Bargain of the week

Yes - just £1.50 from Tesco (half price) Ladies part leather gloves.

I bought 3 pairs.

They are still a couple of sizes too big for me as I have small hands. But at that price I can't be fussy.

The allotment didn't happen last weekend - I knew it was unlikely as we had family stuff (wedding and family party). Still we have a weekend coming up with no visitors and no visiting - bliss.

Mighty tree

Made a rare mid- week trip up the allotment to check on the pumpkins, courgettes and sweetcorn I planted and give them some water. As I walked up the lane that runs adjacent to the allotments, I could hear some laughter. I soon found that a couple of lads were up to no good. They tried to get out the side exit once they saw me - but it was padlocked. They were apparently looking for slow-worms. I gave the the lecture about protected species and then marched them off the allotments. The only damage seems to be a few bruised potato plants where they had been rooting under the grass mulch. Unfortunately I probably put the fear of god in them - my excuse was that I had not had a good time at work today.

Anyway - on the way home I stopped to wonder at the sight of this Horse Chestnut tree in the Churchyard. I don't think I have ever seen one as huge. What a magnificent sight.

Busy busy busy

Woohoo! Got two stints up the allotment this weekend. Three hours on Saturday and two on Sunday. Saturday was digging to prepare the ground for the planting on Sunday. It was heavy going. The recent rain had made the top four inches of the soil very sticky, but under that it was dry and hard. I had some company - a very scruffy blackbird (apologies for the picture quality - he was not a poser) who was gorging on the worms. He was quite vocal but had a strange squeak rather than a chirp. And I was digging up some BIG worms.


Sunday was planting. Courgettes, pumpkins, sweetcorn and a row of beetroot and a row of carrots.

It was also a defining moment as close inspection of my trusty gardening boots revealed that the soles were parting way. They have lasted well - but will now be added to the rubbish. I need to decide whether my old walking boots are old enough for the allotment yet. I have a nasty feeling that my trusty Barbour of 25 years is also heading the same way. As yet I don't have anything half way scruffy enough for the allotment. My current Barbour jacket is still looking good at 7 years old. Might need to scour a few charity shops.

What a fine specimen!

For once this year I have some sprout plants to be proud of. No being eaten by snails - no being knocked off the window cill by someone other than me. This one is looking good.

I wish however they were all like this. I only have 5 or 6 that are this good. The others suffered with a scorching and lack of water when we were on holiday. But this year I have great hopes.

Taking a flyer

I had no choice. My runners were running away - so I have planted them out. Now normally I don't do this for another week or two - but the roots were bursting out of their peat pots.

I also planted out the tomatoes at home. These are up against a south facing brick wall and seem to be ok.

Thing is this current hot spell has caught me by surprise. It is like we have gone from winter straight into summer. I found it hard to motivate myself during April and as a consequence haven't sown much and I haven't given much thought to where I am going to plant things either. I still have some areas that need digging too.

Actually, in the 10 years I have kept an allotment, I can't think of one year that has been "normal" weather wise.

Not very popular today

Today I did the annual emptying of the household compost bin. This happens either because the bin becomes full, or my tomatoes are ready for planting out as the compost is used at the bottom of the tubs.

This year it was because the bin was full. I was squashing all the kitchen scraps in the bin and then using all my weight to close the lid - poor worms.

The downside of this job is having to remove the top layer of stinky half rotten food (first picture) to get to the bottom layer of nice compost (second picture). The smell was pretty strong and probably not appreciated by the neighbours who are having a party tonight. It was probably not helped by my bad habit of putting old unused eggs in the bin whole and not smashing them up first. Five month old eggs do pong a bit. Thankfully my sense of smell is very poor having not properly returned following my nasty dose of Chicken Pox at Christmas.

Can't wait to get it up the allotment tomorrow.

One possible consequence of my activities today was a small present I found in the dining room. My two cats have been part of the family for 8-9 years. During that time we have had one baby blue tit and one mouse - ours do not do the hunting thing. But I discovered this - what a large mouse I thought - closer inspection revealed that it was a baby rat. I think it must have been Casper and not Chloe. He has been prancing round the house looking very pleased with himself today.