Sunday 26 April 2015

Water well...

 Our allotment has no water and in this recent beautiful weather (that I will not complain about) the soil is starting to crack like the desert, of course the bindweed doesn't seem to mind.

 It's a very new site, half of it is still being developed from an old council nursery site that was abandoned years ago under what is called an 'Urban Nature Project'. It's a lovely idea and I feel very lucky to have my little slice of it in the form of my allotment plot but the lack of water is going to be hard to cope with if they can't sort it out soon.

Apparently they took a while to even find where the water main was and (rumour has it) found it by a digger accidently putting holes in it and flooding the nearby golf course...one way of finding it I guess:) So we ask the man in the digger (a different digger) who is excavating the ground for the other new allotments and he shrugs...I email the lady at the council and she is helpful but diplomatic. We have no idea when we will have water on the site, the lovely brand new taps remain useful only for hanging our coats on:)

We have been using a beautiful old 'well' that used to supply the water to the monks at the nearby Abbey years ago, I don't know how true that is but I love the picture it conjures up of the monks in their robes trouping down to collect their water. It's not a Jack and Jill well, there is no bucket that plunges down into a bottomless hole. It is just a very simple trough fed by a spring that the Bluebells seem to appreciate. It is enough for now and I quite like the connection to the history of the place that using it is giving me. Perhaps, I should don a hooded monks robe and go the whole way...perhaps not, I'd just look like Yoda with a bucket...not really a good look for anyone!

 Besides this is England and as we all know...it will rain...in fact is that a cloud?









2 comments:

  1. On my plot my ground is also cracking up because of the lack of rain - in some places it is fairly soft and easy to dig, others like reinforced concrete, I broke my digging fork on Saturday trying to break up a clod- and yes the weeds are having a field day and running riot. We do have water on our site and we can use hosepipes for filing buts but not for watering which is a proverbial pain in the rear end, try to keep as much moisture in the ground as possible, if your not using part of the plot cover it up with anything, if you've got a muck heap keep that covered to it will keep it moist and hopefully stop weeds from growing in it - a plot can be hard work but when you start harvesting fresh veg it is so worth it good luck with it

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  2. Thank you for the advice, your soil sounds as hard as mine, though I've only managed to bend my fork! I've got some of the plot covered, and the compost heap..good to know I've got something right so far:) I've got some new raised beds that I'm wanting to plant up soon, so as wrong as it seems to wish for...I'm really hoping it rains soon!

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Comments are always welcome, nice kind ones at least! Any advice for a complete novice would also be gratefully received:) Thanks.