Sunday, 27th February

Littlehampton Seafront Cafe

Anonymous Pub

What a hectic week this has been! But only compared to my normal sedentary lifestyle. Not hectic with gardening activity, I might add. No, Mrs N has been at home this week so we have been pootling here and there: Southampton and a lovely lunch out at a pub in Upham on Monday; garden centres and pub night on Tuesday; shopping and cafeing (should have been walking but the weather intervened) on Wednesday; lunch out with friends at a pub which shall remain nameless the food was so awful on Thursday followed by a stroll on Littlehampton seafront; also a trip out with another firend in the evening to a couple of local hostleries (Did you know the Swallows' Return is now under new management and you can make bookings?); coffee and cake out on Friday morning then dinner out with a friend at a carvery; grocery shopping and out at a local cafe with some more friends yesterday and a quiet day in today! Mrs N goes back to work tomorrow but I can't see myself getting much allotmenting done after some more rain. I did manage to plant 20 grape vines today - well, I heeled them in on my veg plot at home until I give them to the persons who ordered them. If only I could remember who they were! If you were at the dinner and you think it was you let me know. (I picked them up from the vineyard on Friday)

If you have been to your allotment recently have you noticed any roadworks? Here at West Tarring we've practically got a new motorway going through the site. It may have needeed mending but I can't help thinking this is a bit of an overkill. We probably wouldn't have spent so much on it if we'd been in charge and not the council but maybe they're getting it up to scratch for when Contintal Landscapes' contract ends at the end of 2012. There is a suggestion that the allotment tenants might be asked to take it over themselves so if you are a tenant get yourself to the talk at the Town Hall on Tuesday evening (6.00pm). See you there.

Wednesday, 23rd February

Well, I got my rubbish cleared up so I was allowed to go to Pub Night last night which was nice. Another 7 bags of clippings to go to the tip; they'll be taking my car registration number down there at this rate and accusing me of being "commercial".

Needless to say I havn't managed much else in the garden or on the plot since the weekend but yesterday I went to a garden centre. Now that's not something as I do regularly as the prices are a bit steep compared with our stores but I had a garden voucher at Christmas and our stores don't accept them. So what did I buy? I was looking for a hanging basket to replace the plastic self-watering one which blew down last year and became a self-chainsnapping one. I decided to look for something more robust, a metal jobby and found one complete with liner reduced to £8.11. At the till it was further reduced to £4. What joy! More voucher left to spend so I bought a trough and some flower seeds which we don't sell at our stores. I also managed to get a small bag of compost with my voucher so I'll be sowing my tomatoes and leeks any time now. When we get a dry few minutes I'll also tackle my gooseberry bushes and give them their winter haircut.

Rain again today so no gardening then. I was meant to be going for a walk this afternoon with our walking group. To my surprise several turned up but we all wimped out when the rain became very steady and took shelter in Tides where we enjoyed a cup of tea and a bun over a friendly chin-wag. I know I'm not gardening tomorrow or Friday so by the time the fine weather returns I'll be straining at the leash. Actually that's probably putting it a bit strongly.

Finally thank you to all those people who have emailed us about the dinner. Keep them coming in!

Sunday, 20th February

I've planted something on the allotment! I've been growing my garlic in containers but on Thursday afternoon I decided it was time they went in the ground. The plot is still not fit to walk on but I was able to put them in from the grass path as they are going at the very top of my plot. The rain then watered them in for me. Using the same technique (from the path) I was able to weed a few raspberries. I was down there again this morning but only to buy seed - leeks (Musselburgh) and tomatoes (Gardener's Delight).

Friday night Mrs N and I went to the Association Dinner; 69 people had bought tickets and we had a short waiting list too. This year it was held at Highdown Vineyard for the first time but the format was the same as ever: welcome speeches, lucky ticket draw, dinner, quiz, raffle. For a report and pictures see our News page. I know I had a good time and so did Mrs N. If you went lets us know what you thought of it but no rude remarks about the quiz master.

I had a nice surprise on Saturday morning in Tesco's of all places. I noticed they were selling fruit trees (apple, pear and plum) for £7.00 which I thought was a good deal so I bought myself a Victoria plum. When the cashier scanned it it came up as £3.50! "Oh, yes," she said, "they're all coming up as £3.50. The lady in front of you went back and got another one." For a second or two I was tempted but I already have 3 apple trees and a crab apple so I would have been pushed for space. The plum is only a 1-year old whip so it will be a time before it fruits but at £3.50 I can afford the wait.

Back in the garden hedge and bush trimming continues to occupy my time, Hypericum and fuchsia this time with the trimmings now all over the back lawn. I won't be able to leave them there long; Mrs N is at home this week and won't stand for the mess. She might even bar me from Pub Night on Tuesday so I'd better clear them up.

Thursday, 17th February

Two consecutive fine days! And a bit of sunshine thrown in. Guess where I've been - outside. Yesterday morning I was mainly in the back garden where I took this picture of some crocuses coming up through the snowdrops. While out walking in the afternoon I even came across some daffodils in full bloom so maybe Spring is in the air. Certainly is judging by the behaviour of some of the birds in our garden; we've seen crows carrying nesting material to the tall trees at the bottom of the garden. Is that normal or are they a bit premature? I don't know. This morning by the front garden I met the chap who used to do the gardening column in the Herald; you know, Mr Muggeridge, the green-fingered guru. He was gardening at the time in a neighbour's garden. He tells me he is going to start a plant sales business (Pavilion Road, I think) so I shall have to go and have an inspect. Got to be better value than some of our garden centres, hasn't it?

I was on my way to the tip at the time with 11 bags of clippings so no prizes for guessing what I've been up to in this spell of good weather. When I got there a man in a high-visibility (yellow) jacket wouldn't let me in, saying the tip has now moved to Willowbrooke Road, luckily right next door so not an extra long drive. Well, it's certainly different. There's a control box as you go in - well, there was today, the first day - and it's on 2 levels with bays for just about everything. They're certainly trying to drill this recycling business into us, which I don't mind if I'm honest especially if it is all recycled and saves resources. I needed one of the Garden Waste bays. I parked my car then walked the plank (gangway) and dropped my materiel onto the shute to take it down to the skip-like container below. Unfortunately the shute could do with being a bit steeper which means you have to encourage the stuff out of the bag with a good shake. Needless to say I lost one bag that way thus ruining the set-up on the first morning. Design fault, I say. Here's a few pictures to give you an idea what to expect but why not go and have a look for yourself? Oh, we know how to have a good time in Worthing, don't we?

Saturday, 12th February

Two consecutive mornings on the allotment this week which is pretty good going by recent standards. I did try some more digging even though it's still pretty wet and heavy. It was hard work but I reckon there was slightly less mud stuck to my boots by the time I knocked off than last time. When I'd had enough I moved on to the raspberry area to weed between the cut canes. Fairly slow going: in an hour or so I handweeded an area about a yard square. They have become overgrown with couch grass and you don't want to leave any bits behind if you can help it as it will just grow again. Can't really use tools because the raspberry roots are so near the surface and I don't want to damage them. The rest of the soft fruit area where the gooseberries, blackcurrants and blackberries are looks more like a paddock than an allotment but I'm still waiting for it to dry out some more before I tackle it.

Frustrated by this lack of progress I determined to really go for it in my back garden and tackle the hedges with some serious machinery. Job done! Well, almost; since then the rain has returned so it wasn't until today that I got round to picking up some of the bits of privet, lonicera nitida, laurel, thuja plicata, holly, forsythia and other stuff that I'd cut from the hedges.

One miserable afternoon this week I was reminded that the show will be upon us quicker than you think so get those seeds started if you're exhibiting stuff like tomatoes. Remember: our show is on the 20th August this year which is a couple of weeks earlier than usual. What brought it to mind for me was a gathering round our house to discuss the cake schedule. Luckily this involved the results of several different recipes having to be tested - i.e.tasted. What a wonderful way of spending a wet afternoon!

Talking of the show, you'll realise that we're not sharing this year with the Worthing Horticultural Society whose show is a couple of weeks after ours. This means we shall be needing some extra hands to run stalls and refreshments and things so if you can lend a hand please let us know. You can also have your own stall at the show for the princely some of £10 a table so if you, or someone you know, would like one just drop us an email or give us a ring on 01903243216. First though it's the dinner next Friday. See you there.

Sunday, 6th February

Another miserable day! I shan't be venturing outside in this wet, gloomy murk and things inside aren't much better. I've given up on the onions I was trying to grow from seed and dispatched them to the great onion patch in the sky. i.e. I have chucked them on the compost heap. Only 3 germinated and over a period of weeks they have matured into 3" poor, spindly, miserable looking specimens and I deemed them not worth the heat, effort and compost they were using so I got rid. On the positive side I did get a load of sets from the stores so I shan't be without and I know they're decent as I'm still using the last few from last year. They do keep. I used my last carrots today so I have nothing else left now apart from a couple of cabbages and my apples in the shed.

I did manage to get to the plot again last week but no digging, I'm afraid, on my wet clay soil. Instead I finished pruning my raspberries so now have a load of spent raspberry canes which I'm not allowed to burn and there is no means of disposing of them on site. Suppose I'll have to bring them home to burn or take to the tip.

I noticed they've started repairing the car track through West Tarring site - I think they're converting it into a motorway with a topping about 6" deep. Is this the best use of our money? I'm certainly going to try and get to the talk at the Town Hall on 1st March about the running of allotents in Worthing and whether we could take it over ourselves. If you have a plot, I should get there too - I'll put more details on the site as I get them.

One thing I do look forward to at this time of year - and it's started already - is the arrival of seed and plant catalogues through my letterbox. I rarely order anything as I can get seeds cheaper at the Association stores and plants cheaper in the local garden centres or at Oak Grove when they have their sales (especially when you take postage into consideration) but they have some pretty pictues which sometimes inspire and they keep me up to date with the latest trends and introductions. This year it appears to be black petunias. Any takers?

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