Tales of the Riverbank

Autumn Leaves

2009-12-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Since it's officially the wettest autumn since records began, it's no surprise that Sunday saw a flurry of activity down by the riverside as a host of hardy allotmenteers enjoyed some rare sunshine and blue skies.

Emboldened by a large breakfast and a flask of coffee, Mrs H and I headed off with a heaped barrow full of tools and paving stones to take advantage of the good weather...

This first picture shows where we were up to before Sunday: The new shed is in place (more on this later) the fencing is completed and both gates are on - note the cunningly placed anti-burrowing flags under the gate.

Things are starting to look a little bare on the riverbank, the elder flower by the gate is still in leaf though.

Mrs H set to with the secateurs on Sunday and cut down all the raspberry canes for the winter in the bed by the fence. We are looking forward to a good crop from these next autumn. They are late yielding golden raspberries, we had the last of this year's crop when we took the plot on and they are delicious!

Moving along slightly, these two beds are planted with garlic and red and white onions. They seem to be thriving in the warm, wet weather and are already 2-3 inches high...

In the background next to the compost bins is a new addition, the leaf litter pen. We've been adding to this with each visit and in true Blue Peter Appeal fashion hope to finish filling it before christmas (or whenever we run out of leaves, whichever comes first). The compost is coming along nicely and we topped it up with what I would casually estimate to be a quarter of a firlot or a peck of nettles that were growing by the bridge. Arcane measurments aside, nettles are apparently great for compost and act as a natural accelerant.

The water butt is now up and running after much fiddling around with the guttering joints.

The next dry day project this side of christmas (there's that word again!) is to organise the shed. At present, we have slightly differing views on its function -

Mrs H: Somewhere to put tools/seeds etc

Me: Somewhere between a gentleman's country club and Jack Hargreaves' Out of Town workshop.

Watch this space!
In the meantime, here's some vintage Out of Town and Bill Evans performing Autumn Leaves:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyXZY5VCR00&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y0VZIIeClI&feature=related

The life aquatic

2009-11-24T05:08:00.000-08:00

Visits to the alloty have been short and sweet over the past few weeks and have usually culminated in Mrs H and I sliding around in the mud under increasingly angry downpours. It's been a bit like Glastonbury but without the rubbish music and spelt. As it's raining again it's a great opportunity to relax with a coffee, pop on some Gary Barlow (I'm kidding) and upload some photos...

Above: Day one. Not much going on, some raspberries along the back (good), a pear and a cherry tree. The front half of the plot consists of a mega-bed of strawberries and the rest is grass.

Below: The rear of the plot looking to the bridge. One of the local swan population blithely swimming into view. A recent incident (Braceletgate) with the feathery ingrates saw a routine feeding almost turn into Dealey Plaza for Mrs H when the bread ran dry.

Recent visits have seen us finish the rabbit fencing and put on the front gate. We won't be totally rabbit proof until the back gate goes on and next door fix their gates on (we have decided to forego a dividing fence down the middle of the plots).For now though, the gloves are off after our little bob-tailed chums munched an unprotected dog rose sapling down to tiny, neatly gnawed stumps. Nice.

Time to look up some rabbit recipes...

Oh, lapin agile

2009-11-03T02:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks at the allotment for myself and Mrs H.

The last of the raspberries have been gathered, the pear tree has been pruned and we have dug over all our beds ready for planting in the new year.

Last week we finished the shed (aided and abetted by Mrs H's family), made composting bins and planted out onions and garlic, helped on our way by several days of glorious late autumn sunshine.

Stage one of rabbit proofing was completed yesterday before the rain. Under the watchful eye of the plot robin, all of the fence stakes were driven in and the first of the trenches for the fence wire was dug to the rear of the plot on the riverbank.

It's hard work but I'm confident it will keep even the most agile of rabbits at bay!