in the north of England, the... Continue Reading →
Late this morning, I walked down to the allotment. By the time I arrived, I was dripping. The heat was unbearable! I grabbed Pop and put her in the tree pot to have a scratch around. Cliff was down and I showed him the chicken wheelchair. To show him how it worked, I grabbed Pop... Continue Reading →
Over the last couple of days, there has been no significant events or exciting adventures. I know that now I have written this, there will instantly be several incredibly noteworthy events happening simultaneously. But allotment life has gentler days when all that needs attending to is the chickens and time on site is spent chatting... Continue Reading →
There are so many beautiful flowers bring grown on site at the moment that I decided I needed to dedicate this post to it. Below is just a small selection. Enjoy!
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 →
Out of nowhere, we have been hit with boiling temperatures and high humidity. By the time I got down to the allotment, it was far too hot to do anything other than feed the chickens. I stopped to say hello to Cliff who was down with Koko. We both agreed it was too hot to... Continue Reading →
Today I trotted down to the allotment, marvelling at how changeable the British weather really is. Yesterday was showers and overcast. Today was boiling. Not dry heat which somehow is more tolerable but the sticky, oppressive heat that makes everything difficult. All the usual gang were there when I arrived and after a preliminary check... Continue Reading →
After waiting in for a special delivery most of the morning (which was damaged in transit and didn't arrive), I got down to the allotment quite late. When I got down, I was quite worried about Pop being in the greenhouse in the sudden, unexpected heat. Fortunately, Geoff had opened both greenhouse doors and brought... 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 →
This morning I ambled down to the allotment, enjoying the sunshine which has appeared from nowhere. Everyone had come down to their plots to make good use of the rare break in the weather. I had a quick chat with Geoff, Brad and Andy before heading down to the coop. I put Pop outside and... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
Today I dashed down to the allotment worried about what state I would find Pop in. Upon opening up the nest box, I found Pop had shuffled forward so she had her head and shoulders out of the box. I picked her up and put her outside near the food bowl so she could enjoy... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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