Hillingdon Allotment News 14: Chairman's comments

It’s hard to believe that last year in writing this article I would have been in shorts and a tee shirt trying to keep cool whereas this year I have layers on having just measured another 5mm in the rain funnel, (that is now over 80mm of our amateur measuring for this month alone and it still has another week to run).

Our plot has already suffered Chocolate Spot on the Broad Beans (a complete write off) and Blight on all of our Tomatoes and some Potatoes (our main crop potatoes are already a good size).

On the reverse, Marrows and Courgettes are trying to compete with each other as to how many a plant can produce at one time and unlike last year the Runner Beans should be prolific.

We must all be grateful that watering of our plots can be kept to a minimum as the heavens are doing it for us and unlike the predictions of a hike in food prices for this winter we all can benefit from our ample fresh produce crops with its minimal food miles.

Our thoughts should be with the householders who have lost almost everything, as well as the farmers who are watching their crops rot as they cannot put machinery onto the sodden ground to harvest them and those without even the essential of water which we all take for granted.

Let us all try to remember this summer when we start complaining about the ones to come that are too hot or cold or even too dry.

Good growing to you all – Marianne Slater

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