Springing into action

Today has been a good day. I wouldn't go so far to say that Spring has arrived, as anyone living 'up north' will know we're not due that for at least a few months yet, but things are beginning to grow - both in the garden and in terms of stronger ties being forged within the community.

I was overwhelmed by the help and support received today: it was a real morale booster. Peter returned after the winter break and got stuck into shifting the compost pile and sowing brassicas as if he'd never been away.

Alan turned up for a chat and, after being fed with homemade blueberry and white chocolate muffins and a coffee, came out with the wonderful words "I've not got to be anywhere for an hour, what do you want doing?" I'll have to resort to bribing fellow allotment holders with treats more often ;)

He went on to make me look like a real wimp by digging holes for two trees in a fraction of the time it has been taking me (I said it was a meditative task, that's why it took me so long, but I don't think he fell for that one) and then shifted a load more compost and cleared out the sagging high raised bed, transferring all the soil onto one of the other beds. I think it was a more than a muffin and a coffee's worth.

Paul also dropped by to say hello, and three dog walkers stopped for a chat as we worked on the new community orchard. The people living in the nearby bungalows were really pleased to see this patch being cleared up and planted up and can't wait to get some damsons for jam.

So, two more fruit trees in (a plum and an apple) and just three more to go: one pear, a cherry and a hazel. The Boy's Club planted one apple tree yesterday after school, which took 45 minutes as their staying power with a spade is a lot less than Alan's. Also, cries of "worm" were followed by a grand charade of either rescuing them from out of harm's way, or feeding them to the chickens, depending on who spotted them first. This happened every few minutes, so it was little wonder progress was slow, but they were happy and are already looking forward to a few years time when they can come back and pick fruit from the apple tree they planted.

Rob, who lives locally and makes iron gates, came by later this afternoon to talk about a new gate for the garden. At the moment, every time the wind blows hard (as it's wont to do up here) the wooden ones seem to come off their hinges. It would also be nice for people to be able to see what's going on in the garden even when it's not open, so hopefully he can come up with a price that's not too frightening.

We also got some bulbs donated today and both Alan (from the top garden) and Jimmy dropped in as well - I think word had spread about the muffins....