Blackbirds don't care to share

Monday, July 24, 2017

This year marks our fifth anniversary of taking on the allotment. It's been an interesting journey, of which I've played various roles. While I do have plenty to report on with regard our produce and yield (and flowers) this year so far I felt like just dwelling on how even though we are growing broadly the same things in a particular plot each year things can go so differently.
This year, unlike any other, I've seen a plethora of feathered friends frequenting the whole allotment site. Never before have there been more than just a few overhead. Now the blackbirds are pretty much using the area as prime feeding grounds. This has meant that I've eaten about 5 raspberries in total and a handful of gooseberries but virtually no berries as the cheeky little things have stolen all the ripe fruit and not adhered to the idea of sharing. It feels like the weather has been so hit and miss, we did have quite a bit of watering to do earlier in summer but thankfully things seem a little better now. Our ground is very stony and prone to going dusty rather than boggy.
Sadly, no fruit at all is coming our way from the fruit trees barring one tiny apple. The cherries have been nicked by birds and none of the other trees have produced a thing and I can't deny that I'm feeling a mix of heavy disappointment and fury considering all the faff we went to with frost protection in spring. Still, C has pruned the plums, and apricot trees (summer pruners) and once they are dormant then the rest can be heavily pruned so hopefully all will be in excellent condition for bearing fruit next year.
That's all for now but I'd love to give a full allotment update soon.
Sophie

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Sometimes I am sent items to feature as part of a post and these will be clearly mentioned as part of each post.Everything else is bought by myself. Any sponsored or collaboration posts will be clearly marked. Each post is my own content and all opinions are honest.