It’s a while since I last put pen to paper on behalf of the VPA. As you are all aware, because of Covid-19 the VPA has been unable to hold its summer show for the past two years and very little else besides. We did have a Christmas craft competition last December and a spring bonnet competition this year. However, neither of these events were particularly well supported. The Committee will be meeting soon to decide the future of the VPA and the decision will be announced at the Annual General Meeting which will be held in November.
Although I haven’t been busy with the VPA, the allotment and hens have had to be tended daily. The veggies have struggled with the strange weather we’ve had through 2021. It hasn’t stopped the weeds growing in abundance!! However, the peas were great and broad beans were successful after battling with blackfly – they didn’t like being dosed with washing up liquid!! and a good supply has gone into the freezer. Courgettes and marrows (the real thing) were coming out of my ears and it’s amazing how difficult it is to give them away. Onions have done well and are currently completing their drying in the greenhouse. Blackcurrants and gooseberries were good and most of them are now sitting in the cupboard as jam – I love toast and jam – although not too good for the waistline! Potatoes and leeks are doing OK and the sweetcorn is coming along nicely. For some reason French beans, carrots, beetroot and tomatoes are not so good this year. Still, one has to be grateful for what has grown well.
The hens are doing well, but they are affected by the variants in the weather and they certainly don’t like it when it’s windy. Pumpkin, (I recently discovered she’s called a dominant amber), is in the process of moulting and there’s white feathers all over the run. Holly who is nearly eight years old is still the boss and keeps the other three in order. They are great fun and are pets more than egg producers.
DID YOU KNOW? Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) wrote: “I plant rosemary all over the garden, so pleasant is it to know that at every few steps one may draw the kindly branchlets through one’s hand and have the enjoyment of their incomparable incense”.
Happy Gardening – Keep Safe
Eileen