Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
April 15, 2008: springing back to life
The life-enhancing Terry Walton brings us the beauty of the natural world with this beguiling blog
The April showers continue but not in the manner we would like them. They are heavy and consist of sleet and hail which chills the ground instead of that steady light rain to warm the soil. Despite the definite chill that fills the air, life is returning to the dormant trees and plants.
My journey to the allotments is getting more interesting and attractive with each passing day. The hedgerows of hawthorne are now a dense green of lush tender leaves hiding the fields behind from my view. The ‘big boys’ of the fields, the horse chestnut, birch and willow are starting to unfurl their new canopies of buds showing life is again coursing through their roots and branches. No movement in what to me is the king of trees, the oak. These still stand bare and skeletal against the gloomy skies, defying nature and keeping its buds fully closed. It will make its spectacular entrance in its own time and reveal its majestic splendour when all around it are fully covered in their summer coats.
The same life is evident on the allotments and my first sight as I approach the plot is the round ball of green that my gooseberry bush has become. It is plastered with tiny insignificant flowers which are attracting the early bumble bees and even wasps. It is alive with fluttering wings despite the chill in the air as these feed on the nectar and will aid my bumper crop of ripe fruits for my summer crumbles and tarts. Keep hard at work my little beauties and we can share the spoil of this one solitary bush together.
The first of this year’s horticultural shows is upon us this weekend with the RHS show held in the beautiful grounds of Cardiff castle.
This got me thinking about what a special breed the show gardener is. The patience and skill of these exhibitors never ceases to amaze me when I gaze at these perfect specimens on the show bench.
It cast my mind back to my early days of allotment gardening, when as a teenager, we had such a man on our allotment. Tommy often took me under his wing and taught me many things that have stood me in good stead all my gardening life. Many of these applied practices are used by me to this day.
But despite all that I learned from him he never imparted to me the chemistry of show growing. He would mix up his special fertiliser compounds to feed all of his different show exhibits, each type having its own special blend. This would bring these show exhibits to perfection in the quest for that red first prize card.
I will always remember the evening before the show day on the allotments when his plot was a hive of frantic activity.
Many types of haulms of potatoes would be carefully lifted, washed and laid out in rows to eliminate the ones with any imperfections until six perfect ones were chosen.
The same cropping and careful selection process would be carried out on each type of vegetable to meet the high standard for the show bench.
To me the most patient activity would go into finding the best flower blooms. These would be selected and out would come a fine paint brush, not to paint out the imperfections, but to tease every petal into perfect shape.
Me! I could never become a dedicated showman. I like my vegetables and flowers grown naturally and taste is my paramount importance. My vegetables must grace my dinner plate and my flowers fill my home with scent and beauty.
But I take my hat off to these masters of the show bench and admire their gardening prowess and skills and take great delight in viewing the results of their secret labour.
More from Terry Walton
More gardening
- Why we all need to dig Britain's natural heritage
- How and when to divide perennials
- How to fit a water butt
- How to grow vegetables
Gardening chat
My life on a hillside allotment
Terry Walton is a regular contributor to The Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 and has written a book called, My Life on a Hillside Allotment, published by Bantam Press. The book is available from Amazon
