Worthing and District Allotments and Gardens Association

Thursday, 27th August

Beetroot! Can't stand it and I've got loads of it. "Why did you grow it then?" I can hear you ask. Well, I grew it from seed and I got the packet free with something plus it was a novelty variety, bright red when cooked with white circles. Actually I have eaten some and it doesn't taste as strong as the usual stuff and is quite sweet. However, I am still pestering the neighbours to see how much they can really take before they tell me what to do with it. (Boil it?)
I forgot to mention that when I was doing the caterpillars on Monday I wore my shorts, nothing exceptional on a warm day but apparently, even though I felt nothing, I was stung or bitten 4 times on my legs. I certainly felt it later on when they started to itch and a rash developed. I had to show the injuries off in the North Star on Pub Night so just as well if you weren't there. Thankfully Mrs N got me some tablets from the chemist to make the itch go away. I took one at bedtime last night and didn't wake up this morning until 9.15am! Well, that's my excuse anyway.

A summer visitation has arrived so postings may become brief and irregular for a time. There's a relief, eh?

Monday, 24th August

Did you miss me? Thought not! I took a week or so off there for a little break with Mrs N and about 50 others on a coach trip to Switzerland. What a beautiful country! It was my first visit and I couldn't help but be impressed by all that lovely scenery, be it mountains, lakes or fields dotted with picturesque villages of chalets. And I did get to some posh places - Klosters, Davos, San Moritz - haunts of the rich and famous (e.g. Prince Charles). Like them I took in the local architecture and the well known shops - Visace, Chanel, etc. - but unlike them I stayed on the outside. The only shop I could afford to buy anything in was the local Co-op where I bought some fruit. Switzerland is a bit pricey but I really enjoyed my holiday.

Maybe I should have known better than to go at this time of year though. I'd left my garden in the care of a reliable neighbour. Unfortunately a few days after I'd left a family emergency cropped up and he had to leave and still hasn't got back. Didn't rain much while I was away, did it? (Nor in Switzerland where it reached 35°C) So when I got back my containers and baskets were a very sorry sight. I think some of them are beyond salvation. And the brassicas - the caterpillars have had a field day. What was left of them were absolutley smothered in cabbage white caterpillars which I set about picking off and squidging. Wasn't long before my fingers were completely green. I hate to think what the allotment looks like as I haven't had time to get down there yet; that pleasure (?) to come tomorrow. I expect I'll be drowning my sorrows at Pub Night tomorrow night.

Saturday, 15th August

Well, I suppose it was inevitable, my outdoor tomatoes all got blight as wel,l so up they came and off to the dump. That makes 32 plants and not a single tomato. Heart breaking, isn't it? So on the allotment I've cut all the tops off my potatoes; somebody told me it helps protect them if they haven't got blight already as the spores (or whatever) land on the leaves. Can't do that if there's no leaves! That's the theory anyway. Otherwise you spray the foliage with Bordeaux mixture, I understand, at regular intervals. When I was at Wisley one of their advisors gave me a sheet all about blight - how to avoid it, how to recognise it, how to deal with it, etc. - but I must admit I haven't read it yet. So what have I been doing? Well, apart from the usual allotment stuff which is mainly picking and digging up at this time of year, I have sowed a few more carrots and dibbled in a few more leeks. On the non-horticultural front I went for a little walk, around a dozen of us in all, up Honeysuckle Lane on Thursday evening and on to the edge of the Downs before turning back. It was a beautiful sunset but my attempts to capture it with my camera failed miserably so you'll have to go without. It was strangely quiet up there but maybe it was a little late for the birdies - not for the runners though, loads of young ladies in short shorts cutting a swaithe through our group. Put me right off my stride.

Tuesday, 11th August

This morning I have been digging some potatoes. I made sure I did because I forgot to dig any for yesterday's dinner which didn't go down too well. I'd remembered the beans, the carrots, the cabbage and the beetroot so I thought I did pretty well. Still you're not interested in the banalities of the Ned household so let's talk about last weekend instead. That certainly wasn't banal. Along with 50 or so others we went on the Association trip to Wisley for the day on Saturday. It was a lovely warm day and there's so much to see there. Mrs N and I chose to do a few things we'd never done there before like a walk through the woodland area and the pinetum, taking in the buddleia trials and the insect gardens. We also did the maize maze and found the pirate ship in the middle. We did some of the old favourites too of course like the glasshouse and the allotment but it was a little too warm and sunny for some areas like the millennium arboretum and the orchards as there was little if any shade and I have to be careful now I'm getting a little thin on top so as not to overcharge my solar panel.

Something new for that weekend was the appearance of several famous plant seekers dressed in period attire and they would happily tell you all about their work and their lives. There were people telling stories and arranging activities for children too so nobody could say there was nothing to do. Then there were the plants themselves of course and the plant centre which some of our group obviously found too tempting to resist judging by the packages on the coach on the way home. Then to round the day off a small group of us went to the Levant restaurant on Strand Parade. They don't have an alcohol licence but the food certianly makes up for it - if you like middle-eastern cuisine that is.

Then today, back to the plot. I was agreeably surprised to collect another ice cream containerful of raspberries, along with some beetroot, runner beans, cabbage, carrots and the aforementioned potatoes so I shouldn't get in trouble today.

(More pictures of the day at Wisley will undoubtedly appear on the Photo call page in due course)

Friday, 7th August

Not the greatest of weeks for me horticulturally - I've had to pull up all 18 tomato plants in my greenhouse as they had blight. I've never had trouble with blight under glass before but there's a first for everything, they say. It's a shame because I was growing some yellow tomatoes too which I had never tried before. I suppose I must have let it get too humid in there even though the window was open all the time and the door most of the time and moist, warm conditions suit blight ideally. Strangely, but thankfully, the tomatoes in the garden seem unaffected, touch wood.
The other thing to go wrong was the blowing up of my electric hover mower. First it started making weird clanking noises, then smoke billowed up, then it died. This must be my third or fourth of these machines and they all seem to last just one month longer than the guarantee then give up the ghost. I don't mind using the little push-me cylinder mower but it doesn't cope too well if you've let the grass get a bit long, say because of weather conditions or holidays. Should I buy yet another?
I had to take a break so we went up to Highdown Gardens. Not only are they free but a great source of inspiration. The garden shows what can be achieved in our local conditions and I always try to take visitors there to show them part of Worthing at its best. Afterwards we had to visit the tea rooms, of course. Have you seen the size of their rock cakes? Enormous and no dearer than normal sized cakes in other establishments. That and a cup of tea and the world didn't seem so bad after all.

Monday, 3rd August

Today I have been potting up sunflowers. You may think I'm behind the times again but I like to keep my sunflowers in pots as long as possible because as soon as I put them in the border the slugs and snails gobble them up. If I leave them until they are a few feet tall not only does it take the gastropods a long time to climb to the top to the tender bits but the stems themselves are as tough as old boots. It did get a bit tedious but I was saved by a call of "Tea up!" and had to take a break. As we sat there on the patio sipping our drinks loads of swifts circled overhead. I haven't seen any swifts round here before in nearly 30 years so it was a bit of a surprise. I don't think it was flying ant day - at least I never saw any - so what brought them here? Any suggestions?

I was also potting up some spare broccoli and cabbages which I have no room for at the moment and tending the tomatoes. No ripe ones yet but the courgettes are coming now. Lots of ratatouille then but if you fancy something different have a look at the courgette cake recipe on the Recipes page. Needless to say, the Ned household is eating it already. If you're a dabhand at doing cakes, how's about supplying one of two for our show cakes stall. You can contact Anita on anita@nutt52.plus.com or Lyn on kenwillo@googlemail.com.