Heat Waves

Oh, I know I’ve moaned a lot about the weather over the last 6 months or so; too cold, too wet, too windy but the last 3 days really have been too hot! Even for me, a Sun worshipper. The early mornings are so beautiful and not too exhausting to carry watering cans around.

A few of us had an early-ish session on the roundabout on Sunday morning, before it got too sweltering.

It’s just about complete now, though Nia wants to fill a few spots. There are two outside rings of seed - calendula and cornflower. We’re away for a couple of weeks soon so I hope when we return it’ll be a mass of flowers… it would be helpful to have a few downpours.

We waited for storms yesterday; we could hear thunder nearby but it seems that a fierce storm emptied all the rain over Wiltshire and didn’t reach Berkshire, at least not Hungerford - shame, but the building clouds were impressive.

Watering is an unavoidable chore at the moment, the tomatoes are happy in the polytunnel but germination of our beans seems slow (nearly 2 weeks, though we’ve now seen that some have germinated but not appeared above ground yet). We decided to buy some dwarf bean and runner bean plants yesterday. If the sowed beans also grow then that’ll be a bonus. It feels like there’s too much bare earth showing at the moment, but it is only May so I think I’m being impatient.

The runner bean plants we bought are Painted Lady which are a red and white flowered variety.  As it happens we’ve just started seeing Painted Lady butterflies on site, they’re very pretty and quite large but I haven’t managed to get a photo yet. I did capture this lovely Small Copper butterfly that was in the polytunnel. Wasps will eat them if they stay in there so we always release them.

And this impressive male thick-legged flower beetle was on one of the perennial pot plants - it eats pollen so doesn’t cause any damage. No points for guessing how he got his name!

There are masses of bees and other flying insects about. They really love the purple thyme flowers but this bumblebee was determined to get something from this pretty poppy.

We’ve been waiting to see the great tits fledge - the parents have been so attentive. Taking turns to take grubs and caterpillars back to their nest in that storage area. They’ve not minded us working around them. The great tit is in that photo.

Here’s a little video where the parent flapping its wings seems to be encouraging the young to exit but then the other parent takes some food down to the nest. When we went back in the afternoon there was no sight of them so it seems we missed the little ones actually fledging, but it’s been nice watching the parents over the last few weeks.

The flower plot is looking pretty with pink verbascum, white valerian, blue Nigella and red poppies providing scent and colour. 

These wild poppies are so delicate and pretty but the flowers don’t last a day. Other seedlings are emerging but no flowers yet.

We were amazed to see that the remains of the tagetes French marigolds which were completely frosted and brown have actually re-grown! Good job I was lazy and didn’t bother pulling them! I definitely thought they were dead. 

Monday was incredibly hot - the hottest May Day on record, it was certainly about 32/33° on the plot and Jamie and I had a barbecue <phew>. We did start quite late in the afternoon and stayed till the Sun was about to set. It was so lovely, mostly staying in the shade and just enjoying the lovely warmth in between cooking.

I lay on the grass at one point, it was quite nice and cooling and provides a different view of the world, although it was rather itchy. Aah, just look at that beautiful blue sky.

My next post will probably be about Tenerife, unless something dramatic happens during our final plot visits this week….

The song title is thanks to The Glass Animals as the heatwave continues. 

Green Fields

The last week has thrown all kinds of weather at us including frost, gales, rain and even hail. In between the showers, and sheltered from the wind, the Sun has provided some welcome warmth. The English countryside really is looking its best with shiny new green leaves and lush grass.

Nights have gone cold, down to -3° outside the polytunnel so we’ve kept the potatoes covered and the remaining perennials in pots are covered with enviromesh. The pumpkin on Plot3 is also wrapped in fleece and the tomatoes and other seedlings remain protected in the polytunnel.

I did forget to protect 6 French marigolds which I bought at a plant sale - 3 of those caught the frost so I’ll have to plant some other flowers along that front edge - I have calendula seedlings so they should be okay. The leek seedlings have finally appeared and the Oasis turnips germinated within a week. I helped out at the HAHA plant stall at the Hungerford Food & Artisan market last Sunday where I had donated some rudbeckia and other perennials. It was so cold but surprisingly busy and I was pleased to find an aubergine plant to buy. 

Luckily Saturday afternoon was warm and dry as Jamie and I attended the Newbury Spring Festival parade. We bought camping chairs as all the benches were occupied and Jamie needed to sit - sitting in chairs in Newbury’s Main Street! Our younger selves would have died of shame, but we’re over that now 😊

It was enjoyable watching all the people and listening to the music waiting for the band mistress to arrive - just look at her! 

And apart from daily plot visits we’ve had a couple of trips out into the countryside - a lovely spot for lunch on the ridgeway, Court Hill Centre where we had a clear view of the Oxfordshire countryside around us.

And yesterday we had a marvellous afternoon tea at Littlecote House to celebrate Ivan’s 92nd(!) birthday.

We had a lovely time. Jamie and I haven’t been to Littlecote House for a few years and it’s interesting to be able to wander freely round the 16th century building. 

The site has changed a bit since I first visited on a school trip about 50 years ago. It’s been extended to include new buildings as it’s a Warner Holidays hotel - but it seems to have been tastefully done and the grounds are so beautiful.

The weather was sunshine and showers all afternoon - we had to hide at one point as the wind was so strong, and cold.

Apart from the house and hotel, Littlecote is famous for its Roman villa, with an exceptional restored mosaic. It’s really special to see though we only had a quick stop yesterday after a long afternoon of walking and eating.

At home we are noticing a lot of nature in our small courtyard at the moment - sparrows, blue tits and blackbirds have nearby nests and one evening we experienced hedgehogs performing a mating ritual which was surprisingly loud until they were distracted by a bemused cat! And we have a Tree bumblebee nest in our porch - they are very active and it’s interesting watching them go to and fro. The most we’ve seen together is 7. They won’t be causing any damage and will die off in a couple of months.

We’ll go to the allotment later though it’s still rather cold and damp with more rain forecast. I’d like to do some potting on and planting though there’s still a couple more nights at risk from frost.

The song is provided by The Beverley Sisters - a golden oldie, my mum had the single with the Skye Boat Song on the B-side - I do love it. Enjoy ☺️ but it may bring a tear to your eye.

A Matter of Time

That dark sky threatening our sunny High Street has been rather a feature this week. The sunshine has been blighted with heavy hailstorms and wind. The chilly temperatures have brought frosts and we’ve fleeced up the tiny plants in the polytunnel. Our plot visits have been rather short but I managed to complete the digging in one area - it’s always satisfying to see - it’ll be worked again as that’s where the spuds will be planted in a few weeks.

I’ve hoed and weeded the ‘orchard’ and the raised bed - I’m probably going to put some more herbs in so it’s a full herb garden and I also need to think about using them a bit more… 

At the moment these are growing. I’ll need to keep them trimmed, especially the sage, but it’ll be good if they fill out more.

We’ve sown a small row of carrots (Nantes) and salad leaf in the polytunnel raised beds. The plan is to be harvesting them before the tomatoes/peppers are growing. I’m pleased to say there is room for Jamie and me to shelter in the polytunnel- we’ve needed it this week!

I dug up the row of parsnips from last year - they had regrowth so I wasn’t expecting them to be much good, though they made a pretty good spicy soup - a bit too salty but we have to blame the chef, rather than the veg for that! I’m clearly a bit out of practice.

On Friday we attended a ‘Quiz & Curry Night’ with some allotment buddies. Delicious veg and chick pea curry for the vegetarians. We did reasonably well in the quiz, which was very well attended - fundraising for the Wetland Reserve project, which now has planning permission, so that’s an exciting addition for Hungerford!

Thanks to Forbes for the photo

Can you see us in the photo? We’re the ones waving at Forbes, the photographer 😊. It was a fun evening and we won this marvellous raffle prize of “Greek treats”! And Ivan won the auction for a fabulous hamper of goodies - we’ll be sharing much of that one sunny day soon we hope!

That’s all for now, hoping to get a bit more plot-time over the coming week, which marks 2 months since I retired. I must admit, it doesn’t feel too different (yet), though I have forgotten everything about my job 🤭 The song title is provided by The Killers in acknowledgment of the clocks changing to ‘British Summer Time’ today.

Angels and Stars

We’ve had an enjoyable month on the run-up to Christmas.

We’ve had a Christmas meal with allotment friends, which was a lot of fun! (That’s the only mention of the allotment in this post!)

We went to the Hungerford Victorian Extravaganza and had a cheerful time 🤭

We attended an adaptation of A Christmas Carol in our Town Hall - it was performed by 4 people and was very good with some beautiful singing. I hope to see something else by This is My Theatre next year.

There have been a few very clear, cold nights between the rain and we were lucky to spot a few shooting stars of the Geminid meteor shower, without particularly planning it, which is always the best way to see them. 

We’re having our bathroom converted so have been staying at the Bear Hotel across the road for a few days on and off. The work has disrupted our Christmas prep but we’ve really enjoyed our little ‘holiday’ and it’s so friendly and Christmassy over there.

The Bear is an old coaching inn dating back to the 13th century with a history of famous visitors including King Charles 1, William of Orange and Laurel & Hardy!

We’ve stayed in a couple of different rooms over the last couple of weeks and it’s been handy to nip back home to work in the mornings but I’ve finished for Christmas now - woohoo!

We’ve had our delicious Christmas Eve breakfast over there and now we’re back home, while the bathroom is just being finished. This is the festive breakfast room, but you can’t see the lovely buffet and cooked breakfasts on offer!

We’ve visited relatives and distributed pressies, cards and wreaths to some no longer amongst us - so I’ll wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and SEASONS GREETINGS until the 2025 review, which should include a few allotment photos! Here’s a beautiful angel from the cemetery.

And that ties in nicely with the song title - enjoy 🎄

Hung Up

I finally used the macrame kit my sister gave me a while ago (sorry Carolyn, I think it’s been used as a monitor stand for a few years 🤦‍♀️). I must say it was rather fiddly and I did have to unravel the plant hangers a couple of times. I definitely didn’t follow the instructions properly but they look alright and no-one will look that closely 🙂 Anyway, they’re perfect for that little plant and a re-homed spider-baby plus I bought the white pot for 50p from the Antiques Arcade in Hungerford - bargain!

While I was getting into knots, I grew an affinity with this (not so) little lady Cross Orbweaver spider weaving her web on our window. (I could have done with some extra limbs for the macramé). Sorry for the blurry photo, taken through double-glazing - no way I’m getting close even if we did bond! I’m not a spider fan, but she is fascinating to watch. She sleeps under a leaf and waits for the day to warm up a bit before fixing her web and sitting waiting for anything to cause a vibration, then she’s up and on them. She spent a long time dealing with a leaf; I’m not sure if she ate it or tossed it aside but I did see her deal with a butterfly, which was rather disturbing.

Since my last post the weather has turned dry and cold - especially overnight. I picked all the outdoor melons as the foliage had died back and a frost was threatened - I’m hoping one or two of them will ripen at home. The melon in the trug was from the polytunnel and was so ripe you could smell the sweetness. And it was delicious.

And finally I’ve had some beetroot - so incredibly slow to bulb up this year. I’m trying to blame the weather but I know I should have thinned out the seedlings earlier - along with so many jobs that didn’t get done properly this year, but…. Plot7 did win third prize in the plot judging, I think maybe there wasn’t much competition!

On the last sunny day a week ago I planted 48 Snowball onions - lovely white ones. I put a net over them to deter birds/mice/squirrels from digging them out. The leeks and onions are going to be joined by garlic quite soon and the whole bed is going to be highlighted with salsify judging by the number of seedlings I found. Well, they have a pretty flower, so I don’t mind as long as they don’t get in the way and perhaps I’ll actually get to eat one next year.

I think plot neighbour, Neal’s, busy Lizzie’s are evidence that there was some frost on site, but it’s only hit a few susceptible plants so far.

Our flower plot avoided it and even got some nicotiana which has been attempting to put on a show for months. 

And I do love the Cerinthe Major and the sedum which the bees were enjoying today too.

Our scattered sunflowers have taken advantage of what little Sun they’ve seen over the last week but they didn’t know where to look for it today!

The sunshine and showers earlier in the month have encouraged everything to re-grow - this was a bare patch of earth 4 weeks ago, now it’s a whole bed of nigella, valerian, cranesbill geranium, bindweed and probably a few other things - some welcome, others less so… I’ve been hoeing quite a bit but I think that’s just helping the seedlings, until the weather gets really cold - which I don’t really want!

So from that green foliage to the lovely colourful chard - it seems to have enjoyed the raised bed after a dodgy start. It’s so pretty - I just wish Jamie liked the taste of it 😊

We’ve just passed the Autumn equinox now so the days are getting shorter. Pull those curtains and snuggle in, surely all the fruits and berries mean we’re in for a hard Winter…. Brrr, we’ll see…

Here’s Madonna, it’s a singalong- enjoy!