Make a point of visiting us weekly!

Sorry about the alliteration but it was just how last Saturday morning struck me. I nearly didn’t add this page but I like the guys of the Allotment Association and their Plant Sales morning of last Saturday was worthy of mention and record.
By the time we arrived the previously laden tables were beginning to show gaps. The plants that were surplus to requirements (which were not cheap!)  from allotment growers were going rapidly. Rumour has it they took over £300 that morning. I’m also told that there were people asking about allotment availability of the Parish Council afterwards. My wife and I came away with at least half a dozen plants. “What was it,” I pondered, “that makes us think these are plants up for grabs and we must grab some?”  I think it was almost a spirit of optimism caused by a beautiful sunny morning, and that’s what informal plant sales do for you!

But that wasn’t how everyone saw it...... I found myself on the edge of a conversation as one man declared, “I hate Essex. There’s nothing good about it. It’ll soon be a dust bowl!”  I felt saddened by that point of view, by this gripe,  because I felt it was far from the truth.  And lo, five days later it poured with rain and my rain barrels are full again!

I wondered if that speaker had been an allotment holder; I rather suspected not, because all those allotment holders I’ve talked to over the months are an optimistic bunch, but more than that, they do things to put content to their optimism - they grow stuff. I looked at a nearby allotment and thought, “I bet this person doesn’t feel negative!” because there in orderly rows were the healthiest and best developed vegetables I’ve seen this year (see on the right) potatoes, onions, and broad beans. This was the fruit of hard work and, I guess, lots of regular watering, growth in abundance. Here was someone who was not going to let of couple of months of drought put them off - good on you!

So it was an enjoyable mornings and we departed with optimism and a question: where the dickens am I going to find space for these plants we’ve just bought? But that’s the fun of gardening! Thanks guys!