Heigh-hoe, off to work wego

As the coronavirus situation develops, John is trying to stay fit and on song in the garden – and his allotment

Coronavirus is now firmly established with matters getting worse until it reaches a peak. We are all affected in one way or another, but hopefully keeping isolated will prevent contact with anyone who may be a carrier. The gardening lifestyle is hopefully keeping us fit and healthy.

Lockdown still allows us to carry on with the garden around our house.

The allotment is a few miles away but as we are advised to do some exercise the plot is the place to be. Plot holders are usually fairly thin on the ground, so isolation is just fine and we can still be sociable from a distance as all plots are separated by wide paths.

The communal hut up at City Road Allotments where we used to gather for a tea and coffee breaks is now shut for the foreseeable future and even our toilets have now been closed and put out of use. Our shop has been closed, but plot holders can order compost, seeds and other sundries online for delivery to their plots and with payment delayed until the virus disappears.

As we remain in isolation, I will be taking a flask of coffee and keeping social conversations always over the allotment plot fence.

My own plant and seed order is bought in by mail order, so this can be done from home. This should work so long as staff are still around in nurseries to grow and pack seeds and plants, then we need some hauliers to transport produce to our door.

This gives us ample fresh fruit and vegetables just about all year round – with surplus stored in the freezer.

We are now seeing warm spring days with flowers popping up all over the place. This really lifts your spirits and brings on the feelgood factor. It is important to keep fit, happy and healthy.

We are really lucky to have both a large garden as well as an allotment plot.

This gives us ample fresh fruit and vegetables just about all year round, with plenty surplus in the cool garage and stored in the freezer.

I also grow plenty of flowers to make the garden and allotment plot attractive as this cheers us up and now as we will be confined to barracks for a few months we can brighten up the home with cut flowers from sweet peas, chrysanthemums, gladioli and dahlias and roses.

In the garden tubs, pots and hanging baskets will be full of geraniums, begonias, petunias, marigolds, lobelia and busy lizzies, so the patio is always a bright spot and several flowers, such as the blue petunia has a beautiful perfume.

This year I will also be planting some Brugmansias – angel trumpets – in the

largest tubs so the perfume will be at its best in the evenings.

As we are in isolation we will enjoy sitting out on the patio relaxing on the sun loungers getting a wee bit of sun to build up our vitamin D levels.

Vitamin C is in plentiful supply with our fresh fruit and berries grown on the plot.

Both saskatoons and the aronias, chokeberry and of course the blueberry are just packed with vitamin C and antioxidants.

However, we will make an early start with lettuce, rocket, radish, spring onions and a few baby beet sown in the greenhouse border under the grape vine.

They should be fine for a couple of months before the grape vine foliage takes over.

To keep our health in top form we need plenty of exercise, especially now that the gyms and Anna’s pilates classes are shut for the time being.

That is no problem in the garden as we can spend time weeding, mowing the lawn, cleaning up paths, fixing fences, repairing sheds, turning the compost heap, netting the strawberries and saskatoons, digging in green manure crops as well as seed sowing and planting.

Then there are plants to stake, greenfly on roses, sawfly on gooseberries, caterpillars on cabbages all needing a spray.

As summer gets under way there is always a few shrubs growing beyond their allocated space, so the loppers and secateurs are needed if isolation extends into the summer.

When the isolation finishes the garden and allotment should be in a perfect condition.

Pictures: John Stoa. Clockwise from top left: daffodils amongst the roses; social distancing at the allotments; saxifrage with tulip Scarlet Baby; time to start hoeing the weeds.

Aconites are past the flowering stage and are now getting ready to spread their seeds. These grow very successfully, so collect the ripe seed pods before they split open and either find a spare bit of garden in need of brightening up in late winter and scatter them, or give them to a friend. Next spring the seeds will germinate and produce two seed leaves, (cotyledons) and the following year these will produce one or two true leaves, but it will be the following year before the first flowers will emerge. Yoiur patience will be well rewarded.