This area used to be deep under sea water. One day it will be so again. In the meantime debris from that time continues to surface at our garden. What makes this stuff come to the surface? It's a real wonder.
Still, the Bad Strip is almost done. Thank gods.
It was lovely and still on the plot, and I wasn't the first one there! Birds were singing their hearts out, various cockerels were hollering from various directions, and it was very nice to see our allotment with the sunlight shining on it from a different direction to that which we're used to. It was also warm enough to get down to just a shirt to work in.
Our first pest problem, slugs. Our developing Pea plants and the Sweet Peas have been nibbled severely by the disgusting gits. Where there should be nice round-ish leaves, there are leaves resembling Holly leaves, with dozens of tiny bite marks around the edges. I am Pissed Off! It's war. Plans are being drawn up as we speak (well, as you read). Soot's been suggested. Coffee grounds. Callum confirmed that Beer Traps are quite effective. How dare they! As you can see, the Sweet Peas (above) and Peas (below) are victims of greedy vandalism. Revenge shall be ours. Slugs, can you swim? If not, I suggest you learn, quickly.
In other news: Had a good afternoon. Job One was to plant another 2 metres of Little Gem lettuces, which was very satisfying. It felt like this was the first positive work I'd done in ages.
Things started off great with the trip to the garden centre with Old Bob. He'd won a competition on the radio and bagged himself a £100 voucher for Bamber's Garden Centre near Wisbech. As he’s our Horticultural Advisor General (self-appointed) he offered the voucher to me for £50, and I bit his hand off. Last Thursday I visited Bamber’s, pen and notepad in hand, and made a list of things to buy, and duly returned with Old Bob yesterday morning. I acquired:
Words of encouragement and wisdom from the Grumpy Old Men in The Woolpack later got me back in a more positive frame of mind. “It takes a few years to get sorted”, “Don’t try to do it all in one go” etc. And five pints helped as well.
After the weekend trip to Cromer I have two shells, washed and clean. Does anyone know if I can crush them up and add them to the compost?
Nothing heavy planned, I just wanted to water some plants and for Sam to have some good time, and develop another positive memory of allotment life. And it worked. We stayed longer than I'd expected, about 40 minutes altogether. Sam again loved bouncing round the plot in the wheelbarrow, which he will not be able to do when it's all sorted out. But for now half of our area is "wheelbarrow moto-cross", Yeeee-Ha! They say the sun shines on the righteous, so judging by the photo above, Sam is the messiah - or is he just a very naughty boy? He really does look (to me) like some kind of Allotment Child-Sun-God, in his Wheelbarrow-Shaped Chariot!
Sam's next self-imposed task was digging. I love that little lad. He decided to help make progress on the bad patch that's taking ages to complete. Hey, every little helps. Once I told him that it's easier to dig at the edge of the bit that's already been dug there was no stopping him, or his Cromer seafront spade - as you can see! He has superb technique. Last pic looks as if Sam's asking "Are the crocodiles gone yet Daddy?", but he was just having a brief rest....
On the way home, as we passed The Woolpack, Bwana Stewart and SS Roy were outside smoking, and Sam absolutely charmed 'em to pieces.
When I went to investigate with Sam the weed in the tidal drain that flows around our site was being pulled strongly westward. And as you can see, looked very much like a crocodile laying just below the water. And I thought Sam was just making it up!
Second pic is Sam throwing a stone at a croc, third pic is more crocs further down the stream, and the final pic is what I saw after taking pic 3 then turning round....Sam had been to collect the big, (very) heavy metal pole that holds our shed door shut, in order that he could "whack the crocodile Daddy". At what age does fear kick in, and you realise that attacking a huge, vicious aquatic reptile with a metal pole is not a good idea? Doesn't he look up for it! 
