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For my U.S. readers, an allotment is a pretty quaint old English (although not entirely) custom where we cultivate vegetable patched that are not part of our own land or garden but are usually rented from the local authority (Parish Council in my case) for a ludicrously low rent. Mine is £5 p.a.!!!
However, this is NOT the post that I was hoping to make.
It was my intention this weekend to make the first serious start at cultivation for 2007.
I have already bought my seed potatoes and they are already ‘chitting’ so I need to get the ground prepared in the next couple of weeks.
I have also started raising my broad beans in the greenhouse ready to transplant in about a month’s time.
However all forecasts for reasonable Saturday weather were not any good to me as when I got there, with thermos flask of tea, my iPod and LOADS of good intentions, all I found was a waterlogged allotment.
My own patch, although not as bad as my neighbour's, was wet enough to render any attempts to dig it over and removing the winter's crop of weeds, nigh on impossible.
The ground was so heavy that all it did was stick to the spade and fork, to say nothing of the soles of my boots so that within half an hour I was standing some 8 or 9 inches taller!
5 comments:
A totally classic post. This has it all, olde English customs, a discussion of varieties of potatos, moaning about the weather and a comment about back pain. Brilliant - how more English can you get...! Only needed a mention of a tea break for the full set :-)
When my father-in-law passed away it was just before harvest and I duly trooped along to his allotments every weekend to cut marrows, pick sweet corn, pick beans etc.
Many of the "olde-timers" around were encouraging a "youngster" (I was 40!) to keep it up. I declined and we let it go back to the church to rent out to another. They are a lot of work - good luck!
My daughter is hankering after an allotment. She is doing wonders with her little back garden but longs for more. I'm not sure how easy it is to get one though. I think you have to wait for someone to die!
I did say that I took my flask of tea along with me!
Too much of this wet weather and she can have mine Liz!
Great rainstorm last night. Kept me awake for hours.
This isn't helping is it?
What's not helping, you being kept awake or the ever increasing inches of rain on my allotment!!!!
I am currently drawing up plans to convert the allotment shed into an ark :-)
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