A Fun in the Sun Weekend

On Saturday morning we did the last bit of tidying on plots 7 and 8 for the Hungerford in Bloom judging on Sunday. We had to do it Saturday morning because in the afternoon it was the plotholders' barbecue and we knew we wouldn't want to do much after the event. I was cooking the veggie burgers - the Linda McCartney mozzarella burgers went down very well among vegetarians and meat eaters. And I fried the onions in Oak-smoked Rapeseed Oil.
Geoff's home-made piccalilli was the perfect accompaniment and Kerry's home-made elderflower cordial was delicious and refreshing in the sunshine.

It was a lovely day for a barbie and with 25 guests it made for a great afternoon. The last of these photos was taken after we polished off all the beer, wine and Kerry's home-made Green Walnut liqueur! (I only learned that walnuts grew in Britain a couple of years ago!)

So, Sunday morning was the Hungerford in Bloom allotment judging and we couldn't be on site. I entered Plot 7 and Jamie entered Plot 8. Plot 7 got a 'highly commended' I think we missed out  because the lettuce, broad beans and mangetout on Plot 7 are all looking a bit tired and seedy now. Not to worry, at least it meant our plot had some particularly good weeding sessions (mostly by Jamie) over the last week and the Marsh Lane Site gets a mention in the local news so residents remember we're here and are perhaps reminded that the lease on our land expires next April :-(

Well done to the prize winners: 1st, Chris; 2nd, Our plot neighbour, Neal equal 2nd with Liz & Ken; and 3rd, newcomers Tui & Glen, who have done a great job on their plot. This is a photo I took of their fabulous hollyhock the other day - the flash has made the middle of the flower glow beautifully.

Open Afternoon - Success!

We had fabulous weather for the Open Afternoon - we were so lucky! It was warm (probably about 23°) and the sun even showed itself at times.

We were pleased it was so well attended - there were about 80 visitors that I'm aware of.
We even had a group of people from Swindon join us, they just happened to be visiting Hungerford and followed the carrot arrows that we'd posted along the route from the High Street!
I was really pleased to see Bill Acworth again - he was on the council when the allotment site was first set up. Without him we'd never have our lovely site. He was impressed with the changes over the last couple of years and understands what an asset the site is to Hungerford. 

The burgers went down so well that we had to send out for more stock half way through the afternoon. Even all the veggie burgers were all sold!

The cream teas were also a great success; people had made cakes and scones for HAHA to sell and, of course, there was lovely home-made jam too.

Children were entertained with paper flower making and a questionnaire which meant they walked round the plots spotting certain veg and water butts, etc.

Some visitors spent a lot of time wandering through the site looking at the various methods we use for protecting our veggies and our growing techniques - that's why we always like to see what's going on on other plots too.

I was looking after the tombola and really enjoyed it. We had over 40 prizes, mostly donated, and with a 1-in-5 chance of winning all the tickets were gone by 3pm! (Next time we'll need more prizes). It was such good fun and when I did have a couple of breaks my sister stepped in to deal with customers - thanks Joanne!

The produce stall was well stocked and visitors went off with bagfuls of fresh veg and home-made pickles, jams and chutneys. A bit of a shame that Joanne bought the cabbage that we'd put on the stall - I would have given her a freebie :-)

Jamie was on standby to provide me with food and drinks and enjoyed chatting with other plotholders and visitors.

Now we are looking forward to holding more events like this in the future!

Marsh Lane Allotments Open Afternoon 2013

Have I mentioned the Open Afternoon on here? I don't think I have, though I have been talking about it a lot in real life! It's a little later in the year than intended, because of the lease extension and then time constraints of HAHA committee members but we're really hoping the weather will be reasonable - or, even better, SUNNY!

I'm going to be looking after the tombola/produce stall and am looking forward to it. Especially now that we have some gazebos to use, thanks to helpful plotholders and my sister :-)

So, next Saturday we're going to have a busy day tidying the site and making the communal areas look their best and then Sunday we'll hopefully have lots of visitors to see how great the allotment site is. There are going to be activities for children too including a 'Nature lotto' (allotment hunt) and paper flower making so they can be entertained along with the adults.

Hope to see you there and maybe a few more Hungerford locals will be inspired to get on the waiting list for a plot! Follow the carrots from the High Street to find the site :-)

Hedging Day

It was the first visit to the allotment for a week and it was a foggy start. The last week has been noticeably darker in the morning but I didn't think it was particularly cold. However, there had clearly been a frost - the squashes have definitely had it now.

Frosted squash

Something had enjoyed the last of our Rocky cucumbers! Not sure if it was a mouse or a slug - or a few of each!


Just hollowed-out skins left

We didn't do anything to our plot today (though I had intended to plant garlic) as it was a HAHA workday. And when the fog had cleared it was a lovely sunny day for it.
We cut back the hedging which was growing through the rabbit fencing and strimmed some of the overgrown communal areas. It was quite exhausting but a nice way to spend the day, though there was some guilt in cutting off the lovely rosehips and other berries - we left plenty for the birds though. It's been so wet recently that we got soaked by the dripping hedge but managed to finish all the way round the site.


Zoe and Alison

The brambles, hawthorn, ivy and other cuttings were piled onto the communal area and Jamie and I attempted to burn it...

Firestarter/Smoke breather

Unfortunately there was more smoke than fire and the wet green cuttings were really not wanting to burn so we've left the big pile to dry off for a bit (hopefully we'll get the Indian summer we've read about).

The barbecue was rather more successful and made for a welcome break for a chat - shame for the workers who couldn't stay for the grub though!

Happy Birthday...to me!

What a fantastic day! Blue sky all day long. We had a very lazy time on the plot - barbecue, sangria and beer - work wouldn't have been possible even if we'd wanted to (far too hot).
We started at about 11am, had a wander and a paddle in the river along from the marsh in the afternoon - sad to say I had to escape from the sun for a bit, just too much with no shade - my silly-looking hat didn't help much!

We went home at about 6pm then back up the plot for dusk and bat-detecting. There weren't many around, which was suprising as there were loads of moths on the air. But when we got our torch out we could see slugs and massive snails everywhere!! There were loads of little slugs inside most of our netted areas :-( That's the trouble with netting up to protect; it doesn't let the predators in to clear up... what we need is a pet hedgehog!

New moon

When we walked back under the railway bridge there were more bats than we saw by the plot - they were swooping under the bridge taking the moths that were hanging round the street light. They are lovely to see, but couldn't get any snaps of them.

A long barby afternoon

We spent all afternoon having a barbecue. It was such a lovely day, just perfect weather!

We had shallots and courgettes from the plot but had to buy tomatoes - ours have flowers and tiny tiny fruit but it'll be a while...
I was going to pick my first patty pan but will wait and maybe have that stuffed.