In mid-July, we experienced two days of record high temperatures. Although cooler weather soon followed it was too late to save many plants that had been scorched by the sun. The science shows that an increase in the frequency of severe weather is occurring, over and above the occasional freezing winter or dry summer when…
For those of you, both gardeners and visitors, who have gallantly trekked up and down the steep avenues and pathways of St Ann’s Allotments, being out of breath is a natural hazard. Today, gardeners may be able to drive their cars to within a reasonable distance of their plot, but inevitably there will be those…
Since lockdown, there has been an outbreak of skips where I live. People have been taking the opportunity to alter or add to their house and garden. Sadly, in one particular case, I noticed that the majority of the content of one skip was top-soil. I didn’t know the people who lived at the house,…
In 1871, the Nottinghamshire Guardian carried an article about St Ann’s Allotments and the joy of manure… “The gardens average 400 square yards, and one of the gardeners told me that he generally bought from 4 to 5 tons of manure each year!… All the crops grow, as it were, in dung; the roots find…
At a time of year when we think more of others, the Nottingham Journal of 28 and 31 December 1867 reported on a court case involving a child… On 28 December 1867, a young boy by the name of Thomas Hogg was brought before magistrates at the Borough Police court. He was 10 years old…
With Christmas approaching, you may be thinking of presents for your nearest and dearest. Five gold rings would be nice, or even a partridge in a pear tree. How about a string of onions? Before World War II, 90% of onions, a staple of British cooking, were imported into Britain, although they could so easily have been grown in British…