I only lasted a couple of hours up the allotment today, and despite taking all the precautions, as I always do, I felt very unwell and came home. It didn’t seem any hotter than it has been, but the humidity levels were high I guess.

My intentions were to pick some salads for us and the chickens, take some photos, and come home.

Nothing ever, ever goes to plan, you would think that I would get it through my thick head wouldn’t you.

They chickens were not in the mood to run after me, but were excited to see me as usual. I left them in the meadow so that they stayed in the shade.

Walking back through the plot I noticed that some of my big onions were getting chewed – the bulbs. It made me feel really peeved. There was nothing for it – they had to come up.

This entailed firstly picking up all the sun dried shallots on the different racks and packing them up to come home – to make space for the onions.

Some of the big onions didn’t pull cleanly out of the ground – that little bit of rain anchored the roots, so I had to ease some out with a trowel. I filled a couple of carrier bags full, then realised that it would be quicker to pile them up the in the wheelbarrow to then to rack them all in one go. Which meant I had to make some big racks somehow to do it!

And all that is what took up my two hours. It was hard work and making the racks was a ‘warm’ job. It consisted of a long sheet of corrugated iron, on top of which I put those metal wire shelves you get in those plastic ‘greenhouses’. You need to keep them dry and allow air to circulate. They don’t mind getting rained on so long as they are not sitting in water. Shame after all my hard work not to ensure that they have the right drying conditions. I ‘took’ a lovely photo of them on the racks. They look brilliant with the different varieties and sizes gleaming in the sunshine – but they haven’t come out!


I took the photo above, and went to take those I promised, but the camera is broken. It just makes a buzzing noise then closes itself. I have checked all the usual things and nothing that I try explains what is wrong.

So not a lot to report today.

I left the chooks out all day in a double fenced part of the meadow, with lettuces, apple and pear cores, and of course their run open with all their water and food in. When I went back to lock them up around 4pm on my way back from my appointment they were all inside in the shade dozing and gave me a cursory look, and little chicken contented noise, and I left them too it!