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Friday, 26th September
Taking advantage of the lovely weather I strolled over to the allotment the other morning to examine the progress of my winter cabbages which I've been growing under fleece to help protect them from the pigeons and the hordes of cabbage whites. It was a pleasure to see the fleece so far off the ground - obviously some decent growth under there. What a shock when I removed the fleece, a veritable forest of weeds - dandelions, groundsell, dock et alia - you name it, it was there. So two hours of weeding on my hands and knees later I'd had enough. But I went back yesterday, armed with a hoe and set about the more stubborn foe. I only sliced two cabbages, which is not bad. I don't really enjoy hoeing, well my back doesn't, especially when you hit a stone concealed just below the surface and the resulting jolt sends a shudder all the way up your spine. While in the mood I set about the rest of the plot taking great care around the precious squash. Only had 2 plants survive this year and although there are some large and still swelling squash on there, they just don't seem to be ripening. Hope they ripen before the frost gets here, or are they hardy? On the plus side I picked another ice cream carton full of raspberries this morning; they just seem to keep on coming. And in my greenhouse and vegetable garden at home I picked quite a few Marmande tomoatoes which had suddenly taken it upon themselves to ripen but there's still quite a lot of green ones left. Anybody got an idiot-proof recipe for chutney?
Monday, 22nd September
Today I have been moving sheds, well, more like helping to move a shed really. My friend, Ken, wanted to move his shed from one plot to another. Luckily this was an adjacent plot. He had already strengthed the structure with some metal brackets when I arrived so it could be moved whole and just the length of one allotment. Piece of cake then! Fotunately Ken has engineering experience and had come up with a cunning plan which did not involve carrying the shed at all. Instead we were to push it over a couple of lengths of piping which would roll and take the weight of the shed while we shoved and steered. So off we set, just like a couple of members of some ancient civilisation moving some enormous hunks of stone. I was amazed how quickly and smoothly it went and the shed was soon in its new position. Hard to believe but it was quite good fun actually. How marvellous it must be to have an engineering, problem-solving brain like that! (Or any sort of brain really) Well, can't let expertise like that go to waste and within about 10 minutes Ken had assembled my compost bin which I had given up on when I tried to put it together (see 17th September).
I suppose these are the sort of jobs you get round to at
this time of year when things are starting to slow down a little. Another
little
job
I did recently was to denude my tomato plants of their now useless leaves
in an effort to ripen the stragglers although eventually I may have to
finish them off in a dark warm drawer alongside a banana. I also picked
another ice cream carton of raspberries today but the blackberries appear
to have finished. Autumn is definietly on the way but we have to admit
we have enjoyed some lovely weather recently. Much more of this and there'll
be a hosepipe ban again.
Mrs N and I took advantage of the weather yeasterday afternoon to venture up to Warnham Nature Reserve, up the A24 near Horsham. It cost us a quid each to get in but it was good value for the money. We opted to follow the Millpond Nature Trail which took us alongside a very big pond (17 acre) full of all sorts of birds including herons and cormorants and through a variety of different types of scenery and habitats: meadow, woodland, riverside, reedbeds, etc. although I don't think we covered all 92 acres of the site. When we'd done our bit we had a rest in the café with a piece of cake to keep our strength up. And it took no time at all to drive back home. I can thoroughly recommend it.
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Warnham Local Nature ReserveFor more information click here |
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Wednesday, 17th September
Although the sun was shining there was quite an autumnal feel about this morning. I suppose it was a milky sunshine as if the day had tried to get up but not quite made it. Still, it was fine, so off to the allotment. On arrival my seasonal suspicions were comfirmed; I couldn't park anywhere near the allotments because the new term had started at the nearby sixth form college and the surrounding streets were full of kids' cars. What's a matter with them? We never went to school by car. Even though we lived on a farm outside the village and had to walk across the meadows to school - welly-deep in snow in Winter - we walked. Others either walked or cycled. If you lived a long way out you might come by bus. Now, as soon as you're 17, you've got to have a car and drive to the end of the road in it. Very healthy, I'm sure. And what to you do with the minutes you save? You get BORED.
One of the things I went down to the allotments for was to re-assemble my plastic compost bin. When I emptied it in Spring, it fell to bits. Now don't let anyone tell you it's child's play to interlock the 4 separate wobbly plastic sides and lid. I managed to get 3 sides together but as I held onto and twisted the three sides to line up with all 4 lugs on the last side it all collapsed. "Blow!" I said. Half an hour wasted, so I gave up and concentrated more on horticultural tasks like pruning out dead raspberry canes. I managed to pick a few raspberries as well, not a lot (about 12oz) but it's still a steady trickle to put on our morning breakfast cereals. I also got another handful of the tail end of the runner beans and the courgettes have slowed down, just the 4 when I picked them yesterday. So my initial feelings about the day were right - things are slowing down. Perhaps I'll do the same.
Sunday, 14th September
Wow, sunshine! Quick, let's get down to the allotment! Well,
that's what I thought yesterday morning when I got up but first there
was the week's grocery shopping to do at the supermarket, lovely! Then
we called on an elderly friend who'd just baked some rock cakes which
had to be sampled with a cup of tea and by the time we got home it was
nearly lunchtime. Not worth going to the allotment right now then so I'll
read the papers and go after lunch. After lunch I fell asleep, so by the
time I got down to the allotment it was about half past three. It was
still a lovely day so I was quite surprised to find only one neighbouring
allotmenteer on the job and he left shortly after I arrived. (No connection,
I hope.) Still that meant more time getting on with it and less time yapping.
First the carrots; dug a bucketful then removed the fleece and did a bit
of weeding. Amazing how the weeds grow under that fleece which I have
now removed for good - it was a bit tattered and torn anyway. Next a picking
of runner beans - I think we're definitely getting near the end now so
I've left some of the older more knobbly ones on there for seed. Next
on to the lettuce - oh dear, they've all gone to seed. But next a lovely
surprise: an ice cream carton and more of raspberries and some more in
the making by the looks of it. I thought they'd finished. It's great when
that happens, isn't it? On the other hand I can only see 2 decent sized
butternut squash and I do love them.
When I eventually got back, Mrs N had been mowing the lawns. What a star!
Still, I put the chicken on this morning while she was at church before
starting to clean the car. No, for me it's not a Sunday morning ritual,
it very rarely gets a clean. It wasn't its birthday either. In fact I've
decided to get rid of it so I thought I'd better clean it up a bit; all
that carting stuff to and from the allotment does take its toll but if
you know anybody who wants to buy a Toyota Carina, it's in very good nick
for its age, honest!
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Tuesday, 9th September
This
morning I dug my last row of potatoes and good they were too. Maybe they
would have won no prizes in a beauty competition, although some of them
had a lovely smooth complexion (bit like mine) but this last row had a
bigger yield than the 2 previous rows put together. I've no idea why -
they're the same spuds and were treated exactly the same. I also removed
all my remaining summer cabbages which had split and started to rot -
lovely smell - and removed them to my compost heap.
Talking of compost, the Tangmere Recycling Site is having a Free Public
Open Day on Sunday, 28th September from 10.00am till 4.00pm. There are
scheduled invents during the day including gardening and composting talks,
tractor rides and tours and refreshments but for a full picture go to
the Woodhorn website by clicking here.
Sunday, 7th September
Well, yesterday was the show and today I am kna exhausted
but it was well worth it. The show was very enjoyable and a huge success.
Congratulations to Jack and his team! Depite a misearable windy wet summer,
which must have been a nightmare for growers and exhibitors, we had a
tremendous show as our pictures on the News page will show - when I get
round to putting them up. Once again the show was a bit of a triumph for
Peter Webb who beat me into second place in both the tomato and onion
sections but I did have a couple of other wins - in classes he hadn't
entered. Janice Shambrook also did well including a "Best in Show"
for her impressive plums. Mrs N picked up a first for her bread with which
she was delighted but was then too tired to cook us a meal so I had to
dig deep in my pockets for a meal out. Bye Bye, prize money.
While I was on the door, handing out bits of paper to all and sundry who
came in, who should arrive but the Hohourable Peter Bottomley, MP and
his wife (and former MP), Virginia. It was a pleasure for Paul and me
to take £1.20 from a pair of politicians! Later on I saw them by
the White Elephant stall where they had made quite a few purchases. "I
didn't realise politicians were so hard up, " I quipped. "Well,
it's cheaper than the John Lewis list, " Virginia replied. Actually
they seemed quite good sports and it was good of them to support us on
what was quite a miserable day weather-wise. In fact they were just 2
of over 200 who turned up and made the show go so well so "Thank
You" to you all.
Thursday, 4th September
Getting close, isn't it? The show, I mean. I'd set today aside to sort through my produce to see what I could submit to the judges' scrutinity after handing in my entry form on Tuesday. So there I was up a ladder at the top of an apple tree when my wife came running out to tell me I was wanted on the phone. "This had better be good," I thought. A voice on the other end of the line told me our website had won a runner's up prize of £200 in a competition, so it was worth it! But further discussion revealed this was £200 worth of vouchers towards a professional makeover for our site. Well, I think it's quite professional enough and once I explained to the guy our Association didn't have money to throw around he seemed to lose interest somewhat. So, back to the apple tree - except it was now tanking it down. This wouldn't have been so bad except his was the 4th telephone call this morning and every time I want back out again after the call it started to slam it down. Eventually I sorted out some apples; they're not going to win any prizes but at least they'll make the numbers up so it looks like Peter Webb and Jack Rudland had some competition.
Meanwhile my wife has been busy baking cakes for the cake stall. Which reminds me - I'm supposed to be making some orange fairy cakes or something for the men's cookery competition so I'd better get on with it, after scrubbing the cactus plant pots down, picking out some onions, printing off the photographic entry....................See you Saturday at the show.