CURIOUS ACTIVITY ON THE PLOT…
Water leaks, carpeting sheds and carrying out repairs have made for an interesting week!
Arriving early one morning last week I was greeted by a small army of official-looking people appearing very busy outside our normally quiet entrance. There they stood with clipboards in hand, with measuring tapes and other gadgets, peering at our returned ‘glacier’. This was now obviously causing problems in the nearby street so hopefully they were at last going to repair the leaking pipe. There was much activity to find the source of the leak that was creating this large icy patch. Up and down the mountainside they went, pu ing a dye in the culvert to trace the secret leak.
Then, to my dismay and the rest of our plot holders, they left; the leak was still occurring and with the cold weather the glacier was again growing in size. So, we still have to don our skates and pitons to carry out our li le bit of gardening until the mysterious leak is fixed! While working on the plot last week two blokes arrived at the gate and politely asked, ‘where’s Bob’s plot?’. Under their arms was a roll of that cushioning that normally adorns kitchen floors. After a few simple instructions they were off along the path to his li le plot. My curiosity didn’t get the be er of me and
I was very busy, so I didn’t set off to find out the purpose of this.
But, the following morning, still tidying up the shed, the gate opens and there were the same two men, this time carrying a roll of carpet. Off they set, not needing any directions this time, and about half an hour later they left empty handed.
Well, I simply couldn’t contain my curiosity anymore and wandered over to Bob’s plot. There, si ing resplendent in his newly carpeted shed, was Bob while the ground through his double-glazed entrance hall was neatly covered with the cushion flooring. I had to slip off my muddy boots outside on the path before daring to enter this palatial shed!
Out on the plot I’ve had to do some rework on the wooden frames that I made a few years ago. These were constructed to support the Enviromesh that is to totally enclose my maincrop carrots from marauding carrot fly. While moving them around to create room at the bo om of my plot they twisted badly and showed up some weaknesses in the design. Along came a fellow allotmenteer with his trusty drill and screws and soon some strengtheners were screwed across the corners. Job done! I now have some frames that will withstand a tempest this summer, let alone the carrot fly!