THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 JOE'S JOTTINGS

Joe’s Jottings

Flaming June as they say! Hmm not exactly roasting hot, in fact we had to put the heating on for an hour this morning just to air the place. Windows have had to be closed occasionally. We have had average rainfall and average temperatures. This has allowed plants to grow at a reasonable pace and the garden should be in full bloom as there has been no global warming this month and traditional plants have done well.
As mentioned last month the fruit crop is going to be   massive this year. I’ve got apple trees groaning under the strain of still small fruit, a plum tree that is looking good even though it is only its second year in the ground, I’ve never seen as many strawberries and raspberries on the plants. The strawberries and raspberries are ready to harvest. They are cracking fresh with a bit of clotted cream ice cream. Last year I was down at B & M stores on Kings Road and I spotted a blackcurrant bush for sale at fifty pence. It looked in a bit of a sorry state, in dire need of some tender loving care. I took a risk and purchased the plant. Leaves looked about dead, the soil was dryer than a kangaroo’s jock strap and it had several broken stems. On my return home I plunged the plant into a bucket of water and plant food and left it overnight which perked up a few of the smaller leaves. I re-potted it in a large container with some fresh multi-purpose compost and stuck it in a sunny spot. Keeping the soil damp for a few days transformed its appearance and new growth started to show. Half a dozen berries appeared but never ripened, but the plant was now healthy and looking like a survivor. After the mild winter my blackcurrant sprang into leaf and started to produce some flowers which was a very good sign as it signalled a crop would be available later in the year. Now you may be  wondering why I’m going on about a blackcurrant bush. The reasons are twofold. One, I’ve never eaten a raw blackcurrant and I was intrigued to find out what they tasted like. Would it be sweet or sour, bland or strong? The answer I got was that they taste just like Rowntree’s blackcurrant fruit gums. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them as I only have the single bush and there are not enough berries to set The Kitchen Skirt to work making something. I will probably just harvest and eat them as they ripen because they are delicious. Secondly these little blighters have thrown up another problem which I had not given much thought to. Young Henry has been working hard in the garden with his granddad, digging up weeds (prized plants),   attacking innocent insects and carefully watering everything in sight including The Skirts washing. His capacity to learn and   inquisitiveness knows no bounds and it is a joy to  behold but it also taught me a darker side to this. Henry is at that age where everything has to be looked at and tasted. Everything goes straight in the mouth, including things that could potentially do him some harm. Now my attitude is benign neglect. In other words let the kid find out for himself and if it stings, hurts, tastes nasty or bites he will be more cautious the next time. What brought the real problem to my attention was an unripe blackcurrant which is green. He came running up to me shouting “Gran-ad, gran-ad, bapple, bapple” followed by a swift movement to the mouth to chew on said “bapple”. Swiftly retrieving the unripe berry from his mouth I concluded it was just a blackcurrant but it could have been something a lot worse. It made me review the plants in the garden that could have a negative effect on our young Henry. A quick trawl of the tinternet shocked me by the amount of potentially dangerous common plants in the  garden. The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) website has a page dedicated to them as they are too numerous to list http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=524 RHS/home/advise/ Potentially harmful garden plants. Hopefully another twelve months learning in the garden will teach him some caution so in the mean time I will have to be vigilant.
At the back of Idle Conservative Club they have opened the field to allotments. Now this field has been an eyesore for years, overgrown with weeds and scrub and looking pretty scruffy. It has now been transformed. Not all the lots as yet are under cultivation, though all have been rented out. I’m assuming that the owners of the empty lots are carefully planning how to get the best out of them. Most are in varying states of cultivation. Fences, huts, raised beds and greenhouses are being erected, vegetables in neat rows look to be thriving. It’s a wonderful use for a derelict space and it can only get better as all the lots get into full swing. I wish them all well.