Gardening Blog
Allotment Diary
June 15, 2009: nature's bounty hunters
Terry Walton and the curse of the Welsh rabbit - who are those lop-eared intruders hopping among the vegetables, asks our allotment blogger
June may not be suiting all people, but gardeners I talk to are enjoying the month of showers and warm sunshine. Some of the showers may be a little too robust at times and occasionally accompanied but the rumble of thunder, but the plants are certainly enjoying it. The plot is positively at its best and the pace of allotment life is a lot more leisurely. Just the simple tasks to perform at present with a little weeding to keep them in check and a little liquid feed to boost the steady growth of all our charges.
I have the best task of all now and it is gaining momentum almost daily. Yes, harvest time is here and our early sowings are reaping rewards. The early potatoes are very tall, their dark green foliage inviting the first fork to be pushed in at their base to reveal the hidden treasure. No disappointment then as I shake the lifted haulms and a scattering of bright, white tubers tumble on the surface of the soil.
Then my eyes scan the rest of the plot wondering what can be served with these delicious white marbles. The cabbage, sown early in April under cloches, have firm, plump hearts and will be joining my harvested potatoes in my harvesting tray. Alongside and hidden under their tall fern leaves are some carrots. A gentle tug of these leaves reveals the long, red roots that were lying hidden from view. Soon I have a bunch of these long, finger-thick vegetables to add to my meal. One more vegetable is required to satisfy my evening meal and a soft squeeze of those long pods hidden in the foliage of my broad beans tells me they are full of young, succulent beans.
There is so much satisfaction on returning home with a bag of these freshly-gathered vegetables and presenting them to your wife. This is an accumulation of those many hours spent in complete harmony with the plants on your plot. Was it worth it? That evening meal certainly proves a resounding yes.
The taste buds are excited and the primeval inner spirit of the hunter–provider makes me a very contented individual.
But not everything in my Garden of Eden is hunky-dory. We have some unwelcome intruders who have mysteriously appeared. We have rabbits. In my entire time of more than half a century on this allotment there has never been a rabbit. One of our plot holders was on his plot at the crack of dawn and spotted them nibbling the tops of his young runner beans. Gardeners are mostly in tune with the creatures of nature and live alongside them in a degree of peace and harmony - yes, even slugs and snails. But a family of rabbits and an allotment don't mix and they are difficult to co-habit with as they flee from plant to plant, taking the juicy growing tips. So there are hasty discussions of what to do to scare them away. Let's hope they are just temporarily lost and just passing through, as they are not welcome guests.
One of my favourite visitors to the plot is the blackbird, but one is giving me grief at present. I am happy to put up with his scratching in my soil to seek out pests but now he is overstepping the mark. There are large chunks being taken out of my strawberries and they are the biggest more succulent ones. They are to me fully protected by my fine nets, draped over hoops and secured to the ground. But to my surprise he was popping in and out of a small hole I did not spot. What a brazen character he is. Still, the hole is fixed now and his antics are at an end. The best berries are now destined for my dessert dish.
So although nature is a wonderful thing and we try to live together peacefully, there are some things a gardener is not willing to share with his animal friends.
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
Useful links
- Terry Walton's weekly allotment diary
- How to grow your own tomatoes
- Grow your own strawberries
- How to attract useful insects into your garden
- Goodbye to the cuckoo
- Garden wildlife watch: the pheasant chick
- Visit our gardening channel
- Chat to other gardeners at Saga Zone
- Food and drink: readers' recipes, seasonal recipes and more
Reader comments
Its the best thing in the world to come home with your bounty. So far Ive only picked broadbeans and strawberries. Thankfully we havent got rabbits on our allotment but I know a woman that does - I think you may have a bit of a problem in the future now they have found a good food source. You will be having to rabbit proof everything or have rabbit pie.
Posted by: Christine Jefkins | 19/06/2009 18:04:56
