Toad Hotel

We were occupied with paid gardening work for the month of May and only managed to allocate the allotments a concentrated burst of activity during the May Bank Holiday week.  During our absence from these two plots, the beds at the foot of the new fence, the former 'wildlife area' have rapidly reverted to nettles and bindweed. So our plans for sowing squash and tomatoes in these south-facing spots are in abeyance. 

However the wildlife is back and thriving.  One bed adjacent to the fence is a compost heap covered it with an old rug we found last year.  It is a local custom to leave out unwanted items in front gardens for whoever wishes to take them and our allotments have certainly benefitted from this.  Under the rug, which had it been in better condition would have toned in nicely with our bedroom carpet, we now have a cluster of toads (and one large frog).

I previously assumed toads were solitary creatures like the toad that intermittently visits our garage, the toad that used to live in the cellar of my childhood home, and the small toad that currently shelters under our shed.  I have never seen so many toads in one place before.  There are tiny toads, medium sized toads and large toads all wearing the camouflage colour of clods of earth.  I lift the covering just to see them when I am depositing weeds on the compost heap.  I am quick to replace it and careful not to block any toad exits. 

The toads, I assume, are living on a varied diet of slugs and snails, woodlice, beetles and miscellaneous invertebrates.  It is a virtuous circle - I continue to weed the allotments, depositing stuff on the pile, the creepy crawlies eat the veg., the toads feast on these in their turn.  Long may they remain in their 'toad hotel' and live as snug as the bugs under the rug.

M and Mulching

M, our 'allotment apprentice' has just begun some formal study at Organiclea our local organic charity.   Last week M told me how to suppress weeds under the fruit trees on her new plot by laying down unwanted flattened cardboard and then putting woodchip on top.  Apparently the cardboard and woodchip biodegrade over time.   After this has happened you dig them into the soil and then lay a fresh layer the following year.  I could immediately see how to apply this for a garden to which we hope to add some interest to at the weekend.   

Mulching was obviously still on M's mind as we visited the plot today.  She looked at one bed which I have not had time to dig over and asked why I was not covering it.  Particularly as we had cleared it together as we took out the tomatoes at the end of last summer.  A good point.  We unearthed some old carpet and a rug from underneath our plastic tool store, disturbing a small toad in the process which promptly hid itself under our shed.  Then we took the carpet and the by now disintegrating rug and covered the area in question, which is awaiting winter squash when the danger of frost is past.

In talking it over with another friend I reflected on M's 'distance travelled' in terms of confidence and competence from student to peer .   Our part has almost come to an end.

M's new plot, M's new pond

Almost the last item on M's scheme of work last growing season was a session entitled 'Creating a wildlife pond'.  We have our own pond on one plot lined with black plastic (M has a suspicion that this has a small tear and is now leaking, but once again, that is another story).  We were also given a small oval plastic pond - somewhat similar to a baby bath - by a customer. 

M and I spent a crazy morning last summer digging a hole for this under our rose trellis, planting irises around it and filling it with water. We added the 'frog log', a piece of semi-submerged plank to enable frogs to enter and exit, and waited for the wildlife.  My husband came along later and 'rebalanced' our efforts.  Unfortunately the pond produced midge larvae and the occasional drowned snail, but nothing more.  M was disappointed.

So today I decided to donate the pond to M.  She was delighted and immediately set about emptying the green, midge-infested water onto the adjacent strawberry bed (they will survive) and then cleaned her recently acquired water feature. 

The pond is going to her new site where in the process of clearing stuff which was once useful to the previous plotholder, M has fallen down several small holes.  I suggested she 'enlarge' one of these and turn an annoying feature into an intentional one.

We carried M's pond, filled with some plant pots I had also donated, up the hill through the cemetery, balanced on my gardening trolley.  It could have easily been mistaken for something else.  

M is not a person to hang about.  I imagine M plus pond will soon be on the bus which runs down our avenue en route to her plot.  That will give the pensioners something to think about. 

Shower - Shed - Shower

Today is the first of May.  I celebrated it by planting out the remainder of the dwarf french beans.  This could be a risky venture as frost is forecast for the London area tomorrow night. As I finished it began to rain so I decamped to the shed, sat on an old folding chair and listened to the varying tempi of raindrops on the roof.  At one point it thundered. 

I waited for the rain to blow over, but after thirty minutes it continued to beat down.  It came in heavy pulses and had the intensity that I associate with July and August, when showers fall with a tropical strength.  I lost patience.  Nothing for it but to find an old bit of plastic bag, cover my hair and venture out.  Home I headed, ready for a hot shower and dry clothes.