Looking Back

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable Christmas and that 2024 brings you plenty of good times as well as an extra day in February. I’m hoping that 2024 runs a bit slower than recent years, but we’ll see. Thankyou for dropping by occasionally and I hope you enjoy the music, here’s a brief look back over last year, with some fave photos and my book list at the end. Happy to receive any book or music suggestions of course!

January 

The first planting of the year was some Egyptian walking onions. Unfortunately, along with all my spring onions, the slugs enjoyed them. I’ll try again though!

It was a wet start to 2023 (we couldn’t know how wet the year was going to continue!). We had at least one super frost, although no snow. The cold nights gave us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

The allotment was providing us with carrots, Cavolo Nero and parsnips.

February 

Clearing and digging began in earnest as the ground dried up. We actually felt we were ahead of the game for a change.

And the Cavolo Nero kept providing - I think I’ll plant it again this year - and purple sprouting broccoli finally started producing the delicious flowerheads. A month later than 2022, but worth the wait.

March

Early March was when we got some snow. We had to get up in the wee hours to enjoy it; it (and we) didn’t hang around long.

Last year’s dried beans made for some tasty meals including these bean burgers, served with steamed purple sprouting broccoli - delish.

April

Finally time to start sowing most of the seeds that we’d ordered. Lots of different flowers for the flower plot were protected in the polytunnel. The chitted potatoes were also planted in the ground and a few in bags.

There was a mix of some warm weather among the wet and chillier days. April is a great allotment month, with lots of busy/chatty plotholders and plenty to catch up on, but thank goodness we have the polytunnel.

Along with the PSB, rhubarb and fresh chive flowers joined the meal plans.

May

Aah May! Still more to sow (including pre-germinated parsnips which were direct-sown) and so much growth with proper colour on the plots. The hedge full of flower and birds infuses a keen-ness to get tiny plants into the ground, but we hold off unless we have back-ups on hand.

It was a mostly sunny month so perfect for growing and working. OK, there was some rain but not altogether unwelcome.

We even started an early courgette in the polytunnel. It kept producing for months; we moved it outside in the Summer.

Delicious leeks were on the menu along with a few early strawberries.

June

It really was a flaming June - it was so sunny and beautiful, we thought it was a sign of a sweltering Summer, like last year, but that didn’t quite work out.

We saw bullfinches, a rosemary beetle and a previously unseen red and black froghopper, but even better were the plotholder gatherings!

And we enjoyed a sunny site Open Day.

Salads were getting more interesting with delicious broad beans, mangetout and radish.

July

Nia provided us with the sweetcorn plants as most of ours had failed to germinate and the watering regime was hard work …initially…

And then the rain came and everyone cheered, but the polytunnel still needed watering…

And the rain carried on for a bit too long, but we all agreed that the plants were certainly enjoying it.

And you can’t have lovely trugfuls and platefuls of veggies without some help with the watering!

August

There was more rain, more sun and more allotment events.

Sadly we said happy 95th birthday to my mum and later in the month said goodbye to her for the last time.

Remembering happy times on holiday and her love of gardening through our own flower patch now.

A bumper bed of leeks were planted as our seedlings had grown well this year.

Harvests continued to include asparagus pea, courgettes, salad, potatoes and beets.

September 

Extreme temperatures arrived along with our late beans. We had to buy runner bean plants as ours refused to germinate, but the borlotti and French beans grew well on the tunnel frame.

Super-harvest month! Most of the borlotti beans and yin-Yang beans were left to dry on the plants and then finished their drying in the polytunnel. The weather was perfect for it.

The Scabiosa Stellata produced their pretty seedheads and other flowers were putting on a fine show of late Summer colour.

Apart from beans, potatoes, salad we had sweetcorn, aubergine and peppers on the menu.

October

A few sunny days encouraged the last of the flowers to bloom ahead of the first frosts and we even had a barbecue! And we managed to sow our broad beans as intended.

As well as frost there was a lot more rain as the first Winter storms arrived. We got off lightly compared to other areas, but still completely drenching. 

Luckily our pumpkins were stored in the polytunnel by then and all the sweetcorn and beans had been harvested.

Sweetcorn, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, leeks and pumpkin were on the menu.

November

Yet another rainy month, so a very soggy plot for occasional visits and manure deliveries. 

Surprisingly we’ grown good parsnips this year; all the rain hasn’t caused canker and although some are multi-legged ones they’re tasty and some are very big. Much better than our attempts in recent years.

Squash, beetroot, parsnips and carrots provided meal ingredients.

December 

So here we are another year has flown by with happy and sad times to reflect on. 

Plans are in progress, with fruit trees waiting in the polytunnel and seed catalogues on hand. The weather is wet but warm so weeds are taking over, but we’ll get to them one dry day quite soon…

The nights are shortening and there are signs of Spring bulbs to look forward to. In the meantime we’ll continue enjoying our Christmas and new year celebrations. 

I have two new ‘My Favourite Books’ as a result of this year’s reading list: 

I realise I’m late to reading ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, after all it’s 85 years old, but it is amazing and sadly poignant in today’s world. Definitely worth a re-read in my opinion. 

And the ‘The Murmur of Bees’ is so beautifully translated from the original Spanish. With a touch of magic I found it totally absorbing and delightful.

Happy new year and thankyou for popping by 🙂

Song title provided by Keane.

You’re Wondering Now

Another year gone, passing quickly aren’t they! Looking back I can see that it was a pretty good one. Here’s my summary of 2022, including my book list, for me and for you if you like 😊

January

A cold, wet start to the year but we did start some plot clearance and enjoyed a bit of wildlife watching. There was even a bit of snow, but too wet to properly settle.

First harvests of the year were Purple sprouting broccoli, carrots and leeks.

	This was a great little story, quirky and fun. I was drawn in by the cover.
	This thriller was hard to put down, although none of the characters were likeable, even the ‘good’ ones who weren’t really that good.
	I would have enjoyed at least another 100 pages of this book! A fascinating look into the lives of the characters and of the generally less good side of South Korea.

February

Storm Eunice caused a lot of damage at the end of the month, with several trees down in the area and the usual debris gathered at the corner of the allotment site - including Ivan’s whole polytunnel!

There were also some lovely blue sky days to enjoy and the Wildlife plot got a bit of a makeover with signs and stepping stones.

The wildlife camera showed us who had been sharing the pumpkin which we left out. Mostly mice and this squirrel plus a very interested cat. I had my 4th Covid jab and though I hoped for a good reaction, I was happy to remain working from home.

	I really enjoyed this book though I struggled a bit initially (I usually read fiction). Living in the area covered in the book enhanced the passion of returning to old haunts and stirred up forgotten memories. It’s certainly heartfelt and encourages the reader to get back out there and make the most of the natural world, while we still can.
	The characters were interesting, I was glad of the Principle Characters list so I could keep checking it. Although I enjoyed the breakout of each character I was surprised that we didn’t return to them a bit more and some of them were more standalone than I’d expected. The Russian setting added another layer of interest

March

British Summer Time brought some lovely warm temperatures but there were cold nights and a chilling breeze at times. We found frogspawn in a puddle so added a tiny pond to the wildlife plot. Within the month we had fully fledged tadpoles!

We re-located our bench to the back of our plot near our little pond. Hoping to be surrounded by flowers later in the year.

A usual March with lots of weed clearing and time spent showing new plotholders around.

	I usually enjoy a du Maurier tale. The setting was lovely and some of the characters were interesting but I was disappointed with the ending in particular.
	A beautiful setting, nice characters, lots of tasty sounding food and wine and the story was okay.

April

Aah, April! Sowing began in earnest, hot days but cold nights. Very few showers reached Marsh Lane, although clouds regularly threatened.

And a frog moved in to the new pond on the Wildlife plot - give them water and they will come 🐸

Jamie bought a small tumbler composter, but it wasn’t as successful as it claimed it would be…

I wasn’t sure I wanted to read this, but I’m glad I did. It’s weird feeling so sorry for Chrissie, who was so evil. I think a chapter by her mother would have been interesting as she is even worse than the murdering daughter. Or perhaps the father should have a chapter too - how awful was he?! With so many horrible characters it’s a surprisingly good read.

Such a moving story. Too sad that it’s happening in the real world of today. The story left me wondering so much about the other people left behind whether in Athens, Syria or going through the UK immigration process. And now, thinking how these broken people could now go through this hellish journey only to arrive here and be flown off to Rwanda for processing… It's appalling that so much depends on the luck of where we happen to be born.

May

It was a mainly dry month and we had some lovely hot days to enjoy around the bank holidays - perfect, we even had a barbecue and on that day we watched a nest of great tits fledge - such a delight to see! We also saw a swarm of bees resting in a blackcurrant bush - that caused a stir on site!

Ivan’s irises produced a stunning display and new growth is making the site look very appealing to more new plotholders.

And HAHA joined in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations by decorating a tree in the High Street.

I discovered how tasty bean burgers are using home-dried bean stocks as well as the usual bean stews. And finally a few beet thinnings to harvest as the PSB was over.

	I quite enjoyed this time-travelling book, but I think the story telling wasn’t to my liking. Although there was a lot of sadness it didn’t touch me as much as I feel it should have and, for that, I blame the writing style.
	I read another review which hated the final line and I fully understand why; it just didn't seem necessary. It had interesting, though mostly sad characters and I enjoyed picking up on the 3 generations but I need something a bit more cheerful to read next. If you want to read a book about a child-killing-child(!) then I found The First Day of Spring to be more thought-provoking.

June

It was a great growing month with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures (even reaching 30°). There were some good showers but mostly watering provided by us during glorious early morning visits. June was also the month when proper harvests started to arrive with broad bean salads with mangetout, radish and tiny beets. Chinese Dragon radish are my go-to for radish after this year’s excellent results.

And we had lots of froglets in the Wildlife plot pond! And the wild flowers are really putting on a lovely show with the teasels providing interest at every visit - discovered they are carnivorous with little ponds in their leaf joints.

I enjoyed two social events - the first proper socials sine COVID arrived: HAHA stall at the Jubilee event and a HAHA Work Day.

I really thought this was a good read. Such a terrible journey from Acapulco to America and such great characters. I particularly loved the little characteristics of Luca and would read another Jeanine Cummins book.

July

Phew, what a hot, dry month. So much watering required, but the early morning plot visits really were a joy.

And, with temperatures reaching 37°, you need to keep on watering!

And the amazing news - England won the Euros! The women’s team achieved it, such great scenes of a fantastic team!

It was so hot and dry people were tending to have early mornings or evening visits. It was beautiful and Colin did an updated drone video for us which shows the lovely growing plots compared to the dried paths.

Courgettes began to play a major role in our meals along with potatoes, lettuce, patty pan, runner beans, carrots and garlic.

	Definitely gripping and thrilling. Had a few issues with the ability and confidence of Mirabelle given her upbringing, but it didn’t spoil the need to keep reading.
	I loved this book set in Nazi Germany. Death’s narration was entertaining and added interest. The characters were beautiful.
	An easy read. Zipping back and forth between the 80s and today kept it interesting. A bit twee for my taste but ok for a holiday-type read.

August

August came with a Met Office extreme heat warning and it didn’t disappoint - it reached 38° on the plot and plants were flagging or bolting as the ground dried up so quickly. 

The pumpkin matured far quicker than it should have and the beans had a short life this year though the borlotti were prolific.

HAHA had a lovely picnic where prizes were given out to Jenny and Zoe for best plot and the tallest sunflower (3.51m).

What an amazing month and what relief when we had a torrential downpour and the site sighed.

French beans, cucumbers and tomatoes joined the other veg in the trugs.

	Zimbabwe and London this was an interesting book based on the sadness and trauma of domestic abuse. The trial demonstrated how domestic abuse is considered in different countries. The characters were well defined and any irritation with Diara, and Sophia, was forgiven by their back stories.
	Phew. That was a harder read than I expected. The characters were interesting but Heathcliff was so awful. I didn’t expect that. And young Linton, ugh. I know he was abused horribly but what a wimp, he really got on my nerves! Even Catherine (the elder) wasn’t a nice character.

September

A month that felt like Autumn had arrived in the early morning visits but then Summer returned for enjoyable plot days. No blight this year nor many slugs.

Always a great harvesting month including our very own delicious home-grown outdoor Mangomel melons and plenty of squashes.

The time came for my 5th COVID jab. Boris Johnson eventually resigned as Prime Minister and incredibly (not in a good way) Liz Truss took over…

The zinnias continued to put on a fabulous display and I got some decent photos of a Hummingbird hawk moth on the Wildlife plot. It was a very good year for spotting these amazing moths.

Sweetcorn, pak choi, peppers, Honeyboat squash and melon were new goodies to be taking home from the plot.

I was drawn to this because of the Tenerife link, though there was less Tenerife than I’d expected. It was a good read with excitement, intrigue and a bit of romance. There was a bit too much detail at times but overall I enjoyed it.

October

Our first proper frost arrived on 11th October! What a shock when the rest of the month was quite reasonable with plenty of Autumn sunshine. The zinnias and various other plants couldn’t recover from the -2.8° temperature. 

Less of a shock was that we got another Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, after the embarrassingly short and appallingly costly few weeks of Liz Truss.

The final courgettes were harvested before the frost came and tomatoes and peppers were taken home to ripen. I created my first ‘mini planet’ of the site.

And my first ever batch of rosehip jelly - note to self, use bigger rosehips if possible.

The frost stopped the courgette production line but Cavolo Nero appeared along with masses of tomatoes and butternut squash.

	This was such an emotional read through the generations. I did get a bit confused with the characters and should have kept a closer eye on the family tree, but I really enjoyed each chapter covering a different individual and their joys and, too many, troubles. It made me sad, but the end of the book made me happy
	I couldn’t put this down. All through I was wanting people to tell the things that were left untold. Beautiful and so sad. I really like the way Celeste Ng tells a tale and her characters are perfect.

November

Two pieces of bad news hit the site - idiot vandals and a greedy housing developer.

We tried not to let it get to us and we’ll continue with site as we have for the last 13 years. And some good news - I actually grew some quite decent parsnips! Not many, but enough to enjoy.

 And we had a HAHA Autumn Work Party with a welcome bonfire.

It was an extremely wet month, we weren’t used to it this year. Our first parsnips went home.

I wouldn’t call it Science fiction because their isn’t enough of the science in it. It’s more of a social commentary on people who happen to live in a sort-of alternative universe. I would have enjoyed a bit more from the characters, but maybe that’s the point… maybe they couldn’t achieve ‘more’. It left me thinking, which always makes me consider it a well-written story and it also left me a bit sad, though I did enjoy reading it.

Twisty turny. It’s him! No, it’s her! No, it’s her! No, him … on and on till ohhhh

December

After that very wet November, the Arctic blast arrived! Wow, what beauty in that rime ice which formed due to the freezing fog.

The temperature dropped below -10.2° on a couple of nights but no snow for us and it was mostly rainy/grey and mild for the rest of the month.

And then Christmas came and went with some lovely pressies, including these interesting books which I’ll be delving into in 2023.

Brussels sprouts appeared on our Christmas harvest list.

And here are the last books I’ve read this year, though I’ve just started another Kevin Wilson one, so it seems he’ll be first on my reading list for 2023 as well.

	**spoiler alert** Great location in the Kentucky mountains, interesting characters and an unexpected courtroom drama. Maybe it was rather ‘and they all lived happily after’ but I’m glad!
	Wow, the lead character made a lot of poor choices in this story. Clearly used to being on the outside he didn’t fit in and it seemed like he didn’t want to, though I think he just couldn’t. Even when offered decent things, he couldn’t appreciate it and didn’t respond as expected which caused upset. Definitely a story to leave you thinking…
	A tiny little Christmas story filled with kindness and extreme sadness, especially as it's based on fact

Song title provided by The Specials as in 2022 we said goodbye to so many, including the great Terry Hall. Now we’re ready for 2023 and I wonder what is has in store for us…. HAPPY NEW YEAR!