Scarecrows, Rats and Onions

Saturday

Saturday did not start well for me. I decided to just do a ten minute job on a web site I manage and that, in the way of these things, turned into a three hour job. So with the bilk of the day gone, I decided to head for the plot and get something that was a bit more fun done.

Ballet Dancing ScarecrowSuper Scarecrow

There was something new on the plot next door, this wonderful ballet dancing scarecrow. Unlike traditional male scarecrows, she’s obviously female and an accomplished ballet dancer. Although the footwear isn’t quite normal for a dancer, she’s certainly very elegant.

Pictured with my neighbour’s daughter, co-creator of dancing dolly, as I’ve christened her scarecrow.

 There’s a Rat in the Compost Heap

My neighbour told me how she has been trying to convince her sister to take up composting at home. To show her how I just bunged in weeds and waste to make compost she opened the lid on my big green bin where a large brown rat was running around much to their consternation!

Apparently she has not convinced her sister that composting is a good idea. I must admit I opened the lid with a bit of caution and then pretended to battle the giant monster mutant rodent that lurked inside under the withering look of  the young lady in the picture. I don’t know what it is with young girls, I think they must have lessons in scornful looks for silly adults.

Her mum was a bit unsure about opening her own bin, so I bravely assisted despite the fact the rat could be waiting to tear out my throat. Must have a word with the site’s rodent control operative.

The job I had planned on doing first was to fix the thermostatic vent openers. I’d taken my tools but on reading the instructions I discovered that item one was to refrigerate the vents and insert the pushing rods. Having forgotten to take a fridge with me, it was plan B time.

Plan B was to clear some weeds to the side of the greenhouses on plot 29. It’s amazing, after a winter where it seemed to do nothing but rain, the top of the soil is now dry and rock solid. After an hour of fighting weeds, it was time to return home.

Sunday

It appears I am cursed never to escape these dratted computers. My father-in-law and brother-in-law came over carrying a PC. Nothing challenging, just remove the hard drive, connect it in to another machine, copy his photo album to CD so he can put them in his new machine and put everything back together. Sigh!

Cup of tea and a chat later, they departed and Val dropped a hint by pointing at the lawnmower. So after mowing the lawn I look at my watch. Now we’re up to 5pm and it’s hardly worth going down to the plot.

Transplanting Onions

I checked the base of the pots containing the super onions John Carver gave me and could just see the roots starting through the base so moved them from their 3" square pots into 5" square pots. They’re all looking pretty healthy. We’ve an NVS meeting next Tuesday so I’ll have to ask him what to do next.  I’m not sure if I should harden them off and plant outside, keep them in the greenhouse in pots or use a bed in one of the greenhouses on the plot.

Posted in Allotment Garden Diary

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