Ah, that feeling is upon us. The cooling air . . . the dropping, yellowing leaves . . . the drying up of the blackberries. Of course, this is how it's been since July, but still - it definitely feels like autumn has officially arrived.
After approximately a month away, I've returned, and had a chance to see our garden.
Luckily for me, Sarah and my DH have made some improvements in the time away. There is grass aplenty in the back "half" (although there are also 100 baby brambles interspersed). Duren and his friend Sam have cleared out most of the "goat pen" and the huge pile of dried cuttings, and today we used Sarah's new mower to cut the grass/brambles to a nice "lawn."
And we also had a nice moment tonight - we took home our first cucumber. Ah, the allotment life. I think I'll keep it.
Monday 25 August 2008
Saturday 16 August 2008
More allotment follies from Sarah...
"Boy do I wish I had a photo of today. Firstly all I could hear when approaching plot 20 was the clunking of a JCB digger. It was only when I was standing next to the pumpkins that i realised Mr JCB was clearing the other side of our fence! We can now spy on golfers until shed-mahal blots the view.
Today's proud accomplishment was mowing down the jungle with my new favorite tool....Handy manual mower! Best £39 we will have ever spent.
I got two thirds of the way up the allotment when what can only be described by meteorologists as a 'significant rain event' came with warning. This was no passing shower. Heavy rain gave way to torrential downpour that truly wouldn't stop. I had previously vowed to take very good care of handy mower (no rusting blades!) but ended up chucking it next to the chairs, covered in grass, oh the shame.
I would have made a speedy exit but for my drowned rat of a shivering, terrified dog who refused to budge. I then had to beg, pull, shout and finally drag/carry Belly out of there (a photo moment if there ever was one).
Whoever comes past our plot will note a randomly half-finished mowing job to add to our list of incompetence. To my credit I did remember to lock the gate!"
"Boy do I wish I had a photo of today. Firstly all I could hear when approaching plot 20 was the clunking of a JCB digger. It was only when I was standing next to the pumpkins that i realised Mr JCB was clearing the other side of our fence! We can now spy on golfers until shed-mahal blots the view.
Today's proud accomplishment was mowing down the jungle with my new favorite tool....Handy manual mower! Best £39 we will have ever spent.
I got two thirds of the way up the allotment when what can only be described by meteorologists as a 'significant rain event' came with warning. This was no passing shower. Heavy rain gave way to torrential downpour that truly wouldn't stop. I had previously vowed to take very good care of handy mower (no rusting blades!) but ended up chucking it next to the chairs, covered in grass, oh the shame.
I would have made a speedy exit but for my drowned rat of a shivering, terrified dog who refused to budge. I then had to beg, pull, shout and finally drag/carry Belly out of there (a photo moment if there ever was one).
Whoever comes past our plot will note a randomly half-finished mowing job to add to our list of incompetence. To my credit I did remember to lock the gate!"
While I laze away on the US seashore, Sarah has been hard at work! She emails:
"Allotment follies abound....
Amazing what a drop of rain does! Oh how I wish we had covered all of the front half with weed block. In fact its not too late. The grass closest to the river is winning out over the weeds, but the middle section is clearly not and in my opinion we have to cover it over and abandon any planting until the spring.
On the plus side...We have cucumbers! see photo! I had gifts of a rhubarb plant and a15 seed leeks to plant for next year. Both have gone in (the cabbage was meant to be netted so has been completely eaten) I did managed to clear the 'plot' of all weeds and beat back the nettles from our door.
I did all I could with restless kids and dog but could do with a solid weekend of work there, preferably with a mower. Nice Sarah from plot 17 or 18 gave me some of her glut of courgettes. Emily is showing her pet worm for you to see. She named it Zoe and it came home with us.
"Allotment follies abound....
Amazing what a drop of rain does! Oh how I wish we had covered all of the front half with weed block. In fact its not too late. The grass closest to the river is winning out over the weeds, but the middle section is clearly not and in my opinion we have to cover it over and abandon any planting until the spring.
On the plus side...We have cucumbers! see photo! I had gifts of a rhubarb plant and a15 seed leeks to plant for next year. Both have gone in (the cabbage was meant to be netted so has been completely eaten) I did managed to clear the 'plot' of all weeds and beat back the nettles from our door.
I did all I could with restless kids and dog but could do with a solid weekend of work there, preferably with a mower. Nice Sarah from plot 17 or 18 gave me some of her glut of courgettes. Emily is showing her pet worm for you to see. She named it Zoe and it came home with us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
View from the far side
