Carnage at the allotment. The kale, already collapsed from the cold has been hammered by the pigeons. Like gardening armageddon. Double trench warfare.
My heart fell when I first saw the plot after two weeks away. Field beans blackened by the frost. Salad bowl lettuce giving up the ghost. Even the chicory is less like the fields of Treviso than something sadder flattened by the freeze. The baby kale's been ravaged by the hungry birds. But I breathe in and slowly adjust my eyesight to the small, delicate signs of life.
And there is some. The garlic is growing bravely in ice-solid soil. The forage peas are flying the flag for the green manure. The onions are ever so slightly inching up. The bees are still buzzing around their newly wrapped hives. It was all sort of like finding friends alive on a battlefield.
So I got out the scrubbing brush to clear the path before Howard arrived with wire and tools to get some work done. But I will let him tell you about that later... So, in spite of the ice, there are signs of hope and brave new life on the allotment.
Bow with just a week to go till the winter solstice, how are you and your gardens holding up? With love and warm hugs from London....
My heart fell when I first saw the plot after two weeks away. Field beans blackened by the frost. Salad bowl lettuce giving up the ghost. Even the chicory is less like the fields of Treviso than something sadder flattened by the freeze. The baby kale's been ravaged by the hungry birds. But I breathe in and slowly adjust my eyesight to the small, delicate signs of life.
And there is some. The garlic is growing bravely in ice-solid soil. The forage peas are flying the flag for the green manure. The onions are ever so slightly inching up. The bees are still buzzing around their newly wrapped hives. It was all sort of like finding friends alive on a battlefield.
So I got out the scrubbing brush to clear the path before Howard arrived with wire and tools to get some work done. But I will let him tell you about that later... So, in spite of the ice, there are signs of hope and brave new life on the allotment.
Bow with just a week to go till the winter solstice, how are you and your gardens holding up? With love and warm hugs from London....
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