26/27 December 2007 - These boots are made for digging

Planning well-advanced, we get down to the dirty business of implementation. N has new boots for the allotment, K has a new Double-Ender Thermos for tea and such. V exciting.

We are alone on the allotment, for the second day in a row, and we suspect that the other plotters are either less dedicated or more organised than us. The garlic has finally made its first appearance. Its sturdy shoots presage the phenomenal plants we anticipate (Elephant Garlic) some time in the summer.

Some Local Youths arrive on their choppers (bicycles), intending to wreak the havoc that only bored and undisciplined kids can do. This reminds me of an episode of vandalism in October (from which I think I shielded you, Gentle Reader) which involved the latch on our gate being broken (probably someone kicking at our swing gate) and a pumpkin (thankfully, not our Halloween highlight pumpkin) being stabbed by our old plot number spike.

I make a stand (sharp spade in hand) and courteously but firmly remind the little bastards that they are on private property. I realise that this will probably result in our shed being burnt down, but if One Man can't make a stand to protect public decency, then the whole country will go to the dogs.

If I sound old and grumpy, bored youth breaking things (or even littering) stands in great contrast to everything our allotment means to us: connection to the land, greater self-sufficiency, productivity over destruction, efficiency over waste. In effect, the allotment system (and its wartime origins in growing on public land for personal and communal survival) means that we have a contract with our local authority to make the most of our patch - which is the public's land - on loan to us. Being public land, it is to some degree vulnerable. These snotty, surly youth would benefit more from compulsory labour on public land than they do from junk food and Wiis. (Blimey - Ed.)

Anyway, we cobble together the remaining spare floorboards and form four walls for our fourth raised bed (note - change of plan from previous post - we have gone for one large rather than two small because of the wood situation). Mushroom compost is on order, chicken manure will be obtained (best you don't ask) - these will be added in a layer over the four beds, which will be covered and left for a couple of months. In that time, worms and such will arise from the soil, drag the good stuff down into lower levels, and by the time we unwrap (March, say), the soil will have been broken up and improved. The worms are, in so many ways, the true heroes of our tale.

Still about ten days left in our holiday, and still much to do. Weather = mild, cloudy, dry.

25 December 2007 - The final harvest?

Christmas morning comes, and we venture up for probably the final harvest of the year: our Brussel sprouts, who have been invited to join us for Christmas dinner.

Something has been at the sprouts. Because there appear to be scratches on the stalks, and they have only been eaten up to a certain height, we think it must be mice or rats or voles or something else on its hind legs. Later, we remember that on our last visit we removed the mini-fence and netting around the sprouts (in anticipation of laying the fifth bed) and conclude that it is probably birds.

Despite the attack, there are more than enough for dinner, and they are delicious when cooked with bacon cubes and chestnuts and marsalla. Well, most things would be.

They make a delicious part of our Christmas dinner, along with turkey from a local farm.

We also measure the plot, and its components, for planning purposes. Over the next few weeks, we anticipate finishing off (digging, walling, composting and covering) our beds in preparation for spring planting (spring, here, being a March/April/May affair).

Much discussion ensues about what to grow where, and where the compost centre should be, along with the fruit cage, the shed and what I think of as the lounge. Proper measurements ensure a rational, non-heated discussion. In parallel, we need to prioritise what crops and other enchantments will be grown and when.

Initial work is done on graph paper, which is useful but does not quite capture the undulating nature of our boundary fence and non-straight beds. Also, at slightly more than 106 square metres, some attempt must be made to take account of the curvature of the earth. A second attempt is made, therefore, along the lines of a Peters Projection. To say that this attempt clarifies our thinking would be charitable.

Also to be taken into account is crop rotation, or crop sequencing. Knowledge of those elements that certain crops add to and take from the soil during their growth allows beneficial planning of which the sequence in which different crops are planted, season-by-season. Also, it is suggested that if you keep the same crop in the same soil year after year, diseases and pests which prey on that crop tend to build up.

Plant experts group different crops into the categories of Root, Brassica and (terminology varies) Other. Generally, Roots follow Brassicas which follow Other. (There's also a category, which we have not yet named, of things that can go anywhere or things that stay where they are forever.) I suppose old-school farmers left the fourth year fallow. I'm not sure we have the patience or life-expectancy to allow for that. We have to factor in a seed-bed somewhere, despite the existence of a pre-dug bed from earlier this year (courtesy of AN). The part of the plot which has not been "bedded up" will be used for potatoes and flowers on one side, and the cage, parallel to the shed, on the other.

Here is the proposed crop list for the next year, based on what we like eating, with varieties we have chosen from magazines to be ordered where known (nb. the varieties may well change according to availability):
Roots
Sweet potato (T65, Beauregard) (might be tricky)
Potatoes (Sarpo Mira, Axona - blight-free but probably all gone now)
Carrots (Siena F1)
Brassicas
Broccoli (Ironman F1)
Winter cabbage
Kale - after potatoes
Other
Onions (RIP overwintering onions)
Peas (Keleveden Wonder)
Leeks (Malabar)
Garlic (Elephant and Solent White)
Other other
Spring onions
Radishes
Lettuce/salad
Raspberries (Galanta) - in the cage
Butternut squash (Hawk F1)
Pumpkin - on the bank
Strawberries - in the cage.

There's a further concept: companion planting. This intends to maximise performance by planting particular things together - because they help or protect each other (for example, marigolds masking the carrot scent, which otherwise the Dreaded Carrot Fly can smell up to one mile away). In our case, this means we will try three crops together in one of the beds:
Courgettes/Zucchini (Optima F1)
French beans
Sweetcorn.

15/16 December - In the Bleak Midwinter

This weekend we have managed to spend quite a bit of time in the plot. This is because the weather was not wet and indeed quite sunny though very cold as the picture on the left shows (ice on puddle). We thought we should Go For It.

A very sad sight met our eyes when we first got to the plot. It looked as though something has eaten the vibrant growing tips of our over-wintering onions. It is particularly distressing as they were doing very well only a few days before and were grown from seed. We don't think it was rabbits, probably mice. The garlic planted a little while ago has yet to make an appearance, so we are wondering whether to call it a day on this bed, cover it with compost and start again in the spring. Bah humbug.

First task, the digging of the third bed. N did his usual magic with the long boards, three nailed together on each side and we slotted the frame into the neatly dug trench (marked out with poles and things). Now we can dispense with double-digging to condition our soil, we just pile it up and rake it a bit.

This soil has a real load of nasty stuff still in it, wire, plastic etc. Yeuch.

Then there was seasonal tidying up. Farewell to the amateur rabbit-proof fence round the bed with the sprouts (still going and very tasty) and celery. Farewell also the celery, which remained in my view an enigmatic crop whose potential was never fully realised nor (probably) understood. Intrestingly there were a couple of radishes still growing, set probably from the seed of bolted plants.

Then we had a long ponder about the Way Forward, or what people where I work call The Direction of Travel.

We decided that we had to begin to break down the heap of loamy soil (the former pumpkin bed) and relocate it after jettisoning obvious weeds etc to the new just-dug bed and indeed to populate other beds on the area where it is currently situated, as well as two new small beds. This is rather a curious conundrum. There is no point moving the soil somewhere just to move it back but it needs to be moved somewhat because the trench needs digging. That area (near the compost bin) is rather large, so that is why it is going to be two small beds.

The boundaries of the two mooted small beds will be such that we had to move our current plastic compost bin - and compost. We duly moved it temporarily to the other end of the plot near to the shed. The idea is to eventually put our pallet-compost-thingy there and to move the shed round.

N did a tidy up too of our various wood holdings. Unfortunately we do not have enough of the really long boards to make the new beds, so we will be trying Freecycle or some such to get some.

Anyway. We thought you'd like to see what the allotment looks like from the main entrance in the lane. This was taken at the end of our labours on Sunday. It is a view that never fails to cheer us up when we set off to the plot.

7/8 December - Two footnotes

Two footnotes - it has been very cold recently, and for the last couple of weekends, wet too, preventing us from getting to the plot.

Footnote 1 - yours truly heroically double-dug the new bed on her own on a day off from work. Jan, allotment neighbour, was amazed that I was going to do this and generously lent me her wheelbarrow, without which I would probably still be there, toiling in the mud like a small but stubborn insect.

Double-digging, for those of you lucky enough not to have done/heard of it, involves dividing the bed to be dug into sections, digging out the soil to a spade's depth from the first section and moving it to the other end of the bed, breaking up the resulting trench with a fork, putting a layer of kitchen compost on the top of the forked-up bed, and then - wait for it - taking off the top spade's depth soil from the NEXT section and putting that on top. In the end, you put the soil from the first trench into the last one. Although I felt unbelievably virtuous, my back duly gave me notice of a job too well done for at least 2 days afterwards. Then I met Mr G our allotment manager in Sainsburys who told me that double-digging was out of fashion now and I didn't have to be doing that despite what the books said and that the best thing to do for our unconditioned soil was to put some mushroom compost and chicken manure on and leave it. GRRR. Which is why we have orderd 10 bags of mushroom compost.

Footnote two - the day after this herculean feat we had visitors, N's brother Andrew and his son Australian Nephew (see blogs passim). It was too dark when they arrived to show Andrew the plot so he remains the only N-side relative to visit our new home not to have beheld the glories of the allotment. He seemed to cope pretty well with the disappointment of not having his picture on the blog - we suspect he may be a wanted man.

26 November 2007 - An ad

We are pleased to report that other members of the family have seen the benefits that blogging can bring in the way of collective information sharing and the fostering of debate - our brother-in-law Daren in Toronto has begun his own blog. It deals with far more elevated matters than ours, such as the televising of baseball and the role of lawyers in a free and democratic society. We thought our readers, especially the lawyers, might benefit from access to this more intellectual fodder as an aid to rumination. So get on the elevator by following the link below - meantime, we'll continue with the ground-level stuff this end.

http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/daren_foster.html

19 & 25 November 2007 - Bed the second

This is a two part post. First, we forgot to post last Sunday's (19 November) labours, probably because they were pretty mundane. We took up the compost that had been "brewing" in our rotating composter and K womanfully emptied all of it out to mix with the stuff that was already in situ in the "Dalek" compost container. N got on with preparing the wood for the second bed and digging the trench, an activity which has become almost second nature. Very pleasing seeing that the old stuff was almost completely rotted down to dark crumbly organic matter. We did not do more on the plot because we had exciting bulb planting activity in our actual garden.

We had a late-morning start at the allotment (25 Nov), but completed the trench for the walls of our second proper bed. Then much screwing of the walls and, kerplunk, our second bed. Now the interior needs double-digging, with incorporation of our compost and perhaps some manure. Maybe worms, too. It's the clay-ey-est corner of the plot, and needs breaking up. The clods we dig up are white and lead us to speculate on the age-old mystery of what happens to old dog poo when it goes white - how come we never see it no more?

Dug up three (collective noun - heads) of celery, which have never really approached the majesty of commercial celery. A bit small, thick veins - lack of or too much water - hard to know what went wrong. However, at the end of the day, after much washing at home, it was transformed into soup. Delicious. And sampling a raw stalk led us to conclude that it was finally reaching its zenith. We find out from books that celery is all the better for having been bit by the November frosts we have had. We also harvested sprouts for dinner, which are boiling now. They too also benefit from the frost.

We anticipate much help from N's brother Andrew next weekend, and Andrew and Tim (the Australian Nephew) the following weekend. Perhaps crack the Fruit Cage. The plot now looks sleepy and autumnal, apart from the sprout plants and the celery. The overwintering onions are showing very willing (we have a picture but it is very hard to decipher the growth in these small pictures so won't bore you with it) and the raspberries have finally packed up their bags - we have to cut them down almost to nothing in the spring. Nothing yet showing for the Elephant Garlic but it has been mighty cold of late, with proper frosts and everything.

So few hours of daylight these days. Zzzzzzz.

11 November - Taking Stock

We start this post by apologising profusely to all our readers who will no doubt be wondering why we haven't been keeping them up to date with the exciting developments on the plot. There are several reasons for this, all of them valid and some may say, extenuating. We have had a HOLIDAY - gasp - away from this country for some 10 days. We also had a housewarming party the weekend after we returned. There is also the Autumn Equinox factor. When you are busy 9-5ers like us, and the clock goes back so all of a sudden no weekday visits are possible, time suddenly becomes a premium commodity. Coupled with the distractions mentioned above, it is really no wonder that we have let things slip on the blogging front. (A minor complication has been the recalibration etc of various home computing issues which has not helped. Hence you will not be getting any videos for a wee while.) Oh and the guests, as the long-awaited picture of Simon, Ruth and Gemma above will testify. They visited back on 13 October! (It goes without saying that while guests are lovely, less time is spent on actually doing anything do the plot.) Anyway, here is a picture of S, R & G with our hearfelt apologies for not getting it up sooner - it's not that we hate you, honest

The plot today looked rather sad and tired and we suspect glad to see us. Our gate had been broken open, we suspect by vandals, though no other significant damage was done. K started on the autumnal clearing up of the plot, whilst N embarked on an exciting Spring project, the planting of daffodill bulbs on the raised bank running alongside the plot. The remaining strands of the once magnificant pumpkin plant are now composted, as are the dead peas. The speedy leeks (note - spring onions really) and remaining carrots were harvested. The bed that they were in (Bed A? I lose track of our nomenclature) is now covered with black plastic, and the edges of the plot that bounds our neighbours we have carpeted to squish weeds.

The one good pumpkin we had, by the way, played an important part in our housewarming party. It was carved and lit - and indeed made the most comforting soup you can imagine. The other pumpkins all fell to rot and went soggy.

We started on the next raised bed - in the corner next to the compost pile where the pumpkin was growing. The black plastic was ceremoniously raised to reveal a fairly unpleasant looking muddy surface with brown debris of the dead weeks. This area we will dig soon, but want to see if the weeds come up in the next few days. N has begun making the wooden walls. A good start to that end of the plot. The pumpkin compost heap was covered in black plastic, as covered in grass and weeds, and carpet. When it has died down, we will use it to fill the beds.

K planted the overwintering onions in the first raised bed on 15 October. They look to be thriving and in the other half of the bed, we have planted Giant Garlic. It is the chunkiest bulb you have ever seen and apparently grow enormous plants with beautiful allium heads. Here is a picture of K holding just one of the CLOVES! In the spring, the rest of our garlic, Solent White, will be planted. (Both these were bought at St Albans Farmers Market.)

In the other remaining bed, the celery still continues, but we are beginning to wonder when it will ever be ready. The stalks are thin and green and not especially cerely-y. We had our first taste of the Brussel sprouts for dinner today, and anticipate more, even though the top leaves of the big plant resemble green lacework thanks to what our allotment neighbour thinks are whitefly. Raspberries are stilll coming.

Chatted to two of our allotment neighbours today, one of whom had an improvement notice served on him by the council! A lesson for us all. The other one (the Perfect Plot) has a very fine strawberry bed established and was digging in mushroom compost into one of his beds. Humph.

We had an allotment lunch, and at the end of our time, took a while to sit and contemplate the plot and its lovely environment. Up to four robins sang to us, perched hopefully on spades and flitted off again. Cows mooed in the neighbouring field. All in all, it's good to be back on the plot.

Weather note: sunny and cloudy. Warm enough to work in shirtsleeves but not for too long.

5 October - Mum's the word

We owe you an apology for the slight hiatus in bringing you news of the plot. There are many and various reasons for the hiatus but none that can totally justify leaving our readers so deprived.

Truth to tell, the only big event was the visit of Penelope, N's mum, who has indeed commented on the blog in the past and was eager to see for herself the glorious plot. She was suitably impressed by the fence and the new bed, and enjoyed snacking on lovely ripe raspberries (they keep on comin'). For Sunday dinner, we had lovely potatoes from the plot and carrots.

Everything looked OK on a cursory inspection, though we think the spring cabbage seedlings will not last. They are diminishing in number due to evil slugs. The onions, on the other hand, seem to be surviving and we will plant out in the new bed soon. One to chalk up to experience.

We are also impressed by our plot neighbours' new fruit cage and this makes us realise we should really get on with digging up the bed with carrots, peas and speedy leeks in as fast as possible so that we can get ours built. Once again, they lead the way.

30 September - Brief Encounter

This weekend we were very busy with matters arboreal at the bottom of our garden, so our visit to the plot was brief, though productive. We had hoped to get some Hertfordshire compost from the recycling centre, but unfortunately (or, looking at the bigger picture, fortunately) they were sold out. We wheedled another pallet from the nice recycling folk, to add to the one we got from the Radlett hardware store yesterday, on a separate mission. Two pallets - schweet. Instead, we opted for 3 large bags of all purpose compost and ditto farmyard manure from Homebase. Interestingly, the latter was pong-free. This was to dig into our new bed, to prepare it for the growing season ahead, and to give our spring cabbage seedlings and onions the best possible start. It didn't take long, and now looks thoroughly dug and ready for anything.

More raspberries have appeared - and instantly consumed. We cannot help ourselves. The celery still appears to be thriving, but is still not ready for proper eating. The brussels sprout plant is doing great guns and we already think of Christmas dinner (even though I hate sprouts). The peas are beginning to look tired and a bit blit by something, though we took some home to have with dinner. We also had the first of the speedy leeks - akin to a spring onion, they are feisty and tasty and can be eaten raw.

The 5 remaining pumpkins are looking good and are probably feeling the benefit of the pruning the plant was given recently. In response to the changing season, the plant is now looking decidedly sleepy and is not putting out any new tendrils. Once it has done its bit, we will move the mound of soil about to put into one of the new beds (once dug).

The spring cabbage seedlings sown directly into the soil last week have come up. We worry about slugs. The onion seedlings appear to be happy but the cabbages we had sown into peat pots less so, most of which appear to have been eaten. We still think there will be enough for our new dug bed.

On the way out, we bump into someone who used to work at the same place as us a few years back who has a plot at the front of the allotment. It is a small world we think - as is the allotment. His was a cautionary tale - having managed to quash all weeds, he left it alone for 6 weeks and has just come back to a mini-jungle. The weeds are currently in the driving seat, but we hope not for long.

Weather note: some rain during the week, sunny and cloudy. Something for everyone. It is starting to feel less summery and the allotment overall is beginning to assume a slightly dishevelled look. Bit like us really.

22-23 September 2007 - Family plot

Much joy as my sister Rachel arrives for an overnight visit - fitting us in between Finland and Canada. Jet-lagged, she is bundled off immediately, of course, to the allotment, where she is suitably impressed, and notes the luxury of a plot within walking distance of home.

With the girls out on an improving walk in the pastures, I am left to complete the fourth wall of our new raised bed. Which eventually fits, with a little jiggery and some pokery. A final break-up of the soil follows, and the beginning of mixing in soil-improving compost.

Rachel watered like a seasoned professional.

Meet the newest allotmenteer, Corner Guy, as he will be known until we learn his name. Worringly, he says he was told that he needed some sort of planning permission to erect a shed. Hmm. Lacking aforementioned permission, we may need to paint ours in camouflage patterns and colours, rather than the fetching robin's-egg blue we had in mind.

We snack on some peas and raspberries, improve the raspberry netting, and note, with relief, the absence of rabbit droppings.

Not, we fear, a state likely to prevail on our western neighbours' plot.

Later, some teamwork on repairing the trailer so that it can support our allotment work in a manner befitting a trailer. All hands on deck, and a fine result.

Return on Sunday for a touch more pokery, then away to Radlett again to acquire more wood from our Freecycle philanthropist. Confess to the trailer mismanagement and the heroic role of his climbing rope, and settle for what battens we can fit in our car. He's got a really nifty circular saw, which I am coming to regard as a tool I must have.

So our wood pile grows, and plans forming for a Louis XVI-style pattern of beds and paths to the west, with fruit cage in the middle and shed, compost and (perhaps) gazebo to the east.

A brief tour for you.

16 September - Bedtime

A quick blog of today's plot events. As reported yesterday, the late lamented Pumpking left some deserving relatives who have rallied to the cause. We made soup today of the pumpkin flowers we harvested yesterday which was fine if a tad exotic. Apparently, you can eat pumpkin leaves too - they stirfry etc just like other greens. Also you deserve a brief weather update. It has been lovely, early September weather - sunny and warm and very inviting, though no rain.

N went to the plot and began the task of assembling the wood to make the bed where the potatoes had grown. Prior to that, we had gone to Homebase and acquired a corner shed tidy thingie for our tools - a tidy shed is a tidy mind and all that. By the time I arrived, one side had already been assembled out of three long planks nailed to a corner batten. I did some subsidiary digging in the bed to enable accurate placing of this first element of the bed, and matters proceeded apace, so that we have three sides of our first properly protected bed. The soil is piled together in a heap in the middle until we dig it properly. The plan is to have a walkway across the middle in order to reach the crops. The wood is fantastic.

There was also much remedial raspberry cage business which resulted in a cracked cane as the wind is getting up - the raspberries are coming into their prime and there are many more than we thought there would be.

I pondered long and hard about the poor seedlings I had transported up from our conservatory still in their peat pots. They are manifestly too small to plant out according to the books, yet I am unsure as to where they should be right now they have started to emerge as they are meant to be "overwintering". After a while, I remember the protecting cloche/hoop thingie we had bought ages ago, and put the seedlings in their peat pots and in trays underneath it in the bed with the sprouts and celery. This will give them warmth and protection whilst allowing them a bit more time to grow and us time to prepare their eventual home. Other than that, I guess I could always plant seeds direct but that would be a great waste of the time and effort taken to grow them indoors. I am beginning to think more positively about the bed option for our plot.

Following our time on the plot, we then adjourned to The Neighbours for a gorgeous Sunday lunch/dinner and lots of wine. We had some of our peas as an hors d'ouevre - nothing sweeter or fresher has ever been tasted.

15 September 2007 - Trailer trash

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

But first, the good news. After the tragedy of the original pumpkin, five of its brothers (or clones, I suppose) are making their presence felt. The have been propped on wooden boards, to avoid the decay suffered by the original. Sunshine will harden their shells in time for Halloween. Much trimming of dying leaves, leaves blocking the sun from reaching the pumpkins, and the remaining flowers (who, intent on securing a future for their own little fella, will divert resources away from our famous five. We brought one little guy home, and will see later what recipes are available from the Information Superhighway.

More good news on the peas-in-the-pod front. We sampled one with Pat and Jan next door, and they are the sweetest, freshest vegetables ever.

Pulled up a sample carrot, then another. Came on well - and these from seed!

Backbreaking work transforming the original potato patch into a proper bed. Got about half way through today, with the unexpected pleasure of finding some more potatoes that we had missed in the original harvest. This bed will be for overwintering cabbage and onions, also from seed, but now moved to the cold frame to get used to being outside.

Then to nearby Radlett, to pick up floorboards offered on Freecycle, to make borders for our new beds and, well, just because they were free, basically. Very nice fella (who got a dinghy from Freecycle) helped us load about 400 pounds of wood in our trailer, and lent us a rope when the front of the trailer started to look a little saggy. You may recall our shed-transportation experience three months ago, almost to the day. We didn't get far this time before the front splayed outward under the pressure of the wood, and we had a tense time on the three miles from Radlett.

Fortunately, we arrived almost intact, and with no one to witness our shame. Wood unloaded, harvest made, and no one the wiser. Apart from you, dear reader.

Harvest: the newly found potatoes; some lovely peas; two carrots; one celery (for soup); two raspberries. Tonight we eat like kings. Again.

8 September - The Winner Takes It All

We are entering the balmy days of September. A little chillier in the mornings and the evenings are drawing in ever so slightly. But lovely clear calm weather prevails, and joy is in our hearts this morning as we prepare for our first experience of the St Stephens Annual Show.

Earlier in the week we submitted our entry form, accompanied by 20p - in the Novice Potatoes (5) category. The tricky bit was identifying the most perfect specimens of our crop which had to be consistent in size and quality, as our modest harvest had yielded an eclectic variety of shapes, sizes and textures. We made the selection and prepared by buying some paper plates (the vessel of choice for showing produce on). N gently washed the potatoes and we were off to go to the setting up, not knowing what to expect.

We were delighted to find that there was only one other competitor in our category. We laid our potatoes out as artistically as we could, observing what others were doing, then took ourselves off for a couple of hours until the show started.

The atmosphere was electric. N felt "quietly confident".

To find that... yes, readers - the hard work, the toil and the sweat had paid off! We had been awarded 2nd prize and the other entry nothing!

We puzzled over the seemingly anomalous position of getting the best award in our category without getting a 1st, but then noticed that a number of entries had been similarly treated. We came to the conclusion that the Judges (who remained unseen except for a tiny shimmer in the air) had overriding criteria for each award - which kind of makes sense, a bit like university-degree classification.

We even had the benefit of a Post-It Note which confirmed that we would have got the 1st prize if our potatoes had been of the same size (well, they nearly were). So we could have been given a 3rd prize - indeed, that's what was awarded to our allotment-neighbours-but-one (the Model Plot) who put in some beans into the novice class. They were the only entry, but got a 3rd, which we thought was a little harsh as they looked fab.

Our heads spinning with the heady joy of achievement, we smugly swanned around the rest of the show. Various local friends and neighbours attended, and even The Neighbours from next door graciously put in an appearance as a prelude to watching the Ingerlund -v- Israel game. Our allotment neighbours were suitably complimentary and congratulatory.

There were more than 80 categories - onions, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, beetroot, celery, parsnips, fruit of all sorts, flowers of all sorts, cakes, pictures, kids' paintings, poems, knitted garments, embroidery and so on and so on. Very interesting to see how similar it was in layout and feel to the show we had gone to during our holiday recently in a small village in Wales. Though obviously there were no Welsh speakers, and strangely, no cabbages.

A particularly intriguing category was called "Ones that didn't work". Among the items was this rather rude carrot.

Another item which we thought our readers would appreciate was this splendid elephant made out of carrot and miscellaneous vegetables. This was made by the grandson of our allotment-neighbours-but-one (they who have the Model Plot). It won 1st prize.

The end of the show was marked by a prize-giving ceremony. There were many cups and mentions, including prizes for the children, including the abovementioned grandson of the Model Plot.

We have omitted mention of Mr Getley until now, but his name was liberally scattered throughout all the show entries, most notably the vegetables. Mr Getley was also the MC, the speechmaker and giver out of prizes. When, as frequently happened, he was the recipient of the prize, another member of the committee seamlessly took over the announcements.

In other circumstances, one could imagine that a degree of resentment amongst the assembly would be normal - but none could be detected. The applause was honest and heartfelt. We could only surmise that this had happened many times before, and, we hope, many more times in the future. Such is the nature of the Annual Show and we are thrilled and delighted to have played a small part in its success.

Oh, and England beat Israel 3-0, so good results all round!

2 September - Rollercoaster Ride

Oooh have we got news for you. A lot seems to be happening all at once, some happy and some sad things. Get on board the Allotment Rollercoaster!

Firstly, we dug up the potatoes. Avid readers will recall that they were planted in appalling conditions in small trenches dug directly into the grass, i.e. we did not dig up the soil as such. They have suffered, as have others on the allotment, with blight, and we came to the conclusion that the time had come to see what nature had given us. They are a pleasing pinky shade and by and large in a good state. There were a few mouldy/tiny ones and we put this down to the generally poor conditions and the blight.


They filled a sturdy carrier bag and were proudly shown to various allotment neighbours, including The Nettle Guy (who apparently is called Derek but I prefer Nettle Guy). Our potatoes are snugly stored in the garage in an eerily prescient set of sliding shelves donated by The Neighbours.




The next uplifting thing to happen was the completion of the plot perimeter. Some of you will no doubt have been fretting about the security of the plot, given that we hadn't fixed the corners of the fence nor finished the gate. After due consultation with Pat and Jo, we sorted out the corners (K was allowed to use the staple gun for the first time - woo hoo) and the gate is now operational pending the installation of a bolt (there's a bit of a gap in the middle, ahem). We are proud that there is no other gate like it on the allotment.

It's weird how much of a difference the fence and gate make. OK, we know we had to do it because of the rabbits. We feel less like pioneers and more like tenant farmers.

A note about the weather while we're all philosophical. Weather has been dry and cloudy for quite a few days now. Warm but not hot. No rain so we have watered since we came back (yes readers we actually left the plot for a few days R&R in a campsite - if I don't spend some time indoors soon I shall turn into Tess of the D'Urbevilles).

Other joys are the ever-happy celery and also the peas which are now definitely flowering and podding. Oh how we wish we'd planted more. Next year next year. The two Brussel Sprout plants are looking good especially after some jazzy looking caterpillars got ejected. We remain slightly mystified by the broccoli.

We now come to the sad part of the story. Your favourite and ours, the Pumpking of lurve, has been demolished. Something had made him all soggy and mouldy. Perhaps it was hubris. It's certainly a lesson not to take everything for granted. We are very sorry - though it must be said that there are some nice pumpkingettes coming along. They are small though and probably won't get to any great size. We think we might take a few of the best potatoes to the Garden Society Show next Saturday instead.

And onward we go. We have decided to dig up where the potatoes were completely and use it as a winter growing spot, in rows, not a bed as such, as it is in the area where our rows will be established (we must do a chart of the layout for you and indeed for ourselves). After some consideration, we have now sown 60 Hi Keeper F1 Hybrid (Overwintering Onion) seeds in peat pots for planting out when they have learnt to cope with the microclimate in our "conservatory" - and 30 Flower of Spring cabbage seeds likewise. The onions are ready in June and the cabbage in March-April. Not all these seeds will produce viable plants of course. We'll finalise the preparation of the soil next week, and put some wood round it to protect it from weeds. It is very exciting thinking that there will be things growing over the winter for us to eat afterwards. Just imagine, in the early spring, we will be able to sow things to eat over the winter itself! See what we mean by the Rollercoaster Ride?