Drouth

Drouth: Scots word meaning "a terrible thirst"

And that describes my allotment plot.

It also described me the day after D and I went out for our anniversary...! Oh, it was a GOOD night. In a dress for once, as I spend my life in jeans, we went (First Class!) to Glasgow and to a wine bar for Champagne! A wine bar!!

To let you understand, D is an old rocker, long hair, tattoos, a penchant for loud rock music and so when we go out we invariably go to a rock pub where the music is good but the wine is like vinegar... And I have to say I am a terribly conservative drinker and about the only alcoholic thing I'll drink is Chardonnay and I am fairly particular (read snobby) about what kind of Chardonnay at that. Now, when we're in the USA or Canada, their range of Chardonnays is phenomenal (I discovered Okanagan Valley Chardonnays a year ago in Canada and was just blown away by how delicious they were), and so I am spoiled for choice whenever we go there. In Scotland though, unless you're in an actual wine bar, you only get offered red or white wine, or if you ask for Chardonnay, they usually just give you the house Pinot Grigio and it's pretty grim stuff.

But, sorry, enough of my drinking habits, we had Champagne! And then, after a few glasses we yomped (that is another feature of nights out with D, walking miles) to a fish restaurant where we were thrilled that our waitress was from Minnesota and chatted to her for a while about places to visit at some point, and then enjoyed a sensational meal.

Back to the wine bar for more Champagne and then train back and to bed.

A really wonderful night out, but the next day... We were droothy neeboors* indeed!

And, despite the amount of rain we've had, the allotment is still dry as dust. It's just so strange. HOWEVER, and I'll pause here for a fanfare, we have growth! Seedlings making a tentative appearance! I have resorted to plastic bottles covering as many seedlings as I can, especially the turnips and peas.

Talking of peas, have a look at this picture.

See the nibbles around the edge of it? I'm guessing it's mice. I don't really grudge them, they were there first, but you know, I'd quite like to give the seedlings a chance so at least for their first few leaves I'll cover them up.

This is how the allotment is looking just now. It's getting there but taking it's time, and I think the funny weather has a lot to do with it. It rained a LOT yesterday but I still had to water the plot because the wind was so strong it just dried the ground out again almost instantly.

Anyway, at least it's a lot less weed-y than it was thanks to hours spent after work on my hands and knees! I don't mind weeding like that actually as it gives me a chance to really see how things are doing.

We took some chard the other day for a chicken, tomato, bacon and cream dish, and it was really lovely, cooked down a treat, and added some gorgeous colour. It's chard ruby-lights so there are some of the plants that glow like a light's being shone through them.

Gorgeous.

More allotmenteering this weekend as we plan on constructing big tunnel-like structures for the brassicas so hopefully it'll stay dry and calm enough for us to put them up.

Tonight though, to celebrate Friday and the fact that D is in Glasgow to see a band, I have a bottle of wine, something lovely for dinner planned, Downton Abbey on Blu Ray, and I'm all set.

Enjoy your weekend, whatever you end up doing :-)




*Droothy neeboors - from Robert Burns' "Tam O'Shanter"

Neighbours

I spent some time today at the Allotment (between walking my parents' dog every few hours, ferrying hubby to the train station, feeding and cleaning cats and hens) cutting out the limp and blackened foliage which was frost-damaged. There are, thankfully, healthy green shoots coming through on the potatoes, but I fear the courgettes may be terminal...

Our allotment neighbour on the other side made a rare appearance today. Poor couple, they're busy with home and garden commitments and haven't really got the time to deal with preparing an allotment for planting. I'd had my suspicions about the yellowing colour of their weeds and they said to me today that they had been spraying weedkiller on their plot as they hadn't time to really weed :-( I admit I'm disappointed - they did this last year and I can't help but think that if they're so pushed for time they have to resort to weedkiller... I'm also concerned that some of the weedkiller might contaminate my plot. I don't put chemicals on my plot, or garden for that matter, and though it's time consuming and back-breaking work, all weeding is done by hand. I like being able to reassure people to whom I give veg/ fruit to that there are no artificial chemicals used and it's as organic as I can manage (though it wouldn't meet, say, the Soil Association criteria because it's on previously used farmland - and of course because our allotment neighbour uses weedkiller...)

I've told you about the shed at our Allotment haven't I? Because our neighbour across the path had decided not to put up a shed, ours stood exposed to the full fury of the North and Westerly gales, and given that 60mph winds are fairly routine, even in summer, with gusts to 70mph and beyond also being fairly frequent, our poor shed took a fair battering. Once we were able to go back in February to see the damage the Cailleach had caused, we saw that the shed had been blown backwards, and off its plinth. Consequently it had a rather jaunty listing to one side, and there was a knack to opening the door: standing at one side of the shed and pushing it so it (temporarily) righted itself and the door could be hauled open.

When I was engaged in the act of shoving the shed, John, one of our allotment neighbours on one side, stood with mouth agape at the palaver. He came over to investigate and see if there was anything he and his trusty electric hammer drill/screwdriver thing could do. When he was sliding planks of wood under the shed to balance it out, another plot-holder we're friendly with, Jack, a retired joiner, came over to see what was going on and before I could demur effectively, they were both tackling the problem of the shed and how to rectify it.

Half an hour later, our shed is elevated up a few inches, but thanks to the judicial positioning of some planks, a "bracing" on one corner, and some other jiggery-pokery, it is now level and stable and the door can be opened and closed easily. The bits of the shed that had come loose because of the warping, have been securely screwed back into place.

Jack, bless him, is going to fashion a wee plinth to act as both a step and to conceal the props under the shed.

How fab is that? It just reminds me how genuinely kind and helpful people are and how there is a real sense of community in the Allotments.

Now, as Jack says, we have a "proper" shed, a proper allotment shed.

Now to think about how I can pimp it :D

Patience

Ask anyone who knows me and they'll confirm that of all my admirable traits (I do have some, honestly), patience is not one of them. I want to know how things will pan out and I want them to pan out NOW. I'm not good with suspense. I'm the person who reads the end of a book just after starting, so I can relax and enjoy the book. With films, I look up the synopsis so I can enjoy the film without any nasty surprises.

Growing things is just the same. I want to be able to tell, NOW, how the plants will turn out, whether I'll get a good crop, what problems I'm going to encounter and which of those problems I can ignore and which to deal with. Some it's a no-brainer - caterpillars and too much rain/ not enough sun. And, really, I should have been able to foretell - or at the least be prepared for - frost. I was lulled into a false sense of security by the lovely weather, forgetting that it can also be accompanied by vicious overnight frosts, and so I was caught out this week when two nights of temps around zero degrees struck. After the first night I hastened to protect the vulnerable little courgette plants and chard with bubble wrap and fleece. Yesterday the temperature increased considerably and brought persistent heavy rain, so I popped back to the plot today to see how the young plants had fared.

Not so great, to be honest. And not just the seedling plants. The courgette plants have no leaves as the frost killed the leaves off, though the chard seems to be not too bad. The potato plants are just a blackened, wilted mass. Tomorrow I have to go and cut the foliage off to allow them to regenerate - hopefully. I've also taken the precaution of planting more courgette seeds in the house in case the ones in the ground are real goners. Would just be good to be able to tell whether they and the tatties will survive. The good thing is that the potatoes are grown for the underground tubers, but I just hope that the foliage being damaged hasn't affected them.

Would be nice to have a crystal ball and be able to tell how they'll turn out!

Busy busy

Wow, can't believe it's been a week since I updated!

I've had a busy week. On Saturday I was at the Pagan Federation Conference in Edinburgh, where I met up with people I haven't seen in far too long, heard some brilliant and interesting speakers, and managed to avoid the ones who I would have found less than inspiring. Vivienne Crowley's Grail talk was really interesting, and the lady herself funny and managing to combine healthy scepticism with belief. The other workshops of note were two run by Christer Ellingsen talking about Shamanic Trancework. His first session was talking about the trance work and the term "Shaman". It was interesting (and reassuring) to hear that he considers Shamanism to be a craft, a method, rather than a religious path. He was quite adamant that it is not religous at all, and that he does not consider himself a Shaman as that is a specific role which doesn't really have a place in today's society. The second workshop was a practical trance workshop which was incredible, with him drumming and which left everyone I spoke to afterwards feeling drained as though they'd been running.

As usual at these things, there's a real mix of the earthy and ethereal. Workshops about unicorns and chakras might suit some but I steered clear! The shopping stalls were as usual, too enticing for my bank balance so I bought a couple of things, including a pair of earrings from a very talented lady who I know, Peggy at MoonlightForest.com.

The evening entertainment involved my having to act as magician's assistant - a task which was suitably embarrassing! It was followed by the amazing Damh the Bard, who I have never seen live. He was fantastic. Great music which everyone sang along with, and the man himself self-deprecating and plain funny.

Despite having had next to no sleep the night before, I managed to last the whole evening and am so very grateful to my friend Andrew for being taxi driver :-)

A couple of days later I was up at Aberfoyle, resuming duties as Osprey information officer. The new chap in charge was keen to reassure me again about the lack of pressure to sell memberships. I have to say I was kind of shocked at how young he looked - am I getting old?! The room is completely re-done, with windows (hurray!!), more touchy-feely exhibits, more screens, more animals to talk about. It was great to get back into the swing of things again. There are birds on the nest - though not the usual pair who haven't returned :-( This pair are the third on the nest in the last couple of weeks, but look as though they're the ones who will hold it. Neither of them are ringed which means we have no idea about their history. But they're mating and nest building so we expect an egg imminently! Usual left-field questions - the best were "Which route does the West Highland Way go at Inversnaid?" and "Is the road through Thornhill still closed?"...

After a full-on couple of days I was totally exhausted. As I suspected, speaking to people is what really tires me out and drains me, so it's been nice having a very quiet couple of days since.

At the Allotment, all is going well, particularly the weeds... We've had such good weather I've had to water the veg beds, not that I'm complaining! The raspberry bush is spreading like wildfire - makes you realise how much of a rip-off raspberry plants are at garden centres! It's lovely to see everything springing up.

And the swallows have returned!

Summer is definitely a cumin' in :-)

First Harvest

We've been blessed the last couple of days with the most gorgeously unseasonal weather. Temperatures reaching for 20 degrees - at the start of April! Amazing!

Yesterday we went to the Farmers' Market in Stirling and picked up pigs' cheeks and bacon, and a piece of hot smoked salmon. Delicious.

In the afternoon, I went to the allotment. I was delighted to see that an allotment holder a couple of plots up, has returned and seems to be working on her plot. We thought that last year she had given up after being told that she could not paint her shed pale blue and had to paint it brown again. Which might come as a bit of a shock to her neighbour, whose young girl was gaily personalising their shed by painting flowers, handprints, squiggles and her name. I have to say, I really love those allotment plots I see from other parts of the country where the sheds and other buildings are a kitcsh, higgledy-piggledy and eclectic mish-mash of individuality. Alas, the planning permission for the field our plots are on, were specific in their rules about what is and is not allowed. So no trees, no painted buildings, no structures over 1m tall (more on that in a sec) and no livestock. That last is a disappointment, I had harboured hopes of a bee-hive...

The rule about 1m tall structures - being conveniently overlooked by the allotmenteers. Walk-in fruit cages and greenhouses etc are appearing all over the place as people plan a little bit more permanence and possession over their plot. Be nice to see them remain, but I know the people who live round about the field being quick to complain about any infractions to the planning rules, given they didn't want allotments there in the first place. Apparently there were vociferous objections to turning the field into allotments - living next to a farm I honestly am bemused by this: allotments are a darned sight quieter than a field that needs plowed, fertilised, harvested, cleared, etc etc.

Anyway. The highlight of the visit was taking a couple of rhubarb stalks which I stewed today to have in a crumble for breakfast tomorrow. The first harvest of the year! Very, very exciting! And, a purple sprouting broccoli plant that's been growing in the garden doing absolutely nothing, has now, suddenly, sprouted purple broccoli! I know that theoretically that's what it should have done, so hardly a surprise, but yet it is. So in another couple of days it'll be ready to eat. Makes me think I really should grow some at the allotment.

Update on the mice, the peppermint essential oil was an absolute... failure. It achieved absolutely nothing. They still seem to be there - at least, the cats are still enthralled by some of the clumps of geranium and the flap of the compost bin, and when I sowed sweet pea seeds this morning, one of the clumps shook violently and I thought I saw something flash by out the corner of my eye. *sigh*

Weather's supposed to break tomorrow, I'm not too disappointed in a way: Summer here is too brief most years, you always worry that a spell of good weather in advance of the summer months means it's peaked too soon! We expect cold, windy, even snowy weather in April, the last few days have been a welcome respite from the Winter we've endured, but I'd hate to think that this was as good as it's going to get!