Seasons Change at The Allotment

The allotment has an autumnal feel about it now.

Fruit trees 

that a few months ago were dripping with blossom

are now heavily laden

  with fruit, 

their branches drooping beneath the weight of apples

and pears.

Teasels and 

 yellow-headed Sunflowers

 have grown tall 

along the winding brick edged path

and beside the French beans 

 climbing their hazel wigwam.

Yellow and orange flowered Calendula

 planted in amongst the vegetables create a vivid splash of colour, like the Nasturtiums that tumble and trail over the narrow paths at the top of the plot 

alongside the scented herbs Rosemary, Fennel, Dill, and Lovage.

The beautiful creeping thyme,

on either side of the path,

 – much loved by the bees (and home to a little frog), thrived in the hot sun and so has fully recovered from the harsh winter weather at the start of the year.

Sweet peas still carry their blooms

 as they climb the willow and hazel supports

 and opium poppies 

have grown randomly

 in the herb beds.

Pumpkins and gourds are forming, 

although their large leaves do not compete with the huge leaves still borne by the rhubarb.

The harvest of blackcurrants and gooseberries was early this year – a bountiful crop of the tastiest fruit, little of which made it home, but was instead picked and eaten immediately on the spot. 

Recently planted autumn raspberry canes have already produced large berries that are on the verge of ripening.

At the bottom of the sloping plot,

rosehips and jewel coloured berries of Hawthorne and Elder provide a veritable feast for the dozens of small birds flitting from branch to branch in the hedge and twittering ceaselessly.

The allotment site is enclosed on three sides by land that once formed part of an old country estate 

and the majestic ancient trees remain a haven for wildlife.

During the summer, we heard the high-pitched calls of a family of buzzards nesting in the trees and watched them as they soared effortlessly through the trees and over the plots.

The old trees are also home to a bat colony and at dusk, the bats can be seen flying out from the trees and along the corridor of the laneway. 

At the end of the allotment site on the other side of the mature trees where the bats roost is a little park also owned by the council. A short while ago the council leased the park for use as a BMX track and the infuriating constant bang of bikes as they hit the ramp has caused a noise nuisance similar to the sound of a Crow Scarer and is a disturbance of the peace and tranquillity usually found at the allotments.

Sadly, the tranquillity and harmony with nature that has thrived for so many years at our allotment site is now under even more threat as the Council announced their intention to overhaul the allotment site.

Existing plot holders have been displaced and the plots and hedges at the entrance to the site have already been flattened. 

The council is now preparing to cut down the trees and hedges.

There are also ominous rumblings that as well as replacing the plot boundary fences with standard green mesh,

and the grass laneways with aggregate,

the hawthorn hedge that runs along the railway embankment at the bottom of my plot is going to “be addressed”. The response to my query as to what this entailed was vague, so I am unclear as to what further catastrophes await this wildlife friendly site.

xxx