There is an online Flash video that my husband used to find amusing, and that I was reminded of last night when I thought back at what had happened. The relentless pace of the season’s rhythms, and the sudden, unexpected (both good and bad, although it feels mostly bad) popping up here & there when you deal with nature.

A bit annoyed that I lost in the ether the post on mushrooms I was writing on the train, but still glowing with the success of my new crop, I arrived at the allotment last night and had an exchange of pleasantries with Paul.

One step back. On Monday I had picked my first four mushrooms: an easy crop this time round, I was already planning to grow more at home in the garden, as allotment space is running out, even though the space/yield ratio for mushroom is excellent – unlike asparagus, as I was writing in my lost post. Eureka! Now that I am writing about it again, I have had a great idea: could grow them on top of the beasties’ hotel, behind the shed!

Anyway, back to last night, I come to the plot and HORROR! The asparagus bed was smashed to pieces and trampled on. I got duly upset, as I do nowadays with any act of pointless aggression. The rat cage was thrown on the path. My boundary line on the other side of the bed had snapped. No other damage around, I checked with Paul as well. First thing, I thought: humans, but there is a possibility it might have been an animal, trying to open the cage to get at the bait, and going on a rampage in the process. However, damage is so localised that it seems unlikely, unless the animal was very intelligent and careful, taking the cage from the top of the allotment, dragging it halfway through it without leaving any traces, just to go berserk on my asparagus bed. However, some digging of the soil suggested animal. Badger, fox, dog, cat?!?

Not happy with cats either this week, as neighbour’s has taken to sitting next to my pond at home, with the result that all the damselflies and frogs have disappeared suddenly. I sincerely hope they were not harassed and killed…

Anyway, I pulled together, fixed what could be fixed, and proceeded to dig up some space for the sweetcorn, which must be planted in blocks rather than lines as it is wind-pollinated, and clustering is useful to get the pollen from the tassels falling onto the silks.

In the process of digging, I found two sage seedlings, self-seeded: a nice surprise, the first happy note of the evening.

— Post From My iPhone

If I thought it was time to store away the March & April sowing seeds I was in for a surprise.

Arriving at the allotment yeasterday I saw the leaves of some self- seeded potatoes were dark green, dehydrated and flat on the ground: my brain started computing on such new evidence: herbicide maybe? A disease? Yesterday everything was ok! Only when I saw the tomatoes the reality dawned upon me: frost!

I had no idea that just one night of low temperatures could kill my plants in the tent, just because I left the flap open. Some smaller seedlings seem to have come out better than the bigger plants. The beans in the open went as well but the peas are ok. And the basil in the greenhouse also looks a bit damaged.

Let’s get sowing all over again (it’s my fault, I was actually less disappointed than when slugs ate all my seedlings).

— Post From My iPhone

… that I am in desperate need of a massive sowing session, but instead I spent my time today clearing out weeds and any overgrown grass, so that the allotment looks spotless. I haven’t even had time to plant my newly arrived organic plants (the ones I ordered when I decided to support organic growers more).

So, nothing particularly exciting to say today; however, I thought I would pick up some loose ends in this post:

• the ducks have not been seen for a while. Some of us do miss them, some others I’m sure are pretty happy. I am still divided on their usefulness v potential risks. What is certain is that soon after the mating episode they stopped visiting my pond (maybe it’s the fact that I planted some water crowfoot), although they spent some time on someone’s plastic sheeting after that. The last time I saw a male alone, he landed on the main path and – very dignified – he walked away, out of the site, through the gate.
• cropwise, as I said yesterday the celery is gone, but the tomatoes, strawberry spinach and the artichokes I planted out are ok. Peas and beans are doing fine and today I picked my first radishes, which went to add some piquancy to a carrot salad. Rhubarb is also growing, and I picked my third batch: 400gr, not bad at all. However, the agretti were unfortunately just a mirage: no sign whatsoever of any growing. My brassicas, the ones that Jean said would never grow, did not grow much, but are preparing to bolt, so they put on a bit of weight: I will pick them before it’s too late but at least will have enough to make a stir-fry. The cardoons are growing healthily, after a slow recovery.
• one of the elders, chopped down roughly, has recovered and is bearing flowers now. Still two tree stumps in the path (with me still getting rid of branches in the path as they grow), and nobody has taken up the plot yet: that bit of land has been without “practising” owners for most of the time I’ve been there now, but the (now-ex) allotment rep said the council is on the case.
• I have sown the Garden Organic experiments 10 days ago and the lettuce is almost ready to plant out. There are seedlings in the tree spinach tray but I am not sure it is the tree spinach – sometimes some tiny weeds manage to grow in the trays as well. I have not seen any butterflies though after my report and similar viewing the weekend after that. 

I was sure I had written of clearing the herbs bed and how I had decided to split the bronze fennel root clump as it was too big, realising soon afterwards that I shouldn’t have. However, it seems one at least of the transplants has survived, and the original plant is growing nicely. I also seemed to remember telling you about the wasp that wanted to nest in my greenhouse, but that too was only in my mind. Anyway, it seems I have managed to distract her by taking away her half-built nest when she was not there (she kept coming back, looking for it on the ground and around, but luckily I had thrown it out altogether) and replacing it with a piece of cardboard egg box (I hoped she would think it was someone else’s nest). She did not come back.

That’s enough for today.
I am planning to do a spring photo special as I did with the frost one, as soon as I have a little bit more time.

I am back after a week or so and all the celery that I planted out is gone, all but one (ONE) seedling – no remains whatsoever so it was slugs, the mean slimy creatures – regret saying that their activity was less than usual… I have also lost all my tomatillos in the greenhouse to some or other hungry invertebrate, but all the rest was fine – thanks mainly to Carol who offered to keep an eye on them.

Outside, the growth was generally lush – including the weeds – with gooseberries and currants well under development; strawberries, blueberries and broad beans in flower, my first ever radishes ready and I also got the first vestiges of mushrooms!!!

A major sowing session is required to catch up now.
By the way, I renew my offer for borage seedlings and raspberry shoots if anyone is interested. I also have some periwinkle Vinca major, mint, hazels, a little maple, St John’s wort, rosemary and tiny beech all grown from seed or cuttings and all looking for a welcoming home.

Today we planted out a few small trees and shrubs in the nursery beds, where they will grow on for some three years before they are ready for their final destination. They will be watered with a drip line and fed once a  month from March to October.

For this task, I was joined again by the work experience lad, in his second week with us.

First of all, we had to mark a straight line 1.5 m away from the last row of plants in the ground. The line has red markers every 25 cm, so it’s quite convenient for the job.

Then, we planted all the trees alongside the line, 1.5 m away from each other. We dig a hole so the plant would be planted at the same level in the ground that it was in the pot, at the root flare (if you plant it too deep, the stem might rot or start suckering). Then we filled back the hole and heeled the plants in, so they would not rock in the wind. You can easily feel whether a plant is well planted, by trying to wiggle it a little bit.

Thirdly, we staked the single-stem plants (not the small shrubs), so that:

• they will not rock in the wind, causing the roots to become dislodged;
• they grow straight.

Staking must be done as flat as possible to the the stem, and with a cane that is longer than the plant (so that the tip does not rub against it as it grows). I was afraid the cane might damage the roots, if driven too close to the stem, but they explained that it’s allright, unless you see the plant bending down on one side when you do it: in that case, you have hit a larger root and should find another place to put the cane it. When the stem is not straight, for example because of a graft, one should try to place the stake so that it straightens the stem up as much as possible.

With a tapener gun (a great device that catches the tape’s end at a shallow press of the handle, so that you can pull it to the desired length, and then staple it together by pressing the handles together hard) the stem is tied to the cane, quite tight. The right way to do it is by pulling the tape from the stem side towards the cane, so that you do not catch the stem in the stapler by mistake.

As a last step, we had to connect some extensions to the existing drip line. There are larger pipes on the side that do not have holes in them but carry the water to the actual drip lines. With a T joint, you connect the smaller drip line to the larger pipe. The drip line has a valve in it, to stop the water flow if needed.

In order to insert the pipes onto the joint, you need to plunge them in hot water, so they get soft and are easily pushed on, but go hard shortly afterwards so they self seal. That means that you have to cut the pipe whenever you need to remove the joints.

 Day tree at the nursery over, and the plants ready for a good soak.