Saturday was rather nice but I’d got the quarterly NVS meeting in far off Preston. I’m not a morning person so I’d set my alarm for 7 but I woke up convinced I’d slept through the alarm and as I reached the bathroom realised it was still dark and actually 5 am. Not the best of starts!
Anyway, sitting around the table with some of the top show growers in the world something must rub off. It’s one area where I feel completely out of my depth. Sadly, we spent the time discussing other things to do with running the charity.
Sunday I was press-ganged into service in the garden. Val does the planting and so forth, I mow the lawn and do the estates works. I must admit I’m glad we don’t grow flowery things on the allotments.
Val mentioned it once but I explained it was made illegal in 1915 in the ‘Prohibition of Flowery Things on Allotments Act” which was punishable by 10 years hard labour until it was amended in 1940 by making it a treasonable offence punishable by hanging. This legislation has never been repealed, I’m not sure Val believes me though!
After unloading and filling the compost bin, Val headed off to buy some sharp sand. We’ve some patches in the lawn that need sorting so a couple of bags for that and a couple of bags for the half barrels where I’ll be growing carrots.
Plot 29 is looking a right mess so a couple of hours tidying and weeding. Doesn’t seem to have made much impact though. Well, it’s never too late to catch up. Honest!
Absolutely love your site thankyou.
Am a fairly new allotmenteer and have taken over a plot with grass-verges inbetween the cultivation rows. Thought I could manage to keep the grass cut fairly low but when I arrived this weekend found rows of wall-to-wall dandelions flowering everywhere! Any suggestions for an immediate solution or do I really have to dig them all up down to the last one? And how should I maintain my walk-ways then?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks MC
Easy way – use a selective lawn weedkiller like Verdone on the grass (nowhere else) and don’t compost the mowings, leave them as a mulch on the grass
Hard way, dig each one up
Your call 🙂
I took my plot on 3 years ago and i am still digging up dock roots. My local council in their infinate wisdom strimmed the vacant plot chopped all the docks up and promptly left them. Then daft me comes along takes the plot on and there you have it im still digging docks out. My hard work is paying off they are going slowly, but as i say hard labour never killed anyone not even the blessed docks…..I enjoy it really