Terry Walton sees signs of spring on the allotment and the veg delivery arrives
And some amorous guests have reappeared at the plot too, heralding the arrival of spring!
This week brought another harbinger of spring to the allotment. Not the sound of a cuckoo, but a white van arriving at the gate. This was delivering our bulk supply of onion sets, shallots and seed potatoes. The commi ee unloaded this multitude of bags into the store shed, then the work began in earnest to weigh out each plot holder’s specific needs.
Gone are the days when only two varieties of seed potato were delivered, one early variety, ‘Arran Pilot’, and one maincrop, ‘Majestic’. Now there are literally hundreds of varieties of potatoes and each member has their own particular needs. Some only grow earlies, others second earlies, but there’s a diminishing number growing a maincrop. This is down to the more humid, warmer August nights that bring the dreaded ‘blight’, which ruins this late crop. Soon the area around the shed is a sea of bags containing each member’s individual requirements. Every member of the allotment orders something, so this is the ideal time to meet up with everyone as they collect their ‘goodies’. It also lights the spark of gardening in most of the plot holders and brings them back to the pleasures of the open air and gentle exercise.
The pond at the bo om of my plot is also exhibiting the first life of spring. There’s some activity going on in it which isn’t normally permi ed on the allotment! The frogs have reappeared, after their hibernation and are engaged in sexual activity. There’s the first frogspawn in the water – a good sign that they’ve survived the brief winter and that warmer days are ahead. Frogs are nature’s finest pest controllers and during the summer months eat copious amounts of slugs and aphids. They’re always welcome on the plot and are a great asset to organic gardeners.
The few frosts of a couple of weeks ago killed off any green leaves on my strawberries and left a mass of brown, dead leaves. These have to be cleared away and the earth between the rows broken up and weeded to allow the crowns to burst into new growth as the days warm and lengthen. While doing this task you can dream of sunny, warm days ahead as these luscious, sweet, large, red fruits form. There’s no greater pleasure than to pick a sun-drenched strawberry and bite into it on the plot.
Stop! I’m drooling at the expectation of what’s to come in the not too distant future….