TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
Tales from the New allotment tenants bring the fun while the veterans share their knowledge
Some while back I wrote about the three ladies who were sharing and working a plot. They brought a new dimension to our allotment site with their laughter and enthusiasm. I’d not visited their plot for a while, and with a break in my busy time, I decided to pop over and look at their progress. They were having the time of their lives and have taken well to the life of an allotmenteer! There were only two of them present but they eagerly wanted to show me the progress they’d made. They’ve come up with many great ideas for how to grow crops, the most ingenious of which was to cut a large drainage pipe lengthways and plant strawberries in it. This keeps the strawberries free of slug damage and allows them to ripen quicker. I did, however, notice that there was a rather large tree among the fruit trees they’d inherited. They’d been carefully tending this tree and said to me, ‘there’s been no blossom on it’. I told them it was a sycamore tree and it was of no value. Their neighbour on the next plot, Dai, quickly despatched it with a chainsaw, giving them more space. This tree didn’t go to waste and soon made them a pile of pea sticks. The humble mole had top billing in many newspapers last week. Apparently its population has soared to over 40 million. Who counts them? This burrowing little cutie is causing farmers and commercial growers grief up and down the country. Their large molehills and constant tunnelling is damaging crops and making pasture land unsuitable for grazing. This rarely-seen little creature works diligently beneath the surface of the soil, seeking out its food source. Fortunately there are none in close proximity to my allotments but I remember as a lad going to the fields and collecting buckets of the finely broken up soil for my father to grow his chrysanthemums in. This was the equivalent to the John Innes of the 1960s and it was, more importantly, free! So instead of attacking these industrious little workers, look on the positive side; get a bucket and a shovel and help yourself to a plentiful supply of free, wellworked top soil. Every creature has a role in the life of a gardener, even though sometimes it’s not seen as beneficial. I’m told there are some slugs that carry out a useful function in the garden but to date I’ve failed to spot that use!