July 2005 – Happy Harvesting

Four tractor scoops of pig muck for £10 - what a bargain huh? Pat gets out of the car, holds his nose and runs into the shed - You can take the man out of the town, but you can't take the town out of the man! Bless him.

I had a trip to Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire with a local gardening club, so bought a few plants. Different varieties of mints, and a cardoon. The former will grow rampantly so I have work out how to grow them up there so that they really clump up so that I can use them, but I don’t want them invading everywhere and being a nuisance. The cardoon is a statuesque plant and can get as big as it likes, and once mature I can use the seed heads for flower arrangements.

I didn’t have any success with sunflowers this year, the little plants got eaten, so maybe next year I will plant the seeds directly into the soil and keep them well protected.

The month was spent in soaring temperatures mowing the lawns, weeding and harvesting. The green manure I sowed a couple of months ago, at the end of the lottie, has formed a lovely thick lawn and it is so nice to have a clear area. I have put our old set of tables and chairs and a bench down there. The only bit of shade on the whole site is in one tiny corner. It is my ambition to one day have time to sit and relax and have a picnic lunch there. It is such a great feeling when you are out in the sunshine, without a soul around, and you walk around harvesting fruit and vegetables, then taking them home and cooking and or freezing them.

They joy of taking home a bag of mixed lettuce and salad leaves, varieties of which you don’t get in a supermarket. Chives, Penny Royal, Oregano, Tarragon, Sage, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme. Eating white beetroot, both leaves and root, new red and white potatoes, onions, peas. You can’t beat the pleasure of eating things that you have grown yourself – all the aches and pains and hard work pall into insignificance!

I was on holiday for a week in Yorkshire, so my neighbour had the pleasure of picking the crops. The weather was so hot and dry, it was a shame to waste them, especially the raspberries.

The allotment site is tucked away and can’t be seen from the road and is not signposted so lots of people are not even aware of it being there. Which is one of the best things I adore. I read other web sites of allotments and sometimes I think it would be really nice to have the camaraderie of a big organised site with running water, properly laid out, allotment societies, etc. But it is so peaceful there and hidden that, touch wood, we don’t have the worry of thefts or vandalism, and long may it be so.

Oh dear, looks like I have to go now, but I will be back again another day - keep looking.