New Year's Eve

   So the year turns again. It is still raining. I went over to see the bees and check they were okay. They were. A gale of wind is blowing from the South West. It is just getting round the hedge so the Hives are in a drafty spot for the moment. At least the flood waters have subsided. There was no damage to the hives during the floods. One of the door blocks had been displaced so I put it back in place and wedged it there with a couple of pieces of stick. When looking in the front door I can see a few dead bees and in one hive there are lots of capping on the floor. That means they are tucking into their stores. Time for candy I think.

   I got out my hip flask which is full of last years Sloe Gin and splashed a little on each hive and wished the Bees health for the coming year. If you can wassail apples trees I am sure you can "wassail" bee hives I had a wander round the meadow which is sodden after the recent flooding. The grass cover has held the soil together. Some of the plough fields I can see from the meadow have not fared so well. The only sign of life, besides the surging Mease, was a Sparrow Hark that flew down the length of the hedge at knee height then dart through the hedge and was gone.

The hives are in the far left of picture. The River Mease is still roaming across the fields

   It is a desolate time of year in the countryside especially with a gale blowing and biting rain showers in the wind. Finding all secure I trundled back across the fields and went over to the lottie. More desolation. I put up a couple of bird feeders although I did see more than a few crows being tossed across the sky. The soil was too wet to dig so I had a close look at the hedges and the trees in the hedge. I have selected the ones that are coming out. They are shading out areas of my plot. The bees at the lottie are not moving but the signs are that they are fine. I fixed my gate. The wind had given it a beating and a couple of battens needed refixing. I wassailed the lottie and the bees. It is a good deal more sheltered at the lottie but it was still dark considering it was two o'clock in the afternoon.

   I did a little job for one of the plot holders before I packed up and went home for a spot of lunch.

So as traditional at this time of year, I wish you all a Happy New Year for 2013.

Getting ready

    Getting ready to allotment seems to take longer. Degsy sits there waiting for a key turn to get going. Sometimes Degsy needs a hand. Luckily Degsy can be started with a cranking handle. It is bloody hard to turn over a 2.5 litre engine against the compression but I managed it without putting my back out or dislocating my arms.

      Then there is the personal preparation. If I don't put my gloves on my skin on one of more of the joint on my finger crack and that is painful and take ages to heal. And now I have to put a bit a Vaseline on my lips to stop them cracking. Then when I get hot and sweating from working if don't wrap up when I stop I can almost guarantee I will get a chill that will start off a silly cough I won't be able to shift until well into the New Year.

    I have given up wear overalls. Now the main gear is mainly my rigger boots, work pants and a brushed cotton shirt. So long as I have remembered to put tea bags and milk in the back of Degsy then all will be well.  

Grubs & Robins

      The weather, time and enthusiasm collided today. The weather was the variable in the this list. Freezing conditions last week were not conducive to digging. Then Thursday this week it threw it down for most of the day. Saturday was taken up with picking up Miss L. The weather remained fine on Saturday which boded well for Sunday. Sunday dawned clear so after a breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and tea it was off to the lottie. There was no one at the lottie. All the plots a bit tired. Mine looked not too bad now the ground had been strimmed and the vines pruned. The milky winter sun did a lot to make the general view looks better.

      The main job was get the spuds dug up. The soil was the consistency of cream cheese. The fork was a waste of time for digging the spuds. I got the spade out instead. Then arranged the wheelbarrow for collecting the weeds and there plenty of weeds to go at. The main culprits are Dock and Grass but as I was to find out there was some major roots from the nearby Willows. I just got going in the plough head land, as grandly call it. I just worked across the plot throwing the spuds into the tray and the weeds into the barrow. On the third row the spuds were different. I got another tray so as to keep the varieties separate. Over and back, over and back with spuds in one place and weeds in another. I put the kettle on when I was half way across the plot then went back to harvesting or was it weeding?  By the time I finished the row the kettle was boiling. I made a brew and remembered to get wrapped up against the cold. I sat on the compo bin and supped my brew. The Robin's where happy to see the back of me for a while so they could forage over the new turned earth. I had been feeding them with Cockchaffer grubs as I found them in the soil but they wanted more. Cockchaffer grubs are massive about 40/50mm [2 inches] long so half a dozen of those should fill the Robin's up.

     Brew over and back to the spade and rows of spuds. I managed another two rows before I ran out of time. One of the other lottie holders turned up and came over for a chat. Having chatted about the year just gone we wished each other a Merry Christmas and set off back to our plots. I tidied the tools away and packed up Degsy. I trundled back home in the weakening Sun. I took the spuds straight round the back of the house and gave them a wash before parking them in the shed.