Yesterday there was some excitement at the allotment as bees began to swarm on someone's water butt (there's a joke there somewhere). They continued to swarm there for a few hours while I did battle with what has become a rather sorry excuse for an allotment, until in the early evening they moved to the upper parts of one of our larger sycamore trees.
The allotment has been the primary victim of the turmoil in our lives of recent months. Following two house moves, renovations, work going crazy and a bout of pneumonia added to the wettest June on record and yup, you guessed it, the allotment is a war zone.
The greatest casualties have been my apple trees. Given I came first in last year's show for my apples, the fact that they have all succumbed to decease and excessive moisture is a real shame. I cut them back really hard yesterday before spraying them with anti- fungal treatments and found only two lone apples on trees that last year produced a thousand.
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| Katie's Pavlova with allotment strawberries drizzled with home made strawberry jam |
The horseradish and bindweed have really taken hold and, with help from family including my lovely nephew Tom, I fought them like mad until my back was screaming. Under a carpet of luscious green bindweed we found a pretty healthy strawberry crop, which is remarkable. The rhubarb, on the other hand, has really lost the fight with the horseradish and on removing most of this voracious plant the rhubarb plant was found with only seven leaves. The runners have at least enjoyed the rain but the courgettes have not; they have yet to produce a flower and have already developed problems associated with the damp weather.
It's not going to be a great year for me, but that is the world of the allotment. You win some, you lose some and if you turn your back for a moment you get stung.
