Cheltenham & District Allotment Holders Association
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
Ho, ho, ho, here we go. Off again on the sleigh ride into tomorrow and who knows what. I get quite excited by the turn of the year and the smell of new adventures. 2018 didn’t turn out too badly really. December was a mixed bag, with one or two very cold nights, with theRead More
The tide has turned and how very quickly, Autumn rushed in, the brutal heat of summer bringing the early surrender from an exhausted landscape. The trees tell of a desire to shed their leaves and rest. All across the garden there is a sense of shutdown. The harvest has been mixed, the runner beans croppingRead More
The spring draws ever closer and hopefully we leave behind the bleakness of recent weeks. It has been a curious winter, with some very precious sunlit days, but the treacherous scything wind has never been faraway and the cold has bullied joint and muscle. How I ached some days. Still we are on the turn,Read 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
Hooray, the clocks have changed and April is upon us. The last month seems to have flown and a few balmy days really brought life swiftly to the hedgerows. Catkins came from nowhere and the land was suddenly alive. The trees were full of bantering birds, of males showing off and jostling for attention andRead More
Then it rained and autumn arrived in the hedgerows, whilst the summer crops dithered about whether to have one last go. Runner beans stalled and have teased with a few late flowers and Marrow plants disappeared into the mist as the white dust of mildew covered them over. As anticipated last month, not the kindestRead More
Well, some slightly more seasonal weather around, with some spiteful wind pulling temperatures down. The water doesn’t want to go away though does it, everything is so wet. It is a very strange start to the year and you do wonder what will happen to all of the tender plants if we have snow, everythingRead More
Well, it has arrived then? 2016, has battled its way through the muddle of the previous year to offer new adventure. 2015 really was a strange one, with the last month as daft as the previous. Blustery days, some torrential storms and ridiculously high temperatures. The grass has kept growing and there are whitefly everywhere.Read More