|
John Humphries - Life in Hastings and St Leonards
http://20six.co.uk/johnhumphries
powered by
20six.co.uk
|
The potting shed
photographic evidence
Slug Proof Fence!
|
|
|
|
Slugs
Hooray, I think I have found the worlds first organic gardening solution to slugs.
|
|
|
Wasp Spider
I have been weeding the beds on my allotment by skimming off the top growth, then covering the soil with grass clippings and a top coat of black plastic to retain moisture. This creates an environment where the worms can do all the digging while I get on with other things.
But because we have lots of rain forcast today, I went up to the lottie early in the morning to take the plastic sheeting off and get all the rain into the beds. I was rewarded for my effort by seeing my first wasp spider which lives in long grass and low vegitation. This says something about the state of my allotment , but then if I had dug it earlier in the year, instead of spending all my time on the general election, I would never have had the environment for the wasp spider.
|
|
|
Back to the land
I visited my overgrown allotment this weekend to hack and pull out all the weeds that have taken over during six months when I have been eating, breathing and working on the general election. Just like in 2001 there are big yellow flowering brussels sprouts and 4 foot high comfrey plants. However today I was able to dig and ponder on the perfect answer to any political scientist who should ever ask what I felt the difference was between the election in June 2001and that of May 2005. The answer is of course that very many less perennial weeds have set this time, so it is possible to do a lot more skim clearance and spot digging to reclaim neglected land - an answer like that would stop even Jeremy Paxman for a few minutes!
The first task has been to cut back growth on the access paths around the outside of the plot, hack back the comfrey and nettle patches (every good gardener has a nettle patch) and start to clear between the deep beds. This will give me enough room to get a wheel barrow in and sort the 'lazy' or deep beds where food grows (in non election years). Tomorrow I have a weekly media meeting with officers at 8.30am, followed by the housing sector partnership and in the evening I have a local management board for Central St Leonards and Gensing wards.
|
|
|
A tale of neglect
I have been negligent in my responsibilities as an allotmenteer. Over the past 3 months my plot has gone untended and become overgrown. So I went up to the allotment at the weekend to decide on 'what is to be done' I took a few pictures like this one, which is a plaque someone once gave me - of a former editor of Gardeners World Magazine - whose last resting place is now on my allotment shed door.
ffice ffice" />
Anyway, I have decided to invest a sensible amount of time during the winter in clearing the paths around the raised beds and getting the soil ready for spring planting.
If you have ever thought about getting an allotment, now is the best time of year to do it. By starting now you can clear the ground and all the weeds have time to rot down before you start planting in the spring. If you leave it till spring to start (like most well meaning beginners) there will get very little benefit in your first year, except all the exercise put in to busting a gut to clear the land in double quick time and then giving up because it seemed like too much hard work.
|
|
|
A good day to be down on the allotment
Sunday seemed like a good day to toil on the soil and use my digital camera to get pictures of the allotment (this time I'm using a lower resolution and shrinking the pictures down in size). I know this has got absolutly nothing to do with the council but its an applicable skill which can be used at a later date for more council type things.
These are of the primroses which I grow under the fruit bushes. The sheet of corrugated iron you can see in the picture is for the slow worms to live under. Slow worms like corrugated iron because of the warmth in the summer and it also keeps them out of the way of the badgers.
|
|
|
|
