Worthing and District Allotments and Gardens Association

Thursday, 25th February

A brief sunny interlude the other morning gave me the chance to nip to the allotment and prune and feed a few raspberries. I couldn't actually walk on the plot as it was far too squelchy so I pruned those I could reach from the path. I have 3 lots of raspberries - summer fruiting, autumn fruiting and dual fruiting (Polka) - but over the years they have got rather intermingled so I had no idea what I was pruning. As they all require a different technique this proved rather challenging - I applied Ned's "One-fits-all" method: firstly get rid of any that are obviously dead all the way from top to bottom and any so puny they might as well be dead; secondly thin them out to no more than 6 per station; thirdly cut them down to a healthy bud 2-3 ft high. Then I fed them with sulphate of potash. It will be interesting to see what results this special method produces but maybe they'll fruit just long enough for me to note what fruited when so I can get it right next year. I could only do half of them anyway as I can't reach the others from the path.
I also managed to get out to Pub Night on Tuesday despite the rain. What a turnout! Mrs N and I had to sit at a table on our own for some time as there was no more space near our group. People did move eventually. The North Star had been closed for a couple of weeks for a bit of a make-over, only in terms of decoration as far as I could tell. Brown must be the "in" colour.

In what has been a frantic social whirl of a week (by my standards) Mrs N and I were also out on Monday and Wednesday night at the theatre. On Monday night we went to the Connaught to see Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" starring Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyle's war on the telly. The bloke who played Gus in Channel 4's "Drop the Dead Donkey" was also in it. It was very good and well worth the money (I had a free ticket though!). The theatre has new seats which were comfortable but the lettering at the end of the rows is very difficult to read so finding your seat is a bit of a challenge. As on nearly all these occasions we bumped into people we knew, this time from the Worthing Horticultural Society.
Then last night we went to the Pavilion to see "The Tart and the Vicar's Wife", a light comedy. Now the Connaught was packed on Monday but the Pavilion was very sparsely populated, although this did make it easier to get an ice cream which was the bit I enjoyed most. However, my wife thought the play quite entertaining. I thought it marginally more entertaining than pruning the raspberries.

Sunday, 21st February

Sunday and it's raining again. How did it know I wanted to go to the allotment today? In the week I bought a new blackcurrant bush, some new secateurs to do my raspberries with and some wooden stakes to mend my soft fruit structure with. The plan was to do all that today - fat chance! And I had been reinforced in my determination when, on a pre-breakfast constitutional yesterday which took in the outside perimeter of West Tarring allotments, I noticed there had been a fresh delivery of manure. "I'll have a couple of barrowloads of that tomorrow morning," I thought. Wrong again!

On the plus side I have at last got round to sowing a few things in my propagator: onions, peppers (sweet and chilli), tomatoes and leeks. I've never grown onions from seed before but I got several packets for my birthday last year so thought I'd give them a go. Mind you, to be on the safe side I did get some sets from the Stores too.

           
Star attraction of the evening - Terry's waistcoat. For more dinner pictures click here.

On the social side Mrs N and I attended the Association Dinner at the Windsor Hotel on Friday night. What a turnout! And what a good evening - I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Although Mrs N reckons the bar had something to do with that I put it down to a great meal, a good crowd, a fine venue, efficient, friendly service, the entertainment and allround good organisation by Ken ably assisted by Jack. Next event - Pub Night on Tuesday.

Thursday, 18th February

What a lovely sunny morning yesterday! And where was I? Sitting around waiting in Worthing hospital. Still I managed to get some sunshine in the afternoon on a pre-arranged walk but no gardening, I'm afraid. The rest of the week the weather has been tripe; the rain wasn't just wet it was very cold as well and did all it could to put you off. I did go out on Tuesday morning, to Pulborough Brooks bird haven, but decided against a stroll round the trail because of the rain and made do with a cup of tea and a piece of cake instead. Mind you, I enjoyed observing the birdies too from the warmth of the café. I did buy some new bird feeders which in truth had been my primary purpose.

I haven't been anywhere near the allotment except to the stores on Saturday morning to buy a bag of Humax compost; I really must get my onion and tomato seeds underway. No excuse now I have the propagator.

Despite the weather and the enormous demands on my valuable time I did manage to finish pruning my apple trees, my gooseberries and the crab apple tree. Just about finished my secateurs too so I've had to buy some new ones to do my raspberries with. Hopefully another dry day will crop up in the next week for me to put them to good use.

Wednesday, 10th February

Sunshine yesterday morning. I was off to the allotment like a shot. The intention was to prune the gooseberries and the raspberries then feed all the soft fruit with sulphate of potash. I realised I'd left my gloves in the car as soon as I set about the gooseberry bushes but couldn't be bothered to go back and get them. Mistake!! You have to be tinged with a touch of masochism to enjoy pruning gooseberries, they're such ungrateful plants. Needless to say, within minutes there was blood everywhere coming from the back of my right hand and I'd never felt a thing. The icy cold wind blasting across the allotments had made my hands numb. Trouble was long strands of couch grass - nowhere else on the plot of course - had come up from under the gooseberry bushes and wrapped themselves round the leaders and spurs so bits didn't fall away when you cut them and they became snagged on my hands and fingers. After doing 2 bushes I'd had enough and decided to get on with the feeding bit. That's when I discovered just how strong the arctic crossfield wind was as it blew the sulphate of potash away over adjacent plots. Trying to feed the raspberries was hopeless as I couldn't get low enough to counter the effect of the wind; the canes got in the way. They'll have to wait until I've cut them down now. After that feeding the strawberries was a piece of cake but I did have to go and get my gloves out of the car before going home as Mrs N would not have appreciated the bloodstains on the uphostery.

Saturday, 6th February

A beautiful sunny day today and I spent it lounging in cafés! First I was in the Levant on Strand Parade and then later in Tides on Aldsworth Parade. I did do a spot of walking between times taking in the delights of Boxgrove and Goring station. I thought there might be an interesting view from the top of the footbridge at Goring station but there isn't.

Goring station

I like the Levant; we often pop in there. I think their evening trade suffers because they're not licensed which is a shame because those Middle Easten dishes are really tasty and they're really friendly in there. Mind you, they're often quite busy in the daytime.
I'm not so familiar with Tides but had read favourable reports in the Sentinel so we called in there for a cup of tea this afternoon. I resisted the scones and cake on the counter -what's the point of walking off the calories if you're going to put them straight back on again? - and just settled for a pot for two. It's nice and cosy and the service was very friendly. There's a maritime theme to the décor, very tastefully done. As I wandered round I spotted some photos of groups of people on the wall - they have themed events from time to time - people I know and I saw one of them yesterday in the Levant! We must haunt the same places.
I haven't been totally idle in the garden: apart from a bit more apple tree pruning I've also pruned my crab apple tree and a very large Hypericum "Hidcote" and lugged all the prunings to the tip. I've also picked up all my seed potatoes now from the stores and placed them in the spare bedroom (no heating on) where they can merrily chit away until I plant them or Mrs N makes me remove them.

Wednesday, 3rd February

This weekend was the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch so I spent an hour on Sunday morning glued to the kitchen window keeping and eye out for golden eagles and snowy owls but the most exotic bird I spotted was a chiff chaff - and I'm not very sure about that. Otherwise it was crows, tits and blackbirds. Outside my hour a flock (murmuration?) of starlings landed on the lawn but as it was outside my hour they didn't count. Perhaps the bloke on Brighton pier got them in his count.

Last night there was a committee meeting at which it was revealed that our website is still attracting an average of 15,000 hits a month so keep up the good work and spread the word. Other things to note were the Association will have a stand at the Worthing Leisure and Hobbies exhibition on Saturday, 6th March (see Events page for details) and our very own Peter Webb will be giving a talk on growing and showing vegetables at the WHS AGM on Monday, 8th March (see Events page). Entry to the latter is free to card carrying members of the Association. Also if you want any onion sets you'd better hurry up as they're flying from the stores. Potato orders are in.

This morning after the drizzle had stopped I poked my head out of the door with the intention of doing a bit more hacking back in the garden but you can't really use electrical equipment when everthing's so wet and it was a bit cold and then I remembered I'd got a load of things to do like wash my hair, have a shave, do a load of washing, pay some bills, organise a display board and catch up with this blog. I opted for the latter. Aren't you pleased?