Surprise, Surprise

I’ve started clearing the neglected area at the bottom of the plot, which was piled high with old rotting wood. But when I moved that some foundations began to emerge. Clearing those with the gardener’s best friend – the pickaxe - the foundations of a large greenhouse appeared.

It spans most of the width of the plot, with a central stone path and two brick-edged beds either side. I sense a restoration project coming on for the winter!

And rooted in one corner I discovered a grapevine. It’s very neglected and tangled

but it is unmistakably a grapevine. It’s a bit late for pruning so I’m just going to bang a couple of posts in, stretch wire between them, tie it in and see what happens. Perhaps give it a bit of manure to feed it too. Exciting or what?

I've also banged three Bishops in. Bishop of Llandaff dahlias, that is.

Love that Lovage

The lovage is back after its winter sleep. I love lovage and I’ve got three plants, grown from seed last year, which will make a lovage hedge this year.

Elsewhere, it’s been “get the onions in” day. Five rows altogether, with 3 of Stuttgart Giant (150), one of Red Baron (50) and one of Shallots (just shallots!). It was lovely work as the ground was so soft from yesterday’s rain, and now it has rained again so they’ll be nicely bedded in and soaked. Just perfect for a good start.

And it’s interesting to look around at all the other allotments and reflect on how they have changed since I took this one. At that time mine was waist high grass and 4 metre high hedges. The plots left and right were derelict as were the two plots immediately downhill of mine. Now every one of them is taken and being cultivated. Some have further to go than others but all are unrecognisable from how they were four years ago. Another which was seriously derelict a few plots along from me is being slowly but surely brought back to life; it had a working party there today concreting in fence posts for a gate. Hanging a gate, and fixing the shed (which they’ve also done), are sure signs that you’re there to stay.

I’ve thought for some time that allotments are like pig farms – always boom or bust. You can turn a pig farm around very quickly because they breed quickly and have big litters, so you can start from not much and have a lot of pigs quite quickly. But that depresses the price so you then go bust. Allotments are a bit like that. Their moment comes, lots of people take them, then realise how much hard work they are and fall away again.

But at the moment allotments seem to be definitely on the up. Long may it continue.

A sower went forth to sow....

and so far he's sown:

Tomatoes (Moneymaker, Beefeater, Tamina & Gardener's Delight)

Leeks ( some leekish sort, not Musselburgh)

Chillies (Cayenne and Scotch Bonnet)

Scotch Bonnet!!!! Wow. H-O-T-T HOT

Me and My Mum and My Dad and My Gran, went to Waterloo.

Me and My Mum and My Dad and My Gran, had a bucket of Vindaloo.

And that's what we'll be doing if they Scotch Bonnets come up to promise.

Cabbage (early). V soothing after the Scotch Bunnets

Cauliflower (All Yr Round)

Basil (which will be good if it gets off its backside and germinates - I'm firmly convinced there are Basil years, in which you can't go wrong with it, and Sybil years, when no matter what you do it just won't germinate (probably terrified).

Parsley (Flat leaf)

Impatiens

And then there's the Geraniums (x2), Impatiens plants Lavender (x2), Rosemary and Sweet Peas (x2), all taking shelter from the intemperate weather.

No wonder the conservatory is begininng to look a little 'occupied'.

Not quite the kitchen sink

But good enough to boil water for tea! And what better to do when digging is interrupted by rain. But, eventually, all the digging is finished now, with the potato plot being last. That's going to be one-third spuds, one-third courgettes and one-third cucumbers.

Back to the plot

Enough of this motorbiking stuff, time to get back to the plot. And I have to say it's looking pretty good, especially the rhubarb.

And all around are unmistakable signs of Spring. Ivan has a new [metal] roof on his shed (now that's a good idea), Chris has cut back his hedge to a manageable height, and I've dug & manured Plot 8 (which always has tomatoes in it.

But, more important than that, I've sown my leek seeds. What better symbolism than sowing leeks on St David's Day. Just be glad it wasn't parsnips.

Try not to fall off the edge!

It's lashing with rain and no allotment work is do-able on what is a day off so I'll tell you a bit more about the biking trip. Basically it is riding round Europe. But I sometimes have a very literal mind, and this is literally riding round Europe.

Starting at the top end of Denmark, where North Sea and Baltic meet, it's following the coast (keep the sea on the right and it'll be fine) all the way round to the Galata Bridge in Istanbul, where the Black Sea and the Mediterranean symbolically meet at the Golden Horn. It goes, pace McGregor & Boorman, by the working title of Short Way Round.

Of course it's anything but short. Denmark to the top end of Italy is almost 6000 miles, then there is all the way down Italy and all the way back, then down the other side of the Adriatic. It's an awfully long way round the in and out bits of Greece, and Albania promises to be 'interesting'.

And then you ask - "so OK Woody, you've got to Istanbul; now what? How do you get home?" Ah well, you see, I keep going, round the Black Sea coast, across the Danube delta to Odessa. I've always wanted to go to Odessa and the Potemkin Steps. By now, of course, I'm in the Ukraine and it really is time to turn home. So it's a sharp left from Odessa into Moldova, through Chisinau, back into the Ukraine and Lvov, over the border to Poland, call on our friends in Lezajsk (damn fine brewery in Lezajsk) and back to the North Sea coast, having gone all the way round.

"Hell's teeth, Woody", I hear you say; "you must have chuffing good holiday entitlement." Well, not exactly, and in truth it's going to take several stages and several years to finish this. I reckon I'll be around 63 when I finish it (almost 58 now).But if you don't start you never finish and I'm a great believer that "A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step". I remember, aged about 12 and living in a council house in Co Durham, realising that I could get to anywhere, literally anywhere, by walking down the garden path and keeping going. That's never left me.

More details, preparation etc in due course. You'll want to know how Wilma Wibury fits in this too I guess. But, for the moment, allotment service will resume shortly!

Get your motor running

Later this year I'm off on a biking trip in Europe, on this fine fellow.

More details in due course but it will start at the very northern tip of Denmark, Grenen, where the waters of the Baltic meet those of the North Sea. Strictly it's where the Kattegat meets the Skagerrak.

And what has this to do with an allotment, do I hear you ask? Nothing whatsoever, but I've got to start somewhere!! When I get round to it I'll set up another blog to focus just on that but for now we'll leaven allottment posts with biking posts. You'll get used to it.

Rime Intrinsica....

...Fontmell Magna, Sturminster Newton & Melbury Bubb

Whist upon whist upon whist upon whist drive, in Institute, Legion and Social Club

Horny hands that hold the aces which this morning held the plough -

While Tranter Reuben, T. S. Eliot, H. G. Wells and Edith Sitwell

Lie in Mellstock Churchyard now.

I've always had a soft spot for Rime Intrinsica, and Betjeman generally. The above is the first verse of Dorset. What euphony!

Meanwhile, here is the trigger for it all, viz lots of Rime Intrinsica at -7 in the garden this morning

Raspberries

I love raspberries, but my previous attempt to grow them on this allotment came to naught. I suspect I'd left them in the pot too long before planting, and then not watered them enough, so they never properly established.

So I'm trying again. 12 canes of Glen Moy and 12 of Joan J (and the Blackhearts?), which seems to be the modern replacement for Autumn Bliss. Here they are. I've given them a good soak. Fingers crossed. The Glen Moy will just grow but I should get some raspers off Joan J, being an autumn fruiter.

That's it really. More digging, finished plot 4, plots 5 & 6 are fallow under plastic sheet and I've dug the spuds out of plot 7 to act as seed pots for this year - they've already started chitting (filthy beasts). Rhubarb is coming along nicely too

Go for the Burn

There's nothing quite like a good bonfire to get rid of a heap of old rubbish. The allotment looks quite tidy now!

And I've put in some new rhubarb (Victoria), appropariately enough next to the Victoria plum, which knows it's gotta do better this year or it too will be on a bonfire. I'd show you a picture of the rhubarb but, being underground, you can't actually see it. Doh!

So here are a few pictures of a tidy shed instead (when you can't satisfy the custmers fob 'em off with something useless!)

Who turned the fan off?

That's what it was like, someone turning a fan off. It was really windy on the allotment this morning; stuff blowing away, having to have bricks put on it, howling in the trees, too windy to have a bonfire, that sort of thing. Then at 20 past 2 it stopped. Just like that, it stopped, as though someone had switched a fan off.

It felt like what I imagine it's like when the eye of a hurricane passes over. So now I'm waiting for it to start again but in the opposite direction!

Notwithstanding the wind (so to speak) I got loads done today. The side path is now clear and tidy, ready to be kept down with the strimmer, the hedge is cut, I've two huge piles of stuff ready for bonfires. I've manured the blackberries (IDEA - put some netting over them this year to stop Mester Nutkins scoffing them all before I can get to them). Mester - a Sheffield word, derived from Mr and normally applied to a craftsman. Sheffield's iconic silverware & cutlery trade was based on hundreds of Little Mesters working in craft workshops all around the city. Now they're mostly in museums. It's also in general use in Sheffield as a general purpose word for a bloke.

There now, you come to a blog about allotments and get some etymological culture about Sheffield blokes, as related to Squirrel Nutkins.

But I digress. I've also dug and manured half of plot 4 and painted the shed with lovely brown jollop. It's been a positive hive of activity. Ivan-next-door was there and busy, as was bloke-next-to-Ivan, along with woman-below-Ivan (steady on) and woman-below-bloke-next-to-Ivan. And you used to think allotmenting was a wholesome activity?

And now for a historical perspective. It's 3 and a half years since I took this plot over so it's worth looking at:

how it was

and how it is

courtesy of a horny-handed son of toil.

Stirrings and Strimmings

Signs of life! Rhubarb is beginning to emerge

and so is the garlic

And it is unmistakably getting lighter. Which, time marching on, means I really need to get on with the 2 sub-plots I'm going to leave fallow this year. Sounds a bit pretentious I know, with echoes of Turnip Townsend and his three-course rotation but I just need to cut down the amount of plot I'm not cultivating very well, in the hope of doing the rest of it better.

So I've strimmed all the lush, wet, soft, weed growth off it (wearing safety specs, but when I took them off had a massive white band across an otherwise filthy face), so it looks pretty tidy:

Then put weed control fabric down, so as to...... yep, u got it.

Well, it's a good plan; let's see how it goes. I've also started planning the layout for this year and am trying to grow less quantity but better (better-grown, sturdier) quality plants. And I've two more Resolutiones:

• Really really must put the brassicas in a chicken wire cage, to keep the pigeons off, and
• Really must try to master succession sowing, about which I am hopeless so tend to end up as boom or bust. Mostly short periods of boom followed by long periods of bust, which ain't the way to do it at all, at all.

And, changing the subject totally, I've bought a motorcycle, for a cunning plan which is well advanced and will be revealed in a sub-blog later. Pictures when it arrives, in a couple of weeks. Hasta la Vista, baby.

Damp, dank, boring......

..... pretty much sums it up really!

but at least I got to the allotment. Managed to cut down 3 saplings in the hedge and cleared one WL's worth (translation - a new unit of measurement, the Woody's Length, approx 6 feet) of undergrowth. Picture beneath - see what I mean about boring?!

Meanwhile back on the plot

• Bean poles down
• 3rd plot mostly dug and manured
• Blackberries pruned and tied in

on a glorious cold bright day with lots of sunshine. Perfect digging weather really; soft underneath from rain last week but not clarty (a good Northern word) on the boots and with a good drying wind.

Arcadia.....

...is where I've been, aka Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to catch the penultimate day of the Antony Gormley exhibition. I'm a great fan of Gormley and have seen his work:

• at the Angel of the North
• on Crosby beach
• at a gallery in London
• at the Baltic Exchange in Gateshead
• and now in YS Park

Most of the stuff was inside and photography not allowed but I found this outside and plenty of other stuff, including lots of Elizabeth Frink.







I do like a good Frink

Resolution for the Year

Never walk past a weed

Well, ya gotta be aspirational ain't cha

Happy New Garlic

and Happy New Year too.

There's something symbolic about planting something on New Year's Day, especially if it's garlic which needs a cold period to perform properly (today's test - give me the proper name for that cold period. Marks out of 10 for prompt response and bonus points for spelling it correctly).






I planted 70 cloves of various garlics from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight http://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/ and 4 cloves of elephant garlic. Last year's garlic was very poor so I'm looking forward to a better crop from better stock - some of the cloves are huge.

Then came home and had a heart-starter (double espresso & a shot of Calvados). Yummy.

This morning we went to see The Golden Compass, with lots of armoured bears on Svalbard. I was going to make a cheap crack about "Not much gardening on Svalbard", but have a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault

Impressive.

Best wishes for a good year

Ronksley Brunch again

Pouring down last night

Pouring down again now

but in between..... a window of clear skies and cold sun which enabled six of us to get to a pre-arranged brunch at the shooting cabin just off Ronksley Moor.

It was windy and cold but bacon, eggs, tomatoes, sausages, mushrooms & beans - washed down with coffee & mulled wine - was a good end to the old year and start of the new.

Washing up was a bit al fresco

The day before the day before Xmas

Yippee. And..... it's a glorious day with bright sunshine and bitter cold frost. Ideal for getting back to the plot and doing some....digging!

So here's the result. Second patch from the top dug over, copiously manured with cute little chicken poop pellets, and lots of ordinary manure around the rhubarb and the plum tree. This year the plum tree produced two plums and both fell off before i could eat them. If it don't do better this year it'll have an appointment with my chopper.

And managed to get some Xmas leeks and Xmas spuds (the taties and the leekies, when they are both full grown, etc etc. make your own rhyme!!)

And finally, in the likely event of nothing posted tomorrow, best wishes to anyone happening by; hope you have a good Xmas and lots of allotment-related presents!

Freecycle

I've just discovered Freecycle www.freecycle.org.uk . It's brilliant. Bean Sprouts will love it. Sustainable, low impact, recycling etc. The link to an allotment frame of mind seems pretty clear.

We managed to get rid, in one day, of a settee we'd been trying to sell for ages. And I think I've got a filing cabinet that would cost me £90 new. Neat!! And it keeps it all out of landfill. Apparently Sheffield was the first group in the UK and now has over 6000 members. Downside is that I think I've now had emails from most of them.

Bold Sir Brian Botany (last)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head
On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday
He went to their cottages and this is what he said

I am Sir Brian, ting-a-ling
I am Sir Brian, rat-a-tat
I am Sir Brian, bold as a lion
Take that, and that, and that


That's all folks!

Bold Sir Brian Botany (7)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head
On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday
He went to their cottages and this is what he said

I am Sir Brian, ting-a-ling
I am Sir Brian, rat-a-tat
I am Sir Brian, bold as a lion


Only one to go

Bold Sir Brian Botany (6)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head
On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday
He went to their cottages and this is what he said

I am Sir Brian, ting-a-ling
I am Sir Brian, rat-a-tat


Still waiting? Two more

Bold Sir Brian Botany (5)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head
On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday
He went to their cottages and this is what he said

I am Sir Brian, ting-a-ling


To be continued. Just wait, more tomorrow

Bold Sir Brian Botany (4)



Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on

He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head

On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday

He went to their cottages and this is what he said





To be continued. Just wait. Patience is her own reward & a mighty virtue

Bold Sir Brian Botany (3)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head
On Tuesdays and Saturdays, but mostly on the latterday



To be continued. Just wait. Patience is her own reward

Bold Sir Brian Botany (2)

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on
He went among the villagers and biffed them on the head



To be continued. No cheating. Just wait

Bold Sir Brian Botany

Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on


To be continued. No cheating. Just wait. Dym Googlio, as they'd say in Wales.

Woody digs again; Dig, Woody, Dig

At last, the coincidence of a decent day and not being at work. I've started digging from the top plot down, taking the opportunity to extend it and put piles of manure in. Here's a 'Before'

and here's an 'After', taken in the almost-dark-at-4-o'clock light.

Eleven bags of manure 'after' to be precise, although they weren't huge bags. I was going to say that should help with a better crop of garlic next year but have just discovered that garlic needs to be on a long (6 years!!) rotation to ensure build up of eelworm doesn't happen. That may explain this year's poor crop. I tend to think of anything in the same family as leeks being pretty much indestructible. That said, the leeks are pretty feeble ths year too, although that's mostly due to malnutrition.

Problem with having an allotment on a very steep slope, in a wet year like this one, is that all the nutriments go whistling straight down the hill. And I was so dispirited by the poor show, drowning, rotting off etc that I couldn't get round to feeding the beggars again.

Mind you, look at the state of the lettuce plantation (foreground).

Poor show, Woody. Do better next year.

And finally, Number 2 in an Occasional Series of Favourite Tools - The Cornish (aka Irish) spade.

It's a cross between a pointy shovel and a spade. Takes a bit of getting used to - you miss a cross piece at the top of the handle but you do get excellent leverage from that really long handle.

At last I've.....

..... taught myself to do links. Intuitive it isn't.

Note the nifty clock too.

A photo would be good but may be a bridge too far for today.

The East is Red....

... said Chairman Mao. He's clearly never been to my shed, which is supposed to be Red Cedar (that's what it says on the bucket of jollop I've just slapped all over it) but it looks remarkably like Brown to me.

The Great Leader never said The East is Brown. Except when he fell over carrying a bucket of night soil, thus causing the Cultural Revolution in which others ever after carried the Great Leader's poop bucket for him.

You'll deduce from all this that Woody has been winterising his shed - temperatures in Fairbanks, Alaska reached a high of -9C today. You can't be too careful.

Woody has also been stripping the pestilential Russian Vine off his pergola. Low points included falling off the stepladder while head and shoulders through the structure of the pergola, with an electric hedge trimmer in one hand. In an act worthy of the great Trapezo, who never did this clutching a hedge trimmer, Woody caught the trimmer with his foot & swung one-handed from the pergola, emitting Tarzan cries the while.

Still seem to be in full possession of all digits, limbs etc. And all this while suffering from plague. Oh, all right, a streaming cold.