Worthing and District Allotments and Gardens Association

Monday, 8th March

A bright, sunny, dry weekend and were was I? Nowhere to be seen. Well, obviously I was seen somewhere but nowhere near the allotment as I was away from Worthing for some family get-together birthday bash. Very nice it was too. Then today - another bright day - I'm staying in for a workman which I bet turns out to be a futile exercise. Still, I've not wasted my time entirely as I've been pricking out 80 tomato seedlings, so that's the last I'll see of them probably. Then tonight I'm off to Worthing Horticultural Society's AGM. Not that I'm a member but Peter Webb is giving a talk there on growing vegetables for showing and entry is free to Association members. (7.30pm Offington Park Methodist Church Hall). Could be biscuits too!

While I was away I came across a new Range store so I thought I'd take a look as I believe we could be getting one in Worthing in the old MFI buildings in East Worthing by the Chesswood allotments site. It looks rather like Homebase to me. I had a look round the gardening section and picked up a couple of packets of flower seeds as our stores don't do flowers any more but even on a special half-price promotion they were still about twice as dear as seeds at our stores on average. Talking of seeds, my peppers are now up too so it looks like the new propagator (and the bag of Humax compost) was a good buy. Could be bad news for our kitchen windowsill though which risks getting rather crowded over the next month or so. I can't put them in the greenhouse as I have no electric in there and they keep promising night frosts. Still, I'm sure Mrs N will understand (?)

Friday, 5th March

Perhaps Spring is underway at last: the snow has gone, crocuses and daffodils are out and birds are chirping. A spell of dry weather has even had me digging on the allotment at last. My soil is still very heavy but no longer sticky so I have been able to dig my bean trench. I can't say it was pleasant because although the sun was shining the biting wind blew very cold on our exposed site. A lazy wind, I think they call it - it can't be bothered to go round you so it goes through you. Didn't stop me going for an hour's walk on Wednesday afternoon but I was very grateful for the cup of tea at the end of the walk. A glutton for punishment, I would have gone to the allotment again this morning but I had an SOS call and a five-minute job took 2 hours. Always the way, isn't it? Then this afternoon I had to go up to Tesco's. Have you been yet? Sure it's a big store but the car park seems inadequate and there are always people driving round looking for somewhere to park. Luckily we arrived just as someone was vacating a space. Think I'll try a different day next week.

Tomorrow is the Hobbies Fair in the Assembly Hall in the Town Hall buildings and our Association will have a stand there. Come along and have a look. If you're not a member you can sign up for a fiver and enjoy our reduced prices there and then as we shall have some stock there.

Monday, 1st March

"Rabbits!" I exclaimed this morning and gave my wife a nip and a punch for the first of the month - don't often get an excuse like that. Up North we just used to say "Rabbits!" on the 1st March; I only learnt this First of the Month thing after I'd migrated South. Anyway after I'd picked myself up off the floor I looked out of the bedroom window and was surprised to see it was white over. I know they said it was going to be cold last night but I thought they said the coastal strip would miss any frost and I didn't put on the greenhouse heater. Never mind,eh?
Yesterday I was expecting loads of rain from what they said so when there was a bit of sunshine on Saturday I nipped to the allotment and finished pruning my raspberries. I also did some pruning in the back garden - I've now got 9 bags worth to take to the tip and that doesn't include the raspberry canes from the allotment. I've got to find some way of getting rid of them too as there's no longer any bin service there. Then it didn't chuck it down all day after all, did it? I went to the plot again this morning and got the last barrowload of a weekend delivery of manure. I thought I'd make a start on my bean trench - oh, dear, very heavy and squelchy! Still perhaps I'll be able to do a bit more tomorrow and the day after as they've promised as little run of dry weather. While I was there I dug a few more parsnips and a couple of beetroot. How long can you leave them in before they go woody?

In the new propagator a few seeds are up now - the tomatoes are an inch or so high and onions and leeks are poking through. No sign of the peppers yet. The seed potatoes are sprutting merrily in the spare bedroom and the sun is shining outside so I think I'll get out there. Bye, Bye!

Thursday, 25th February

A brief sunny interlude the other morning gave me the chance to nip to the allotment and prune and feed a few raspberries. I couldn't actually walk on the plot as it was far too squelchy so I pruned those I could reach from the path. I have 3 lots of raspberries - summer fruiting, autumn fruiting and dual fruiting (Polka) - but over the years they have got rather intermingled so I had no idea what I was pruning. As they all require a different technique this proved rather challenging - I applied Ned's "One-fits-all" method: firstly get rid of any that are obviously dead all the way from top to bottom and any so puny they might as well be dead; secondly thin them out to no more than 6 per station; thirdly cut them down to a healthy bud 2-3 ft high. Then I fed them with sulphate of potash. It will be interesting to see what results this special method produces but maybe they'll fruit just long enough for me to note what fruited when so I can get it right next year. I could only do half of them anyway as I can't reach the others from the path.
I also managed to get out to Pub Night on Tuesday despite the rain. What a turnout! Mrs N and I had to sit at a table on our own for some time as there was no more space near our group. People did move eventually. The North Star had been closed for a couple of weeks for a bit of a make-over, only in terms of decoration as far as I could tell. Brown must be the "in" colour.

In what has been a frantic social whirl of a week (by my standards) Mrs N and I were also out on Monday and Wednesday night at the theatre. On Monday night we went to the Connaught to see Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" starring Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyle's war on the telly. The bloke who played Gus in Channel 4's "Drop the Dead Donkey" was also in it. It was very good and well worth the money (I had a free ticket though!). The theatre has new seats which were comfortable but the lettering at the end of the rows is very difficult to read so finding your seat is a bit of a challenge. As on nearly all these occasions we bumped into people we knew, this time from the Worthing Horticultural Society.
Then last night we went to the Pavilion to see "The Tart and the Vicar's Wife", a light comedy. Now the Connaught was packed on Monday but the Pavilion was very sparsely populated, although this did make it easier to get an ice cream which was the bit I enjoyed most. However, my wife thought the play quite entertaining. I thought it marginally more entertaining than pruning the raspberries.

Sunday, 21st February

Sunday and it's raining again. How did it know I wanted to go to the allotment today? In the week I bought a new blackcurrant bush, some new secateurs to do my raspberries with and some wooden stakes to mend my soft fruit structure with. The plan was to do all that today - fat chance! And I had been reinforced in my determination when, on a pre-breakfast constitutional yesterday which took in the outside perimeter of West Tarring allotments, I noticed there had been a fresh delivery of manure. "I'll have a couple of barrowloads of that tomorrow morning," I thought. Wrong again!

On the plus side I have at last got round to sowing a few things in my propagator: onions, peppers (sweet and chilli), tomatoes and leeks. I've never grown onions from seed before but I got several packets for my birthday last year so thought I'd give them a go. Mind you, to be on the safe side I did get some sets from the Stores too.

           
Star attraction of the evening - Terry's waistcoat. For more dinner pictures click here.

On the social side Mrs N and I attended the Association Dinner at the Windsor Hotel on Friday night. What a turnout! And what a good evening - I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Although Mrs N reckons the bar had something to do with that I put it down to a great meal, a good crowd, a fine venue, efficient, friendly service, the entertainment and allround good organisation by Ken ably assisted by Jack. Next event - Pub Night on Tuesday.

Thursday, 18th February

What a lovely sunny morning yesterday! And where was I? Sitting around waiting in Worthing hospital. Still I managed to get some sunshine in the afternoon on a pre-arranged walk but no gardening, I'm afraid. The rest of the week the weather has been tripe; the rain wasn't just wet it was very cold as well and did all it could to put you off. I did go out on Tuesday morning, to Pulborough Brooks bird haven, but decided against a stroll round the trail because of the rain and made do with a cup of tea and a piece of cake instead. Mind you, I enjoyed observing the birdies too from the warmth of the café. I did buy some new bird feeders which in truth had been my primary purpose.

I haven't been anywhere near the allotment except to the stores on Saturday morning to buy a bag of Humax compost; I really must get my onion and tomato seeds underway. No excuse now I have the propagator.

Despite the weather and the enormous demands on my valuable time I did manage to finish pruning my apple trees, my gooseberries and the crab apple tree. Just about finished my secateurs too so I've had to buy some new ones to do my raspberries with. Hopefully another dry day will crop up in the next week for me to put them to good use.

Wednesday, 10th February

Sunshine yesterday morning. I was off to the allotment like a shot. The intention was to prune the gooseberries and the raspberries then feed all the soft fruit with sulphate of potash. I realised I'd left my gloves in the car as soon as I set about the gooseberry bushes but couldn't be bothered to go back and get them. Mistake!! You have to be tinged with a touch of masochism to enjoy pruning gooseberries, they're such ungrateful plants. Needless to say, within minutes there was blood everywhere coming from the back of my right hand and I'd never felt a thing. The icy cold wind blasting across the allotments had made my hands numb. Trouble was long strands of couch grass - nowhere else on the plot of course - had come up from under the gooseberry bushes and wrapped themselves round the leaders and spurs so bits didn't fall away when you cut them and they became snagged on my hands and fingers. After doing 2 bushes I'd had enough and decided to get on with the feeding bit. That's when I discovered just how strong the arctic crossfield wind was as it blew the sulphate of potash away over adjacent plots. Trying to feed the raspberries was hopeless as I couldn't get low enough to counter the effect of the wind; the canes got in the way. They'll have to wait until I've cut them down now. After that feeding the strawberries was a piece of cake but I did have to go and get my gloves out of the car before going home as Mrs N would not have appreciated the bloodstains on the uphostery.

Saturday, 6th February

A beautiful sunny day today and I spent it lounging in cafés! First I was in the Levant on Strand Parade and then later in Tides on Aldsworth Parade. I did do a spot of walking between times taking in the delights of Boxgrove and Goring station. I thought there might be an interesting view from the top of the footbridge at Goring station but there isn't.

Goring station

I like the Levant; we often pop in there. I think their evening trade suffers because they're not licensed which is a shame because those Middle Easten dishes are really tasty and they're really friendly in there. Mind you, they're often quite busy in the daytime.
I'm not so familiar with Tides but had read favourable reports in the Sentinel so we called in there for a cup of tea this afternoon. I resisted the scones and cake on the counter -what's the point of walking off the calories if you're going to put them straight back on again? - and just settled for a pot for two. It's nice and cosy and the service was very friendly. There's a maritime theme to the décor, very tastefully done. As I wandered round I spotted some photos of groups of people on the wall - they have themed events from time to time - people I know and I saw one of them yesterday in the Levant! We must haunt the same places.
I haven't been totally idle in the garden: apart from a bit more apple tree pruning I've also pruned my crab apple tree and a very large Hypericum "Hidcote" and lugged all the prunings to the tip. I've also picked up all my seed potatoes now from the stores and placed them in the spare bedroom (no heating on) where they can merrily chit away until I plant them or Mrs N makes me remove them.

Wednesday, 3rd February

This weekend was the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch so I spent an hour on Sunday morning glued to the kitchen window keeping and eye out for golden eagles and snowy owls but the most exotic bird I spotted was a chiff chaff - and I'm not very sure about that. Otherwise it was crows, tits and blackbirds. Outside my hour a flock (murmuration?) of starlings landed on the lawn but as it was outside my hour they didn't count. Perhaps the bloke on Brighton pier got them in his count.

Last night there was a committee meeting at which it was revealed that our website is still attracting an average of 15,000 hits a month so keep up the good work and spread the word. Other things to note were the Association will have a stand at the Worthing Leisure and Hobbies exhibition on Saturday, 6th March (see Events page for details) and our very own Peter Webb will be giving a talk on growing and showing vegetables at the WHS AGM on Monday, 8th March (see Events page). Entry to the latter is free to card carrying members of the Association. Also if you want any onion sets you'd better hurry up as they're flying from the stores. Potato orders are in.

This morning after the drizzle had stopped I poked my head out of the door with the intention of doing a bit more hacking back in the garden but you can't really use electrical equipment when everthing's so wet and it was a bit cold and then I remembered I'd got a load of things to do like wash my hair, have a shave, do a load of washing, pay some bills, organise a display board and catch up with this blog. I opted for the latter. Aren't you pleased?

Friday, 29th January

Our post-lunch Sunday stroll took us through the allotments this week. As I hadn't put in a decent shift for some time I thought the least I could do was make a detour via the plot just to see how things were. The place was a hive of activity; there had been a delivery of manure. Of course I hadn't brought any tools with me on the walk so I had to borrow a fork - I keep a barrow on the site - to go and get a couple of loads. I couldn't take any more than that as it was spoiling my wife's walk somewhat. "What's the best thing to do with it?" asked a neighbouring allotmenteer. "Well, I generally stack it to rot down a bit," I replied, "although I may put some under my spuds when I put them in." "Ah well, I know not to do that then," he quipped. "I've seen you're spuds and they were rubbish!" Damn cheek!
Of course I was back down there again Monday morning to get the last couple of barrowloads of manure and then did a bit of tidying up. I'm not sure I did a lot of good by walking on the plot as it was very claggy still but it made me feel better just doing something. I've also done a little more apple tree pruning at home but I think the big tree is going to require some drastic surgery. Dwarf rooting stock indeed! It is about 15 years old though and has probably sent out its own roots from above the graft by now and it does provide quite a crop of apples if well looked after so I shall have to get on with it sometime soon. It's nice to see the fruits of your labours, isn't it? No apples left but tonight we shall be having potatoes, parsnips and squash all from the allotment and we've still got onions, leeks, beetroot and courgettes left and broccoli to come although the carrots and the winter cabbage were rubbish. Something else nice to come - it's Pub Night tonight!

Sunday, 24th January

Went for a meal with a group of allotment pals to the Squire and Horse, Bury on Friday night. As ever it was a lovely meal and we didn't even have to pay their prices as we had some vouchers we'd been collecting but the drive there and back wasn't so pleasant: wet roads and fog. I was glad to get back home in one piece after my recent experience on the ice.
All 8 of us who were there are booked on the Worthing Coaches trip to Brussels and Ghent for the Belgian Flower Festival (Floralies) in April but it seems there are stilll quite a few places up for grabs. It's not an Assocaition venture so you don't have to be a member, anybody can go, so get yourself down to Worthing Coaches and get booked. Deadline 14th February.(For more details click here)

In such a group conversation obviously turned to gardening and although one or two had ventured onto the allotment it is indoor activity such as seed sowing which is more practical at the moment. Tomatoes have been sown - but not by me, so now I've got my propagator there's no excuses except when I went to sow them today I realised I had no compost and the stores are closed now until next Saturday. So I can either wait or be a traitor and get my seed compost from somewhere else. 50/50 at the moment although the odds may change later in the week if I can't get on with things outside. I know it's not just me who's suffering as I had some photos from our showman gardening guru, Peter Webb, this week showing the state of his allotment. I knew you'd like to see them as it's good to see the weather is no respector of reputations. Maybe he'll be showing rice this year!

Wednesday, 20th January

Well, the snow may have gone but it still feels mighty cold to me. Not cold enough to make me want to light the paraffin heater in the greenhouse any more but cold enough to make some outside jobs rather unpleasant. I suppose the soil must be warming up a little though as the snowdrops and daffodils are pushing through and on the allotment the rhubarb is making a really determined effort without being forced. Not that I've been doing much on the allotment; when it stopped snowing, it started raining. And, sure enough, there it was again today, the rain, that is. I stayed in all morning but by this afternoon I'd had enough and braved the drizzle to go for a walk with our walking group through the woods and parks of Durrington. And did I feel better after that? No, I felt cold!

Sunday, 17th January

Sunshine! I was off to the allotment like a shot. Well, not like a shot exactly but I did go to get some parsnips for dinner. While there I noticed there had been a delivery of manure but unfortunately as I was a bit behind hand I didn't have time to help myself. Should have got up earlier. Also noticed the plot was very wet, definitely not to be walked on but my parsnips are close to the edge so I could dig them from the path without getting my designer green wellies muddy. The first one I dug out was weird like some undersea monster with legs all over the place but most of the rest were boringly conformist. I managed a little gardening at home yesterday. I've been dying to get out there so a bit of drizzle wasn't going to hold me back. All my geraniums (pelargoniums) had been hit by the frost and turned into mush so out they came at last and off to the compost heap. Similarly I finally got round to dispatching my cosmos which had grown to between 3 and 4 foot before being caned by the wind and
                                       rain.

Another reason to celebrate this weekend was the arrival of my propagator. I did eventually find the one I was looking for on the internet and it arrived quite quickly. Although there were pictures of it on the web it was quite a surprise to see just how small the trays and covers were. I suppose they have to be to get 7 of them on one base which fits in the windowsill and it should stop me sowing too many seeds at once this year. Soon be time to start!

Wednesday, 13th January

Déjà vu all over again when I got up this morning - snow. I know they said last night we could get a couple of centimetres but I didn't believe them, did you? Rain is what I expected because that's what we normally get here on the coastal strip. But did I let it put me off going to the allotment to dig a few parsnips? You bet I did; there's no way I'm taking that 3-cylinder 800cc Matiz automatic courtesy car out on the snow but I did venture outside into the back garden and start my apple tree pruning. I normally do it around Christmas but this year conditions and events have conspired against me and I hadn't made a start. By 11 o'clock I was making a finish. One of my gloves transpired not to be all that weatherproof and my left hand was getting unpleasantly cold and wet. As I pushed the twig-laden wheelbarrow up the garden path I noticed how once again the mahonia's branches were weighed down by snow so I gave them a shake to knock it off and let the shrub spring back upright so I could get past. Silly boy! All that icy-cold wet stuff down my neck persuaded me it was definitely time to stop and pursue indoor activities like paying bills and filing.

Saturday, 9th January

Snow, snow,snow. Cold, cold,cold. Still, my wife had the perfect antidote: some home-made butternut squash soup. I'll see if I can get her to put it on the recipes page. It was beautiful and practically all the ingredients came from the allotment so it didn't cost much either. Not that I've been to the allotment recently. I've got quite a few parsnip up there I was leaving to get frosted (Ha! Ha!) and now I can't get them out of the ground. The birds are finding it tough too and we've had some new visitors in the garden recently, particularly on the crab apples. Mrs N thinks they are fieldfares and after looking in the bird book I think she could be right. Sometimes there's just one and sometimes there's a few of them. Something gave me the fright of my life the other night when I was walking up to the greenhouse in the dark. As I walked past the choisya I thought I'd knock the snow off. When I did something flew out of it and nearly scared me to death. Do fieldfares roost in choisyas? At any rate I shall continue to put stuff out and replenish the water because it freezes solid every night. Go to look after our feathered friends.

Wednesday, 6th January

Well, the visitors have all gone but the snow has come back. These cold nights must be costing me a fortune in paraffin and I don't even know if anything is actually alive in the greenhouse as it's all under fleece and there's no room at all to move round in there and have a look. Not much gardening otherwise although something has been at work in the vegetable garden: there was already one largish hole-cum-tunnel underneath the fence into next door's garden and now there is another mysterious hole in the vegetable plot. I'm not sure my pictures are actually good enough to give an accurate impression - my immediate reaction is foxes.

12th Night of course today so my main job inside was taking down the tree and all the decorations then putting them all back in the loft. I love Christmas but it's nice to have the living room back. I'm still trying to spend Christmas present money but without actually leaving the house as it's a bit cold and too slippery for my limited driving skills, so I have been trawling the internet. I got a load of seeds for my birthday earlier on so now I am looking for propagators. Somewhere I saw an electric propagator complete with 7 half-sized seed trays and lids for about £28 but can I find it now? Can I 'eckers like! But I'll keep on looking. If you know what I'm talking about I'd love to hear from you.

Friday, 1st January 2010

Happy New Year to you all. Now on my second courtesy car. The first was a bright red Vauxhall Corsa, a compact motor but pleasingly easy to drive and park. Unfortunately there was a very unfortunate smell inside - nothing to do with me. They delivered it on Tuesday in the dark, nicely in time for Pub Night as it was raining, although it did mean I was restricted to tonic water; I hate to think of the consequences of pranging a courtesy car under the influence while waiting for my own pranged vehicle to be mended.

The next day I had to drive all the way to Dover and back and when I got back I had to ring the the hire company straight away about the rancid smell. Fair enough the next day a chap came out with a handful of air fresheners. Immediately on opening the door and keeling over he realised they would not do the trick and sportingly swapped it with his car. It's a Chevrolet Matiz automatic with a 3-cylinder 796cc engine. I've never driven such a small car nor an automatic. It seems the technique is to tie your left foot round your neck to stop you using it and then pretend you are driving a dodgem car but actually avoid other vehicles. I find pulling away the most difficult bit; it has all the acceleration of a wheelbarrow but less carrying capacity. I had to take my visitors out into town today and one of them bought a compact vacuum cleaner - it filled the boot. Still, I should be thankful for small mercies - in this case, very small - as I would not be in this situation if I hadn't been so stupid as to take my own car out on the skating rink that was our street. More visitors arrive tomorrow but just for the day this time and they won't need driving anywhere. A good job it's a bit of a dead time on the allotment really as I would never get the spade in the boot! Just another fortnight or so before I get my own car back apparently.