I drove to Aber yesterday, firstly to meet up with Ruta, who lives there and had bought one of the Smoker's Bows from me and then to meet up with Tam. I had a lovely chat with Ruta, and am about to add her blog to my Blog-list.
When Tam, Rosie & Jon arrived we went to Crown (no B&Q in Aber) to get my lovely green paint. We found that their Crystal Mint was a very close match. Their prices though! Just as well they gave a hefty discount as paying the full £60 for it would have really hurt. As it was, £42 for 2.5 L was bad enough. Ouch!
Then we went to Tam's allotment. It is just half a plot, and very overgrown - several people took a look and turned it down, so Tam got offered it. She reckoned they weren't proper gardeners if a few weeds put them off it! She had cleared some, but obviously Keith's illness and having baby Rosie making a fuss each time they went there was a big spanner in the works and she was so disheartened to find the area she'd cleared had come back with knee-high Dandelions. There were also BUSHES of Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa). I have it here, on discrete and almost gracile stems. I generally let it flower as the bees love it. On Tam's plot though it was as tall as us, and about as big round. Not sure if there is a domesticated variety but by gum, this liked where it was growing! Even the side stems were as thick as my thumb. Apparently it has medicinal uses, in reducing inflammation, fighting infection and helping wounds heal. It was once used for treating Hemorrhoids.
Lots of gone-over Willowherb too, but not much grass, which was good (here, I have grass and wild raspberries). One more session should finish the clearing and I am happy to help again. There is a sitting area, and a bench at the back, and a polytunnel which needs a new plastic cover, but all in all they have a good little plot as the soil is wonderful. You may have seen Monty Don thrusting a fork or a spade into his soil and it damn near disappears (oh how envious I am of soil like that - my fork goes in and hits rubble from the demolished mansion). Well, the soil at Tam's allotment is like that and has obviously been given LOTS of FYM and TLC down the years. She's got a good one.
Jon's mum came along too, and held Rosie, who was as good as gold, having slept practically through the night before, and we all had a picnic after, sitting in the area by the polytunnel, and munching broken biscuits, chocolate and Jelly Babies. That hit the spot. I picked up a handful of windfall apples too, so will cook those up today and bake a cake to take for friends tomorrow.
I drove home through the mountains in wonderful sunshine, really pleased I had been able to help Tam and make a difference. Today I shall be in my own garden. Ed bought me up some more stable manure and I can carry on clearing the soft fruit area on the bank. I think I have lost the baby Japanese Wineberries, but no huge loss there. I will probably transplant the 3 Rhubarb plants to the bottom triangle, where there is a good depth of soil from rotted leaves from the beech trees.
I need to clear the rest of the overgrown bits in the garden too, the annual autumn tidy up but that will take me through September.
Well, this won't do. Onwards and upwards.
