CUCKOO A seventy-five year old friend was telling Dirty Nails about the sound of cuckoo’s in her youth. She grew up in Surrey and back-along the summer visiting migrant was considered nothing special – in fact, quite the reverse. In those days the cuckoo was a common bird, its arrival to these shores every April [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘allotment’
DIRTY NAILS BLOG by Joe Hashman CUCKOO
Monday, May 31st, 201012 February 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman HURRYING SLOWLY, SCHOOL LANE GILLINGHAM, JUST THINKING, THE PRACTICE OF GARDENING
Friday, February 12th, 2010HURRYING SLOWLY Whilst nursing a cup of tea first thing, to wake up… …eight pigeons clapper-board in powerful flight, veering right to left. Blackbirds steer low and straight, either directly in line with my seat, head-on or, with an audible whoosh, coming in to sight from behind my head. A pair of blue tits check [...]
Read More »1 February 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman PINCH PUNCH
Monday, February 1st, 2010PINCH PUNCH I didn’t have my bino’s with me but could still see a greenfinch, plumply sitting on a thin wisp of branch from a silver birch which stands elegantly above the conifers and shrubs in an ornamental allotment plot we have here in St James called ’Dorothy’s Garden’. Greenfinch provided a pleasant and appropriate musical accompliment to the [...]
Read More »30 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY
Saturday, January 30th, 2010IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY In the nicest possible way, Mrs Nails came down the bottom at just gone four to prize me away from the jobs in hand, and bring to a very satisfying end a good two hours on the plot. One of the finest afternoon’s, sunny weather, time and place-wise, in a many [...]
Read More »19 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ‘AUTUMN RASPBERRY’ MANAGEMENT, 5.25PM
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010‘AUTUMN RASPBERRY’ MANAGEMENT If you’ve got raspberries that bear fruit from August to late autumn and beyond (Solstice, December 21st, last year) then now’s the time to get in amongst your rows and sort them out. Cut down and remove everything. That’s what I’ve been up to yesterday, today and dare I say it, again tomorrow. Autumn [...]
Read More »17 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman HEAVEN
Sunday, January 17th, 2010HEAVEN If heaven is an allotment garden then this afternoon, I’ve been there. If the sound of heaven is the fluting of a blackbird, then yesterday I heard it fleetingly through cloudy rain and today, for longer magic spells. If the feel of heaven is warm sun on your back I’ve felt that today too. [...]
Read More »6 January 2010 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman QUALITY TIME
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010QUALITY TIME At last! The coldest winter since 1981 brings meaninful snow to Shaftesbury. It came overnight, a thick blanket of icy-white crystals which fell silently as we slept. For a brief period, until the filth of everyday living pollutes the pristine landscape, it will be glorious to take a stroll out there, scrunching to [...]
Read More »21 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE IRON GRIP OF WINTER
Monday, December 21st, 2009THE IRON GRIP OF WINTER Ground is like iron out on the plot. We’ll not be lifting roots for a while yet, save pot-grown carrots which are in the greenhouse to keep off the worst of the frost. I walked down the allotment field to the tinker-chime of feeding goldfinches in charming flocks. They love [...]
Read More »18 December 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman DORSET TO SUSSEX BY TRAIN
Friday, December 18th, 2009DORSET TO SUSSEX BY TRAIN Less than half a dozen hardy souls braved arctic weather on the platform at Gillingham Station to catch the 05.37 to London Waterloo. With blanket coverage on last nights media about heavy expected snowfall in the South and East, I wonder how many took this opportunity for family time at [...]
Read More »23 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman BIG LAND ISSUES IN GILLINGHAM
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Rapid development of land around Gillingham over the last decade or so has left the North Dorset town rather short of green space for other purposes. The problem stems from rapid high-density house building a few years ago. I decided to phone the Town Hall. It turns out that there are so few recreational areas [...]
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