Half past three in the afternoon of Sunday 3rd May was the time to sit down, open a bottle of wine and have a drink. A drink to celebrate the fact I had finally finished digging my plot. There had been times when I thought that this day would never come, session after session of digging and then more digging, miles after miles of Cooch grass roots, and Docks as long as your arm which seem to go down to the earths core. Then there was all the trips to the council dump to dispose of the dam things along with all the other crap which was dug up. You name it, I have dug it up. Slabs, house bricks, wire fencing, steel pipes, glass, plastic sheeting, carpet, animal bones, well I hope they were animal bones, and even an old shoe.
Anyway, It had taken me 13 months to complete, 13 ball breaking months, but I have loved every minute of it and the wine was bloody good as well.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Monday, 4 May 2009
Allotment Poem..................
I came across this poem the other day while searching the world wide web, its by a fellow allotmenteer from Dartford called Mick Suter. I found it very apt.
A Gardener's Dream
Rain every night, a good steady fall,
Warm sun all day, and no wind at all.
Earth light and soft, easy to seed,
No couch at all, not even a weed.
All seeds germinate, the carrots no gaps,
Just simple thinning, I was a happy chap.
Broad beans grew well, no sign of black fly,
Runners went mad reaching for the sky.
Pigeons found other brassicas to munch,
Sparrows did not want my peas for lunch.
No slugs seen, there was not a snail,
Across the ground, no silvery trail.
Molluscs and birds left strawberries alone,
Red and ripe but firm they had grown.
With currents and gooseberries the bushes were bowed,
The size of rasps made me really proud.
Salad crops, in abundance grew,
Parsnips and carrots were long straight and true.
Potatoes were large, the best I have seen,
No scab or holes, soil fell away clean.
Harvesting produce, the weather just right,
Not one insect wanted to bite.
Suddenly the sound of wind and of rain,
I had fallen asleep in the shed again!
© Mick Suter 1998
A Gardener's Dream
Rain every night, a good steady fall,
Warm sun all day, and no wind at all.
Earth light and soft, easy to seed,
No couch at all, not even a weed.
All seeds germinate, the carrots no gaps,
Just simple thinning, I was a happy chap.
Broad beans grew well, no sign of black fly,
Runners went mad reaching for the sky.
Pigeons found other brassicas to munch,
Sparrows did not want my peas for lunch.
No slugs seen, there was not a snail,
Across the ground, no silvery trail.
Molluscs and birds left strawberries alone,
Red and ripe but firm they had grown.
With currents and gooseberries the bushes were bowed,
The size of rasps made me really proud.
Salad crops, in abundance grew,
Parsnips and carrots were long straight and true.
Potatoes were large, the best I have seen,
No scab or holes, soil fell away clean.
Harvesting produce, the weather just right,
Not one insect wanted to bite.
Suddenly the sound of wind and of rain,
I had fallen asleep in the shed again!
© Mick Suter 1998
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