Tuesday 28th April 2015 – Where has the month gone?

Posted on April 28, 2015 by clairesallotment

I can’t believe that it’s nearly May!! Where did April go? I’ve still got loads to do. I’m in front with digging over beds on the allotment, but behind slightly with my seed planting. So the next few days I’ll have to plant in earnest. Lots still to do, but I’ll get there, so be prepared for lots of information in the next few blogs. Today I managed to turn over more of the bed where the Pumpkins were in last year. This bed is rather large, and it’s taking a while to get through, but I’m nearly there. I also planted in the ground another three rows of Broad Beans “Red Flowered”. These I sowed from seed in March and they’ve been growing very happily in my greenhouse. But now that they’re about 6 inches tall, it’s time for them to go out into the big wide world of the allotment. I’m sure they’ll be ok. I gave them all a good water in and I will just keep an eye out for aphids. That’s about all for today. Nothing very exciting. More tomorrow. TTFN!!

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Thursday 23rd April 2015 – Raspberries are in!!

Posted on April 23, 2015 by clairesallotment

I’ve been slowly sorting out my fruit bed which has been left to fend for itself over the last couple of year. But this year I’ve promised it that I’ll sort it out and bring some order back to it. Today I planted 12 new Raspberry canes “Glen Ample”. The canes that I did have, had lasted for about 10 years and were giving me fewer berries each year, so I thought that it was a time for some new ones. The new ones most probably won’t give me much fruit this year, but hopefully next year I’ll have loads and then I can make some Raspberry jam. We do like Raspberry jam, with pips and all!! Once they were in I finished digging over another large bed, and started on another. I had a stroll round my plots to see how many beds I’ve got left to dig over, and what state they’re all in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the only really bad on is the one I’m working on at the moment, the rest are in a good way and just need a little bit of turning over. Oh, and the massive overhaul of the fruit bed of course. I feel that I’m ahead of the game at the moment which is good. I’m a little behind in sowing seeds though, so after work tomorrow morning I’ll try and catch up on those. I harvest the first of the Rhubarb and bought home some grass clumps for the chickens. Well they were very good girls today and laid 1 egg each. They’re such good girls.

My new Raspberry canes. They don't look like much now, but hopefully soon they will.

My new Raspberry canes. They don’t look like much now, but hopefully soon they will.

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Wednesday 22nd April 2015 – Allotmenteering is very sociable

Posted on April 23, 2015 by clairesallotment

It’s been a very busy week with working, the gas man, the electrician and various other things going on, that it’s been a bit tricky to get to the allotment much this week. Today was the first day I was able to get on my plot. I only had about an hour and a half, because I had to be somewhere else in the afternoon. But not wanting to waste any time I popped down for this short time. When I arrived I bumped into a couple of other plot holders that I’d not seen for a while and so we stood and chatted for about half an hour. Oh well. We had a lot to catch up on. The site is very large and we’re all a long way apart from each other. I then only had about an hour left, so the first thing that needed doing was a through watering. We’ve still not had any rain, and the ground is getting rather parched. I noticed that my Radish, Carrot and Parsnip seeds are now coming through. You have to look very carefully, but they’re there. Once I’d watered which took about another 30 minutes, because the hose was messing about and being naughty, I then dug and weeded for the remainder of the time. Not a huge amount accomplished today, but enough to start off with, and if I’d not gone down I’d not have done any of that. So I’m pleased. More time on Thursday to get stuck in.

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Saturday 18th April 2015 – Bell ringing Outing to Somerset.

Posted on April 19, 2015 by clairesallotment

Today was the day of out little tower outing to Somerset. One of our ringers Sue, moved down to Somerset about a year ago, and we’ve been meaning to find any excuse to go and see her. From May to October we’re usually very busy because we have loads of weddings to ring bells for, and once they’re over, then it’s Christmas. So April is the perfect time before it all starts again. We met in our church car park at 7am sharp. For a Saturday morning this was a bit of a stretch, but we all managed it. Once we’d all met, then off we started on our drive of just over 100 miles. This was a very pleasant journey down. I drove and had 4 other passengers. We had wonderful conversation as we went along, and I said in my best mummy voice “I don’t want to hear the phrase from anyone ‘Are we there yet?'”. They were all very good, and Brenda had bought along some sweeties for us all. We passed Stonehenge on our way, and admired the wonderful countryside (well they all admired the countryside, I kept my eyes on the road). Oh to live somewhere like that, so clean and lots of space to stretch your legs. We arrived just after 9am at our first tower St Giles, Leigh on Mendip.

St Giles church, Leigh on Mendip

St Giles church, Leigh on Mendip

We were due to start at 10am, so we went for a gentle stroll up and down the lane, hoping to find a bakery to get a hot drink and maybe a snack, but we found nothing. The sun was shining, but the breeze was rather nippy. We had a look round the church, and just before 10am Julian came to open up for us. We were all needing a wee, so he very kindly asked the local pub if we could pop in. They very kindly offered to our relief. When we came out we met Sue. It was wonderful to see her again. The bells at St Giles, Leigh on Mendip are lovely, a little heavier than we are used to at 12 cwt (ours at home are 8.5 cwt), and don’t go as well as our bells at home, but we managed to ring some very good changes and methods. For one of our ringers Adele, this was her first outing, in fact it was the first time she’d ever rung anywhere else.

Our little band of ringers. I'm taking the photo...obviously!!

Our little band of ringers. I’m taking the photo…obviously!!

We rang until 11am before we all got back in our cars and off to our second tower. Our next port of call was All Saints, Nunney. When we arrived we noticed the glorious Nunney Castle. There it was right in the middle of the village and right by the church. We had a little while before we were due to start ringing, so we all went for a little stroll round it. It had a little moat and everything. They called it “A modest Castle”, whatever that means. I guess in Castle terms it means small, but it looked huge against the cottages in the village.

Nunney Castle, with moat and drawbridge. A bit draughty in places though.

Nunney Castle, with moat and drawbridge. A bit draughty in places though.

When we’d finished looking at the castle we were met at All Saints, Nunney by Margaret G, who let us in the tower and rang with us for a while before she went downstairs to get us all a tea or coffee. The bells were again a little heavier than we’re used to, again at 12 cwt, but were very pleasant to ring. Again we had some wonderful ringing, nothing super complicated, but then I’d rather ring something simple and get it perfect rather than try something complicated and make a mess of it. The aim of the day was to have fun and try out new bells.

All Saints, Nunney.

All Saints, Nunney.

We finished ringing at 12.30pm and by this time we were all getting rather hungry, but we were booked in to the Fox and Hounds Pub in Tytherington, Frome. The food was what I’d call “Proper pub Food”. Very reasonably prices and very tasty. I had Scampi with chips and salad. There was loads of it and I didn’t think I’d eat it all, but I did. All that exercise in the morning makes you hungry. We didn’t have time for pudding which was a shame as lots of us were thinking about the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Maybe next time.

A well deserved lunch for us all.

A well deserved lunch for us all.

Then it was onto our last tower of proper sized bells (you’ll understand in a bit). Our third stop was St Leonards in Marston Bigot. We ring here from 2.30pm-3.30pm.

St Leonards, Marston Bigot. The view was fantastic!

St Leonards, Marston Bigot. The view was fantastic!

They have such wonderful village names in Somerset. These bells were 7 cwt, and absolutely glorious to ring. We all agreed that they were amazing (not as nice as our bells of course, but nearly). We got all 8 bells ringing, the other towers only had 6 bells each. And as they were lighter they were easier to ring for our more mature members of our band. Mavis being the oldest at 85! We were joined by Margaret C, the lady who was going to let us ring at our final tower, so that boosted our numbers and meant that we could give Stedman Doubles a go, (this will mean nothing to most people, but something to a few), which we did, and completed it very nicely. Our final destination was to a Mini Ring Pig-le-Tower. Now I’ve rung at a mini ring before, and so had a couple others, but for many, well they were Mini ring virgins. Let’s just say there is an art to ringing at a mini ring. The heaviest bell was 20lb 11oz!!

Mini Ring Pig-le-Tower.

Mini Ring Pig-le-Tower.

You don’t ring them like normal church bells, and they are a little tricky to master. Margaret C who owns Pig-le-Tower is rather eccentric in a very lovely way, and can talk the hind legs off a donkey. We were all rather tired by this point, and some of us could get it and for others it was a little tricky.

Yes that's me and I'm a bell ringer. I can ring big bells to!

Yes that’s me and I’m a bell ringer. I can ring big bells to!

We all had a go, and some of us did better than others, but we all managed something, even if it was something very small. We managed to ring Bob Minimus (again this will mean nothing to most, but something to a few) with great success but mainly played about just trying to ring them.

You go Mavis and Brenda, show us how it's done.

You go Mavis and Brenda, show us how it’s done.

When we’d finished Margaret C very kindly offered us some refreshments before we drove home. We went back a slightly different way, to avoid Stonehenge as it would be very congested around 7pm. We arrived back at our church car park at just after 8pm all exhausted but very happy. I would like to say a HUGE, MASSIVE congratulations to everyone that came. I know for our mature ringers (Mavis, Brenda and John), it was a long day but you all did so marvellously. Fantastic ringing from Tim and Adele (first outing) who rang most, if not all of the time, as we were short on numbers. I really appreciate all you both did, I know that it was a lot. It was also wonderful to see Sue again after over a year, and even though she’d not rung for about a year, it was like she’d never been away. I hope that this has encouraged her to ring more now. Thank you to those who opened up their towers to us, Julian, Margaret G and Margaret C, we couldn’t have done it without you. I drove 232 miles that day, and was asleep by 10pm. I’m surprised I made it that far to be honest. Now to plan the next outing, but not quite so far away this time. Maybe the Andover area would be good.

 

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Friday 17th April 2015 – A short afternoon.

Posted on April 17, 2015 by clairesallotment

I was busy this morning running various errands, so the allotment had to wait until this afternoon for me to visit. I was only able to spend a little under 2 hours today on my plot, but to be honest that was enough as I’ve been working very hard this week. Next week I’ve got work and various other things, so won’t be able to get up as often as I’d like, but still should manage about 6 or 7 hours next week, depending on what the weather brings. I’ll keep you informed of my progress and what I’ve been getting up to. But back to today. The weather was much cooler and there was a rather strong easterly wind, which meant that it was a little on the chilly side. When the wind eased it got very warm, so it was a day of having your jumper constantly on and off. I managed to dig over 2 more decent sized beds and start another large one, until I’d had enough and am not how having a lovely cup of tea. Not had one since this morning. The beds are coming on very nicely so I thought I’d show you.

Plot 1

Plot 1

Still lots of work to do on plot 1. Parsnips, Carrots, Onions, Garlic, Radish, Spring Onions and Beetroot are all in. As well as various other perennials like Rhubarb, Strawberries and Chard.

Plot 2

Plot 2

Again still more to do here. But Potatoes and Asparagus are growing well. Up the end (which you can’t see) I’ve got Horseradish just starting again and Globe Artichokes looking wonderful. Well that’s it for this week. Have a great weekend what ever you’re doing. I’m in Somerset on Saturday visiting 4 different bell towers to ring their bells, so that should be fun.

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Thursday 16th April 2015 – All the Potatoes are in!!

Posted on April 16, 2015 by clairesallotment

The temperature wasn’t so hot today which is good. Still warm for this time of year, but at least there was a breeze. I spent 3 hours today turning over a couple more beds, fairly small ones this time. What will go in those is anyones guess. I also managed to get in the remainder of my “Sapro Mira” Potatoes. So that’s all the potatoes in now which is good. That’s another job crossed off the list. Now is the time to get the rest of the beds all ready for the mass planting session from May until the beginning of June when all the tender crops can go in. So it’s just a case of methodically working through them one by one. I’ve got to have a massive sort out of the soft fruit bed, as that was allowed to go rather rustic last year. I’ve got some new Raspberries to go in, and I’ve still got some vouchers left from Christmas, so I’ll go and see what other soft fruit takes my fancy. I also harvested some more Purple Sprouting Broccoli. It tastes lovely, very green and fresh. Just put it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, it’s lovely. When I needed a break from all the heavy digging, I then watered all the seeds and Onions etc that are already in and growing. I did this with my watering can and added a capful of Seaweed Fertiliser with the water. None of my seeds on my allotment have started to pop up yet, but then they’ve not been very long, I’m just being impatient.

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Wednesday 15th April 2015 – Half the Potatoes are in!!

Posted on April 15, 2015 by clairesallotment

Having worked very hard over the last few days (nothing strange in that really) digging over various beds to get the Potatoes in, I think I’ve got enough space prepared for them. I didn’t take them all down today, but should have, as I would have got them all in. Never mind I’ll do the rest tomorrow. Today I managed to get in my “King Edwards” and half my “Sarpo Mira”. So that’s a start. I’ll put the other half of the Sarpo Mira in tomorrow. It’s been another glorious day, reaching temperatures of about 24 degrees. It’s officially the hottest day of the year so far where I live, and I think we’re hotter than Spain where my parents are, but I’m sure they’ll tell me if we’re not. But according to my weather app on my phone we are, and I trust that with my life…Well not really, I trust it with the weather. In this heat you need to stop regularly for a drink of water. I’d rather have a cold beer (Budweiser is my favourite), but I’m driving, so that’s not sensible. I’ll have one tonight. I only managed 3 hours today on my plot, but in this heat I think it’s enough. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler, but still dry so I’ll be down there again and carrying on with it all. Everything in the greenhouse is growing well, but I think I’ll have to start to pump the bath water down as the plants at home are starting to show signs they need watering. I’ll have to get my butt bump out, and then all the jokes can begin again.

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Tuesday 14th April 2015 – Are headphone ear buds digestible?

Posted on April 14, 2015 by clairesallotment

Yes I know this sounds a very odd question and just incase you’re wondering no I didn’t eat one, but Gizmo one of our chickens did. When I came back from the allotment this afternoon, I went to see our ladies, I found 4 eggs and gave them some corn and cabbage from the allotment. I had my ear phones dangling around my neck and as I bent down, they started to swing. And the chickens being as stupid as they are thought they were food. Before I know what had happened Gizmo had managed to peck at one, and had run off to the end of their with it. I tried to chase after her, but she slipped away. By the time I caught her she’d swallowed it. She looked at me as if to say “What?”. Does anyone know if it’ll work its way through her system or not? Will I have to take her to the vet? I’m not sure how I’ll explain that to the vet, but hey ho!! One a slightly saner note, I spent 4 hours on my plot today, first of all planting some Broad Beans “Bunyards Exhibition” plants that I got free from the Edible Garden Show. And then a row of 2 varieties of Radish. I mixed them together and have done some now and will do some more in about a months time. The varieties are “Black Spanish” and “White Dream”. I just thought they looked interesting, hopefully they’ll taste good as well. I also managed to weed a load more, and have prepared a large bed for the Potatoes to go in. I weeded the Asparagus bed, and the spears are just starting to pop above ground. Hopefully it won’t be long until I can harvest the first ones. They only went in last year and take a couple of years to really get going, so I’m not expecting much this year, but I’ll keep watering and feeding them and hopefully next year we’ll have loads. We do like Asparagus and so do the kids which is great.

First Asparagus spears are just showing through.

First Asparagus spears are just showing through.

I also harvested to Purple Sprouting Broccoli which is doing really well, and it’s great to have something fresh that you can harvest so early on in the year. So after 4 hours of having fun down on the allotment it was time to come home. It’s again been hot and sunny and reached 23 degrees according to the thermostat on the car. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter, I may have to get the shorts out tomorrow, but that could be rather risky on my part. I think I may stick with my knee length leggings.

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Monday 13th April 2015 – Back to normal.

Posted on April 13, 2015 by clairesallotment

The kids are back to school and Mark is back to work, so off I went to spend lots of time on my allotment. I took my lunch down with me today, so after 2 hours of digging and weeding I sat down on my new bench for about 20 minutes to eat my lunch before I carried on again for another hour or so. I managed to finish digging over another bed, and start turning another one where the Potatoes are going to go in. That’s now my next job, the Potaotes!! This could take all week as there are a lot of them to get in, and I have to weed and turn over the beds first. I also had to water the various bits I have already planted as there was no rain this weekend. It’s supposed to get into the mid 20’s for the next couple of days. We’re supposed to be in the low teens in April!! Oh well, I’ll enjoy it whilst it lasts. I also sowed 2 rows of Beetroot “Boltary” and 1 row of Spring Onions “White Lisbon”. I’ll sow another row in about a months time so we’ll have a good supply throughout the summer. I also bought some grass clumps home from the allotment for the chickens, which they went manic over when they saw them.

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Sunday 12th April 2015 – Polesden Lacey.

Posted on April 13, 2015 by clairesallotment

As it was such a beautiful day and so we decided that we’d got out for the day. Mark said he’d buy us all lunch as we’d worked so hard for the last couple of weeks. We didn’t want to drive too far, so opted for Polesden Lacey. We’ve all been here before, but Mark had never been in the house before. I think the last time he came with us it was February and the house was closed. So today he got to go inside. As we wandered through the rooms and looked at the wonderful views over the Surrey Hills, it made us all very jealous. We were dreaming of our ideal house and garden, and realised that what we would like we couldn’t afford. But still it’s good to dream. We all picked out what bedroom we’d like, which is a game we always play, George had a go at Billiards, and then found some dressing up clothes to try on. They were aimed for children a little younger, but George being George he wanted to have a go. First of all he dressed up as a poor boy with a cap and waistcoat on and then a sailor.

Looks more like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.

Looks more like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.

He then discovered that the girls clothes were more his size, so with no encouragement at all he put on a flowery and dress. The lady asked if he like acting, which he replied he did. And then she said that she’d never seen anything like this before. I offered to let him stay with her for the rest of the day and then she’d see some more unusual things that she’d never seen before, but she politely declined.

Mrs Greville would be so proud!!

Mrs Greville would be so proud!!

After our lunch we then went and got an ice cream and sat in from of the house and again looked at the view. It was very busy with lots of families out enjoying the sunshine. A perfect way to end the Easter Holidays.

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