I was at the plot earlier this morning and turning round after putting some bird food in the shed I was astounded to see Fox Newton drinking from the pond!
Later on I was where Fox had been and looked round to see this!
This was as close as Fox got to me before turning round and wandering off down the roadway.
What a wonderful way to start the week, especially after yesterday when it rained all day.
When I arrived at the hut last Sunday I was surprised at just how many people were there. It was like the crush at the January sales! I’d forgotten that the seed potatoes and onion sets had been delivered a day or two earlier.
One immediate concern was that access to the kettle was blocked but thankfully the crowd thinned out before action was needed!
It was good to see plot neighbours Graham and Trevor who I’ve not seen since before Christmas. There was plenty of chatting with other folks who were now looking forward to doing some proper allotmenteering.
I knew which potatoes the society was getting and had decided on which varieties to try this year. I got 12 or so tubers each Swift (early), Kestrel (second early), Desiree (maincrop) and Cara (late maincrop). In theory that means I should be harvesting potatoes from June through to September. At the moment they’re chitting away on egg boxes in the spare room.
I also bought a handful each of Sturon and Turbo onion sets. These will be planted out from around mid March.
There’s been a lot of rain here recently, with more to come, and the ground is waterlogged, and frozen some days, so it’s still rather bleak but a closer look on the plot yesterday found that some daffodils have just started to appear.
There’s nothing to write about on the plot today apart from the fact that during the week I was lucky enough to see and photograph one of the rather elusive dunnocks that I’ve mentioned previously, although you may have problems spotting it!
Next weekend is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and as well as good weather I’m hoping to see a better selection of birds than I have in the past! Perhaps I’ll even get to see something unusual!
Earlier this week this brilliant shot by NiC on his ever excellent London Daily Nature Photo blog made me laugh! There are plenty of other superb bird images as well, just click on browse when you’re there and have a look through the impressive archive.
Seeing this magnificent eagle on the Natural Moments blog that I mentioned in Friday’s post reminded me of this wonderful poem.
The Dalliance of the Eagles by Walt Whitman, 1819 – 92, b. USA
Skirting the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest),
Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles,
The rushing amorous contact high in space together,
The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling,
In tumbling turning, clustering loops, straight downward falling,
Till o’er the river pois’d, the twain yet one, a moment’s lull,
A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing,
Upward again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their seperate diverse flight,
She hers, he his, pursuing.
[This vividly descriptive poem was written in 1880 and is included in Whitman’s famous work Leaves of Grass. His style was highly innovative and influential, and he is regarded as one of the greatest American poets.]
This morning was my first stint as one of the helpers in the horticultural society’s hut. It was just for a couple of hours and, not surprisingly, there were few people there apart from the regulars. One of the perks of the job is that I get a second cup of tea and another ginger nut to dunk in it! It was an enjoyable morning and I look forward to reporting for duty again on 15th February, although I’ll be there on the intervening Sundays as usual for bird food.
The seed potatoes that are on order should be delivered during the week and I’ll go and help with off-loading them. They’re Early Arran Pilot, Foremost and Swift; Second Early Charlotte, Kestral and Marfona; and Main Crop Cara, Desiree, King Edward, Majestic and Picasso. I shall get one variety each Early and Second Early and two Main Crop. I’m undecided which ones so I’ll be looking at sites such as the Potato Council.
Last week remained cold so my brief visits to the plot were just to refill the bird feeders and icy pond. However on Wednesday I stopped to chat with John as he had a good bonfire burning
I arrived there on Thursday morning to be told by Joe and John that during the night thieves had smashed the lock then forced open the metal door to the concrete storage building and taken three of the rotovators. They had also broken into a number of the larger sheds but we’re unsure what, if anything, was taken from those.
On a happier note it’s the horticultural society’s 70th anniversary this year and the annual show will be held, at the nearby sports and social club, on the first Saturday in September. Not only will I be going this year but have been persuaded to enter some of the classes as an exhibitor. For novices only there’s six of one variety of runner beans, a collection of one each kind of four different vegetables and one rose bloom. I may enter a few of the other classes as well!
I think that allotmenteers will now be keen to get working on their plots again. One of my first jobs will be to sort out my new compost bin now that I’ve got some suitable wood pallets, which I dropped off there on Friday.
Here’s hoping that this year is a good one for all gardeners!
Yesterday I walked to hut via the ecology park and the plot. It was well frosty but a close look at one of these on a nearby tree branch cheered me up!
It was good to chat with the folks who were there whilst drinking a cup of tea and dunking a couple of these. Next week will be my first stint as a hut helper which I’m looking forward to!
This morning there was a covering of snow here! As you can see from these plot photos it was very bleak.
Roll on summer!
For myself, as for many others, this year has not ended on a high note thanks to the economic downturn.
However I do feel that it has been a blogging good year!
It’s been my fourth year as a blogger and I’m enjoying it as much as I ever have, and perhaps even so with my Flighty’s plot posts. I’ve continued to do my regular Thursday and Sunday posts every week, and a few more besides. I’m also thankful to everyone who stops by to read them, and especially to those of you who comment.
During the year there have been a some changes to my Lawn loungers favourites, which I suppose is inevitiable. A few weeks ago I was surprised, and sad, to find that Aboveboard had deleted her blog without warning.
Looking at, and often commenting on, all these favourite blogs has long been part of my blogging routine and I look forward to seeing more excellent posts and photos next year.
As it’s unlikely that I shall be posting here again this year I would like to wish you all a 
It rained all day on Saturday so needless to say the plot is not only looking rather bleak but extremely soggy as well. I guess that for the next few weeks I’ll be doing little more than refilling the bird feeders
and checking the pond
That’s a Starling on the nut feeder, and in the second photo you can just about see the pond to the middle right. I presume the the flattened grass to the middle left was made by a fox curled up and resting.
The horticultural society held it’s Christmas party in the hut on Sunday morning. There were around 40 people there chatting, eating and drinking for a couple of hours. Towards the end a raffle took place with Santa handing out the prizes. I actually won one of them much to my surprise. It’s a cast resin(?) decorative which can be hung on the wall with hooks for keys or whatever. It’s on a sheet of A4 paper to give some idea of size
The frogs aren’t part of it but were inside Christmas crackers that I, and someone else, had!
I also got given a large paper bag full of various bulbs, mostly daffodils and some hyacinths.
Yesterday morning I was back there to help with stock taking which didn’t take more than a couple of hours. I came home with a very generous doggy bag which included a big slice of very tasty Christmas cake.
The hut will be closed for the next two Sundays so I had to buy lots of bird food to hopefully last until it re-opens.
Next year I’m on the rota of hut helpers which means being there one Sunday morning a month for the couple of hours that it’s open.
Sunflowers were such a delight to see on the plot that I intend growing lots more next year.
There’ll be the classic Giant Singles (above) and some multi-headed Autumn Beauties (below), which didn’t fare too well this year due to the miserable weather soon after they bloomed.
The Great Sunflower Project may be of interest to anyone in America or Canada. My thanks to Tina who did an entry about it recently on her blog Happy Hobby Habit.
Having enjoyed growing some vegetables this year and got a lot of satisfaction eating them I’ve been thinking about what to grow next year.
Seed Potatoes and onion sets I shall buy from the Horticultural Society in the new year, and I’ve got a couple of packets of tomato seeds – all of which I’ll write about another time.
I made a list of what I’d like to grow, and following a couple of recommendations I decided to order eight packets of vegetable seeds for just over £5 inc. p&p from More Veg. As the excellent website says they supply vegetable, and herb, seeds in realistic quantities at affordable prices.
I ordered online on a Thursday evening, got a confirmation email the following afternoon that they’d been posted and received them the following Monday. Not only was the service prompt but the packing and contents were first class.
This is what I got, and note that the figure in brackets is the number of seeds.
Beans, Runner White emergo (24)…has white flowers, a vigourous nature, withstands adverse weather and has a delicious flavour.
Beetroot Burpees Golden (50)…a sweet tasting orange-yellow root that does not bleed.
Carrot Little Fingers (150)…just 10 cm long, sweet and tender which can be harvested in 8/9 weeks.
Courgette All Green Bush (6)…a popular and reliable variety with dark green fruits best cut when about 10 cm long.
Cucumber Bush Crop (4)…a compact bushy plant with 15 cm fruits.
Lettuce Buttercrunch (50)…has small dense upright heads with a crisp and crunchy texture.
Spring Onion Summer Isle (100)…has a sweet mild flavour and is early maturing.
Sweet Corn Golden Bantam (20)…is a classic old variety with slender 18 cm cobs which is wind resistant.
I reckon that for anyone who cannot afford to spend much on seeds or just has a small area, perhaps even a few containers, to grow vegetables in then buying them like this really does seem a sensible option.
I thought that I did quite well this year despite doing little more than just planting the seeds. Next year I shall be devoting more time and attention to them. With that, and hopefully some better weather, I should be eating more veg thanks to 
Considering how much I like white flowers there were surprisingly few on the plot this year. I had high hopes for my Iceberg rose but although it grew lots of foliage it failed to produce any flowers, which was most disappointing.
There were only a few Mallow and some Love-a-mist 
Looking at this list of White Annual Flowers there’s plenty to chose from including Candytuft Snowflake and Poppy White Cloud.
I bought two packets of the Sweet Pea Swan Lake recently for just 30p each. Posie over on the Allotments 4 All forum says that she grew this one this year, it’s gorgeous and can definitely recommend it!
Among the various vegetable seeds that I bought recently is the white flowering Runner Bean White Emergo.
Of course I could be lazy and just buy a packet of white flowering annual seeds! Whatever I do it I’m sure that the plot will be a lot whiter next summer than it was this year.
Yesterday morning I was reading the online Guardian where the gardening section had an article by Carol Klein on white hydrangeas which got me thinking, and wishing, again!
Flighty's plot 
