Cheltenham & District Allotment Holders Association
What a joy September proved to be, with some delightful days and a real awareness of autumn knocking. I do love the low, chill watery sunrises and the smell of the changing season that sneaks across the land after dawn. The weather though hasn’t knocked out the summer crops and many things have just keptRead More
Mmmmmmm…so we waited for the rain and then it came, the perfect fillip for new plantings. The beans romped and everything puffed up and grew masses of leaves. The turn around was amazing, at the start of June, the message was that rainfall was at an all time low and then within days the newsRead More
Another interesting month passes through, with days of extremes, biting wind, torrential rain, blistering sunshine and hail that lay like snow. It didn’t exactly inspire confidence and the gardeners twitched, hesitated and then did what they do and battled on, it being after all the start of another season. Certainly, you have had to haveRead More
Tick, tick, tick, the seconds turn to minutes and another month is gone. Totally mad, Christmas seems so far behind us and the seeds that were my Christmas present sit on my desk and tease me. January was an acceptable mix of confusion, with the weather not wanting to work to a plan, so weRead More
Hooray, I can see the light. With January behind us, the spirit starts to rise, the extended days just 8 weeks away. The winter has been, well, wintry with a treacherous mix of conditions, changing by the hour. Every second person nursed a cough or a sore throat and whilst there were outdoor jobs thatRead More
Happy New Year! Yep, it’s the start of another one. December was a bit of a mischief wasn’t it? A few thumping cold nights and the first end of year snow for a while. Our big Christmas seller was fleece. It was at close, an interesting year. I always think January is an exciting month,Read More
Good gracious me, it’s suddenly got dark. Well perhaps not suddenly the night seemed to be closing in from the 1st of October and the close of day cloud encouraged it and now the clocks have changed. October was a funny month with some pleasant days and some fairly cold nights, with the frost neverRead More
April bounced along, in fact it flew once Easter had arrived. The late Easter was the starting pistol and we had the benefit of a few weeks of light evenings ahead of it to prepare. So many people use it as the start time for gardening, so there were many lined up for the chargeRead More
Well, we really have seen the lot this time, a winter with teeth. A run of deep frost, plenty of wet, high winds and flurries of snow. We have had some very bleak moments, but the new season calls. We need to get our act together and make a start on sorting for spring. InRead More
So the summer eventually decided to creep out for a few weeks and then set about frying anything that looked vulnerable. We have had some very hot days and if you haven’t been on the ball with the watering plants have really struggled and blossom has just been drifting like confetti without setting. All ofRead More