Jimmo the Scarecrow

Jimmo on his first day at the allotment

Three years ago my friend Clare, my three year old daughter and I cut up some old coffee sacks and created Jimmo the Scarecrow (instructions here). He was an excellent addition to the plot: he protected the strawberries from birds, was surrounded by sweet peas and, well, just looked wonderful.

Now, three years of sun and rain can have an effect on a chap. By the second summer all the colour was bleached from his patches and scarf, his hat was floppy and he looked a bit bedraggled.

I took a photograph of him yesterday in preparation of giving him a bit of long overdue tlc. A bit sad looking methinks.

Jimmo in 2012

Watch this space to see how we bring him back to life!

My chickens

February - their first day in their new home

I've had my chickens for nearly 18 months now and they are well and truly part of the family. My girls were rescued from a battery farm where they spent the first 2 years of their life 'living' in a small cage with no room to move or show any natural behaviour. And you could tell. When I first put them into their run they just stood still. They had pink floppy combs, were featherless in places (I was told they weren't that bad compared to some) and looked scared stiff. On their first night I had to entice them into their house by putting a torch in there - eventually they walked in and settled down.

For the first month they were confined to their house and run - but this was just fine for them; a nice roomy 4 metre long run rather than the tiny cage they'd grown up in.

April - free ranging

Eventually, however they got curious. Whenever I cleaned them out they tried to escape; it was time to free range.  I began by making a temporary pen for them outside their run so they could get used to going in and out when I was with them. Once they tried escaping that I knew it was time and let them explore the garden.  Now everyday, come wind, rain or shine the girls and I spend time together in the garden. The girls get to roam the garden whilst I potter about, sit and read or have dinner. But I don't leave them alone in the garden as there are foxes roaming the area so when I can't be with them they are safely in their run.  They seem like happy chickens.

July - happy garden chickens

What made me write this post after we've had the girls so long? I was lying in bed last night pondering their ability to think and remember. They certainly know who I am (and the family for that matter). They know that the saucepan means they're getting a treat (pasta, rice or potatoes); they know that when I get a handful of grain it's time to go into their run (I use that to entice them in); they know that the spade means I'm digging and will uncover worms and insects for them. They clearly remember a lot of day to day things... but do they remember life in the battery farm? I hope not!

June colours

The weather here has not been good - cold, wet, overcast. The vegetables are growing slowly, the slugs and snails are very happy and the flowers on the fruit trees never turned into fruit. But what has come through and kept my allotment looking good and my spirits up are the flowers. From purple poppies and alliums, pale pink roses through to bright orange calendula. They all look ravishing; who cares about the vegetables???

Been making...

Dulce de Membrillo, or Quince cheese to you and me. It took ages - cleaning the quince to remove the fuzz...


then chopping (which was hard!), then cooking with lemon juice for 3 hours...



before pushing through a sieve and cooking the pulp with lots of sugar for 30 mins stirring continuously.


But it was worth it. It tasted delicious and impressed my lunch guests when I bought out the cheese, fruit, crackers and membrillo.

Been picking...

I love this time of year, reaping the rewards of the year's hard work. I've been picking apples, from my 2 trees plus a neighbours. Have also had a fantastic crop of William bon chretien pears - the boughs were bending under the weight. We have 10 jars of plum jam from my fantastic crops of Czar plums. I also have my first crop of Vranja quince to pick. Counted over 30 of them!

My daughter and I have also been doing one of favourite late summer past-times - wondering the river banks and hedgerows at the allotment picking blackberries.

Think we'll be making another apple and blackberry pie today!

How can it be nearly April???

I've been so busy recently that I didn't know it was almost April! I'm not sure I've done much work on my allotment this year and am fully booked for most of the next few weekends. Oh dear.

My original plot isn't too bad - all raised beds that were prepared in autumn. They need a bit of weeding as do the gravel paths, and to re-erect some rustic trellis but apart from that all is well. Ok, almost well - the shed and raised could do with a coat of paint, the cherry I'm shaping into a fan needs some attention and the little lawn needs cutting, but nothing major.

The new plot however is going nowhere (except the greenhouse that I have completed). I've turned the soil in a couple of places (attempts at beds) but I haven't weeded them. I've planted two trees - a family apple and a plum - but that's about it. It seems like such a daunting task - where to start?!?

The good news is that I've started sowing seeds - have quite a few little tomato, pepper, aubergine, chilli plants as well as cucumbers and courgettes growing (also some flowers for the garden at home).

I need to work out where I can grab some hours in the next couple of weeks - not easy with w/e visits/visitors and a nearly 5 year old who doesn't want to do anything after school except eat, play and watch tv!

Allotment resolutions

A bit late, but I've only just got my gardening hat on! I've decided to make some gardening resolutions - and stick to them! These are:

1. Label my plants! I was very disappointed before Christmas to find out that I didn't have any Brussel sprouts for Christmas lunch. I think I only have tender sprouting broccoli (so not totally disappointed). But I'm going to label everything this year so I know what's what. I sometimes use a mix of tape on the side of seed trays/writing in paint pens on the side of pots but more often than not I rely on my memory. I'm not going to stop taping/writing on pots etc, but will buy a bag of lolly sticks from a craft shop to use as labels as well. This way I can label plants and the labels can go into the ground so I'll know what's there.

2. Succession plant. I usually plant loads at the beginning of the year but then never do a second or third batch. I get gluts and it's all over! So, I will so less more frequently!

3. Give my original greenhouse a good clean. Enough said!

4. Plant more flowers. I already have roses, gladioli (for cutting) self seeded nasturtiums and loads of lovely pink poppies, as well as the annual batch of sunflowers, but I'm going to be more floriferous this year.

5. Sit down more and enjoy it! I've got a couple of pallets to make benches and have been given an old bench to recondition.

So, there's my allotment resolutions for this year. Now, will I keep to them???