Page 48 - ALG Issue 3 2018 (printable)

Yorkshire
Rotherham Ramblings
Welcome to our new members...
Ackworth Parish Council Easingwold Town Council Rotherham Road Allotments Society 7 Individual Members
1 Life Member
Part 1
Following on from his award-winning onions last year, my youngest grandson is to grow lettuce and tomatoes. The lettuce was chosen on its appearance on the front of the seed packet and the tomatoes from his memories of the taste when picking and eating them in the polytunnel last year.
He doesn’t want to grow any onions because he has shown me how to do it
and is leaving them to me this year. I hope he keeps up the interest in growing; he seems more interested than his older brother and cousin. All three still enjoy a trip to the allotment and their parents motivate them to eat veg by telling them: “Gramps grew this for you”.
It certainly seems to have been a very long winter and I confess to concerns as to when it would end. Then out came the sun, and we were promised two days of warm sunnyness. So without more ado I weeded a bed and planted onions and shallots in it. Naturally the rain and cold returned, but I had them in and could get on with something else.
There is more repair work to do after this winter than in past years, with the wind being the main culprit, but I remain upbeat and think it could be worse. I didn’t anticipate a flood of help from anywhere. What I did get however, when I muttered about cutting production back and easing my workload, were strict orders to forget that and carry on.
Part 2
Well the weather has been very kind this month. The long hot sunny days have been extremely pleasant. If only I had used them to get things done on the allotment, I’m sure I would have been up to date. As it is I am keeping pace with planting out due to a combination of seeds coming through very quickly, and buying plants from Hobsons. All the repairs that needed doing still need doing.
I am comforted by knowing that next year will be different, easier, and more organised. I just have to get through this year and the demands of grandsons with bike rides,
football, days out, sailing (don’t even ask how that got into the mix). Then there’s the repairing of all the things the wife manages to break: computer, radio, mobile phone and kitchen sink (I kid you not). I wouldn’t mind, but she can be quite unreasonable at times, banging on about finishing jobs I promised would be completed two years ago.
Tsk, I can’t be at it all the time, a person needs some recreational time. Time to reflect on how things are progressing, maybe to wonder if fifteen inches of insulation on
the garden shed was a bit over the top,
but it seemed a shame to waste it, and to
be fair it has worked on keeping the heat
in. It has topped forty degrees centigrade
on eight separate days so far this month. Unfortunately, as it gets too hot to store a lot of things in it, I might have to build a cooler one as well. I mean, it’s not as if I haven’t
got the time, or perhaps I should do it as a project next year.
Mike Farrel
The Secret Shed Garden
I saw it advertised: Create a Secret Shed and Garden at the Harrogate Show; shed provided and some financial assistance, open to small groups.
I thought, ‘Just the thing for allotment groups’, so I advertised it on my Facebook pages to Leeds and Yorkshire, but when I checked later none had entered. I thought there and then, ‘I can’t have allotments not represented, and here is an opportunity to promote allotments’. I was late in entering, but sowed some seeds in the greenhouse. Then the frosts came. I put a 100w bulb under a dustbin to keep the cold at bay.
It worked, but the plants weren’t growing very quickly.
I had some cheeky thoughts regarding the shed – I could borrow the mannequin I had for a previous show garden and have him sitting on a composting loo in the shed, trousers round ankles and reading a newspaper. What a shock you’d get when opening the door! When I found out the dimensions of the shed, however, that was ruled out as it was not deep enough. I then considered having him standing up with his back to the doorway with a galvanised bucket, a pipe and a water pump. I
shall leave the rest to your imagination. However, the shed wasn’t tall enough so that was ruled out. I ended up splitting the
mannequin (George) in two and using him in the garden as in the photos.
The shed I fitted out with a TV and a computer, showing a revolving slideshow of Yorkshire Allotments, and there was room for all the NAS information leaflets. I did have to raise the shed on a plinth to bring the TV up to eye level.
It was all very last minute but I got finished just before the judges were
about to depart, wet paint and all. I did have some small runner bean plants and thought they wouldn’t last the show. I was quite right: 4 hours max.
All entries got awarded a certificate
and I wasn’t expecting any prizes, but at least allotments were promoted. Nearly all entries were charity organisations and the winner was from a charity organisation on an allotment site, which turned out to be a site I had given advice to in my early days as an ARI Mentor.
The Autumn Show is offering the opportunity for small groups to create
a raised bed border, edgings and soil provided. I only hope at least one or two allotment groups enter. Unfortunately,
I will be down at Hothorpe at the Representative and Mentor training session, so that rules me out this time. Phil Gomersall
48