The life and loves of a time-poor plantsman
It is official, we won’t go hungry this summer! Harvesting on the allotment has well and truly begun, especially the crop of courgettes, and we are eating more of our home-grown produce every day. Previously I mentioned our salad crops and I can most definitely confirm that we are now eating plenty of fresh leaves. […]
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Where, oh where did May go? No sooner had it started than June was upon us. Now it’s midsummer, the longest day is almost here, and I am way behind with my garden diary. As I explained to our allotment neighbour at the weekend, May is a month where doing takes priority over writing about […]
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I have been meaning to write an update on the allotment for a little while now. While reading the previous chapter, I am wondering how on earth I am going to adequately convey everything that has happened at the plot. It has changed almost beyond recognition, mostly due to the unseasonably warm and sunny weather […]
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April was a bittersweet month. Among many positives were the beautiful weather and being able to spend extra time in the garden with The Beau, Max and Millie. It is hard to conceive of going back to work as I did only six weeks ago, commuting five hours a day. I am achieving so much […]
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If there can be any positive from the current worldwide situation it is the time that we now have at our disposal. We can catch up on household jobs, tidy and beautify the garden, and spend as much time at the allotment as is humanly possible – and that is exactly what we have done […]
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Who could have predicted that the Month of March would end as it did? Over the course of two weeks our daily routines changed in ways we never imagined possible and there is more of this to come for sure. We are living in a new reality, in the short term at least. We must […]
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Since last I wrote we’ve had to endure a succession of winter storms which have hampered efforts to get on the plot and get on with jobs. Last weekend we tried to remedy that. The onion sets were started off in a tray on 2nd February. They’ve shot up and have now been transferred to […]
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We took on our new allotment exactly one month ago. As time marches on, we are happy in the knowledge that with each and every visit we make, it’s transforming into an exciting plot full of potential. Last Saturday, for the second week running, my gorgeous best friend, being the lovely human being that she […]
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There’s not much that January is good for, apart from cosying-up by the fire, drinking the Christmas drinks cabinet dry and browsing seed catalogues. The minute New Year is over, hot off the press, brochures start to arrive at The Watch House by the sack-load. And since we’ve acquired an allotment, the fruit and vegetable […]
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Cymbalaria muralis: Ivy-leaved toadflax, ivywort, Kenilworth ivy, coliseum ivy, Oxford ivy, mother of thousands, mother of millions, thousand flower, pennywort, wandering sailor, Aaron’s beard, pedlar’s basket, rabbits, ruine-de-Rome (French), zimbelkraut (German), muurleeuwenbek (Dutch). “Cymbalaria ….. runneth and spreadeth on the ground and clymeth and hangeth on walls even as Ivie or Chickweed doth, the branches […]
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