Allotments

The newly revived allottments in North Preston are looking splendid. Just over a year ago they were a tangled mass of rubbish and terrible weeds - brambles, thistles, small trees... But under the expert guidance of one or two old hands, and with support from the local council and housing association, the acre of so of land has been tidied and tamed. There were just a few people wanting a patch to start with, and several plots waiting for someone to take them on, but as word spread and as the communal parts of the site were organised, the popularity of the project has grown and there's a queue of people wanting to come in. Tomorrow is our Open Day.
Someone has put up a small marquee. The paths have been mown. We've been asked to donate suitable things for a raffle or tombola. The long privet hedge along the entrance driveway, which has a nasty tendency to leer over, has been clipped back into place. So we look all neat and tidy.
Not all the plots are fully worked yet. Two in particular had been let go - the enthusiasm of their first owners was not enough to carry them through to that sort of diligence which is the essential requirement for this kind of horticulture. As it happens both these overgrown plots are near to the entrance, so it's just in the last week or so that they have been re-allocated.
One has already been stripped to the bare earth, and a compost pile started. The other is being worked by a woman who is determined to dig it all herself, at her own pace. The dry earth is almost rock hard now. It desperately needs rain, but Faversham being in a notorious dryspot, that is looking very unlikely.
Elsewhere we see amazing layout of cabbages, leeks, beans, tomatoes and salads. The first flush of raspberries and strawberries is past, but the black loganberries are just coming in. There are greenhouses, polytunnels, a chicken run and someone has a small caravan for brewing tea. So any visitors tomorrow will see us in a varied state of productiveness.
The best thing is the camaraderie - someone standing watching you work, saying nothing unless asked, and then pronouncing that what you've done is ok or rubbish. It's also fun planting something unusual, something the old boys haven't seen before. 'What's that then? Funny looking stuff. Is it Rocket? Don't taste of much.' (That means they've wandered over when we weren't there and tasted some in private). 'Ah, no, that's Mizuni, not Rocket.' Then there's a little pause. 'Ah, I see. Still don't taste of much, does it?'