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Friday, 29th February
The sunniest February on record apparently but you wouldn't
have guessed it on my allotment this morning. Why is it I can never get
down there before about a quarter to 10? This morning it was the washing
(it always takes me ages to hang out the washing) and the car keys which
conspired against me. How do car keys do that disappearing trick? I knew
I'd had them already to open the garage and, sure enough, they weren't
in their proper place. I searched all the usual hiding places with no
luck and in sheer desperation headed upstairs and there they were, half
way up the stairs on the carpet. How on earth did they get there? Not
that I was doing anything exciting on the allotment, replacing some broken
stakes and fixing wire supports. I also dug up the last of my failed celeriac.
All that I have left in the ground now is leeks and cabbages. Time to
start again; tomorrow I shall whip down to the allotment stores and buy
some seeds then hopefully start sowing this weekend full of optimism and
expectation of bumper crops to come.
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Wednesday, 27th February
Spring is in the air. Daffodils, crocuses, camellias in
flower, forsythia on the verge and birds and squirrels chasing each other
all over the place. Oh, and time to start some sowings. I haven't done
any yet but this weekend I intend to sow some leeks, cabbages and nicotiana,
all in trays in the warm. I'll leave things like parsnips a few weeks
because my soil is very heavy and cold still and in recent years I have
lost all my early sowings.
So what have I been doing? Pretty boring jobs, I'm afraid, such as tidying
up the fruit patch and stuff in the greenhouse, digging still, building
a new compost container (doesn't it hurt when you hit your thumb with
a mallet? And it went a funny black colour. "My word, that hurt!"
I yelled) and moving some manure about. I also managed to slip in a visit
to the North Star as well last night as it was pub night. There were 3
new faces and we had to grab another table to fit everybody in. Why don't
you give it a go next month?
Sunday, 24th February
Quite an eventful weekend really, I suppose. We were up
early on Friday morning to travel to London by coach for the day. It took
a fair while to get there but much of that was just getting to Lancing
thanks to the raodworks. Once we'd arrived by the Tower it was straight
on board our vessel for a cruise along the Thames admiring the sites while
we enjoyed a 2-course lunch. I could have learnt all sorts of interesting
facts if I'd paid any attention to the commentary but it wasn't all that
clear and by the time you'd worked out which way you should be looking
you'd missed it. Still enjoyable though.
Then the main event of the day. It was our first time on the London Eye
and we found it a very pleasant, sedate ride. It was fun identifying landmarks
from on high and we took loads of pictures which I suppose thousands of
others have done. What we didn't do was shell out £12 for a set
of their memento photos. We took advantage of the free entertainment along
the South bank - living statues, escapologist, musicians - until it was
time to come home. Guess who fell asleep on the coach.
Yesterday visitors arrived and stayed until today - not someone we see
very often so it was fun catching up and doing not very much. And that
completes the case for the defence as to why I have not done much gardening
this weekend apart from digging up the last of my carrots.
Thursday, 21st February
My wife and I went for another walk this morning. This time
we were taking no chances and went with another couple who knew where
we were going - Findon to be precise. We parked in the Wyevale garden
centre and headed uphill, going past Findon Place, 
which
I think used to be the manor house, and visting the church, which was
locked - a sad sign of the times - before going past Findon cricket club
and up Honesuckle Lane. Don't we have some lovely countryside on our doorstep?
As we had left our cars in the car park we didn't follow the lane all
the way to High Salvington but turned downhill and back to the car park.
Our plan was to go into the garden centre for a cup of coffee and a bun
but, would you believe it, the café was closed for water problems.
I know what they mean. So we walked around for a few minutes and I bought
I pot I wanted. When we got home I tried to transfer some flowering daffodils
into it from a disintegrating wicker basket - disaster. Plants and compost
all over the place so I made the best of a bad job and then gave up and
gave the car its birthday wash.
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Monday, 18th February
I did a bit more digging yesterday and cut a cabbage for
dinner but that was about it. It was another beautiful Spring-like morning
again
today with the sun beaming down but instead of making for the allotment
my wife and I decided to go for a walk as she wasn't at work today. We
set off for the delightful village of Ditchling not just because it has
free parking behind the Village Hall but because we had a book of Teashop
Walks which suggested a circular walk of about 4 miles from here. It was
indeed very pretty although they do a nice line in ankle-deep, squidgy
mud which was very impressive considering it hasn't rained for a while
and all went well for at least half the walk. There were some lovely views
and interesting sites such as windmills and once I thought I saw a couple
of lapwings but I could have been wrong as they flew off as we walked
across a field towards them. I definitely saw a jay. Wow! And then after
a couple of miles or so it went wrong. The path we arrived at was not
signed as in the book and, to cut a long story (walk) short, we finished
up in Burgess Hill adding about 4 miles to our walk. When we got back
to Ditchling we were ready for that cream tea in Polly's Pantry, I can
tell you. Still, at least it kept fine and I console myself with the thought
that it probably did me a lot of good, the walk that is, not the cream
tea.
Saturday, 16th February
Haven't done any gardening much at all the last couple of days but, on a horticultural theme, I did go to the Association Dinner on Friday evening and I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed myself. People you've never even met before can turn out to be such jolly good company, can't they? I think the wine helped a bit, that and winning another good raffle prize, a digital weather station which should come in very handy once I've worked out what it does and how to set it up. And the food wasn't bad either. Everyone I spoke to said they'd had a good time and I did try to get around a bit. Now back to more mundane things like remembering to put the paraffin heater on in the greenhouse tonight if I want my orange tree to survive till tomorrow morning when I expect I'll be off to the allotment again to do some more digging. Maybe I'll get one last lot of carrots, if they're not frozen in.
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Thursday, 14th February
Saint
Valentine's Day - so I celebrated with a bit more allotment digging this
morning. While I was down there I saw one of the overseers and a bloke
from Continental Landscapes showing some new would-be allomenteers around
the site so they could pick their plots. They did look young which is
nice. It's good to see this fresh-faced enthusiasm unaffected by the biting
cold wind which was sweeping across the site this morning. If they signed
up today they must be keen.
My excuse for not taking my Valentine (my wife) out tonight is that I'm
already taking her out for dinner tomorrow night to the Association Dinner.
Now that all the organising bit is over I'm really looking forward to
it, the meal, the company and winning the star prize in the raffle like
last time. Dress is smart or smart casual, by the way. Anyway I couldn't
have taken my wife out to a posh do tonight. Not because it would be 2
posh do's in 2 nights but because I'm already going out for a drink with
a friend tonight!
Wednesday, 13th February
I
went to school this morning. Well, you can't be digging all the time.
It was a tiling school 
actually,
the Sussex Tiling School on Lancing Business Park to be precise. Definitely
the place to go if you want to brush up your tiling skills, be you a novice
like me or a professional tiler wanting to advance your skills. There
were all these individual bays were you could learn and practise until
perfect, loads of materials and a learning area upstairs equipped with
computer, projector, screen, tables and what have you. But don't take
my word for it, go to their website at: www.sussextilingschool.co.uk.
But it was a shame to waste all that lovely weather indoors so this afternoon
I went for a walk with our walking
group over the fields to Castle Goring. When is all that development
going to start? You know, the huge Tesco's and the 800 houses. All we
saw was an exclusive development of half a dozen houses cosing several
hundreds of thousands each. I didn't put down a deposit as I didn't think
the garages were big enough to accommodate my car.
Tuesday, 12th February
Got a few little jobs done today. I started off by inadvertantly
disturbing a fox as I went up to the greenhouse to switch off the heater.
I wouldn't mind him if he kept the neighbours' cats out of the garden.
Then I did a load of washing which I hung out to dry before heading to
the allotment. The nice weather had brought out quite a few allotmenteers
as it did yesterday and it was quite warm again digging in the sun. Apart
from the digging I also picked a few more carrots but they're getting
a bit infested now with slugs. If you're still pulling carrots make sure
you don't leave any bits in the soil as they will harbour pests which
will remain in place ready to attack the next season's crops.
This afternoon I set about mowing the back lawn but it wasn't a real success
- the grass was far too long and wet and what a lot of moss! Then this
evening it was off to the Berkeley Hotel with Ken to make the final arrangements
for Friday's Association dinner. Hope to see you there if you're one of
the 65 ticket buyers but don't blame me if you don't like who you are
sat next to.
Saturday, 9th February
Busy
seafront Caged
wood
Mowing the lawn, ventilating the greenhouse, watering the
greenhouse plants, walking in the sun along the seafront and enjoying
a drink and a bun in the Lido café, not necessarily a common combination
of events during the first half of February but I've done them all this
weekend. It seemed like all the world - and their bikes and dogs - had
the idea of a jolly stroll along the prom this afternoon. It was so crowded
it was just like summer but it was still very enjoyable in the sunshine.
I see they've heaped the wood into massive piles now. It looks so much
tidier, doesn't it? I'll be glad when they take the barriers down, shift
the wood and you can actually see the sea again.
The other little job I did this weekend was to transplant some wallflowers.
I don't know if I'll get away with it as they're quite big and should
have been moved around October really. Still, as it was a free packet
of seeds there's not much to lose and I could always put some cabbages
in the front garden if they fail. Same family, aren't they?
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Friday, 8th February
Oh,
what a beautiful morning, and off to the allotment for a spot of dig,
dig, digging. It was
a pleasure to see such a lot of well cultivated plots; people have obviously
made an early start. The chaps from the tree nursery plots were there
this morning removing some young trees to transplant up at Hill Barn.
I must go and have a look.
It's been so mild, hasn't it? Things are really coming on apace. Just
take a look at this rhubarb I saw this morning. Mind you, I think some
of the garden centres are pushing their luck; they've got young hanging
basket plants in already. I think I'll let them keep them a while rather
than spend my money on heating for them.
Tuesday, 5th February
Pancake Day! Well, Health and Safety may have put the kibosh on the Great Pancake Race in Ripon (Yorkshire) but they can't stop me eating pancakes so I did. Highlight of the day really given the foul weather, although there is an Association commitee meeting tonight. A good day for looking through the seed catalogues then even though I shall get the bulk of mine from our Association stores, of course. Doesn't stop the companies sending the catalogues though because I once placed an order in 1937. I suppose they are interesting to look at and keep us abreast of the latest introductions even if you buy nothing. I sometimes wish they'd be a bit more accurate with their descriptions though. Do you remember when the rose "Blue Moon" came on the market? From the write-ups and the photos you'd have thought it was bright blue, not some washed-out pinky mauve. And why can't they give you the real names of things instead of using their own terms? And why can't they tell you what root stocks they've used instead of just "dwarfing"? Still, musn't go on as it did give me something to do when I could have been drawn into things like ironing or dusting. Ugh!
Sunday, 3rd February
By Jingo, it was blustery on the allotment this morning.
Including myself I counted 3 mad souls digging and one of them was a newcomer
so you can excuse him being a bit keen. I didn't dig for long; that ice-cold
wind whistled down your ears and made your eyes and nose run. I'd gone
down specifically to pick up my seed potato order but had to do a bit
of digging despite the hostile
conditions because it was dry and it's bound to rain again before I get
back there. Even so, after I'd got some veg for dinner as well - carrots,
cabbage, celeriac - an hour had gone by. Now I can start chitting my potatoes.
At least that's an indoor (i.e. warmer) activity. For those of you not
familiar with chitting, it means putting the tubers in a light frost-free
place to encourage them to sprout. Some say use egg boxes but I don't
eat that many eggs so I just stand them up in seed trays, in the spare
bedroom (no heating). The theory is they'll develop better if they've
sprouted before you put them in the ground. I don't know how true it is
but I do it as I wouldn't know how to stop them anyway!
Friday, 1st February
Sunshine, cloudless blue sky - of course it enticed me out
of the house and on to the allotment. What I couldn't see from inside
was the biting, sneaky cold wind. Nor could I tell how heavy the soil
was still so I only did a couple of rows worth of digging and I'm not
sure how much good that did the soil or my back. I decided to finish turning
the compost heap I made a start on the other day and headed home. I was
quite surprised how late it was and how long I'd been down there - I think
I'll have to buy a cheap watch.
I hope you all realise tomorrow (2nd February) is Candlemas Day and remember
the old saying: "If Candlemas Day be cold and bright then winter
will have another bite. If Candlemas Day brings clouds and rain, winter
has gone and will not come again."
