Just like the hippy farmer Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, I keep hearing a voice as I stand on the allotment, well both allotments, on the field of clay allotment, I keep hearing "If you concrete it over, it will be better," fair point, but I will keep persevering with the Paschendale-like slog of digging the clay.
One good point is that I don't have a lot of heavily-armed Germans shooting at me.
Always grateful for small mercies.
But on the second allotment the voice is more beguiling, "If you sow it, it will grow." The possibilities seem endless. Shall I grow melons? Always good to have a nice pair of melons to tuck into. Or maybe peppers? It looks like this site will get pretty hot. Though I'm trying not to think about all the watering that will be needed. Hosepipes are banned, so it will be buckets. i can't help feeling that I might end up like Jean de Berengere in Jean de Florette, broken man from the watering, obsessed with rabbits, driven mad by the avarice of the peasants of Dulwich. Ah peut-etre, on verra, ma jolie lecteure.
Still, it'd be nice to see Emmanuelle Béart flitting around the allotments naked with a flock of goats.
But after listening to the second voice I've bought some more seeds from the organic seed company:
Early Jalapeno
Ring o Fire peppers
and Tender and True parsnips along with Cobham Improved Marrow
also inspired by optimism I'm going to sow some early carrots under a cloche, Paris Market.
And also for the back garden, I have two packets of parsley, Italian Giant. Which was great last year, the smell of fresh parsley, "smells like...like victory" "You just knew that he wasn't going to get so much as a scratch on the allotment."
The parsley is still growing under a cold frame along with some strawberries, which should be a bit early this spring.
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