Sunday, 7th May – Week 10 – GrowGirl.com at The Allotment
It’s the end of our 10-week non-stop allotment gardening and
the pleasure continues, despite rats, flea beetle and white mould attack, plus
that recent week of extremely cold weather, when we couldn’t make any sowings
or plantings and activity came to a shuddering halt.
Yet here we are again in the heart of our space hoeing,
weeding and net draping over G’s brassicas whilst I’m having to empty my two
compost bins, which we think have been first-class rat hotels for the past few
weeks.
In the very first flush of gardening excitement, fresh
material was keenly added to ongoing composts, with no thought of re-siting or
use of enclosed material. Then, planting
seed potatoes, we inadvertently left a few remaining specimens lying about the
potting-up area which clever, hungry rats discovered and gnawed. Thus, rats made their presence known, this
action crystallized when I discovered two busily munching beasties inside a
lidded bin. So that’s why I’m now having
to empty my two bins and start all over again, in fresh bins and on a more open
area, where our rats cannot sneak about unnoticed.
Its heavy work, both emptying-out and refilling our bins,
then adding torn newspaper strips, activator and fresh plant-material, setting
up my bins on wire covered open ground with open access for compost removal.
Luckily the ripe, previously made compost, was perfect for
immediate use and our developing potato crop is benefiting from its addition.
Our allotment gives enormous pleasure plus ongoing growing
excitement, experimentation and timely backache but oh the joy of neat green
vegetable rows, companion marigold plantings and our wonderful rhubarb plant
we’ve been feasting on since early spring.
Margaret Halstead xxx
for GrowGirl.com
Copyright © Margaret Halstead 2017
