Went to plot , didn’t do what I intended to do as some bark chippings had been delivered , so had 7 barrow loads for paths plus some weed killer on other paths and watered
I got to the plots in the pm. Spent quite a lot of time watering the new Raspberries, & Asparagus,,plus the strawberry patch. I then mulched the Raspberries and Strawberries. Sowed some radishes and beetroot. Did a bit of hoeing .
Going back to ploughs and draft animals - don't forget that firstly the "plough" wasn't anything like the modern "mouldboard" jobs you see on tractors these days - they weren't invented till quite late, by John Deere I think - they made millions of heavy clay soil acres usable. The first ploughs were little more than a digging stick, albeit, a big one driven through a log, once you'd trained some oxen (not the easiest of jobs! we had to wait a few thousand years for the giant Auroch to tone down a bit) they left a kind of long scratch in the ground. Much, much later ploughs with a definite share were invented - still entirely made of wood. In the 19th century cast iron shares were fixed over the wooden parts and fixed with shear pins so they'd come off rather than break the plough if you hit a rock ( a frequent occurrence!) while they didn't have mouldboards, many English ploughs had biting and slicing devices like the Sussex turn twist which didn't do a bad job in the hands of a good ploughman - by then with horses- the Shires, Suffolk Punch, Clydesdale. Many heavy fields still needed a team of three horses to plough them - two side by side and one "cock horse" out in front, if you wanted to ride to Banbury Cross - you had to wait when there was no work for the cock horse - fine lady waiting or not! Ploughing with bullocks was something! I don't get the Rod ( which is far more likely to be a corruption of Rood stick) because a bullock team was six and sometime eight animals in tandem, a ploughman and several boys "goading" and using bullroarers - noisy gadgets on a cord whizzed overhead. They did plough in strips but didn't plough when turning, nevertheless - all the strip patterns still visible have a pronounced lefthand curve most probably caused by righthanded ploughman and the boys standing on the hard - not the plough. An acre a day was the rate when Bede traveled England in the eighth century ( but with 6/8 oxen) and still was in 19th century with two heavy horses. These days a moderately powerful tractor 150/60 HP with a good bloke can do 25/30 acres while he listens to the Archers in an air-conditioned cab. A mate of mine works for a big agricultural sub contractor who run massive quadtrac machines with 14 furrow reversable ploughs - they do an estate nearby 1700 acres in less than a week, ploughed, conditioned, sowed and rolled. Amazing even for me.
I’ve got a quick question about bee keeping on an allotment plot.. given one can’t control what other plot holders do to deter pests (some of whom may prefer full on chemical sprays) - would this affect the bees that are kept on site? I’m concerned that the bees may end up accidentally gathering pollen from chemically sprayed plants and therefore may die as a result?
I am afraid that this is a risk & there isn't much you can do about it except encourage your fellow plotholders to go organic. That said you may loose a few bees, but you would not loose the whole hive. Remember there are 10 s of thousands of bees in a full hive at the peak of summer.
@celcius_kkw , we have a plot holder with bees 🐝 , he lost all his a couple of years ago when they where attacked by wasps , a huge nest was found on the site , so a decision was made to get rid of it Our allotments are surrounded by farm land and the Farmer spray there fields which doesn’t seem to affect them Best of luck , fresh honey 🍯 is fabulous
@Allotment Boy@GWRS Thts good to know.. I’m not the bee keeper but I see fellow plot holders keeping bee hives but that question just popped into my head.. seeing as the bees would be gathering nectar indiscrimately in a communal gardening space..
Allotment AGM in car park this morning Cost of water going up to £4-00 to cover cost of new taps as other did not comply with Anglia Waters requirements Also committee will be issuing notices to quit for plots holders that either neglect or store stuff on them
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Ploughing with bullocks was something! I don't get the Rod ( which is far more likely to be a corruption of Rood stick) because a bullock team was six and sometime eight animals in tandem, a ploughman and several boys "goading" and using bullroarers - noisy gadgets on a cord whizzed overhead. They did plough in strips but didn't plough when turning, nevertheless - all the strip patterns still visible have a pronounced lefthand curve most probably caused by righthanded ploughman and the boys standing on the hard - not the plough. An acre a day was the rate when Bede traveled England in the eighth century ( but with 6/8 oxen) and still was in 19th century with two heavy horses. These days a moderately powerful tractor 150/60 HP with a good bloke can do 25/30 acres while he listens to the Archers in an air-conditioned cab. A mate of mine works for a big agricultural sub contractor who run massive quadtrac machines with 14 furrow reversable ploughs - they do an estate nearby 1700 acres in less than a week, ploughed, conditioned, sowed and rolled. Amazing even for me.
Our allotments are surrounded by farm land and the Farmer spray there fields which doesn’t seem to affect them
Best of luck , fresh honey 🍯 is fabulous
Cost of water going up to £4-00 to cover cost of new taps as other did not comply with Anglia Waters requirements
Also committee will be issuing notices to quit for plots holders that either neglect or store stuff on them