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Saturday, 28th March
I squidged my first caterpillar of the season today. There
I was digging over the earth when I espied the little green chomper on
one of my cabbages. No time for mercy! What worried me was that I couldn't
see any more and I refuse to believe he was on his own - unless he was
the advanced scouting party in which case I hope the word gets out that
my cabbage patch is not safe grazing.
On a more enjoyable note, my wife and I went to the Worthing Horticultural
Society's Spring Show this afternoon. As soon as you entered the hall
- WOW! - a host of golden daffodils. And then the perfume, which I am
afraid I cannot convey through this medium as our website has no smellyvision
facility. But if you can imagine the heady scent of daffodils, narcissi
and hyacinths (and others) all in a confined space you'll get the idea.
We had to sit down. Luckily there was a cake and tea stall with lots of
chairs just for that purpose so we had to have a piece of cake and a cuppa
as well. £2 for the 2 of us for refreshments and 60p each entrance
fee - not bad for a Saturday afternoon's entertainment.
Thursday, 26th March
Well,
I suppose all that sunshine couldn't last for ever and I did get a fair
bit of digging done on the allotment on 
Monday
and Wednesday morning. Even today, although I have not been to the allotment,
I was digging on my veg plot at home, where I could easily take shelter
if it decided to rain. "And what about the rest of the time?"
I hear you ask. Yes, I did skive off on Tuesday even though digging conditions
were very good. I went on a group walk around the RSPB sanctuary at Pulborough
Brooks. The sky was bright blue, the sun shone bright and clear and an
ice-cold wind blasted your ears. The hides proved very popular and in
sheltered areas it was lovely but in exposed spots you felt like you could
have been at the North Pole. This did not spoil our enjoyment of our avian
friends, however, although the most exotic things I saw were a heron,
egret, shelduck and wigeon. There were loads of seagulls and Canada geese
(are 
they
edible?) as well as the odd crow, kestrel, pigeon, blue tit, robin, magpie,
chaffinch and thrush. I also spotted an adder (quite difficult!) and some
Highland cattle (not so difficult). Then there was a peculiar contraption
in some 
bushes
made out of an old orange juice or milk container. I asked if it was a
cow's nest but apparently it was something to do with a dormouse survey.
Even if I wasn't knowledgeable enough to spot the more exotic types the
scenery was exotic enough for me and by the time we got back to the centre
the cafe-cum-restaurant was very appealing too. Even better someone else
paid for my tea and cake and I'd already got in free as I am an RSPB member.
A day that was excellent value for money as well as anything else.
Sunday, 22nd March
What a lovely weekend, wasn't it? And I never set foot on the allotment or the garden! But I did have an excuse: we went to see my mother for Mothering Sunday as as she lives 120 miles away it was hardly worth going for the day so we made a weekend of it. A couple of weeks ago it was my mother-in-law's 80th so that was another weekend written off as far as the allotment was concerned. I did manage to sow a few more seeds before we left this time and confident after a good weather forecast I left the greenhouse window open only to hear that Friday night was bitterly cold (I didn't know as I was asleep). I haven't dared set foot in the greenhouse since we got back and anyway it's a bit dark to see anything now. But I understand the forecast is good for tomorrow so I shall be off to the allotment at the crack of dawn (so long as it doesn't crack before 9.00am) to get on with some more forking. I suppose you lot were all there at the weekend tut-tutting at the state of my site but I shall soon catch up, although I don't think I'll enter the Best Kept Allotment competition this year. If yours is any good watch out for the adverts and give it a go - I think the first prize is about 30 or 40 quid. Not to be sniffed at!
Friday, 20th March
Yes, I admit it - I joined the noisy lawnmowing club yesterday.
I'm afraid the front lawn was looking so overgrown and shoddy I couldn't
resist it any more. Not too close for it's first cut - don't want to scalp
it before it's got going properly. Unfortunately it's not just the grass
that's been growing. There are all sorts of weeds in there including a
fair sprinkiling of moss which I've not really had in the front lawn since
I sowed it a few years ago. I suppose that heralds the start of a summer
long maintenance programme of feeding, cutting and weeding but a well
tended lawn does look nice, doesn't it? The back lawn gets far less attention!
What else have I been up to? Well, pruning mostly: roses, buddleia and
my double fruiting Polka raspberries. If you prune these latter correctly
you get 2 crops a year, one in summer and one in autumn so I consulted
a raspberry expert this year. We'll see.
Several seedlings are up in their trays now and as always some have come
up as thick as cress. I know they always say "sow thinly" but
with things like nicotiana I can barely see the tiny seeds anyway so I
can't tell how I'm sowing them. I expect everything will be fine in the
end.
I was down on the allotment when I saw Jack (overseer) showing a new prospective
lady allotmenteer round a couple of plots. We'd aleady bet on which plot
she would opt for and we were both right - one that had only been recently
given up and had always been well looked after. It also has established
fruit on it and a good shed too. Lucky lady! And just the right time of
year to take on a plot.
We've had some decent weather recently and the soil is digging well so
there's no excuse not to get down there this weekend and get on with it!
Monday, 16th March
Too
nice a day to spend indoors today - and I hear it's going to be like it
all week. What a shame for those people who still have to go out to work.
Me, I made for the allotment, once this morning and again this afternoon
about 4 o'clock. When I went there this morning it was quite misty with
a bit of a nip in the air. On the plot it was really quiet, the only noise
from a few blackbirds, one of them with some weird white markings; it
looked as though someone had splashed paint on him. Unfortunately I din't
have my camera with me at the time so you'll have to take my word for
it. He hadn't been ostracised, well not completely anyway, as he had a
Mrs Blackbird with him. Gradually the sun came out and by the time I went
home for lunch it was getting quite warm.
This afternoon the site was much busier and I spent as much time yapping
as working but I refused to come home until I'd got the job finished.
And what job was that? Well, I've finished forking over the old strawberry
bed at last removing all traces of couch grass and bindweed. Surely they
won't come back now????? As they don't look very photogenic I include
a picture of my little camellia in our back garden.
Saturday, 14th March
As I drove along the Littlehampton Road today it was lovely
to see the golden profusion of daffodils on the verge. I'm sure those
on the hill up to Highdown from the Littlehampton Road must be looking
lovely too but I didn't go that far. Now not many people know this, but
years and years ago I was one of the group that put in those daff's up
to Highdown under the supervision of the late Brian Gunn, my horticultural
mentor and former head of the Council Parks Department on our side of
town. What a fount of knowledge he was and a brilliant inspirational teacher
even though he had never taught before he started his course at Northbrook
College. When he died 
before
his time of cancer we planted some silver birch trees in his memory in
the grounds of the college. As far as I know, they are still there.
More recently, this week in fact, I have at last got round to putting
in some seeds although not in the ground. I've done 4 lots in half-trays
which I have put in windowsill propagators in the spare bedroom, a practice
which my wife must have got used to by now. I set out with the intention
of sowing my tomatoes and that's when I discovered I hadn't actually got
any seeds so off to the allotment shop today where they cost me 75p. In
the nearby supermarket the same variety (Gardener's Delight) cost £1.45
- and the eggs were much cheaper too. Today I forgot to buy the compost!
Monday, 9th March
I'm afraid I've been skiving again. I left with Mrs N on
Thursday morning for a birthday bash some 50 miles away and didn't get
back until Sunday evening. I think everyone had a good time and I seem
to recall pruning someone's raspberries for them. I managed to fit in
a visit to a garden centre too but don't like their fancy prices. Big
range of stuff but big prices too. Still I enjoyed their cup of tea; the
scone was a bit dry but as I wasn't paying on this occasion I'll let that
go by.
I had
a couple of jobs to do before I could get to the allotment this morning
and continue my couch grass excavating. The sky was blue and the sun shining
again but there weren't many people about. A few minutes forking and I
soon knew why: the earth is still very wet and heavy and not very workable
at all. I persevered for a little while before cutting a cabbage to bring
home and calling it a day.
This afternoon I entered my shed at home with a view to taking out some
seed trays to sow some tomatoes and stuff. I touched a seed tray and WHAM!
BAM! BAM! They all fell down and loads of other things as well - I really
must sort out that shed. But before I made enough noise to frighten away
a pack of wolves I was lucky enough to see this intruder in my garden.
I know they're vermin really and I would never feed one but it's still
a part of English nature and I couldn't resist this shot. Unfortunately
he wouldn't let me get close enough for a good one.
Wednesday, 4th March
Onion sets in seed
tray
What a lovely day! Sunshine beamed down on our lttle walking group as we walked through the woods and park this afternoon yet when we looked North the sky over the Downs was black. Probably had snow up there. I managed a bit of gardening this morning: I put in 80 onion sets. I didn't do that on my allotment though, I'm not far enough on with my digging, I'm afraid, and anyway my soil is still rather wet and cold as it's heavy clay. No, I put them in seed trays, 20 to the tray. They're rather close together but it's only while they get going then I'll transfer them to the allotment when it's a bit warmer. I always do my onions that way and even in the ground I put them closer together than most people do as Mrs N prefers lots of medium-sized onions to fewer but much bigger ones. We're still using last year's and they usually do well in the show in the "as grown" class. My potatoes on the other hand have now all gone apart from the tiddlers that always percolate down to the bottom of the bag so we're having to buy. Still, we're still digging leeks and cutting cabbages and it won't be long before the rhubarb's ready.
Sunday, 1st March
Saint David's Day
Rabbits!
I believe that's what you're supposed to say when you get up on the 1st
March, isn't it? Well.it's a while since I got up now but it's still the
1st March. I skived off again this weekend, to Norwich this time but I
was back yeterday afternoon, just in time to do the weekly shop at Tesco's.
Champion!
This morning I was looking out of our kitchen window (for those of you
who don't know, we have a big kitchen window which
overlooks the back garden) obeserving the antics of the blue tits and
the sparrows on the bird feeders when, all of a sudden, I noticed a blackbird
flying straight at me. Many a bird has flown into our kitchen window;
the large ones such as pigeons leave an impressive imprint on the glass
bit then recover and fly off whereas the smaller ones just hit the glass
and break their necks. So I was fully aware of the sheet of double glazing
protecting me but I couldn't help but duck - it was instinctive. Luckily,
my movement was enough to deter the bird and it veered off, thus saving
us both a rather unpleasant experience. I've seen him around before, gathering
nest material then heading for the viburnum bush, not the best place to
nest as the crows always discover the nests there and raid them. It all
goes to prove Spring is afoot and it has been unseasonably warm these
last few days, and I must get down to sowing a few things this week. Tomatoes
and leeks spring immediately to mind. Mind you, we're still digging leeks
from last year but my potatoes have all but run out now and I've got the
new ones chitting. Won't be long now before the lawnmowing season is in
full swing - I wonder if the mower still works.