Back to Earth

Hey y'all,

I went to the allotment today! And boy had it changed!  B had done an amazing job and he definitely hasn't burnt the place down.  So that's good.  And this is how it looks now:

Unfortunately I could only spend about 45 minutes there today, and I had the same thing as before where I'm enjoying what I'm doing so much that I don't want to leave.. And also my slight ocd tendencies kick in when I do anything, like weeding, or digging, and I can't bear to leave what I'm doing until I've finished, and done it all perfectly.  But that's pretty hard to do when it comes to gardening, unless what you have is a paved area with a few bonsai trees, but then that wouldn't really be gardening would it?  What I'm saying is perhaps all this gardening and food growing malarkey might just help to curb my perfectionist ways.  I just find it hard though..

Anyway, my personality defects aside, when I overcame my surprise and joy at all the marvellous things B had done at the allotment, I got on and started to clear the area around our solitary, lovely, as-yet unspecified fruit tree.  Here she is:

I wasn't really sure if I could dig near to the base of the tree. Ok so as I just wrote that sentence I realise how blindingly obvious it would be even to a 5 year old that no, it probably isn't a good idea to dig near the base of any tree, lest you pull up its precious roots.  Anyhoo, I came to this realisation when I accidentally pulled up one of the tree's said roots, and then worked out that, yes, I should create a circle around the tree which I would just hoe, and then dig the rest which would hopefully not be near the roots.  But I didn't/still don't know how big its roots would be.   I hoed and dug and pulled and arghhhed (back hurting) and revelled in the lovely surroundings and blue sky until all too soon it was time to go.  I'll be back there tomorrow to finish up clearing around the tree and then onto more jobs after that.

Here is the after shot:

The soil is very different to the site in Whitehawk where I did my recent food growing course.  (Whitehawk is on the other side of town, in East Brighton and up on the hill).  The soil there is quite chalky.  But this soil on our lottie is really different, not sure what you would call it, but it's a different colour for a start and definitely a different texture.  I'll have to ask L, the site rep, what it is, he'll be glad to impart his allotment wisdom on a mere lottie learner such as myself.

B had done an amazing job on the shed, he totally sorted it all out inside, and voila, here it is:

I very reluctantly left my wellies in the shed today because I'm duffing up my lovely purple boots each time I wear them there, so I thought if I took my wellies and left them there I could just put them on instead.  But the size of the spiders in that place is ridiculous, and I was trying to figure out a way that would deter them from crawling into my boots... But in the end I just placed them on the top.  And I'll just hope for the best.  I was thinking of laying some conkers around them as I recently witnessed an arachnophobe placing conkers around her office to ward off the lovely little critters.  But I partly forgot about finding some, and also I thought I would just be brave and risk it.  If I can attempt to conquer my slight perfectionist ways, hell I can conquer my slight arachnophobia too.

Couple more pics before I fall asleep on the keyboard:

This is the back area where the famous fire was:

And lastly let us spare a thought for this lovely bush which is no longer.  At least not on our plot.  It lives on on our neighbour, E's, side...

B cut it down today to make room for our new beds.  To hell with nature- CUT IT ALL DOWN!! That's one thing I don't really like doing you know- cutting down plants.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think it really hurts them, but I just feel a little weird about it.  Just ask my sis, T, about the time that we were setting up Mum's Christmas tree in the lounge a few years ago, and she'll tell you how frustrating it was that I wouldn't twist the fixtures on tight enough because I didn't want to squash the base of the tree....! I think I just need to tell myself it's like giving a human a haircut.  And that doesn't hurt or harm them.  Not unless you count the part where the junior who's drying your hair after the haircut is scalding your scalp with the hairdryer and you feel too bad to tell them because you're more concerned with not knocking their fragile confidence than protecting the skin on your head.  Which happened to me once. Many moons ago when I still frequented hairdressers.

Anyway, I'll just have to remember to practise good after-care if I cut any plants or trees down and hope that the tree spirits forgive me.


Ok really must go now.  Goodbye xxx