True tales - ‘The Purse’

In the early ‘70s I worked as a meter reader for PG&E in San Mateo. I was one of only three women in the department. Once a month I would go to a neighbourhood in Redwood City. The people who lived there were mostly elderly Italian couples, widows and widowers, and when they died their children would fix up the houses and rent them out. You could usually tell by the front yards. The flowers and tomato plants would be replaced by easy to care for lawns.

That was where Joe lived, in a small bungalow on the last block of my route. He had a large front yard and a beautiful well tended garden at the back.

Every month I would read the gas meter in the front and then knock so Joe could let me walk through the house and go to the electric meter out the back. He was a plump little man with once-black hair that was almost all grey now, and smiling dark eyes, and from the beginning he had insisted that I call him Joe. He was probably in his seventies and was always at home and apparently lived by himself. He would open the door and say with an Italian accent “Good morning! Good morning!” no matter what time of day. “Come in! Come in! Come! Come! Come!” Joe would always remain in the house until I had finished reading the meter. Afterwards we would walk through the garden and he would give me fruit or vegetables to take home with me, whatever was in season.

The electric meter was on the house above an old picnic table that had been pushed up against the wall under the shade of a large grapevine. On the table, near the edge, was an old purse. It was the type of purse an old lady would own; it had a hard curved shell covered with dark brown leather that was scuffed and worn. The clasp was the type that pinched shut and was tarnished and discoloured from years of use. At first I wondered where she was… the owner of the purse… was she ill? Or maybe this was to test me, to see if I was honest. Eventually I stopped questioning its presence. I would stand next to the bench in front of the purse and read the meter, but I was always aware of it… solid and unmovable. Once I almost touched it.

One August day about two years after I started coming to his house the weather was unusually warm. By the time I knocked on Joe’s door I was dehydrated and suffering from the heat. We walked through to the patio and he insisted I sat down on the bench by the picnic table. As I sat there looking at the purse I heard him say in a soft trembling voice “We were going shopping… she put the purse down… she needed to sit for a minute… I couldn’t touch it after… I can’t move it.” When I looked up at him he turned away and walked quickly into the house. When he came back outside his eyes were smiling and he proudly handed me a large bag of tomatoes and zucchinis and a Fanta orange soda.

I thought about the purse a lot over the next month and was anxious to see Joe again. When I finally arrived at his house in September I notice immediately that something wasn’t quite right. His garden was yellowed and there were rotting vegetables on the ground. Thinking he might be ill I ran to the door and knocked loudly. A slim man with Joe’s eyes, but they weren’t smiling, opened the door. I said “Where’s Joe!”

He stared speechlessly at the girl with the long blond hair dressed in a man’s uniform. Unsure what to say next I told him I was there to read the meters. He turned to another man and asked him to open the side gate for me, a route I’d never taken before. I walked quickly through the gate to the back of the house and around the giant grapevine up to the picnic table. The man stood near me and waited. I stared at the meter and wrote some number down in my book. When I was finished I walked past the man without saying a word. I left the yard and closed the gate behind me.

The purse was gone.

Barbara Hudin Bend, Oregan

From 'True Tales of American Life' Compiled by Paul Auster

Not one of my finest moments…

A working life as a project manager and call centre planning specialist have taught me to do detail and to keep a note of important information. That’s been emphasised by many early failed construction attempts on the allotment that have forced me to plan ahead. But my natural tendency is to skim over things and hope for the best. I’m the eternal optimist… things always work out for the best won’t they?

So when fixing up to go to the Cambridge Arts Theatre last Friday to see their production of The Haunting I briefly perused the bus timetables to check all was OK. We like to amble in by bus and Linda’s words of warning echoed in my ears… ‘It’s a Good Friday bank holiday, shouldn’t you check the buses are running?

Normally it’s not worth checking the timetable since there’s a bus at least every 15 minutes. But I did the checking anyway… in my own fashion. I noted Stagecoach were running a Sunday service and their timetable indicated some early morning buses only ran Monday to Friday. So no problem.

Off we set just after 14:00 on the 15 minute walk to the nearest bus stop. The show didn’t start until 19:45 but we planned to enjoy a walk around Cambridge in the sunshine and a snack at our favourite eating place, the Cafe on the Round.

On arriving at the bus stop my wife, who does have an eye for detail but doesn’t use a PC, eagerly eyeballed what timetable details were displayed. She noted we’d just missed a Whippet bus at 14:15 and their next bus wouldn’t be along for another two hours. Stagecoach helpfully displayed all their services other than for Sundays on a timetable some two years old.

A slight feeling of unease started to well up in my breast.

After a while I suggested we walk to the next stop. Further up the route there was a bus stop with radio display showing the next few buses due. We decided to walk down the route since this would be heading towards St Ives bus station where we might have to end up. Between stops I nervously eyed back up the road to check a bus wasn’t trying to creep up on us and whizz past. That’s happened before… we once missed two buses while walking to the next stop. No chance of that happening this time… not a bus in sight!

It was a hot day and after three stops and with no radio display in sight we piled into the bus shelter to await our fate. The aluminium seat was scorching and the plastic shelter caught the sun and built up an oven temperature in a most effective way. Not the only thing heating up, as Linda reflected on my inability to do anything right.

We did spot a bus… a Whippet 1A service to Cambridge, unfortunately on it’s way back from our destination heading towards Huntingdon. Was that a look of disbelief and sympathy on the driver’s face as he stared in our direction?

Our hopes rose when we saw a frail old couple wobbling towards us. Surely they wouldn’t have the strength to walk into town… they must be heading for the bus stop knowing a bus is due shortly! But as they came abreast they mysteriously picked up renewed strength  and headed onwards with confidence, past us and the bus stop.

One hour on and with no sign of a bus on our side of the road I helpfully suggested we wait until about 15:15, the logic being that surely the Stagecoach bus wouldn't run at the same times as the Whippet bus… if they synchronised with each other and with the Whippet buses running at 14:15 and 16:15 the most obvious time for the Stagecoach bus to arrive would be about 15:15.

I had renewed certainty in my theory as a group of drunks attached themselves to one end of the bus stop. They certainly were waiting for a bus, but no use asking them about the next arrival they were so far gone. Fresh optimism when a much more distinguished gentleman arrived. He thought Whippet buses ran every hour… at least they did a few weeks ago. We pointed him to the timetable showing the next Whippet bus wasn’t due for another hour. After a while he decided to walk to his destination in town.

We’d had enough by then and decided to retrace our steps back up the route in a general direction of home and to go as far as the stop further up the route I knew had a radio display. Before we got there the Whippet 1A service and the driver with the sad face reappeared, this time heading towards Cambridge. Hurrah! But on asking when the last bus back was, a time of 22:00 didn’t seem helpful. The last show we went to didn’t finish until about 22:20 and we didn’t want to be stranded.

In the end I drove us to Cambridge over two hours after we’d set off on foot. Linda isn’t the best traveller but fortunately the A14 was quiet. A pleasant amble from the free parking in Barton Road, along the hidden paths from Clare Road, around the College playing fields and onwards to Silver Street, soothed troubled nerves and the play was very enjoyable.

The play ended at 21:40. It might have been helpful if I’d checked that when booking the tickets. We could have caught the last bus back!

Three weeks into retirement… am I forgetting the importance of detail again?

Ten top tips to chuckling chicks

So you want to keep chickens? Another hamster’s made a desperate bid for freedom and is lost somewhere in the house, the budgies have fallen off their perches for the final time and you’ve tried dogs and cats (unfortunately at the same time, hence their untimely demise). The kids think they’ve got a hot line to pet heaven and you’re after something a bit more resilient and productive. Welcome to the whacky world of winged wonders!

Keeping chickens as pets is great fun. They have very definite personalities, children love them and you get a free supply of superb eggs to boot! So here’s an easy guide to why you should keep chickens (or hens or cockerels), how to look after chickens and keep them healthy.

A bit of history before we start the guide. The chicken is actually a mini dinosaur… chickens have similar origins to the dinosaurs and originated in the foothills of the Himalayas in South East Asia. They were first domesticated around 7000BC, originally used for religious sacrifice, cockfighting and as an alarm clock.

It’s thought the Egyptians were the first to breed for eggs and the most prolific of layers will produce an egg most days. Considering the amount of energy it takes that’s nothing short of a miracle. All chickens are descendants from the wild form called red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), a bird that still runs wild in most of southeast Asia.

Here’s a guide on how to take on and keep your chickens chuckling. Have fun!

 

1. What’s the commitment?

Your chickens will live about 4 to 5 years, so although you’re not going to grow old together you are taking on some responsibilities.

When going on holiday, assuming you’re not taking the chickens with you, you’ll have to arrange for someone to stock up food and water, collect eggs and check all is OK.

If you’re keeping the girls in your back garden you should consider where to keep them… chickens love to scratch around and taste interesting looking green things so if you give them free range they’ll also scoff everything that looks mildly tasty and scratch up things in general. Best if you can give them their own part of the garden as a run where they can dust bathe, search for titbits the other girls have missed and generally do chicken type things. A caged run can be moved around the garden, which means no more grass cutting… but it’s not the most caring way to keep your chickens.

If they’re on an allotment you’ll definitely need a well protected chicken run with two metre high chicken wire fencing, the bottom dug into the ground. You’re going to have to pop up several times a week to replenish things, clean out and check all is OK. That includes winter when it’s freezing cold. If you work during the day winter visits may well be in total darkness.

 

2. How much does it cost?

More details on the kit you need below, but cost can range from next to nothing to £100s.

If you’re keeping chickens in your back garden, can get your hands on bits of spare wood for free and can handle an electric drill without maiming yourself the only cost is a few screws, a bit of chicken wire and some effort. Even the chickens can be had for next to nothing if you’re happy to rescue a few ex-battery hens from a fate of occupying the inside of a cat food tin.

Alternatively you can go for the designer method by buying stylish equipment to complement your back garden and purchasing interesting breeds… and taking out a second mortgage on the home in the process.

See more info below and useful links.

 

3. Equipment

As a minimum you’ll need a des res for the girls to safely rest at night. This should include boxes for laying eggs. Additional considerations are…

• A chicken run, which means posts and chicken wire plus entrance. You need to give your gorgeous girls enough room to roam about in. Ideally the run will allow two chickens at least 50 square metres, more if possible. If kept in a back garden with a restricted run allow them out as often as you can to have a scratch around and a dust bathe, so long as you’re not too precious about the results. Chickens love looking for titbits so if keeping in a restricted area wood chips are a good flooring to use.
• Make sure the bottom of the chicken wire is dug well into the ground to deter foxes.  Dig as deep as possible, but more importantly lay the bottom part of the wire level with the surface running out from the fence, so the bottom is in an L shape.
• Somewhere shady and sheltered for the chickens to rest during the day if it’s hot and sunny or wet and windy… often chicken coops are built on legs for this purpose.
• Water container, preferably enough for a couple of days at least.
• Food container, again to hold at least a couple of days supply and to be secure from birds and rodents… I made my own economy version rat proof chicken feeder that works very well.
• A bin to keep food supplies secure.

Here are a few photos of my set up…

If money is no object try an Eglu from Omlet… very stylish but will set you back several hundred pounds. Alternatively try the also very stylish and less costly recycled plastic models at Green Frog Designs.

 

4. Beauty parade

So it’s time to choose the girls… what to look for?

Some breeds are easier to handle and less temperamental than others, worth considering if you’re hoping your children will want to take care of the chickens, feed them by hand and pick them up. The rate of egg production varies between breeds, with the most prolific likely to lay an egg most days. Check how generally healthy the stock of chickens appears. And finally the looks… do you want the archetypical chicken or something more exotic?

Best idea is to find a reliable and established local supplier by asking a few people who keep chickens where’s best to go. The breeder needs to be reliable to ensure the chicks have had all the required vaccinations. If you’re at a bit of a loss pop up to your local allotments and ask around. Once you’ve chosen a supplier see what chickens are for sale, ask a few questions, and consult a list of chicken breeds.

You’re after point of lay (POL) pullets… that is young hens about 4 or 5 months old who are just about to start laying. That means you’ll get a full life of laying and you know you’re buying hens. If you buy cockerels by mistake you’ll have a long wait for that first egg!

Don’t be tempted to go down the ‘cute’ path by buying fertilised eggs or chicks… unless you know what you’re doing and are prepared to have 50% cockerels.

The final option is to rescue ex-battery hens, typically one year old birds. They’ll look a bit the worse for wear when you get them and may behave a bit strangely at first… so would you if the only world you knew was a cage the size of an A3 sheet of paper shared with six other hens, never having seen daylight. They may also stop laying for a few weeks while they get used to their new surroundings. But for all their initial appearance they are not unhealthy… just unfit and in need of time to adjust. Typically ex-battery hens are docile and will live anything from three years to much longer. Do get advice from a reputable supplier on what to expect and their special initial needs such as feed.

And the cost? Ex-battery hens can be bought for a small donation. At the other end of the scale more exotic birds can cost £50 or more. Expect to typically pay £10 to £20 for the more popular breeds.

Being offered a cockerel? The cost will be much lower but check out the section below.

 

5. Routine care

The basics are to ensure there’s enough food and water. Don’t underestimate the latter… make sure enough is supplied for hot summer days, and on cold winter days the water supply may be frozen over.

Additionally you need to ensure your flock is secure. Although a pet crocodile might be the exception, other pets such as dogs and cats normally get used to the chickens being around without too much trouble. You will need to ensure your chickens are protected against foxes.

Collect the eggs regularly to stop a chicken getting broody and to make sure they don’t get damaged.

The odd treat is nice. Mine get mixed grain and hurtle across the plot if they hear the shake of a plastic bag that just might contain cooked spaghetti… use the dried type that doesn’t include egg.

Remove any droppings from the nesting boxes daily if you can, and clean out the chicken coop weekly. Chicken droppings are great for the compost heap, having just about the highest nitrogen content of any recyclable pet waste.

Give your birds a weekly health check… just watch to check they’re all performing normally and none are scratching or appear a bit docile for example. See the section on common problems below.

 

6. Handling

It’s best to handle your chickens regularly right from when the start so they get use to you. To pick up a chicken use two hands to take hold on both sides where the wings are, lift her up and hold against your side with one hand underneath, fingers placed either side of her legs.

If your chicken is a bit nervous keep your hand or arm over her outside wing, the inside wing being against your side. Holding your chicken at an angle so she’s partially on her side can help calm her down.

Don’t chase your beauties around… it’s not a good idea to grab tails or wings. The result of this is a nervous chicken who may be put off laying. To catch a flighty bird manoeuvre her into a corner and take hold from there. Alternatively by catching her unawares and coming in from above her natural tendency will be to squat down on the ground making it easy to take hold.

 

7. Egg production

You don’t need a cockerel for eggs to be produced… chickens will do this regardless.

If all is going well you’ll receive an eggy present most days from each chicken. The rate of production will decrease as the girls get older or in winter. Lack of water, being given a fright or moulting can also mean slower laying. If you’re missing a few eggs it might also be worth checking if one of the chickens has found somewhere else in the garden to lay, or if rodents are helping themselves.

Less eggs may mean a health problem… check out the section below.

 

8. Raising chicks

You can use an incubator to raise chicks but it’ll cost a lot of money and time… and mother hens know how to do it best.

Something’s happening when one of the girls goes broody… you may at first think you’re one down until you realise the missing chicken is sat in one of the nesting boxes, bum planted firmly on a batch of eggs. If you don’t want this to happen see the section below on common problems.

Mum-to-be will sit on the eggs for 21 days. When they hatch it’s best to separate mum and chicks from the rest of the crowd for a couple of weeks.

New born chicks have their own internal food supply that’ll last about 3 days, but you should start to offer high protein chick starter feed from the beginning. Make sure mum isn’t scoffing it all… if this happens separate the chicks feed off in an area only they can get to.

Make sure any water provided isn’t too deep, otherwise a chick might drown.

Leave the chicks with their mother for 6 to 8 weeks, and from 6 weeks onwards feed the newbies growers meal.

And before you start the whole process see the next section about cockerels.

 

9. Cockerel considerations… or don’t call me Shirley

If you are interested in raising chicks first consider what you’re going to do with the cockerels. Each batch of eggs will contain about 50% cockerels… and if you ever get an egg from a cockerel please let Guinness World Records know.

So let’s confront an obvious option. Most of us will be in the category of eating chicken so long as it’s nicely packaged. If you intend to raise the cockerels (or for that matter chickens) to eat…

Believe me, it’s really hard to serve up Clarissa on a bed of potatoes for Sunday lunch… the whole family will probably never speak to you again if you do. But don’t be squeamish about eating your own birds. They taste miles better than anything you can get in the supermarket. Ask around other chicken keepers, particularly on the local allotment, for help on how to dispatch a bird heading for the oven. It does take some skill to do it humanely.

I have a cockerel, Sampson, given to me free otherwise he was heading for the chop. He’s funny… he’ll find a titbit such as a juicy worm and then, rather than scoff it himself, will make a special call to let the girls know he’s found something for them. He’ll then sit back and watch while his girls dash across to be the first to the treat. I find his crow restful and supposedly he keeps the girls better behaved with less squabbling. If you do have a cockerel there’s no difference to the eggs if you keep taking them promptly.

 

10. Common problems

Chickens are generally healthy and problem free, probably one of the least troublesome pets to keep. The only general routine is to check once a week that all appear healthy and to worm your chickens once every 6 months… the treatment is available from your vets, pretty low cost and easy to apply.

Generally you’re more likely to have trouble if you keep a large number of birds or don’t give your girls the attention they deserve. The information below is about the most common problems, but if you suspect a bird is unwell or suffering from parasites there’s a more detailed guide at Urban Chicken.

Here are some of the things you’re most likely to encounter…

Brooding
If you don’t want a chicken sitting on eggs you’ll find it a struggle to persuade her since all her hormones are saying it’s the right thing to do. I’ve found the best solution is to make up a box with a small gauge chicken wire floor and keep her in there for a few days. The airflow supposedly cools her underside and cures the problem. It’s being cruel to be kind since otherwise she’ll sit in the nesting box for 3 weeks… after 4 or 5 days in the brood box she’s cured. Make sure food and water left in the box are on a secure base so she doesn’t accidentally tip them over.

Escape from Alcatraz
Occasionally you might get a bird determined to fly over the chicken run wall. You can stop this by clipping her wings. Trim her primary feathers on one wing as shown below. This does not hurt the bird in any way.

Pecking order
There’s a very definite order of ascendency in a flock and there’ll sometimes be one timid soul who’s picked on by the others. Is there enough room in the run? Providing plenty of distraction can help in the form of a cabbage hung up to peck, things to perch on and anything else they can explore. If there’s one particular hen that’s doing the bullying remove her to a separate run for a week or so.

New kid on the block
If you have to introduce a new chicken to the brood it’s best to keep her separate but close for a few days until each have made their acquaintance. Nevertheless she’s still going to have a tough time initially… the phrase ‘pecking order’ very definitely comes from chickens and she’ll have to fight for her place over the first week or so.

Moulting
Once a year each chicken will lose it’s feathers and grow new ones. Normally this doesn’t mean she goes completely bald… the feathers are lost over 4 to 6 weeks. During this time she’ll stop laying, and if unlucky enough to pick winter time to moult she’ll be a bit fed up. High protein feed is available to help with the extra energy taken up producing a new look. Never clip the bird’s wings while moulting.

Rodents
If you leave chicken feed freely available you may attract rats, mice or wild birds so use a container that keeps the feed secure, such as my DIY rat proof chicken feeder. If you have a rat problem they may also steal eggs. Collect the eggs promptly.

Encouraging wild birds to share your chicken space is not a great idea since they can carry infections.

Colds and runny noses
Generally not serious and just needs a bit of TLC.

Curtains
Sooner or later one of your girls is going to move on to pet heaven to join the massed ranks of hamsters, budgies, dogs and cats you’ve already despatched there. If you have a chicken in distress and can’t diagnose the problem do take her to the vet. If not treatable the vet will send her gently to sleep and dispose of her for a small cost.

If a bird pegs it unexpectedly, say through old age, you can put her in a plastic bag and pop her in the refuse bin. Alternatively you could bury her in a favourite spot and make a shrine as I did here…

Never eat a chicken who’s passed on.

 

Hope you enjoy your chickens!

Can’t see the wood for the wood

This is my favourite shed picture. Fortunately it’s not my shed… mine’s a masterpiece of DIY and rummaged wood constructed over the spring 2007. And miraculously it’s still standing!

But the need to tidy up things in preparation for the new hothouse polytunnel, in particular the moving of my contingency wood store, got me thinking about the general tendency for plot holders to have bits of wood stored for a rainy day.

Many of our allotment site plots have a stash of wood. Most of it never moves. I guess it reflects the natural inclination to maintain things for free and the origins of the allotment movement… and if an attractive bit of wood becomes ‘available’ it’s best to save it. Sure as anything if you don’t the very next day something will drop off the shed that needed exactly the bit of wood you so dismissively rejected.

Having just about constructed everything you could ever want on an allotment plot and with my building days almost over I’m not quite as skip alert as I used to be. There wasn’t a skip in town I hadn’t scanned. And driving past one was an interesting experience. One eye on the road, t’other on the skip… yes, I know I should have used those bottle stop glasses more. Scrounging off builders for a six pack of beer, badgering my carpenter son in law, cruising the local industrial estate. If it didn’t move and looked ownerless it was mine! Saved a wad load of money in the process though.

(Actually, I can’t believe I’ve just written that bit about building days being almost over… half way through putting up the hot house polytunnel and with a verandah on the front of the shed to come! Who am I kidding?)

Back to the source of my pondering… my not inconsiderable store of really useful bits of wood that I just know will one day be really useful. Here’s how it’s been stored up to now, mostly stacked against one corner of the shed in the law of configuration stating the bit of wood you need is always deepest in the pile, wedge most tightly, always the most difficult to extract. Recognise the problem? That’s probably why plot holders’ wood never moves, it’s impossible to get anything useful out… enter the wood store!

The storage bin shown… the one that weighs a ton, that I dug down into the ground so it wouldn’t restrict my view from the shed, which meant it was full of water much of the time and fully restricted my view anyway whenever I opened it, the bin whose top was so heavy you were at risk of decapitation whenever you reached into it if you accidentally dislodged the fixing sticks … you get the general idea I don’t exactly love this bin… well it just might make a brilliant wood store, thought I.

And here’s most of the wood now stored in the stripped out carcass of the storage bin. What a result! Any bit of wood is now easily extractable and the whole thing looks much more professional. To say I’m pleased with myself is a bit of an understatement… maybe I’ll stop grinning sometime next Tuesday.

The hothouse polytunnel is steaming ahead… hopefully a big update in the next week or so.

And I’ve finally succumbed and put in my order for the new Apple iPad. It was always going to happen in spite of my earlier post on why I wasn’t going to buy one yet. Was holding back ‘cause there was no sensible blogging app, but that’s all changed with Blogsy. Been reading also about some great apps really useful for the allotment, such as Garden Planner HD. Can easily get lost for hours browsing the thousands of apps available. Am I excited about it? You bet I am! With it’s always-on capabilities and general ‘oh my goodness’ design I think it’s going to change the way I surf and blog from one of frequent Microsoft related frustration to one of pure pleasure. And I can’t wait to see the fun the grandchildren will get using it. Only problem is it doesn’t get shipped until 02-May… ooooooh the agony of waiting!

More photos below.

The heart of RAC Insurance beats again

The pulse might have been a feint one… nothing to do with the fact that three of us are now retired… but the heart of RAC Insurance definitely beat again yesterday afternoon as old times were recalled.

Here we are enjoying the sun on the patio of The Anchor (click image to enlarge). Terry Bacon (far right) and I, serial reunionists, got together for our annual pub crawl around the more interesting watering holes of London, joined for the first time by Nigel Harcourt (middle left) and Kevin Hilditch (middle right). We’re looking pretty happy at this point as the two previous pints at The Market Porter and The George Inn start to take effect.

There followed an amble across Southwark Bridge, past St Paul’s Cathedral and quickly straight past the first two pubs in Fleet Street we were supposed to visit. So the next stop was Ye Olde Cock Tavern, followed by Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and finally Ye Olde Mitre Tavern. You’ll gather from the names that the list targeted the oldest pubs in London.

Time flew at such a rate we’d only visited half the intended pubs and it was time to consider tea… a trip back to Kings Cross and a hurried meal at Nando's before Terry rushed off for his 20:00 train back to Darlington, followed shortly afterwards by the rest of us for trains to Huntingdon and Hitchin.

As always on these events conversation meandered over a wide and enjoyable range of topics. Nigel tried to convince us he’d fulfilled his ambition to be recognised by some (any?) old City acquaintances when he took up conversation with a complete stranger on the very first tube ride. Terry graciously retrieved my top when I unknowingly dropped it, only to find later he’d lost his cap about the same time… we’d had a few by then. And although the only one still gainfully employed, Kevin had us all envious of his idyllic job as head gardener at The Swiss Garden.

It was great to see old work colleagues again… mates you’d worked through some challenging times with and come out the other side still laughing together.

Here’s a few links and photos of interest to RAC Insurance colleagues…

RAC Insurance Hitchin facebook entry

RAC Insurance Stretford facebook entry

Walk in polytunnel

Oh dear… what have I done????? Wandered into Huntingdon Garden & Leisure to have a look at the replacement polytunnel covers intending to build my own frame… and came out with a large box containing this, a Gardman walk in polytunnel. How did that happen?

On the previous visit I’d fancied the walk in greenhouse but on line reviews didn’t score it highly… the plastic joints seem to break in a breeze. Hmmm… I could build my own more stable polytunnel frame with spare water/gas piping on the plot and the purchase of some doweling.

But after hovering inside the polytunnel on display and with a few encouraging noises from Linda it was a done deal. £129.99, less my HRAA 10% discount, less my £35 retirement vouchers = £82. The replacement cover cost £60 so seemed a bargain. But when manhandling a box onto the trolley noticed they were reduced to £99! No HRAA discount on sale items, but the cost now down to £64!

That has to be a steal for a 3m long x 2m wide x 1.9m high polytunnel which opens both ends and has two mesh windows. Early lettuce, summer chillies and peppers, my first attempt at gourds and other heat loving plants will hopefully thrive.

The frame looks pretty strong, all tubular steel bolted together. But I’ll hammer some posts in at each corner and attach the frame to give added strength. Probably put a large post at the back and attach the end roof section to it. Oh, and will have to put a wooden border around the outside to exclude next door’s family of rats. The strawberry shelves will have to move in front of the existing greenhouse and the large wooden storage bin at the back of the shed that I don’t use any more will have to go. Dig over and prepare the earth before putting the polytunnel up. It’ll extend quite a bit out from the current greenhouse so will have to consider how that effects access.

And all at the very time when I’m under pressure to get things potted up and seeds planted out! Well, can’t hang around here blogging away. Got things to do and the sun’s shining!

I’ll update this post regularly to record polytunnel progress and success rate.

Note : If you're thinking of buying one of these polytunnels, please do read the comments on the follow up post at Gardman walk in polytunnel. You can also read the latest update almost three years on at Gardman walk in polytunnel update.

Is that unused space I see before me?

Well, here I am again with too many bright ideas, preparing for yet another construction project! ‘What on earth can it be this time?’ I hear you cry, given that I’ve now got the full ensemble of shed, greenhouse, polytunnel, chicken run, compost bins, pond and tree house for the grandchildren.

Hold on to that bit about greenhouse… yes I’ve got a greenhouse, but have I got a hothouse? By that I mean a greenhouse that allows planting of vegetables directly into the ground so you can grow lettuce early in the year and raise peppers, cucumbers and gourds in the summer. It’s a great success for the Italians on our allotment site and I fancy some of that.

As ever, the thought process is a bit tortuous and sparks of ideas meandered through the sludge that masquerades as my brain something like this…

1. Got some metal shelving for free from a neighbour of a friend, what shall I use them for?
2. I could get my strawberries up off the ground by growing them on the shelves like I’ve seen at some commercial growers
3. That unused space beside the greenhouse would be perfect
4. What am I going to spend my retirement garden vouchers on?
5. That walk in greenhouse is good value
6. I could switch seed growing into a walk in greenhouse and use the existing glass greenhouse as a hothouse
7. Would a walk in greenhouse survive a windy day on the allotment site?
8. I could build my own much stronger walk in structure from water/gas piping and wooden dowels similar but smaller in scale to the polytunnel
9. If I built to the same size as the Gardman walk in greenhouse I saw for £130 I could buy the Gardman replacement cover for about £60
10. Where am I going to put the strawberry shelves… how about in front of the glass greenhouse?
11. Why don’t I use the walk in greenhouse as the hothouse since I’ve already got staging in the glass greenhouse that’ll only fit in there?

Here’s some photos taken during the brain strain (click to enlarge)…

Haven’t mentioned the pond for a while. Fear not! It’s not because the whole thing has turned out a failure, anything but. Spotted the first pond skater the other day, I’ve got the world’s supply of tadpoles thriving and the pond lily and other plants are doing well. Bit early for dragonflies but I’m sure there’s going to be loads.

So here’s a couple of pictures of the pond…

… and here’s a video of the tadpoles.

 

And finally here’s a few allotment and family related snaps.

True tales - ‘The Chicken’

As I was walking down Stanton Street early one Sunday morning I saw a chicken a few yards ahead of me. I was walking faster than the chicken so I gradually caught up. By the time we approached Eighteenth Avenue I was close behind.

The chicken turned south on Eighteenth. At the fourth house along it turned in at the walk, hopped up the front steps and rapped sharply on the metal storm door with its beak. After a moment the door opened and the chicken went in.

 

Linda Elegant Portland, Oregan

From 'True Tales of American Life' Compiled by Paul Auster