Outside

Day 1 of lockdown - I've started again because yesterday we went for a walk (yay!) - at 4:00 in the morning to see the sunrise and listen to the birds.

It was wonderful! Walking through the dewy grass. Mist was rising from the canal and over Freeman's Marsh.

The birds were singing their dawn chorus - Jamie recorded this outside the allotment gates. I can recognise a crow and a pigeon(!). Can you recognise other singers in there?

We saw a muntjac deer, lots of rabbits and didn't have to practice any social distancing as there was no-one else out.

I got to see the measures in place to restrict the spread of covid-19:

the 2metre line markings on the pavements, sanitisation stations in the Co-Op and lots of warning signs.

So that was a lovely start to a 5-day break from work.

Jamie visited the allotment last week to bring some compost home to pot on the tomato and peppers. He enjoyed catching up with so many of our friends on the site and he took a few photos.
Look how dry the earth is! We really need a bit of rain!

Clearly this is Plot3 which Neal hasn't dug - thank goodness his kind work means that Plot7 doesn't look like this too. The photo shows the lovely netted cage that we put up last year - now protecting thistles and dandelions!

Our pond is certainly a haven for wildlife this year - there is a pond with a frog in there, honest!

I used some of the compost Jamie brought home to sow some micro-greens. They're under our red/blue grow-light. We've not tried them before, so quite interesting and they've sprouted in about 24hours. And Jamie's sown a couple of Tosca courgettes.

We're seeing the occasional plane fly over, but nothing like before, no wonder the air is so much clearer.

So now I have a few days to relax and it's so warm and sunny. The song is provided by George Michael.

The Prince

Two visits to the plot this weekend. It was quite chilly but no horrible wind and today was one of the brighter days that we've so far had this January so we actually sat down, with a coffee in my pretty flask which I got for Christmas (Thanks Cathy!), to plan and listen to the birds.

Showing off my fancy nail varnish

There are too many robins in our hedge; they're all getting very stroppy with each other - you may not be able to see too well in this photo, but I assure you, three is definitely a crowd!

Yesterday we collected the frame for a new cage that we're having on Plot3 this year. Geoff, our outgoing HAHA chairman, is moving away so kindly offered us the cage at a bargain price. We just need to work out how to put it together now :-) It's about 2mx4m and tall enough that we can walk in it - which should mean that we look after our brassicas a bit better.

Our purple sprouting broccoli have been sprouting for several weeks but the effort of getting access to the plants means that we haven't eaten any yet - what a waste! They are so delicious. Yesterday I chopped back the flowering tips so they should produce some more tasty buds for us to actually eat this time.

It was a very wet day yesterday and the ground was so soggy we didn't hang round for long, but the walk back home was quite pleasant, as all the catkins and snowdrops are out and are so pretty.

Today we've planned a few things and I cleared a few bits and put green/brown waste into the compost bins. There's masses to do, but when the sky is blue and the birds are singing their little hearts out sometimes you just have to sit and listen - the ash tree by our plot was alive with song (I think it was goldfinches).

Now we're home and I'm cooking soup - with about a quarter of the Crown Prince squash that's been stored in the greenhouse all Winter.

I'll have to take some excess chunks to work but I am intending to have roast squash for dinner tomorrow. It's flavoured with leek, a little chilli, garlic powder and multi-coloured peppercorns from Tenerife.

I left it cooking long enough so that the squash completely softened, no need to blitz it - I just squashed the squash. I made too much, what a shame, I've had to eat a bowl of it now - yum yum :-) I've just remembered how I had to throw away my last Crown Prince soup - I roasted it that time. This time it really is delicious.

The song is by Madness and obviously is about the squash. I haven't decided if I'm growing big squash again this year...we'll see.

Cold Cold Cold

Well the north wind did blow and we did get a dusting of snow (although some may call it sleet). It wasn't enough to have fun in but it made the rooftops look pretty.

The old Hungerford Fire Station - 'Hungerford Volunteer Fire Brigade' from 1910.

We avoided being outside too much today by going to Wantage to buy our seed potatoes - Charlton Park Garden Centre is great because they sell individual tubers for 17p each. And there are so many varieties to choose from...

We opted for Orla, Kestrel, Chopin, Desiree and Burgundy Red - most will be grown in bags. We don't grow masses nowadays. When we first took on the allotment we grew 2 full rows, but we don't store them and there were far too many.

Yesterday we stayed on the plot for a little while so Jamie cleaned the bird bath and I cleared old pots in the greenhouse. This is a little video of a bird singing - well, it's the sound of a great tit but I couldn't actually spot the bird and had to look up the song when I got home - you can see the snow though :-)

The bulbs are making their way up through the soil. The garlic I planted last month are being pulled up by birds so each visit I have to push them back into the ground. They'll be fine though once the roots get a grip in the ground.

We visited the plot twice this weekend - to feed the birds and pick some veg. We've taken the netting off the sprouts now, so the pigeons will probably clear the plants off and the blackbirds and thrushes can clear away any under the plants to clear any pests that the cold temperatures haven't killed off. (Fingers crossed)

Today's song title is very apt and is provided by 'Cage the Elephant'.

Cold Nights

Lucky we covered up; the temperature hit zero in the small hours of Thursday. We saw a bit of frost-burn around the site but nothing too devastating ~apart from for those people who had dared to put their runners out  :-(

The temperatures for Thursday night were forecast to be about 4° so we decided to be brave and leave the strawberries uncovered. At least one seed of each squash variety has germinated and so have some sprouts and cabbages but still no sign of either variety of runner bean. And I think a mouse may have eaten all the peas that I sowed, there are some strange markings on the soil...

Cold sunset

We were chatting with Malcolm and listening to a cuckoo when Paul drew our attention to a barn owl flying gracefully across the site. So lovely to see! We've never seen one on site before. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready, but I did (just about) manage to snap it later as we walked home across Freemans Marsh. It had been flying around for a while and then rested on a fence post.

 

April Showers Stopped Play

Jamie braved some very heavy showers this afternoon to dig some more of Plot 8B.
It's definitely feeling Spring-like today and so I thought a pic of Alison's daffodils was appropriate for this post. They're the first flowers growing on-site each year and are a very welcome sight as you enter the gate.

Here is an example of some of the nightmare stones we uncover on Marsh Lane! I think this is the one that made Jamie realise it was hometime! Well, I did say we hadn't dug plot 8 very well last year!!

I only popped up to meet Jamie after work. There had just been a really heavy shower and the birds were singing their little hearts out! (Turn your volume up, but sorry for the sound of Friday night traffic on the A4 in the background!)