Big Changes

  The big change was back in May 2013 when I was made redundant .i.e. put out of work.I thought I would have more time for my allotment but as the year progressed I found that I had to start a business if I ever was to work again and that one fact took away any spare time I might have had. I harvested my potatoes and onions and pruned the grape vines. I managed to tidy up the compost bins and mulch up the Rhubarb. MY final act for the allotment society was to chair the allotment society's AGM. A had given in my notice with a month to spare so I was a sad time to be giving up something I had been doing for ten years. However I think the Society is in a better shape than when I started there. My soil is in fantastic shape. My plot has been divided into two plots, the two new people that have taken over seem very enthusiastic. The fact two people have taken over what I did myself says something about the effort I put in. One of the consequences of giving up the plot was having to tell the folks I got the manure from of the decision. We had a great system which worked beautifully. I enjoyed having the run out to the stables and a lean on the fence chatting about the horses.

   However I can now concentrate, what little time I have, on doing my own garden. On Saturday 29th my friend came by and brought his shredder. An Alder has grown into a monster in the time we have been in this house. It was decided in the Summer that the tree was coming out. We got the ladder up and got busy with the bow saws. It always surprises me just how much wood there is in a tree. We trimmed the smaller branches and passed them through the shredder. The bigger branches were put to one side. Once the crown was removed we moved to taking down the trunk. That went well, nothing and no one damaged. We logged the trunk in to manageable pieces for Steve to take away. The bigger branches were sawn into small pieces and wheelbarrowed to the top of the garden to be fuel for the Chiminia. The shredings were put on the Raspberry and Blackberry beds as a mulch.

   Whilst Steve was about he pruned the Blackberry bushes. I have not been brave enough to tackle them in all the years they had been in. They were way to dense. I pruned the minerette Apple and Pear trees in preparation for their move. I also did the step over Apple tree to. The Hawthorn, Willow and Hazel from the border hedging got a light pruning . Just enough to clear the path. All the prunings went through the shredder. The shredder is a marvelous thing if a little noisy.

  Part way through the day Hazel made us some Bacon butties. Is was really nice to be working outside after almost a week of Christmas indulgence. It was barely above freezing yet I was soaked in sweat by the time we were finished.  The garden looks much brighter. Now the tree is down to manageable proportions I can start cleaning out the jungle that is the fence. The fence is hiding behind three feet of Ivy, Honeysuckle and Berberis. I think more tea and bacon butties will be needed to help clear this area.

Soaking up the gravy

   Well it has rained all day today. The forecast for tomorrow is for rain all day. Digging spuds seem out of the question. The soil will be as sticky as a sticky thing. Cottage pie for tea tonight. The potato mash topping will be White Duke of Yorks. Lovely and fluffy. Perfect for soaking up the gravy.

Leaning on the fence chatting

   The summer is clinging on. It is still hot enough to get sweaty digging spuds even in a polo shirt. Trailer duty as usual today. The stable folks are having a manege built in the paddock by their house. Much fun had leaning on the fence chatting whilst the bloke tries to get on with digging a hole. Work...I could watch it for hours. I also came away with a big bag of cooking apples.

   Back at the lottie work to do. Bed1 from which I harvested the peas last week is now sporting a green fuzz. The weed seedling are enjoying the nice weather. I decided the first job should be tidying the grape vines. I ended up with more vines on the ground than on the wires. Not quite true but they got a savaging. There are quite a lot of grapes on the vines. I tasted a couple. Pure acid. They could be gooseberries. More chateau Rawdon I think. The sun was hot on my neck whilst I busy with the secateurs.

   No more excuses. I got the trays out and set about digging up the spuds. The soil is perfect despite the bit of heavy rain we had earlier in the week. Luckily a new lottie member came a had a chat so I had a reason to stop for a few minutes. He is repairing his fruit cage. The net needs securing for the winter. I think he got tired of the constant bang as the stapler drove home yet another staple hence the break for a chat. The spuds came up easily and are a good size. I did not slice that many with the spade. I was pleased to note that there was very little blight in evidence. A very occasional tuber would be effected. The soil was so light and moist I even raked it over so it ready as a seed bed.

  On getting home a had a little job which was to nip over to my neighbour's garden and harvest the Pears and Apples from his minaret trees. I do this every year. He likes the idea of the fruit trees but would rather me have the fruit than let it rot on the floor. I have a about two hundred Apples and about thirty Pears. The Pears are going for wine. Not sure what to make from the Apples.

   Degsy got a little TLC as a fixed the indicator that was not indicating. I even had a little time the pack the empty supers into the garage for the winter and wash the oily patches off the drive.
      

In a quandary

   I could put it off no longer. The weather is dry and has been for most of the week. She who must be obeyed and daugter had gone shopping. I had no excuses left. I went to the lottie with one goal which was to dig up the potatoes. In preparing the soil for the spuds I cleaned it of weeds. Whilst the spuds were growing they created and effective cover that no weeds could grow save the creeping thistle. It grows from a rhizome under the soil rather than a seed so not much cab stop it except constant weeding in order to weaken the rhizome. The outcome was that now the haulms of the spuds have died back the bed is clean of weeds so I need only dig the spuds up and not combine it with a weeding exercise.

   I started at the end of a row and carefully put the fork under were I thought the spuds would be. I was not far off. The trouble was that the soil was so light [thanks to all the manure and work over the years] the fork tines just slipped through the soil hardly disturbing the soil. I change over to the spade. That made a better job. Soil and spuds moved. The spuds came up quite clean as the soil was dry. I left them in the sun for a while as I harvested the row. The sun dried the potato skins and soil alike. The soil just fell off the spuds when I shook them in the tray. At the end of a row I collected the spuds. They filled one of the two trays I had brought with me. The spuds were a good size. Most of them were larger than tennis balls. Some showed signs that they had bulked up a second time probably after a period of rain. I set off on a second row. That too yielded a full tray of spuds. I only had the two trays so that was the end to the harvesting for today.

  I worked along the row. The air was warm but there were no flies to bother me. There were lots of birds squabbling in the hedgerow and high overhead a Buzzard was calling. It was all very pleasant. Since it only took me an hour and half to harvest the two rows I set about weeding the paths by the area I harvested. I hindsight it might have been better to weed the paths before harvest to make access that bit easier. The paths gave up a fully wheelbarrow load of assorted weeds. I dumped these wees onto the new compost pile. The pile had dropped a good few inches since last week which mean s the compost process has begun. I tramped the new load of weeds in the bin. I checked the adjacent compost bin. No snakes to be seen but there were lots of sloughed off skins. I am in a quandary, empty the compost bin or leave it for the snakes.  

   I was encouraged by the potato harvest so next visit more spud digging. 

Volunteer Potatoes

   The weatherman was right about the weekend. Sunday was gorgeous. The trailer run was executed but with change to the usual routine by dropping the load of to my buddy, drinking tea and chatting on his new decking. The trailer was returned to the then I went to the lottie.

   Come what may I was determined to harvest the peas and onions. Considering the state of the plot that what quite a tall order. In fact the weds came away quite easily. The dense cover of peas had suppressed most of the weeds. I only had to spot weeds a few dock and a couple of bushy grasses that had seeded from the bird food thrown from the feeders. It was hot work. The sun was bright and hardly any breeze much less a wind to speak of. As I harvested the peas and rolled up the vines and weeds I came across a number of volunteer potatoes. They are potatoes that have grown from spud missed in the last harvest. I collected enough for two dinners. It will be a mixed plate of White Duke of York, Cara and Red Fir Apple.

   I filled one of my big compost bins with the harvested vines. Even climbing on top of the pile and trampling it several times only succeeded in bring the pile down to the top of the bin. The grape next to the pea patch was straggly so I gave it a good pruning and trained likely vines against the wires. More brash for the compo heap. Finally with my energy running low I tackled the onion bed. Three was not much to do except pull up the ripened onions and clear away what weeds were present.

   All the goodies were loaded into Degsy. In the short time after shutting the back door to Degsy and taking a walk round the plot to make sure nothing was left that should not be left, the cab had developed a rich oniony smell. When I got home I found she who must be obeyed in teh garden chatting to an old friend of ours from Manchester. the friend had been at Champany's for the weekend. I could have done with a massage but had to settle for a shower and a brew.

   Spud harvesting next weekend. If my back is better!
         

Righteous compost

   I dropped the trailer of muck off as part of the fortnightly ritual. The allotment, by allotment I mean weeds, have staged a miraculous recovery following the mega-strimming they got a few weeks ago. The cultivated plants (Onion and Potatoes) have died back which makes things look worse. The grapes vines have lovely little bunches of grapes but I doubt there is enough rain and sun to make them mature before the autumn kicks in. The Pea patch is a riot of plump pea pods and weeds. The good thing is that in harvesting the peas the bed will get cleaned up at the same time.

   As usual I had a sneak peek in the big compost big and was rewarded with seeing two grass snakes. One was almost adult in size but the other was a juvenile. So I feel quite righteous about leaving the compost bin alone for most of the summer.     

A reasonable trade off

   The plants seem to be making up for lost time from the late spring. The fruit bushes in the back garden are bent low with fruit. It is hard to get tired of eating Raspberry and Blackcurrants straight off the bush. The Apples seem to be getting bigger as you look at them.

  I am happy to report that honey bees are still around. I left some wet comb [honey comb with a some honey left on it] in the wax extractor in the greenhouse. I though the combination of the extractor inside the greenhouse might render the wax for me. No such luck. However the the bees have found it. The other day there must have been fifty honey bees and a dozen of more bumblebees in there robbing the honey. They had to pay the price by bumping off the greenhouse glass roof until they found their way out.

   All the doors and windows in the house are open so we can enjoy the beautiful weather. We get more unexpected visitors. The garage has been adopted by two very big and very active common Toads. There are a few Toads in the garden and H keeps bumping into them as she harvests the fruit bushes. The dining room has a new fixture, although I think it will only be a temporary arrangement, A Magpie Moth is spending the day with us. The picture below does not do it justice. Click HERE for some proper information on the Magpie moth. Having read up on the moth I find the caterpillars of this moth like Currant and Hawthorn plants as hosts. We have both in the garden. A few leaves for a pretty visitor seems like a reasonable trade off.

 

Visitor in the Compost Bin

   Today was trailer day so a duly trundled off to get it. When I got to the lottie the sides of the drive way was thick with Diasies. Tip the manure as useful. It was slow work because it was so hot. It was not blazing sunshine just heat. Having finish the tipping I took walk round the plot. The spuds are in flower. It has been quite dry for sometime but the recent down pours have come just at the right time. When the spuds are in flower the tubers will be bulking up. This is the time to water them.

   The peas are pushing hard against the fleece. The peas are in flower so I took the fleece off so the pollinators can get at them. The onions are bulking up nicely. I think they appreciated the weeding they had the other week. The competition was swept away. The Gooseberries are ready to harvest so I just have to be brave. The thorns are wickedly sharp. If you want something nice you have to suffer. The vines are doing but the there does not seem to be much in the way of flowers. I think I might have to right off a harvest from them this year. 

   I took a look in the big compost bin to see how it is doing. The presence of ants tells me it is too dry. However a much larger visitor to the compost bin likes it dry and warm. On the surface of the compost was two long snake skins. The grass snakes have been back to slough off there old skins. By the size of the skins there are at least two adult Grass snakes slithering round the lottie.

   I did a little bit of weeding but I had an appointment with the bees and the afternoon was wearing on. We are promise rain later today so I do not want to get caught out at the apiary with the rain coming on and hives open.




  

Sweating in the Full Afternoon Sun

   I am a little delayed in this report. Last weekend I had to do the trailer run but got delayed by find a swarm in the hedge by the  apiary. Given this year's clock seem to be four weeks delayed we are really in June. A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon as the saying goes. I bagged the swarm but it left me which little time for the lottie.

   The trailer was unloaded, hot muck on a hot day is not a lot of fun. It took a walk round the plot after cleaning out the trailer. The poppies have come into bloom and they are a vile shade of violet, showy and violet. I could live with them in almost any other colour. I was short of time but they have been designated as a weed and their days are numbered. The spuds are doing well. A watering would not go amiss. The area of concern was the top end of Bed1, The weedlings are getting going. I seem to have a flurry of Fat Hen. It is a really nice plant but it is no good to me. I also have the ubiquitous Creeping Thistle. The soil is quite dry so hoeing was quite easy. I just had to be careful round the Sweet Corn. Twenty minutes of sweating in the full afternoon sun sorted the area. No wonder I am loosing weight! The Peas are doing nicely so I loosened the fleece to allow the peas to push the fleece up. Lastly was an inspection of the vines. They are romping off now. I have the little flowers they will be grapes but I fear it is all happening a bit late. Any brave enough to forecast an Indian summer to allow the grapes to ripen?

It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place

   I went to the lottie having missed a weekend due to Miss L's 21st birthday party; Saturday was preparing for the do and having the do and Sunday, well not quite sure where that went. My excuse was that it had been raining and the ground would be soaked. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it. This weekend the weathermen said Sunday would be the warmest day [click HERE for my post from the my bee blog on weather forecasting] so I figured lottie then bees. I knew the plot had to be weedy but I was in for a shock....again.

    The Asparagus bed which was tilled black earth a fortnight ago was covered with a foot tall blanket of weeds. The Onion were struggling to keep their heads above the weeds in Bed4. The few Dock that I did not get out of Bed2 were four feet tall and starting to set seed. heat and rain. It is amasing how fast weeds will grow. I started on the Asparagus bed just riping handfuls of hick weed out. I had though I might take some home as a salad crop but I was too intent on clearing the bed. I had a nice crop of Sow Thistle as well. They pull out easily. However I did have some really nice self seeded Poppys growing and some Borage. I left those plants. It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place! I got the three pronged cultivator out and grubbed around the bed dislodging the remaining weeds. I threw the weeds on the pile of weeds that has been sitting on the patio for a few months. Next the Onion bed got the cultivator treatment. I had to a lot more careful here so as not to grub up the Onions. Twenty minutes later I had another big armful of weeds for the pile. This time mainly Grounsel, Herb Robert, a couple of Sow Thistle with String Nettle creeping in.

   I had stop for a rest in the shade of Degsy. The sun was hot and bright so I picked the wrong day for heavy manual labour. Whilst resting I was looking at the patio and the almost empty big compost bin. I was going to repair the side of the bin before filling it but I have not scrounged the materials for the repair. I decide not to do the repair, levelled out the little bit of maure that was left in the bin, then shovelled in the plie of weeds that had been on the patio. Even a heap it is surprising how much the wedds rotted down. Near the bottom fo the pile was moist loamy soil full of worms. In the clean up the pile ended up inverted in to the bin. That we getting rotting down. Hot and sweaty and not a little dizzy I had another sit down and pondered what to do next.

   I was denying the inevitable. Those big docks needed tackling. Wheelbarrow and spade were parked by the dock whilst I figured out just needed doing. For some reason the Dock finished in a line across the plot. I figured a needed to dig about about four foot of the bed to clear the Dock. The remainder of the bed was a mixture of grass and nettle which I had strimmed a fortnight earlier. I set about the weeds in the now time honoured manner. The Docks came out with a reasonable amount of force. The soil was nice a damp so yielded to the spade and the tugging at the weeds. An hour of toiling in the sun had the four foot of the bed cleared. I raked over the bed pulling in the hump of soil left over from the last diggiing/weeding session. As long as you don't look behind you the bed looks great. The Potatoes in the bed are up and growing nicely. If I am quick there might be time for a new sowing of seed potatoes to grow and mature.

   The vines have staged a come back. One has succumbed to the winter and is stone dead. Another has lost one side of its spread. I might be able to train a new leader a long those wires. The vines seem intent in making up for lost time. The leaves have yet yet fully flushing and there is already clusters of buds that will be grapes. So come on hot weather. The grapes have 10/12 weeks to do there stuff if I am to get a crop of Grapes. The weeds how have a new home in the big compost bins. I will have to find some heavy duty black plastic to cover the weeds. It is a great covering because it excludes the light, keeps inthe moisture and heats up under the sun. The weeds don't stand a chance. Some of the weeds with tap rootstry to make a bid to grow but the lack of light and hot temperature soon exhausts their power and cooks them down. I have the view there is no sense wasting the soil's goodness that has gone into the weeds. It takes a very hardy weed to survive a compost heap baked in the sun.

   The peas in bed1 are doing fine under the fleece. I will have to arange something for them to go up very soon. I packed up degsy and was very satified atteh turn round inthe plot. You can see the far end of the plot for the first time this year.

   Next job planting spuds and beans and the return of the bees.

   Extreme right Gooseberry in the foreground with Comfry behind. Middlish and to the fore Borage and Poppy with Rhubarb behind. On the right fence you can make out the vines. Under the fleece is the peas. About four post a long you can make ou the spuds. Best not talk about the right side of the plot but the onions are in the bed behind the Rhubarb......honest.
       

Daisy Fortnight

   Following yesterday's performance with the strimmer I got up early for a second round of strimming. Just to make sure the day went well I had a fry up with a couple of mugs of scalding hot tea. I figured it was going to be messy so a put my overalls and safety glasses on. The strimmer did not want to start. I was getting hotter as a pumped the pull cord to the flat sound of the 31cc two stroke turning over. I had a breather then squidged the rubbery fuel primer, select half choke and gave the cord another good tug. Before the second pull was complete the motor was running...just about. A little less choke and tentative tweak of the trigger had the motor zinging in all its two stroke glory. I was smart enough to adjust the strimmer blade cord before I started the motor. We were off. There is something very bloky about a screaming two stroke which is spinning a blade to cut a swathe through the undergrowth. In the few minutes a great chunk of the jungle which is Bed3 was mown down. I readjusted the cutting cord, which is much easier to do now I have packed the reel differently, and got stuck into the top end of Bed2. In a very few minute that area had succumbed too. So with the wrath of strimmer I set about the recalcitrant parts of Bed1 and perimeter paths. The fuel finally ran out but it was a glorious twenty minutes. The plot look less derilict after applying the strimmer.

   The strimmer gave me heart so I set about the continuing weeding of Bed2. I need to get the last of the spuds in. If we get a late autumn there should be enough time for the potatoes to grow to maturity. It is going to be a close run thing. I did the usual things to get ready to dig. It is particularly satisfying to weed when the weeds come out easily and are huge. It really shows you have done something. I found a Dog Rose growing as part of the weedy wilderness that is Bed2. I worked round it as I plan to transplant it. But I am not quite sure where yet.  

   I pulled some more Rhubarb and cut some Asparagus, sorted one of the compost bins then tidied all the tools away then set off for the Apiary. I was taken with how good the drive to the lottie was looking. It is Daisy fortnight. They line the road and are pretty much everywhere else. The bees and butterflies like the Daisys as do I but for different reasons. 

Mead for Christmas

   Tricky day today. the weather is very changeable so how do I fit in allotmenting, Trailer and beekeeping. One decision is dead easy. No beekeeping today since the showers that cross the county are driven by thestrong cold wind. The bees will not appreciate being opened up today and I don't fancy being stung.

   The peas I sowed two weeks ago are through. The trouble the pigeons treat them as a tasty morsel and have pecked at them. However there are so many of them the pigeons have not scoffed the whole crop. I was alarmed to find another lot of volunteer potatoes have come up across the pea patch. The weather this past week or two has really suited the weeds. They are massive. I had guessed the weeds would be thriving and the that pigeons would get at the peas so I went to the lottie with a plan.

   Years ago a friend of mine gave a strimmer powered by a two stroke engine. I don't use it much but I figure I was going to need help to combat these weeds. The strimmer has a nifty trick. The shaft from the engine to the cutting head breaks in two. In means it will go in Degsy. I found the fuel can of pre-mixed petrol/oil an put the goodies in Degsy. I was got going to stay long so no need for comestibles. When I got to the lottie I parked up the trailer, put the strimmer together and fuelled it up. Just like someone looming over you as you are working the sky grew dark and in thirty seconds rain was peltting down from the sky. I had just enough time to get the engine end of the strimmer and myself into the Degsy. The squall lasted ten minutee and as quickly as the squall began it was over but the ground and weeds were soaking. I got the strimmer out and in a few pulls on the starter cord the sweet smell of two stroke exhaust and the shriek of the motor filled the air. I managed to get through one of the beds before the strimmer cord needed extending. Just as I finished the bed the strimmer head spat out the lastt of the cutting cable. I did not have any with me so that strimming completed for the day.

   I have had some rolls of chicken wire and a roll of fleece stowed by the side of the plot for ages.Both the chicken wire and fleece are a pain because they are long and unruly to handle. First I had to weed out the volunteer potatoes and other weeds that had shown themselves. I rolled out the chicken wire and made a long tunnel by pulling up the centre of the sheet up and forcing the outside edges into the soil. The chicken wire did not cover the whole plot. The fleece is wide enough to cover the piece of plot the chicken wire could not reach. Rolled out the fleece and as predicted the wind wanted to blow into the next county. I managed to cut it to length and secure it without too much wrestling. These measures should keep the pigeons off the peas untill they get going properly.

  On the plus side the spuds I planted are just through and the vines have come into leaf. One of the vines succumbed to the winter so I will have to get a replacement. The onions are doing well. The Gooseberries are fattening up. Just as I finished tucking the fleece in another shower past over and dampened more than just my spirit. The trundled the empty trailer back to the stable via the petrol station.

   When I got home I made lunch for the missus who is unwell. I had five jars of Honey I found in the shed when cleaning it out last week. The honey was fermenting in the jars. I think this was because I did not bottle the honey straight away after extracting it. In fact I did not jar it for several months. I think the natural yeasts in the atmoshere got at it whilst in storage and started their alchemy. I emptied the jars into a jug and added some hot water then stirred vigorously until it was a thin liquid. I poured the honey liquid into a waiting demi-john. I had to do to batches of stirring. When all the honey was in the demi-john and topped it up with warm water. I popped the airlock in and sat back. I will leave it a week or so to see if the natural yeast will start a proper fermentation. If not I will add some wine making yeast and with any kind of luck I will have Mead for Christmas.

  The last job of the day was to load up the strimmer spool with cord in readiness for another go at the weeds.
  

Polo shirt tells the story

   Yesterday, Saturday 1st June, was the trailer day as well as a day that was too good to miss for visiting the apiary. I thought I would drop into the lottie first and have an hour of digging in Bed2. Just to move it along a bit. I was staggered by the height of the weeds. The rain and sunshine had had dramatic effect. An hour turned into two hours. It felt good to get more of the plot done. She who must be obeyed was having a day of walk with buddies on Sunday so I had a little head start for Sunday.

   Up early on Sunday. No chance of staying in bed really as the sun had been beaming in the window for hours. I breakfasted lightly whilst I got the sandwiches and drinks ready for the day of digging. Lemon curd butties. Food of the gods. When I got to the lottie I was beginning to regret the decision to spend the day at the lottie. 9am and the sun was already hot on my bare arms. Luckily I slavered myself with sun screen before I left. Remembering the weeds from yesterday I walked up the lottie path. I set myself up fro digging and with a deep breath began. The Dock and Creeping Thistle can out easily. There was just a lot of it. However it was satisfying to see the wheelbarrow fill up. I plugged away at he weeding and in a couple of hours I had got the half way marker in Bed2. I had decided
 
I would stop there are start to plant potatoes in the prepared ground of Bed2. So that is what I did. I dropped a scaffolding plank across the bed to act as a straight edge and to stop me sinking into the soil. I pulled out a trench, tossed in some horse manure from my gigantic reserve, set the seed potatoes at he appropriate intervals and pulled the soil back in the trench with the rake. The soil at the bottom of the trench was cool and damp. I expect the spuds will be up in a very few weeks. I did six rows which was all I could get into the prepared area of Bed2.

It was a bust day at the allotment as folks came down to do a bit in the beautiful weather. I continued my toil. Following the pea/mouse debacle [Click HERE for a link to the post] Bed1 had been left to its own devices. I had hoed it off a couple of times and more recently completed the weeding.


However the area where the varmint pinched all the peas how had many volunteer potatoes poking through. I went round and dug them out one at a time. I ended up with a barrow load of haulms and tubers. To bring the surface level again and kill off the other surface weedlings and got the hoe busy. It was hot work in the midday sun and my back was beginning to complain about all the bending. The bed did look good when I had finished.

 I had bought more Peas and Broad Bean seeds. This time a figured I would overwhelm the varmint so something would be left to grow. I pulled out five pea trenches ten feet long running length ways up the plot. My reasoning for the length ways row instead cross way rows is that the sun will shine down the rows as the peas get taller rather then shading each other. I had bought a pint of peas from Midway Allotments shop a week ago. The pint of peas filled the five rows. When the tramped the peas in and watered the rows a went back to Degsy and got the expensive pea seeds I had bought from the garden centre. I pulled out another five rows. This time I got just one row from each of the first three packets. I sowed Petit Pois, Mange Tout [H's favourite] and Shakeshaft. The packet of main crop peas seeds did the remaining two trenches.....just about. Those trenches were trampled in and watered too.

   With last few minutes to five o'clock I figured I could sow some Sweetcorn directly into the soil. A farmer friend of mine had sown 50 acres the week before so I figured it would be safe enough for me. In the top corner of Bed1 dibbed 25 holes in a square pattern and dropped a single corn seed into it each hole and gave the area a through soaking. Just to finish up I through a wheel barrow of well rotted manure over the area to act as a mulch. That was me done for the day; eight hours, two lemon curd butties, a banana, several cups of tea and a couple of litres of water. I was aware that I had been very sweaty all day. The back of my polo shirt told the story.

      







 

A hint of Ginger

   So even with my new work status I still did not mange to get down to the lottie in the week. Sunday was reserved for poo trailer and digging. I decided to focus my effort on finishing off Bed 1. The recent rain was loosened up the soil so the weeds came out of the soil fairly easily. There is just so much of it. The weeds ended up in one of the black compo bin. It will be lovely compost in a years time.

   I gave the whole of bed 1 a good hoeing. The weeds are having a go at germinating. It is a pity the mice won't eat weeds.

  Some of the grape vines are begining to bud. Considering it is the middle of May I don't see me having any grape this year either. Question of the moment - where do I get seed potatos at this time of year?

   I picked some more Rhubarb. This picking is going to be wine. H turned the last lot into jam and very nice it is too with its hint of Ginger.

Self watering compost bins

   I had a revelation today whilst digging. I was thinking about putting the weeds into the black plastic compost bins and was pondering the information a chap gave us at a talk on composting at the Allotment Society. I usually have Ants living in the compost bins. That is a sign the bins are way to dry. The contents of the bin seem to breakdown well enough but could it work better? The chap said the contents of the bins had the moist for the worms to do there thing. History shows me that I just don't water my compost bins. So the question was how to water the inside of the compost bins without

1. Doing it myself
2. Keeping it dark inside the bin

   It occurred to me that if I were to turn the compost bin lid upside down it would act as a rain catcher, it being saucer shaped. It would be a good fit on the top of the bin, after all the lid was just upside down. I drilled a hole in the centre of the lid, placed the lid on the bin and put a brick in the lid to stop it blowing away. It works a treat. The sauce shape catches the rain and funnels it to the hole where it drop the water into the bin. 

A stressful week

   It has been a very stressful fortnight. The upshot of it all is that I am now a freelance.........well I am not sure what I am freelance at but I am not longer in paid employment. However the weekend was much as any other. Saturday was the Farmer's market at Castle Donington. The rain held of which was nice. Sunday H and her book club buddies went walking in Staffordshire to a place called Thursbitch. It is central to a book by Alan Gardener. H likes him. I went to the lottie for a digging session. Nothing new really. Bed 2 needs digging if I am to have any spuds this year. I got a good portion done. I have a job to do in Lincoln on Monday but hope to spend a few hours each day of next weeks to sort this bed.

  I forgot my tea bags but since I was working in a sea of nettles I thought nettle tea might be just the thing. I have made Nettle wine before now. I googled "Nettle Tea" on my phone. I got a couple of recipes. I fired up the Trangia and set about selecting the youngest shoots but how much to use? I put five leaves into the boiling water a turned the Trangia down to a simmer for a few minutes, as per the instructions. I picked a few stalks of Rhubarb whilst I was waiting. The Rhubarb is the first crop of this season.

 
   The rhubarbs look fit and health. They are throwing up big flower buds which always look a bit strange. I swear that if you stand and stare you can see the flower stalk growing. The Nettle tea looked an sicipant green. I let it cool which gave me time to gethe deck chair out a munch a couple of H's scones that she had made fresh that morning. The sun was out the wind had dropped. I had tea...of sorts and buttered scones. So all is well with the world. The deck chair is too uncortfortable for snoozing in but I gave it a try.  Snooze over I went back to the digging. My back was starting to complain and as if make my mind up the weather closer in and started to rain. I had time to rake the bed I had been working upon. I gathered up my tools, parked the barrow, closed up the compost bin and jumped into Degsy and was away before the rain came on properly.

  

Ever to optomist

   I got down to the lottie early on Saturday morning. I promised the lottie a digging session before I had to go to a birthday party in the late afternoon. I stood in the gate of the lottie pondering where to start. Finish off bed 1, but nothing is going in there until later in the season. Bed 3, no hope there, Bed 4 Onions are in and there is a little space for other stuff. So Bed 2 was chosen. This bed is the worst condition. If I want any spuds this year I am going to have to get busy. Starting at the middle path I began by working my way along the edging. This is always the slow a tricky bit. But as I weeded back and forth across the bed and the amount and space cleared got bigger the speed of the clearing the bed back quicker. I dumped the weeds in the black compost bin at the top of the plot. Then got on with some more weeding. A couple of hours of digging was enough for the back leaving me enough time to visit the out apiary.  Click HERE for my blog on Bees.

   I have not even bought seed potatoes yet but it is something I must do. Seed potatoes chitting in the shed will spur me on to finish the bed. I did buy more peas to replace the ones I fed to the mice. I cannot call it sowing peas since they did not last a day. I have decided to sow the replacement peas in the greenhouse as I have done in previous years. I just need a little time to myself to a sowing fest.

  I am concerned about the grape vine. It is nearly the second week in May and there are no discernible signs of growth on the vines. I am just going to have to be patient. Dead or alive there nothing I can do about it. I could do with stringing another wire across the back of the plot to train the vine along. Ever the optomist!       

Chats and trailers

  I had a meeting arranged for Saturday morning but it fell through so I had a few hours free before needing to head off to a birthday party in Berkhamstead for an old friend. I made a call and arranged to do the trailer run. I had a chat with horse owners about the horses shedding their coats. The horses think summer is coming because they are shedding their winter coats. I should have picked a handful up for the bird table. The birds would use the hair for their nests.

   The trailer was emptied into the boundary hedge again. A couple more loads and the boundary is done. Next a whizzed round to the plots and backed the trailer up the poo pile. I part filled the the trailer with lovely aged manure. That is going back to my house the go on the front garden. Then the ritual of filling the bird feeders and checking the bees. No good news on the bee front. Click HERE for the blog on the bee bother. I figured I did not have enough time for digging but I had time for planting however foolish that might turn out to be. The bottom of Bed 2 had been weeded and dig over a few weeks ago. The soil has settled a little. I marked out six rows about a foot [300mm] apart then dibbed a hole about every eight inches [200mm]. Into the hole went one Sturon Onion set. When all the holes were filled I lightly raked the bed and dowsed the are with a couple of watering cans worth of water. The areas was thoroughly soaked which is just all well since their has been no rain to speak of since the snows melted. The crops in the fields around the locale are looking very poorly. The price of Oil Seed Rape is likely to rise once the meagre harvest is weighed and what are my bees to forage upon if there is no OSR?  

   I had a chat with my lottie neighbour who had brought along his lad to help or was that hinder him in building his new raised beds. I left them too it and went home with the trailer part filled with very well aged manure. I got the trailer as close as I could to the front garden i.e.on the pavement and spread the muck out from the trailer. I few plant got a biffing with lumps of manure landing on them. Nothing broken luckily so once the manure was lifted off the plants they look like they will be no worse off for the accidental burying. The manure will act a mulch. The front garden is in full sun and is already looking parched. The surface of the soil is dust. Hopefully hundreds of worms that came with the manure will help the soil out by incorporating the manure for me.  

Pick up posts

It has been very nice to see lots of Red Admiral butterflies this past few days. Apparently they migrate from Europe. However they are increasingly becoming native to the UK. I am in favour of this overseas visitor. Most overseas species seem to be a treat to UK populations. One of the reasons a like to leave stands of Nettles round the lottie is that Red Admirals lay their eggs of them. You can also make a tea from Nettles, soup and a passable wine. I have tried the wine and the soup. The soup is very green but nice. The wine is very dry and has an odd "nose". Freezing cold it goes very nicely in the summer. There is a a "Be nice to nettles" website. Click HERE for all things Nettles.

I reported that I had planted loads of peas last week. This week I find there is no chance of them germinating as some varmint has scoffed the lot. The varmint has gone along the row and carefullt moved the manure out of the way to get at the peas. I knew there was a chance it might happen. Sad face.

I have started a new blog just for my beekeeping antics. There is a permanent link in the side bar of this blog. I have a facebook page for it too. Click HERE to take a look and why not "like" it whilst you are there or join as a follower?

The Zen-ness wears off

   The weather this week has been very nice. Bright sunshine and a gentle breeze although it still has a cold edge to it. Yesterday was business and bees but today was partially dedicated to the lottie. I hoped that I would not find anything untoward at the lottie when I got there that would divert me from my chosen tasks. I got to the lottie and found that I was the only one there. The retired members of the society had obviously been busy during the week. Neatly tilled beds and straight rows earthed up spuds made my plot look shabby by comparison. I put up a new feeder and filled them all up. the Great Tits were on them in a flash. The Robin was a little more circumspect.

   Since last week the Nettles have started poking through on the path by the Rhubarb bed. I got he big fork out and used it to loosen the gravel of the path so I could lift the nettles root and all. They came away fairly easily. The runners on Nettles run a few inched below the surface of the soil so are not usually hard to weed out. I just had to use the fork to rake out the path gravel to a reasonably surface before I tread it down. That corner now looks neat and cared for.

   Everything was more or less as I had left it except for a bit of matting that had got away from its weights in the wind. The matting was re-secured and I began the weeding of Bed4 where I had left off. The soil was quite dry and compacted from not being touched last year. It was a bit of a bind to break the soil from the roots of the grass. I found a good whack with the flat of the spade broke the soils grip on the roots and was a small matter the shake the soil off the root before chucking the grass clump into the wheelbarrow. I chugged away at the weeding. Dave P turned up to build his raised beds. We had a chat and went our ways. The muffled sound of rhythmic hammering could be heard as Dave constructed his beds. I continued digging. Digging as I like to call it sound altogether better than weeding which is what I am doing. If you don't have to rush and accept that digging is a big part of caring for the soil then digging [weeding] can be a Zen like state. As soon as the Zen-ness wears off I put the kettle on to make a brew and whilst the kettle is heating up I work to the end of the row as a target. That way I get to finish a little more of the bed and get rewarded with Tea. I got to the peg that was my target for today. Just as I got the rake out my mobile went off. It was the missus. She was finishing her walk early and could we meeting an hour earlier than planned. The answer had to be yes but I had to sacrifice planting the onion sets. I gave the bed a good raking and tidied up.

   The missus was doing a walk for charity. This walk was to support Parkinson's disease. We know a couple of chaps affected by this disease. Click HERE for the Parkinson UK charity's website. We had agreed to collect Mrs M from the Staff of Life pub in Ticknall which is very near the finish. Click HERE for their website. It was no hardship to sit in a pub and have a spot of lunch. Fisherman's Pie for me and Turkey and all the trimmings for she who must be obeyed. Then home.

Four Furrows

   I was too busy to post last week but here is what I got up to at the lottie. I was supposed to have a good few hours free to do digging. When I got the lottie I found that the gateway to my plot had been blown down. We have had some very strong winds this last week.

   This state of affairs put paid to whatever I thought I was going to do that day. In the foreground you can see some poles. These were the ones I replaced earlier in the year. And would be the solution tot he problem. I cut two short lengths of pole and put a point on one end. I hammered the short post into the ground just next to the intersection on the middle path and the end path. The tricky bit was to cut a pole to fit between the top of the short pole and the middle of the gate post.  After a couple of errors I got the slanted cuts just about sorted. Then I cut a rabbet on the short and long poles where the diagonal post would sit. This was a stop to prevent the poles sliding up and down the pole rather than simply relying on the nails to hold the post. I also secured the pole with and couple of nails I had saved from some demolition I down some time ago. I then had to reposition the wires over the top of the repositioned pole. I couple of staples secured the wires in place. My motto is "throw nothing away that might come in handy". The repair just cost me time since the materials were all recycled. The job took two full hours which ate into my allotted time.

   I filled up the bird feeders, took a peek at the bees and had a brew whilst I figured out what to do in the remaining time. I decided that I would plant some peas. Peas are hardy so the cold wind would not be a problem as the bright sun should heat the soil up nicely. I drew four furrows Bed1. In each furrow scattered a full packet of peas. I covered the peas with manure. I had hopes that the manure would act as a mulch and would eventually be incorporated into the soil. It started to rain a little so that was pretty much it for the day. I did one last quick drill and planted the few Broad Bean seeds I had left in a packet from last year. That drill also got a coat of manure. With a portion of Bed 1 sown and the Rhubarb pushing through it finally feels like spring.

  

Too Wet

  This weather is highly inconvenient. A week off work and too cold to do any digging. I went to the lottie on Saturday to do some digging now the snow had thawed. Nope...no digging. The soil was too wet and it takes some wetting to be unworkable.  I filled up the bird feeders whilst I figured out what I could do with my time. I decided today was they day to trim the hedges at the bottom of the plot. The pussy willows have sprung up but one of them is far too close to the boundary fence and is beginning to rub it the fence and bump it when it is very windy. After a quick shufty in Degsy I found the pruning saw then set about the tree in question. 45 minutes sawing, pulling and shoving saw the tree trimmed down and the brash stacked out of the way.

   The little flower bed at the front of the is badly over grown with grass and weeds. In past years this little bed has looked after the Elephant Garlic with mixed results. I just got stuck into the middle of the bed with spade and pulled the weeds out by the handful and threw them in the wheelbarrow. I just round the bed until it was clear. Twitch has made in roads into this bed so a bit of careful weeding was needed in those areas. When that was done I dug a trench across the bed and filled it with manure. Then I dug another trench next to it and dropped the soil on top of the manure in the adjacent trench. A couple of trenches and barrows of manure later the bed was done then all I had to do was to flatten the surface out with the back of the fork.   

   Now I was in the barrowing mood I barrowed eight loads of manure onto the big Rhubarb patch. A good coating of the manure makes the beds look neat. The birds meanwhile where giving the feeders a lot of attention. I quite liked seeing a little flock of Long Tailed Tits squabbling over the fat ball. Something stirred on the floor under the feeder and caught my eye. I stopped for a moment but could not make it out. Then it moved. It was a grey Squirrel. I had been told they came to my plot but I had not seen them before today. The last job was to tip the contents of the trailer onto the border.

   I took the trailer back to the stables. I had decide that I would also go up to the bees. I also decided to start a blog you for the beekeeping. It is not quite ready yet but soon.

Winter wonderland

   Winter is not quite finished with us yet. The weathermen got it right this time and as they promised we got a dumped on with snow. There was a strong easterly wind blowing too. It was not that cold but the wind was straight from Siberia. There was about four inches [100mm] of snow outside my door when I got up on Saturday morning. That immediately up paid to my hopes of digging at the lottie over the weekend.

   After doing a few jobs around the house I got wrapped up and took a walk through the snowy countryside to the lottie. In my bag I had peanuts, bird seed and a big fat ball. I took some wire with me a made a secure hanger for the fat ball. I topped up the feeders and hung the fat ball. As soon as my back was turned, as I went up to the hive just to check it was fine, the feeders were full of little birds.

   The tall hedges at the back of the plot were doing a good job shielding the plot from full force of the easterly wind but it was too cold to linger for long. I saw a set of rabbit tracks in the snow I followed them to see were they went. The little beggar hopped over the fence by the long border. That is supposed to be Rabbit proof. The tracks did not go far so it must have been a fruitless visit for the bunny. That little mystery solved I made my way back home the was I had come. Unfortunately it was straight into the teeth of the wind and snow. I pulled my hat down and my scarf up and trudged homeward. I was in no hurry and stopped here and there, behind hedges and took in the winter wonderland. The clouds were quite high so from the high ground I was able to look out across the landscape now quite changed by the snow cover.  

PS The blog has passed another milestone, 400 posts since I began. I have been re-reading some of the posts some of the really old ones. Some of pictures show just how much effort has gone into the plot over the years.

Sunday Lunch

   I had a scant three hours for the lottie this weekend. Major brownie point won for completing the decorating of the bathroom on Saturday and we had been invited to Sunday lunch. I am not sure I could have done any work at the lottie on Saturday as it had been raining during the week and the local farmer's fields a waterlogged again. It rained, on and off, all day Saturday too. However I was up early enough the be at the stables for the trailer at 9am Sunday to do the trailer run. I ran the trailer back to the lottie and straight round to the far side of the boundary hedge. There I off loaded the manure. Having been shoveling muck regularly I am getting fitter, at shoveling at least. The trailer's worth of muck was spread along the boundary in quick time. Then I ran the the landy and trailer round the lottie car park.

   I was on my own at the lottie. The morning was grey and the skys low. I filled the bird feeders and within minutes the lottie was full of birds. Even the Dunnocks were getting in on the actions. The trench near the top of bed1 where I last being working had a couple of inches of water in the bottom of it. So that was too wet to dig. I had a look round to decide what to do with hour and half and had left to me. I decided to tackle the bottom end of bed4. I figure I did not need to dig this bed over deeply as I just needed to remove the weeds. Most of the weeds were grass and the ubiquitous Dock.The soil was quite wet but not sticky. Weeding near the edge of the bed is tricky because once you get a spade full of soil there is no where for it to go except the hole it came from. That makes removing the weeds a bit difficult given they have just been buried. I worked along edge of the bed and once I had a strip of soil turned over it became a much quicker job. Despite promising myself not to dig to deep I drop into my usual rhythm and ending up digging down one spits depth. Once the bigger clumps of Grass and Docks where removed the soils was fairly clear so I was able to make good headway. In and hour I had a managed to turnover about five feet of the bed. If I can do the same next week and will have a bed for my Onions.

   I gave the Asparagus bed a weeding just to remove the few early germinating weeds I had missed when I did the big weeding session in the winter. I also took a looks at the bees. The hive is quiet but the candy is disappearing which is a good sign. The rain had started buy now and it was nearly the end of my allotted time so I packed Degsy and hooked up the trailer and ran it back to the stables. The stable owners were just back from their ride so we had a chat about horse things and fussed the Neddies. Then I just a trundled back home with a little time to spare. A lounge in the bath for half and hour then I was ready for Sunday lunch.  
 

Making Life Easy

   This weekend has been very busy indeed. There is a definite feeling of spring in the weather. primroses and snowdrops are blossoming in the bottoms of the hedgerows and in the woods. The Hazels have thrown out their tassels and the pussy willow are breaking bud. I did the poo trailer run and mulched another length of the boundary hedge. Another ten loads and I will be done for another year. The bird feeds where bare. a couple of Great Tits where sitting on the fence apparently waiting for me to fill the feeders.As soon as the seed feeder was up and I walked away they were on it. I put up the big peanut feeder, this time round, and that too was mobbed as soon as I turned my back.

   I was not on my own on Sunday. The nice weather had brought out a couple of lottie holders. One of them, Roundup, came over from a chat. He told me that the Squirrels had been enjoying the nuts. I did not know we had any Squirrels round the lottie. I had not seen him over the winter so he felt compelled to give me a run down of his new ailments. He got me at the right moment. I was ready to rest my back from the muck flinging in to the boundary hedge.

   I had an hour so I started digging where I had left off in Bed1. As I had hoped, progress was much quicker now spuds did not need digging up. The soil just fell of the root of the weeds. This patch did not have crops last year so has quite a lot of grass covering. The grass type in the dreaded Couch Grass. If one does not get all the underground roots it will sprout again from the smallest piece of root. The soil being so friable the job of fettling for the roots was not too onerous. I manged to get another couple of feet of the bed done. I have a little more to do on this bed but I have my eye on the next bed. Bed4 is going to have onions this year. My only piece of black plastic has been covering this bed for a good part of last season so with a bit of luck preparing the bed won't be too difficult. 

   Note to self...must weed and dig over the flower bed near the bee hive before they get active. Just to make life easy for myself.     

   I ran the trailer back to the stables and had a chat with the owners whilst leaning on the horses. The "Neddies", as the stable owners call their ponies, were just back from a hack out and were only too happy the stand still and be scratched, the neddies not the owners!

Four Foot of Bed

   I woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow across the garden. I had decided that I would spend a hour or so at the lottie today. I wanted to fill up the bird feeders since the weather has turned cold again. I got a spare seed feeder from home and took it with me along with the new stock of bird food. It was no surprise to find I was the only person at the lottie. The wind was bitter and there was snow in the air.

   I filled the feeders and hung up the new one. Almost straight away the birds were on the feeders. Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robin were competing the space on the feeders. The recent warm spell has got the worms going and they are working to make the muck pile into a thin spread of muck across the parking space. I shovelled the muck back onto the pile. That made the plot look tidier. The compo bin was getting dry so a tipped on a couple of gallons of water.

  There was about four foot of Bed1 that was prepared for spuds last year but was not planted. I got the spade a wheelbarrow out and started working along the row. All I had was to pull out the weeds. Docks, Rosebay Willow Herb, were the bulk of the offender with some Bramble, Red deadnettle, Creeping Thistle joining the party. The soil was quite dry but very cold. Down in the trench plying the spade I got very hot even without my coat. I plugged away at the soil and within in an hour I had dug over another four foot of the bed and created another wheelbarrow full of weeds. It was hard work but probably because in not having to dig up spuds I was able to move through the soil a bit quicker.

   Dave P turned up to do a bit on his plot. As usual we had a chat about the plots and our respective plans. I done the tasks I had set myself and was getting hungry so I packed up and went home. 

A Charming Day

   There was a definite feeling of spring in the weather today and yesterday. Bright sunshine although it was a frost overnight. I loaded Degsy with provisions and compost container from home and took my self off the lottie with the intention of lifting the last four rows of spuds. I remembered the tyre pump and the spanners. I was surprised to find I was the only one at the plots. Tyre tracks showed I was the first down on the old plots but not the first to have visited today on the new plots. I parked Degsy up as usual and got the first job out of the way which was dump the contents of the home compost bin in my big compost bin. It surprises my just how fast the compost bin works even in the winter. I will be needing to empty it before too long. Got to do weeding on the beds first. Next up was to check the wheelbarrow tyre. The pumped it up and hoped it would stay up. It did and it was still fine when I went home.

   So digging spuds...Well no. The lottie has been looking untidy and not just the beds. I got a braiser and started a small fire. I have been collecting bits of wood and saving off cuts from jobs but I decided they were making the place untidy and since I had not used the bits for a year they were of no use. I might come to regret saying that. Anyway I chopped the bigger bits down and fed them in to the fire. It was a pity it was not one of those super sharp winter days as the fire got going it was toasty. I laid the wetter pieces of wood on the rim of the braiser. The heat dried them out to where they would burn. Whilst the fire was going I went round to the back of the big muck bin and shovelled the muck that the worms had kicked out through the slats of the bin back onto the top of the heap. I replaced the chicken wire, badly, back in position. The path at the back of the bins got a sprucing up. The rolls of checking wire were stacked as where the planks. I picked any wood or combustible materials and placed them near the fire for feeding into the brasier as required. I took a walk round the plot and picked up any and all dried material including the cutting from the vines. They all took a turn to feed the fire. Over the course of the day the pile of wood disappeared into the brasier. The wind was perfect blowing gently from the south west which blew the smoke straight off the plots and across the open farmland. It also was just right to fan the flames. I took my super sharp pruning saw with me down the hedge line. I trimmed out the branches of the hedge that where encroaching on my plot. They also went on the fire.

    So digging spuds. I could not think of a reason not to so started a brew going whilst I got the tools set out for digging. I had a brew and chocy biscuit whilst I watched the fire. Jonny, one of the plot holders dropped by the contemplate his plot but left after a short chat. Jonny was required for his Sunday lunch. It 12.30 after all. I fed the fire some more of the diminishing pile of timber and went down to make a start on the digging. The digging was easy. The soil was in lovely condition for digging. The soil was really cold to the touch but it did not seem to be holding the Dock back. They were starting to sprout. The barrow was just the job. It was fully by the end of the third row. The spuds had not started to sprout but were small and had quite a out of worm holes in them. No wonder the worms were so fat the juicy. There were loads of worms in every spadeful of soil. A good indicator to the condition of the soil. I just plodded along, weeding and harvesting. I was getting weary but I was determined to get all the spuds up. This was the last of what pitiful harvest I had in the last season. Once the spuds were out I would make quicker progress on the weeding as I would not need to search for spuds or dig so deep. When the barrow was nearly full I put the kettle on the for another brew. I had finished the row and filled the barrow by the time the kettle was boiling.

   When the brew was ready the brasier had burnt everything down of a few inches of cinders. It tipped the ash out onto the patio and set the brasier to one side to cool down. I made a neat pile of the ash. There were plenty of cinders in the ash that had not quite burnt out. I got the deck chair out and with my back to the sun and facing the ash pile a had my brew whilst being toasted from both sides. I shut my eyes, felt the heat on me and just listened to the birds for a while. It was as much rest and peace of mind I have had in an age.

   Brew done it was back to the digging to push on to finish the row. I managed it finally. I just had to rake the soil into the uniform surface. I estimated the depth of the bed is 16inch but it will settle back to 12 or 14 inches.

 I had to be careful whilst digging because this bed is plagued with roots from the trees in the hedge. The champion root today was almost as thick as the handle of my shovel. 



  
 

   Whilst I was having a brew I saw that a couple of Great Tits were busy round the bee hive and I could see one or two bees on unsteady wings buzzing round the doorway of the hive. I took a few minutes to visit the bees and have a look in the hive. This hive has a glass "quilt" on the top so you can look in without exposing yourself to the bees. I could not see any bees so I lifted the candy covering the escape hole in the quilt. There were a couple of bees licking the candy so as of today I have a colony of bees but the winter is not over yet. However it is grounds for optimism.

   The last job was the shovel the cooled ash into the big compo bin.With sun still well above the horizon and main main task completed as well as a bunch of other valuable tasks, still having my back intact and having had a very charming day at the lottie I loaded Degsy up and trundled home.   

Who's Idea Was That?!?

  What a vile day. The rain is relentless. It is not quite cold enough to sleet so the rain is cold and blown on a bitter wind. No allotmenting for today you would think. The manure trailer needs collecting and emptying. Horses don't stop pooping because the weather is rubbish in fact they produce more as they eat more to stay warm. I trundled of in Degsy, window wiper doing their best to keep up with the rain and water thrown up from the deep puddles. When I got to the stables the ponies where standing in the stable block keeping out of the rain. I put them in their loose boxes before opening all the gates to get a trailer hooked up and pulled out into the car park. I secured the gates and let the ponies out. They stayed put. They obviously did not fancy being outside today.

   I trundled up the the lottie. The trailer was made extra heavy by all the water soaked up in the muck. I had been thinking of what to do with the hedge that borders my plot. The hedge is the border tot he allotment site so keeping it growing and full serves several purposes; shelter from the wind, habitat for the birds and beasties and security/privacy for the plot. The Willow we felled last year have grown back from the stool. In coppicing parlance the stool is top of the stump from which the new growth springs. The stools have thrown out dozens of new sprouting leaders. Each one has made 10 feet [3m] of growth. It is impressive in less than a year. The Willow obviously enjoyed the wet conditions during the summer of 2012. I drove Degsy round to the access path on the outside of the hedge boundary. There I dropped the tailgate on the trailer and shovelled the manure onto the base of the hedge. The soil in which the boundary hedge grows is utter rubbish. When the allottments were laid out a good job was made of the fencing and planting of the perimeter however nothing was done to improve the soil into which the hedge was planted. The "soil" was just blue clay from the landscaping of the ex-coal mine the allotment sit on. Over years I have put a mulch of manure under the boundary hedge. Ten years on the hedge is pretty well filled out and has many stout bushes and small trees. The hedge is mainly Hazel, Hawthorne, Willow [who's idea was that?!?], Dog Rose and Field Maple. This called an English mix. The Hazel tassels are out and the Hawthorne is beginning to bud. It was hot work shovelling the heavy wet manure and being dressed up to keep the rain out. H calls it "boil in the bag" work. A trailer load of muck does not go far on the hedge. 

  I skipped through the hedge with seeds to fill the bird feeder. I checked in on the bees. Although there was no movement I could feel the heat and smell the bees when I took the roof off. I saw that they had been at the candy. So room for cautious optimism that the bees have weathered the winter so far.        

Life Beyond the Winter and Weeds

   The weather has been very benign this past week, even spring like. I had business to take care of in Birmingham on Saturday morning so resolved to go the the lottie in the afternoon. I figured the few extra hours of sun and wind to dry off the soil would do no harm. It got the lottie about 14.30. The sun was heading for the horizon and I knew I had until about 17.00 before it was dusk. I filled the bird feeders and replaced the fat balls. I got the wheelbarrow out and thought it heavy to push even thought it was empty. It only took a second to confirm the tyre was punctured. There is another job to do. I did not have tools to take the wheel off so I had to work without the barrow.

   I had only one task on my mind and that was to dig up more spuds. I got the spade and the basket for the spuds from Degsy. As usual got got distracted. This time by some Dock sprouts pushing through the soil that I had dug over in Bed1 back end of last year. I spot weeded them and found they where just sprigs of root that had been left behind. Even through this cold snap the weeds are growing. It is depressing. I went back to main task in hand having restored the tilled Bed1 to it's weed free glory. I stepped into the potato trench where I left off last time. I started carefully digging and immediately cut a few spuds in half. Not a good start. Having gauged where the spuds where I continued easing the soil apart and dropping the spuds in to the basket and making a pile out of the weeds. The basket and weed pile where about neck and neck. Although the spuds I was harvesting were my main crop, Cara, the tubers where the size of my earlies, about Hen's eggs size. There were not many of them either. Cara usually crop well. However all the time these spuds were growing last year it was raining. I was pleased not to find any blight in the crop. I plodded up and down the rows. The main crop rows are set further apart than the rows for the earlies and with the reduced crop there was a lots of empty soil to move. Well...empty except for the Dock, although it was not too bad. The Robins must have been hungry. They usually sit on the grape vines and wait until I leave to get into the freshly turned soil. This time they were in and around my feet whenever I stopped to collect a stray spuds that missed the basket or just for a rest. I have no idea what they see to eat but they nearly always find something almost instantly. The wind was very keen but there was a hedge between me and it and I was bent over in the trench digging so I did not feel it's effects. The Sun, though low and weak, had warmed the soil and despite all the wet weather we have had the soil was not waterlogged even at the bottom of the trenches. I managed a couple of rows before the sun got too low and took the temperature down with it. I raked the spoil out to create a seed bed.

   I have only a few rows of spuds to lift. The next visit will clear them then I will be into straight forward digging of weeds. With a bit of luck the weather and time gods will be kind and I should have Bed1 dug over. When the puncture is fixed a should then be able cover the bed with the manure that has been maturing  in the big bin. Even through the worst of the snow the top of the muck bin was snow free.

  I noticed that some of the Rhubarb crowns are starting to bud. So there is life beyond the winter and weeds!     

A Bit Peckish

    Finally the weather has got to the round posts that hold up the netting over the middle of the plot. The two end pole seem fine which is a bit odd. The five pole along the centre line have rotted off just below ground level. It might be something to do with folk leaning on them whilst they chat to me but is alot to do with them sitting in sodden ground all last year. The improvement of the soil since I started the plot has raised the surface level with the effect the netting is closer to my head. I find that I have to stoop when walking round the plot. That is a bit rubbish so the replacement poles are going to be taller, not a lot taller but definitely taller.

   I put a little money by and have purchase steel fence post spikes and the posts to go with them. Since the poles where rotted out it was no trouble to remove them.

I dropped a spike in a short distance from the original pole and used my post rammer as a hammer. The rammer is a steel tube with handles on the side. One end is closed with a two inch [50mm] steel cap. I just turned it upside down using the cap end as the hammer. With soil being deeply cultivated and quite wet the spike which are two feet [600mm] long where fairly easy to hammer in and they went in vertically. I have dug out many, many stones over the years. The tip of the spike did not hit any stones so did not get deflected. after the spike ramming it was just a case of putting the post into the holder at the top of the spike. I had to use the rammer to tap the post into the holder. The holder has flukes which grip the post. The rammer almost meant I did not have to be higher than the post to tap it home. "Tap" suggests the posts just needed slight persuasion but it took a good couple of whacks. The last job was the put the ridge wire over the top of the post and secure it with a galvanised staple. I was worried that there might not be enough slack in the wire to allow the wire to fit over the post heads without creating a lot of tension. My worries were unfounded.

   The final, final job was to fill up the bird feeders and fit the holders on to the ridge wire. I put up a few fat balls as well. Even as I gathered my tools the Robin's were on the fat balls. It had been snowing the previous few days so they must have been a bit peckish

Snowy walk

It has been snowing for a couple of days. Not hard but constantly. We have accumulated about 4inches 100mm. It might have been more if were not for folks obsession with clearing paths and gritting. Anyhoo I took a walk across the fields to the lottie. I had no intention of doing anything. I just wanted to make sure everything was alright and fill up the bird feeders. It was a slog across the fields in the deep snow. The wind was at my back so it was quite hot work. You know the adage "there is not such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothes.". I was well dress for the occasion.

I made some fat balls for the birds. I used the food processor to chop up same left over bread and left over nuts from the parties really fine. Then I mixed up a big handful of bird seed and another of raisins, again left over from Christmas. I usually cut off the rinds of Bacon when I have a Bacon butty. The rind comes off before cooking. I chop up the discarded rinds and fat and put them in a container which then lives in the fridge. Well the save bacon rind and fat went in the mix too. I gave it a mix to combine all the ingredients. I warmed up a a chunk of lard. Whilst that was melting and lined a couple of plastic containers with foil. When the lard was liquid I poured it on top to the dry mix of seeds and bread and gave it a good stir. I packed the pick in the moulds and put them outside in the cold to set. They set really well. Not rock hard but just hard enough to hold together. I laced the fat squares [the moulds were square not round] on the a doubled up string making them ready to hang up. One went in the back garden the other at the lottie.

With a bit of luck the nuts, seeds and fat balls will help sustain the hedgerow birds. The weather must be biting. We have had lots the birds in the back garden. We even had a foreign visitor, a Fieldfare. He sat, fluffed up, in the tree occasionally hopping into the Burberris shrub to scoff the red berries much to the disdain of the Blackbirds. This weekend we have had about a dozen Blackbirds at a time sitting the taller trees of the hedge trying to make a living in the snow. I think my self and the neighbours are keeping the avian diners fed.

There very few tracks in the snow at the lottie. Just a solitary set of Rabbit tracks but they bit not go far. too parky even for rabbits. Having done my duty at the lottie a plodded home. I forgot I live on a hill so the journey was mostly up hill and into the wind. I had rosy cheeks when I got in. H and made Leek and Potato soup which went down very nicely.

 

Best intentions

I missed the allotment work party as I got confused of where to be and on what day. I turned up on Sunday which I thought was the right day to find it is was not. I tipped the trailer of manure and pondered what to do. I could have sneaked off for a sit down with my book but conscience got the better of me and it was not an unpleasant day.

Even my soil is too wet to dig. Instead I went to the black compost bin by bed 1, took the lid off and looked in. The compost was super fine. A colony of Ants had been living in there over the summer and had processed the soil to a fine tilth. The Ants were gone so I removed the bin outer the got the spade busy digging out the compost and throwing it across the adjacent bed. I hope the worms and rain with mix it in for me.

I cleaned up the area of the bin. There was a mass of White Dead Nettle runners under the base of the bin. It was a bit of a job to root them out [pun intended]. I reinstated the footing of the base and replaced the bin. Now I have an empty bin for the piles of weeds that are popping up on the plot. Nettles are a beggar. On the one hand they are invasive weeds and sting but on the other hand are habitat for several Butterflies. I ought to be happy they are because Nettles thrive in rich, moist soil which is indicates the quality of my soil however it is a bit of a drag for such a high honour. Click HERE of the "Be Nice to Nettles" website. I particulary like the "did you know" panel on the bottom left of the their website. Proper useful infomation for chats in the pub.

I took the oppertunity to dress the Rhubarb patch with manure. I am not short of manure so the bed got a good deep dressing. You can telling it is warm the top layers of the manure heap is teeeming with worms. There are a few birds about but not many. The bird feeders I put up last week have hardly been touched. The Robins where about as were a few Blue Tits but not much else.

I had a look at the bees and replaced the syrup feeder with a block of fondant. The guard bees were out quickly to find out who was shaking up the hive, even if it was with the best intentions. 

Rock Candy

I have predicted a largely wet and warm winter for 2013. It has not been so wet this last week, the River Mease is back in it's channel, but it has been warm. That means the bees will not be clustering and therefore will be eating up their store of honey. If they eat it all up before the spring then they will starve to death. Dead bees don't make much honey. The usual strategy is to feed bee candy. More accurately it is a fondant. It is sugar and water cooked up to "soft ball" then allowed to cool and set. I have tried many recipes but this one works every time. You need a heavy bottomed pan and a jam thermometer. I use the jam making pan. Remember that the sugar syrup is going to get very hot and it sticks if it is splashed about. You have been warned.

The local supermarket does sugar in 5kg bags. I use whatever vinegar is available but usually cider vinegar in preference to malted vinegar. The vinegar helps stave off mold and fermentation. Pour the 5kg of granulated sugar, 1 litre of water, a teaspoon of vinegar into the pan. Next just mix the sugar, vinegar and water to together in the pan then put the mixture on to boil. A jam thermometer is a very good thing to have. I have tried guessing when the correct temperature is achieved. I ended up with hard candy. That is no good to the bees. As the pan heats up stir it occasionally to make sure the sugar fully dissolves and nothing catches on the bottom of the pan. Bees do not like burned candy and it is near impossible to clean off the pan. When the syrup gets to "soft ball" which is 240F or 114C turn the heat down and keep it at soft ball for 5 five minutes. Do not leave it a soft ball for more than five minutes or let it go above soft ball or you end up three litres of hard candy. Take the pan off the heat. I put it outside to cool down [cats, dogs and kids beware etc]

Whilst the syrup is cooking line a couple of shallow tins with foil. You need a mould for each hive because as soon as the fondant starts to set there is no going back. I use baking trays as moulds. I find that the fondant block will sit above the crown board and under the roof quite easily. No need for ekes! When the syrup starts to form a skin on the cooling surface of the syrup this is the moment to start whisking the syrup to make fondant. Whisking introduces air and makes the fondant go white. As soon as the fondant starts to thicken up, which does not take long because whisking speeds up the cooling, pour the syrup into the lined tins and leave them to go completely cold. I cannot say how long it takes for fondant to set. It depends how cold it is and how thick the fondant is in the trays.

Problems
Too soft
If it does not set at all then it was not hot enough for long enough. So long as the fondant is not actually liquid and will hold a shape then I would use it on the hive. You just don't want it running into the hive. If too liquid pour it back into the pan and reheat it to the correct temperature and go through the process again.

Too hard
If, on the other hand, it has set like rock then you have rock candy. You have two choices; break it up and feed it to the kids as old fashion candy. It just tastes sweet or leave it in the air and in a week or two it will go gooey on the surface just like those sweet you lost in a blazer pocket when you were a kid. Is not so readily taken down by the bees but it might do whilst you make another softer batch.

I make the candy about 1 - 1 1/2 inches [25 - 40mm] thick, depending on the depth of the moulds and the how I divide the batch. I leave the candy in the moulds, even when cold and take down the bees. I usually score the surface of the candy with my hive tool just the make some loose edges because I think the bees can make a start on the block a bit more easily. I just pop off the roof, if the bees are round the hole in the crown board I just put the edge of the tray on the crown board near the hole and invert the mould. The fondant block just drops out and I lower it over the hole. If the bees are not round the hole I scrape a bit of fondant off the block and drop it into the hole just to give the bees a clue dinner has arrived and place the block over the hole. Then I just pop the roof back on and retire for a few weeks. My blocks are about 3lbs [1.5kg] each. I have a 5kg of sugar in the house ready to use as fondant or syrup as circumstance require.