OK … Ok … So, I confess, it’s not even at the allotment – but there is a barrow (look closely and you’ll notice I have had to re-place the original handles with some re-cycled timber … which part of your barrow fails first; and what do you do about it?)
These next few pictures are of the plot
I actually went up there to have a quick security check and to try and find some woodlice for my day-job (they will not be harmed, but may be re-homed).
In November there were countless hordes of them under the covers on the two compost heaps – today I could only find two.
BUT, bright side, in moving planters, timbers, water butts and other possible things woodlice might be settled beneath – I found two – and uncovered the sleeping places of a number of slugs and snails. It reminded me of a marvellous conversation I had (no, really) In Kielce, Poland with a German allotment holder who collected these varmints up in a can, cycled two or three miles away and emptied them out on the side of the road. Me? I just left them uncovered, food for birds, return to new shelter or exposure to the frost. Sorry guys!
The ground is absolutely saturated, will be more so when the snow thaws and our compost heaps are properly soggy: I could literally squeeze liquid from handfuls of the stuff!
So, came home to a little bit more seed packet counting and watching the space I will be using to chit the potatoes.
26th January, 2012.
Muck, Line and Thinker 