Dig that treasure.

Amazing what you dig up sometimes.
Plot 18 has been dug by me several times and rotovated several times, but this came out today. Housebrick for size comparison purposes only, grass not included, warning this product may contain nuts if the squirrels have been around.....
The plot had a failed potato crop two years ago and was left fallow with additions of glyphosate for bindweed last year. What happened was that I did not dig since the spuds, so the ridges were still there and as I dug in one of the furrows the tip of the spade caught the bit top left in the picture.
I had to use a fence post and some bricks to lever this thing out, even after excavating over and around it.
"Never mind that stuff" said my furry supervisor, "just take me for a walk, NOW."
Today I dug from where she is sat to the bit nearest camera, where my undug row can be seen.
Just out of shot to the bottom left is my heeled in hedging from last year, the loose soil spread nearby is where the heeled in brambles were dug up from. The brambles have been distributed to strategic locations on the site fence, I love fruitful security.
Roughly where I stood to take the photo above, this thing had been resting since it was removed from my late mothers place before we sold the house.
Interesting history, it was once the parrafin store between the vinery and greenhouse-complex boilerhouse at an Edwardian gentlemans country estate
Makes a brilliant water tank, heavily galvanised, brass tap, just a shame the only inlet is front right.
So this is probably not its final resting place, best place is the other side of the two trap shed, but at least I can measure from this when I make a more robust base than breezeblock on bare soil. Possibly four short auger holes linked by a six inch deep plank edged trench and run some re-bar in three long U shapes between the holes to hold it all together once the concrete sets. Really do not want it to topple when full, anyone care to tell me the likely capacity in gallons? To aid estimators, at the front left corner the dark bit is two housebricks.

Down on the ground, up in the air.

Down on the ground I actually managed some allotmenteering this weekend, Saturday to be precise.
Its OK, you can pick yourselves off the floor and have a reviving cup of hot sweet tea.

I might manage some more as the year progresses, oh dear, now you've spilt your tea, I'm sure it will wash out though.

Went and dug the poor old Hayterette out, a quick brass brush of the sparkplug, a top up of the petrol tank and "One man and his dog went to mow some allotment paths.". Something so satisfying about mowing, not needing to think, a steady pace, the noise of the machine, turn, another strip done....
The first mow of the year is doubly satisfying, the fact that the grass has started to grow enough to need mowing is a harbinger of spring and the contrast as you turn at the end of that first strip and look back at what is now a scrubby mess with a neat strip, where minutes before it was just "grass, a little unmown" is striking, you pace and turn, pace and turn, then suddenly it's all neat.

That job done, I chanced my luck with what the more pc amongst us gardeners refer to as "A single person manually operated horticultural earth inverting implement.", I call it a spade and this week the clods did NOT stick to it, so I dug a decent chunk, stopping before my back protested.

Up in the air, I digress from gardening, at length, to describe, well, a damm good reason to support air ambulances.

Son's first game for his county U15 side saw us up early for a Sunday and off to Eastleigh in Hampshire. Leaving with the assumption that the M25 would be a pig, it was not, so we were early arrivals and even after killing an hour at a local coffee shop the host club still had it's Sunday training running.

Son went off with team mates and I mooched through onto the clubhouse balcony to see a "stoppage" on the furthest pitch. About ten minutes later this yellow bird arrived, fortunately the lad went by land after loosing his new "rugby skin" to NHS scissors. Mums all looking worried, smaller kids all excited about the chopper.

Now guess what happened later.

Yes, the big yellow bird liked us so much it came back and took one of our team away to Salisbury, precautionary after a neck injury with some temporary loss of feeling.

While waiting for land crews to arrive we managed to build up to three "stoppages", a dislocated shoulder after ten minutes in game one, a damaged knee and the neck knock in game two, three little anxious clusters dotted round the ground. They then decided the chopper was needed, after arriving on the clear and open far side of the ground it eventually did a very short hop across to our lad by the clubhouse, who by then resembling an orange chrysalis was slid in the back and off he went to Salisbury A&E followed on road by Mum & Dad.

The games restarted after nearly an hour and completed without further "stoppage", but just to bring the tally up another of our team managed to come out of the last phase of play with a suspected broken collarbone. The highest injury rate I have yet seen in a single day.

A bucket appeared on the bar for air ambulance donations.

This service really is something that the NHS should provide as a basic, instead of relying on donations, but it doesn't so support your local Air Ambulance.

Walkies not diggies.

Went to do some digging today, no chance.

Surface was fine, not sticky, but the clods would not come off the spade.

After struggling with two 12' rows I gave up and went for a four hour walk with the dog.

How can a dog still manage to mark everything that takes its fancy after nearly four hours without a drink?

Not given up.

2009, nothing started yet, beyond winter digging and cutting last years dead growth from the herbs and raspberries, with one nice hot bonfire of all the waste plus a couple of bust fence panels from home.

The site is a real frost pocket and our garden shares the location a few hundred yards along the shallow valley's south side.
Our back terrace and garden still have over an inch of frozen snow on it, but looking out of the french doors at the greenhouse down the bottom it is gleaming in the bright sunshine.

I am compensating for the poor gardening weather by building myself a workshop shed replacing the childrens playshed, which at 15 & 12 they have totally outgrown.

Catch that summer sun.

And those damm pesky summer mothy-midges that creep on and leave blood running down your arms and legs,

Plot 23 a gave up and I hacked down the 50% of its 5 rods that was covered with ; bramble, hawthorn, blackthorn, dogwood and stuff. Took three evening sessions from home till dusk.
Finally burnt the results on Monday night when there was buggerall wind.
Had let it by then, with the understanding a bonfire was pending, and the chap had been hard at work with the pickaxe on the bramble stumps and a couple of blackthorns, I did leave decent lengths of the trees for leverage.

Louise has given up after ten years, her formerly well tended plot had not been visibly touched this year and she is busy with other stuff. Sad to see her go, but hopeful one of the twelve on the waiting list will power through the weeds.

Two "laxish" plotholders started to get on with it , one with a prod and one without, and two haven't got on with it yet........

Me, well not a good year for crops, too much going on with the extension and lack of access to the garden due to it. I have four rows of spuds and have planted out ten squash, two cukes, some courgettes, a block of Pigletwilles banana shallots to seed, six (all that made it out of the seedtray!) sweetcorn and have sown leeks, pak-choi, kale and carrots in the coldframe, all up and sprouting.

The weedkiller has done a good job and I have spent the last three evenings digging on plot 18 from the herbs towards the site path and have managed about 4m x 10m.

Last weekend I netted my fruit bushes as the blackbirds were paying it too much attentions although it was only ripening.
Fruit picking has taken about an hour a day since Sunday when I first went plucking and got about 2lb of razzies and a carrier bag full to the brim of strawbs, plus a 1lb of redcurrants.
Today made a summer pudding with all three berries.
Everyone has so many strawbs they cannot give them to other plotholders.

Plot judging on the 2nd July, my plot is an embarrassment, but it will be a tidy embarrassment.

Spray and be dammed.

Went to the DIY sheds to get a hose and a small tool, came away with replacement chemical proof gloves, riggers leather gloves, both keenly priced, a special offer hose on a portable reel which was cheaper than the same hose, 5m longer and a magnificent White Jasmine.

Used some Roundup 3000 on weed infested Plot 18, some naughty Dandelions on 18 and the redundant strawberry plot on the fruit terrace, which was heavily colonised by Dandelions and other stuff. Found myself wishing the bindweed was doing better so I could kill it.

Took the dog for a walk and then tried a really agressive policy on the sulphur candle with the small tool, BLOWTORCH time, this made everything glow nicely, but the blue flame then seemed to go out, due to lots of fumes from what had burnt a-la blowtorch I declined the dogs order to investigate and will look again tomorrow.

Potted the Jasmine into the last og Mondays glazed pots, was too dark to disentabgle it from its cane tripod and attach it to the trellis panel edging the terrace, so will do that tomorrow with a large G-n-T.

Invade the strawbs!

Not a command, a complaint.

Weeded the front, path end, of plot 17, which is a 3'x4' fcut flower bed, a cold frame and inbetween strawberries, guess what the damm couch was doing?

Yup, two foot straight in from the path before sprouting.

Left that nice and tidy, and took the supervisor for a walk, throwing her ball en route.

Tried a more agressive policy with the Sulphur candle, half a box of matches instead of the useless paper wick. They burnt down to the sulphur and went out. GRRRRR.

Non-moving Traffic

Spent over an hour going from the Saxon Inn roundabout in Harlow to the other side of the M11 junction, no visible cause for the congestion, came away with some rather expensive cast aluminium garden furniture, four chairs, one table and a parasol. Also three glazed pots and a couple of decorative plants for the terrace.

Had intended to do alot more, but coming home via Ongar to avoid the congestion caused more delays, but the queue in the opposite direction went a mile or so towards Ongar itself, so avoided a mobile domestic!

Potted up the plants and tried to fumigate the greenhouse with a seemingly non-flammable Sulphur Candle.

Spuddie

Tremendous fun on Sunday.

Spent Saturday helping at the rugby club for a TourAID tournament with teams from Botswana, India and West of Scotland.

Sunday, after an abortive two hours trying to start Slice-n-Dice I put him back in the shed and took Hacken-Slash for a spin. Mowed all of the main path with a Hayter Harrier, which means I collected the trimmings, so that took a while as it was only the second cut of the year.

Then went to work with Hacken-Slash, planting potatoes, managed four rows, still have to do my maincrop. Driving a computer does not prepare the arms for drawing out and earthing up.

Planted out my stored PigletWillie Banana Shallots to either divide up or go to seed, whichever.

Cut a good feed of Purple Sprouting Broccolli, which went down a treat with roast pork and roast potatoes with gravy.

The builders doing the terrace, different lot from those who did the extension, had finished the heavy stuff, so I was finally this weekend able to get into the greenhouse, possessing as I now do a terrace, with steps down to the lawn and no longer hosting a portaloo in front of the greenhouse door.

April Redneck

Spent nine to five at the allotment yesterday and ghave a red neck to prove it.
So what did I do, well no actual personal allotment gardening.
As three plotholders had given up I showed four prospective tenants vacant plots, splitting one into two, all are signing up this week, including one fit and active youngster of eighty three.
Mowed the main path and some side paths.
Admired the cowslips I planted last year flowering away in the car park / eco-meadow.
Cleared the Site Agent (my) Shed of all the crap the previous site agent had accumulated, he being one of the people who had given up this year. It is amazing just how many supermarket plastic bags were in there, I mean when did Sainsburys stop doing beige bags? This clearance took the best part of four hours and I now have a good concrete shed with some roof repairs needed, but I picked up appropriate stuff off freecycle on Friday.
Shared out everything of any use between the eight or so plotholders on site at the time as a present from my predecessor.