‘What are we doing here?’ asks my faithful whippet Lottie as
I open the gate to the allotment.
‘Got to water the tomatoes’ I respond locking the gate and
turning to walk to the plot.
‘But it rained all night!’ Lottie mutters, head down and obviously
think she would rather be zooming around the park or chasing squirrels.
‘It’ll only take a second and its only the greenhouse.’ I say
tying her to her lead to the rope on the bench.
She sits and watches as I trudge back and forth to the tank
and water the plants in the greenhouse.
‘Can we go now?’ she asks when she sees me finally put down
the can.
It is frustrating guessing the British weather and making
plans around it. For weeks we have dry sunny weather and the plot needs
constant attention then suddenly we get what rain we missed all in a day. When it's dry and sunny we pray for rain, when it rains we pray for sun. The only thing we don't pray for is wind.
You can almost hear the army of slugs and snails all
celebrating under the lettuce. Like a football crowd they sway back and forth
as if they have won the cup with their teeth ready to eat tomorrow’s salad for
you. I find myself asking, what will be left tomorrow?
Robin is out pecking at all the little grubs and worms that have
surfaced and ventured out for a drink and wash and brush up. He is so busy, he
is ignoring us and not even singing hello.
The heavy rain has brough down the last of the cherries. At
the base of the tree the littered red fruit have obviously been pecked over, probably
by the pigeons first thing this morning.
Everything is proudly showing off new grown, and the sunshine
is accentuating the myriad of green shades which are all glinting in the
afternoon sun. Small flies are drinking up the remaining pools of rain water of
the leaves of the lettuce and under the leave the slimy singing army of slugs and
breaking into a chorus of ‘We are the champions.’ All happy with the wet damp
and humid conditions.
‘Will I have anything left tomorrow?’ I ask a Lottie who is now
busy tapping her wrist and imaginary watch.
‘You can always grow some more’ she retorts looking at the
gate then me.
I quickly pick some sweat pea flowers to take home with two
eyes burning a hole in my back.
‘Ok let’s go.’ I pick up my bag, unfasten Lottie and
together we walk down the path to the gate.
‘I could…’ I start to say thinking about tying up the
sunflowers which have grown at least two feet overnight.
‘Don’t even think about it!’ snaps Lottie.
As we leave i start to plan out tomorrow’s list of jobs
realising that weeding will be high on that list followed by picking fruit,
salad and tying up those sunflowers. Do all gardeners plan out the chores this
way or merely turn up and decide?
‘Come on the squirrels are waiting to play.’ says Lottie,
her nose twitching and her eyes going into hunting mode.
