Worthing and District Allotments and Gardens Association

Tuesday, 28th April

Well, that was different. After all that lovely weather, a dose of rain and tumbling temperatures. Bit of a relief really as I'd seen the forecast and had put a load of weed & feed on my lawn on Sunday in the hope that the rain would water it in. The instructions always tell you to put it on before rain so I'd taken a gamble on the weatherman's getting it right. I have been betrayed before, forgotten to water it in and finished up with a rather scorched and sad looking lawn. So I'm glad he was right this time. Didn't get much done yesterday in all that rain though until last night when I went out to a talk put on by the Worthing Horticultural Society on Garden Birds. About 50 of us crowded into the Methodist Church Hall at Broadwater and waited for 7.30pm.

The speaker was a Dr John Newnham of the Ornithological Society, armed with an array of pictures, a projector and a computer. He was very good. In the first half he spoke of the work of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and his own involvement before presenting slides of garden birds we're likely to see in Worthing. His talk was most informative, telling us about the habits of lots of birds and giving tips on identification.

There was a refreshment and raffle break, which I thoroughly enjoyed especially as I won a prize on the raffle, before John continued with more British birds, this time those we're unlikely to see in our gardens, not always because of their rarity but also because of their habitat. Not many of us have a pond large enough to support the likes of coots, moorhens and swans. He finished his presentation with a selection of more exotic species, photographs he had taken in places such as Dubai and Australia. Even then some in the audience identified them, putting me to shame (although I did recognise the robin and the blackbird).

It was a wonderful evening's entrtainment for the price of a cup of tea (50p) and very instructive. I expect tonight's little sortie to the North Star for this month's Pub Night will cost me rather more.

Monday, 27th April

When you live a couple of miles inland and rarely go to the beach it is sometimes easy to forget you live in a seaside resort so to refresh our memories my wife and I went for a stroll along the prom yesterday afternoon. We set off at the bottom of George V and walked into town. Like proper tourists we stopped by the Lido for an ice cream then visited the pier where we wondered at the stain glass panels commemorating the great wood event and designed by one of our Association members, Chris Brown.
I was struck by the number of cyclists on the prom despite numerous notices saying NO CYCLING. There were even parents giving cycling lessons to their young children, thereby encouraging them to have a healthy (?) disregard for any local rules and bye laws. There were 3 poilceman - or PCSOs - hassling someone away from one of the shelters - fine - but they completely ignored all the passing cyclists! Oh, dear, I'm beginning to sound like Victor Meldrew.
But I did enjoy out stroll to the pier and back, honest. Here are a few photos I took, going West to East.

Friday, 24th April

I went to the allotment today to sow some carrots and - would you believe it? - the soil was like concrete again. I felt like a convict in a rock quarry as I used a mattock to break up boulders of clay soil. Then I was using my boots and rake to try and reduce it to a fine tilth (??*!!) to make it suitable for sowing a few seeds. 45 minutes it took me to sow one row of carrot seed! Still they say it's going to rain tonight which should make the ground a bit easier as well as giving me an excuse not to mow the lawn: "too wet, dear." Generally I like this time of year though with the lengthening days and extra sunshine, the birds singing and nest building and the Spring perfumes in the garden. The daffoldils and the hyacinth may have gone now but in my own garden their scents have been replaced by those of the apple blossom and the choisya ternata (Mexican orange blossom). And we have loads of self-seeded primulas, even in the lawn.
Other jobs I have been getting on with include going over the overwintered fuchsias, sowing courgettes (no sign yet) and more pricking out. I even trimmed my grass paths on the allotment but already they look ragged again. I must get an old push lawnmower from somewhere. If you've got one to get rid of, you know where I am - here!

Sunday, 19th April

Well, that's it, I've burnt my bridges now. I've taken a load of things out of the greenhouse and they'll have to stand on their own two feet now for the summer. Things like the orange tree are getting a bit too big now to lug around- big, heavy and thorny. Once it's out, it's out. I just hope there isn't a nasty frost to snuff them out. To be on the safe side I did buy a load of fleece at the allotment shop yesterday morning which I could use in an emergency and I also bought a bale of straw for £2. It's primarily intended for the strawberries but I could always pack some around vulnerable plants if frost is forecast. I've had to do it because I need the space in the greenhouse for trays of seedlings and small plants, though what I'm going to do with the 80 tomato plants I've pricked out I've no idea. I certainly haven't got room for half that number - same applies for over 100 nicotiana.

Yesterday afternoon I pootled off to the Findon Village Spring Show in Findon Village Hall. The perfume as you walked in was delightful, provided by oodles of Spring flowers, especially daffodils/narcissi. It was also nice to see a few familiar faces - Peter Webb took Best in Show with one of his exhibits - as well as chat to some interesting people I hadn't met before. Where else can you have such a pleasant time surrounded by floral fragrance for 50p? All right, I admit it, I did splash out another 50p on a cup of tea and I paid for Mrs N but it was all well worth it. If you don't believe me, have a look at the photos on the News page.

Tuesday, 14th April

Easter's been and gone and I have finally got my potatoes and parsnips in. No fancy potatoes, just 3 rows of Desiree so I doubt I'll be showing potatoes this year but I hope to be eating a few. As for parsnips, perhaps I should say I have done my first sowing as I always have to make several sowings before anything germinates and then I don't get many that make it to fully grown parsnips. This year I have gone for the reliable (?!!) variety "Tender and True" and bought the seed at the Allotment Stores - at 60p a packet for King's seeds it's too good a bargain to miss and if they don't perform, well, I won't have lost much, will I? To give them and the carrots a better chance against the creepy-crawlies, next week I shall buy some of their fleece at 20p per metre. I even use it on my cabbages and it keeps the old Cabbage White butterfly and club root fly at bay. Even deters the pigeons. I have tried using it on strawberries but am not sure if it hinders germination and it can't help against the slugs of course but now I've discovered these environmentally friendly slug pellets that don't harm hedgehogs if they eat the poisoned slugs I might give them ago. Previously I have been averse to slug pellets except in my greenhouse where very few hedgehogs venture although I know I've got them in the garden.

I think I may have overdone it on the allotment recently as I have aches and pains everywhere but the weather has been very encouraging and the soil is in a lovely condition now - tomorrow rain is forecast. All good things come to and end.

Saturday, 11th April

We were due some rain and we got some yesterday - all day. Not exactly heavy rain but persistent and annoying enough to stop any outside gardening. The only horticultural tasks I undertook were sowing some more seeds in trays and doing a bit of pricking out in the greenhouse. Still if the day was a bit of a gardening washout the evening television fair was better. First there was an hour of Gardeners' World (offering free packs of seed but I've got all mine) then later on, on BBC4, there was a programme about the changing gardening interests of the Great British public which seemed to go on all evening. I'm usually curled up in bed and fast asleep by 11.30pm when it went off but I watched it to the end. It was very interesting, covering Dig for Victory right up till now with an up-to-date Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen doing the links. It seems that as time has progressed our houses and gardens have become smaller and smaller and we have barracaded ourselves in with fences to keep the neighbours out and afford ourselves a little privacy until now we feel so guilty about what we have done to the environment and nature that we are trying to encourage it back into our gardens.

I was in fact brought up in the countryside on a small holding but a few years of living in cities after I left home soon knocked all traces of that agricultural and horticultural rubbish out of me - until I got married and had a garden of my own. It was Gardeners' World that rekindled my interest, in particular Geoffrey Smith when GW was filmed at Clack's Farm. Geoffrey, who designed the garden at Harlow Carr, Yorkshire, was a real enthusiast and inspired me with his love of plants and vegetables. I even bought his books. Other presenters have come and gone and I did admire Geoff Hamilton and the way he took the programme but it was Geoffrey Smith who got me going down the gardening path. As the programme showed there have been many twists in that path - do you remember the decking fad, topiary, heather and pine gardens, Charlie Dimmock (who could forget her?) and instant make-overs? - but now I too, in the back garden at least, am looking for a less manicured more nature-friendly theme. I like to see the birds and wildlife (although the country boy in me still considers pigeons, squirrels and foxes vermin really) and I've got boxes on the back of the house and feeders in the lawn. I've also planted mountain ash and birch trees along with the crab apple and ordinary apple trees. Perhaps it's my way of escaping back to the country but we're very lucky here in Worthing in that the Sussex countryside is never far away really.

Tuesday, 7th April

Oh, my aching limbs and my poor back! I blame all this sunny weather for tempting me out to the allotment and the back garden all the time, digging, weeding, hoeing, etc. Well, that and my now concrete clay soil. Perhaps I'll have to get some of that Groworganic stuff they're banging on about in this month's Plotholder and on the Stores page of this site. What I do know is that only about a week ago a spit down my soil was still quite wet whereas now I can hardly get the spade into it. You can't win can you? I suppose the answer is to look on the bright side - perhaps I can start hardening off a few things already. I'd have to remember to bring them in at night as it still gets quite chilly outside when night falls.

Things are definitely warming up so I hope we're not in for a sudden cold snap. It wouldn't just be the plants and seedlings caught out, there seem to be quite a few birds in our garden getting on with things. One thing which seems to have benefitted from these conditions is our rhubarb although I have taken to watering a bit now. We've had several pullings and yesterday we tried the Welsh Rhubarb Cake recipe from the Plotholder (and site Recipe page). I can thoroughly recommend it. We're having it again tonight as my wife wouldn't let me eat it all last night.

Thursday, 2nd April

Yes, I must confess the headline on the front page yesterday about the pylons coming back to West Tarring was an April Fool hoax. Clicking on the link should have taken you to the bottom of the page where you were advised to check the date. Couldn't resist it, I'm afraid.
The weather has been lovely recently and the extra hour of daylight is very welcome (Guess who had Sunday dinner 1 hour late this week and why!) and it has been very pleasant digging away and weeding on the allotment just because of the sunshine. I haven't actually put anything in the ground yet but I am getting dangerously close - just as soon as I've ensured my plot is 100% bindweed and couch grass free. Could be a while then. I have got 5 trays of seedlings now and have just started leaving them in the greenhouse overnight because although it has been warm during the day there have been some very cold nights. So until 2 nights ago I've been bringing them back indoors. It can get very busy at this time of year moving things about but I took yesterday afternoon off and went for a stroll with our walking group. What a joy it was to see butterflies about; there were Brimstones, Peacocks and Red Admirals. We're pretty sure blue tits are nesting in one of our boxes at home too as we keep seeing them flying towards the house with a beakful of rubbish. I even saw a ladybird on the allotment today. With a bit of luck these predators will scoff all the greenfly as soon as they appear. Yeh, right!

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