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It is great talking to real countrymen and perhaps a gamekeeper is not the best example. But give them their due,they are close to the land and use their knowledge of it to an advantage. Few understand them and yet that knowledge is unquestionable.
Cor Blimey it’s October and before the first frosts have arrived I find myself moving to pastures new. The Jerusalem artichokes were dug up and laid out for me to retrieve on one of my final visits to the allotment yesterday.
King Solomon was a very wise chap. Only he could come with “chop the child in half and let the two women share it.”
Not quite as wise, the local Town Council split my good sized patch in two between men.
King Solomon was alive and breathed. That’s the only connection between the good folk of the town council and the great man. One made great fair and wise decisions, the other just made decisions based on “LCD” the less hassle based lowest common denominator.
One thing both plot holders will enjoy is tons and tons of additional black and incredible soil which several years of repeat layering of permaculture have been added to the numerous no dig beds I’d set.
Both plotsmen were my neighbouring plot holders and both had designs on my plot.
One in a friendly upfront way the other not. Envy is not a nice thing admiration is.
Allotment holders have one thing in common. We are temporary and won’t have a plot for ever even if we may imagine we will.
My grandad was probably one of the best farmers of his generation. Based on a tiny rugged hilly area on the idyllic Caribbean island of Nevis. Josiah Maynard lived to a ripe old age low 90’s and tended livestock and arable and supplied not just the entire island, but shipped his animals and produce off to Saint Kitts as well. He had time to father six girls and two boys for which I am immensely grateful. Having held a variety of jobs Department store Furniture Salesman, Customs Officer, Fishmonger and Gardener, it’s taken a while for his genes to come through but here they are and blessed with his easy going nature and tried and tested thought process I’m happy to leave my beautiful plot behind and look ahead to another challenge.
You can take nothing with you except what you can carry. I’m not one for rotavating under any circumstances but I do know once the artichokes were dug and lifted the new incumbent will have switched on his machine and chopped up his soil to a fine tilthe.
Like the iceberg that sank the titanic the artichokes accumulate rapidly and push downwards and unless you carefully dig them out they will continue to push down and outwards for a year and a day and there will be forever a patch of my old allotment that will be always be Jerusalem.As sone of you know I’ve had a bit of a summer. All seemed to be going well with the trip to Cheltenham courtesy of Big G and an enjoyable day out for the Gold Cup.
But then, there was to put it simply, a relationship breakdown which led to me finding myself homeless from June to September. I continued working and tried to continue my various projects. Above all else I held on to my Volunteer post as a gardener at Helmingham Hall which has been been a wonderful assignment. I’m still there and have developed several good friendships while learning lots and lots each time I’ve been there.
The first thing I found myself doing as a homeless person ironically was to write poetry. Being outside a lot more than usual gave me a better insight into nature’s beauty and writing it down sent me to a very good place. I’ll put up a few nature related poems on here.Here’s a poem I’ve written recently. It concerns a mate who has an allotment in a different part of town.
Live poetry
Felixstowe Suffolk
Walton parish
Written 0600- 0645
Friday October 4th 2024Dan’s Chilli’s
Dan my allotment friend is far far away
In fact in a hospital bed he lays.
He’s asked me to go to his veg patch this day,
Watch over his produce and take some away.
He’s worried all his labour will be ferried away by neer do wells and miscreants who often do go
Who steal what they never tended
Nor what they did sow.
I attended in failing light later that day
Sunset had passed light falling away
I picked squashes and tomatoes at Dan’s specific request
Those he’d transfixed on I left most of the rest
The pumpkin peppers and potatoes will all come up next
But I’ll leave for instructions which will come by text.
Like Churchill directing from his hospital bed,
Our Dan’s like a general so I’ve done what he’s said.
He can rest easy the jobs all in hand.
I’ve run them to his mother and she understands.
Dan’s Mum is amazing and she takes the crate
But its her cannine connection to which I relate.
She’s a poem for another day a poem I’ll relate about the foxes 🦊 of Foxgrove and the lady who feeds them.
But for now I’ll just say if you only could see em, it’s a tale I’ll soon tell on its own for good reason….
In addition to his squashes and toms which were ripe, his bright red chillies also caught my eye
I decided to pick four to take home and try.
It was the tiniest slither to go in my dinner
But the strength of Dan’s chilli 🌶 meant it was a winner.
It helped put me in the right frame of mind,
To leave the allotment shenanigans a long way behind.
There are more important things with which to be concerned.
It’s a product of humanity,
Which shows you have learned.
It’s Friday now so get a move on.
You’ve got a million and one jobs which all need to be “won”.
Sometimes drawbacks take the wind out of one’s sails.
A positive outlook protects you from fails.
You’ve had racism, bullying and all that goes with it corruption for good measure as greed tries to swing it.
When you encounter these imposters
Always say “ bring it”.
Show your integrity will alway stand tall.
The ability to take on and stand up to it all.
You are not perfect and you’ll sometimes fail.
But if you’ve stood by your principles, over these obstacles you’ll sail.
You’ve proved you are truer than all whom have challenged you.
You’ve come up with solutions which they could not do.
And despite their best efforts,
They’ve not stood up to you.
And that is because all your principles are true.
You’ve walked away from trouble
You’ve even turned your cheek
Instead of roaring loudly
You’ve been humble and meek
You walk tall and proudly
Of your name they’ve had to speak.
Now back away and be quiet and work on your plans.
You’ve made all your fight backs and all of your stands.
Now it’s time for reflection, disappear into the night.
So long as you win the war
You don’t need to win every fight.
You’ve poetry to compose and books to produce.
Shows to direct and directions to choose.
Concentrate on being creative and you’ll never lose.Sam, I’ve only just realised you were back writing in The Tree. What
an absolute delight. I loved your simile with King Solomon, you just
have a way with words that us mere mortals can only look on in admiration.Dan is lucky to have a friend like you. I can’t wait to hear about the
cannine connection with his Mum. I’ll be keeping a loukout from now on
Hey sporting Sam nice to see you back
sorry to hear your had difficult few months
Onwards and upwards VF x
Hello Big and Viking Flagship. VF you have a wonderful moniker! What a mighty racehorse. I spent a few pounds on that horse.
Thank you both for your kind words. Since writing Dan’s poem, weeks have passed and so much has happened. Readers of the enjoyable Meydan thread will know I’ve been preoccupied with a big piece of work concerning the recent lost Baby awareness week in mid October.
By chance I’d bumped into a friend setting up a service concerning the events for the week taking place all. Over the country. I was keen for personal reasons to write a poem to mark this event. Spontaneity has been the trademark of my work so trying it “by demand” was a different challenge. The resultant poem worked well and the different conditions still allowed for impulse writing as I’d waited until the day of the service and the result is on the meydan thread round about the 12/10/24.
As for Dan, he’s back up on his feet active and doing well. I’m working out where I fit into the things I’ve been doing and how they reckon with past present and future activities. It isn’t easy trying to find a balance without overloading and sometimes it feels like I’m doing way too much. I’m working T different things on different levels with different people and I’m enjoying what I do right now. I’m finding a place for my poetry and it keeps on coming. My garden projects are important to me and I run a scheme called café ole which collects kitchen’s food waste and gets it back into the food chain at the composting stage.Poetry….
That is something I never thought would be an extra string to my bow. But life is a funny old thing. I knew I liked gardening, and my GrandFather was an exceptionally good arable and livestock farmer in the Caribbean…. and although it took the genes a good while to work their way through from him it’s been worth the wait! Poetry found its way into my life isas a teenager and as a bit of a misfit puberty didn’t come knocking for a long time and that translated itself into all manner of teenage woes but poetry from the safety of the bedroom was a good valve to sound off about these teeny problems that could not be shared. Love and all that goes with it was often the starting point for a heartfelt verse or two and little did I know that it would be a distant forerunner for June this year when I rediscovered myself and wrote down some half decent verse.Oh yes SS Viking Flagship certainly never went down without a fight, As I child he caught my attention and my uncle put little bets on for me.
How’s the gardening going been mild up until last couple nights, we still had perennials in flower And the grass still growing VF x
Vf I’m still readjusting to writing on the forum. It’s great being a fully fledged gardener and the exhibition reinforced that in no uncertain terms back in January. The remote installation trail was a big success and lots of people took up the challenge to do the course in all manner of modes including by wheelchair on foot or by bike in addition to driving round. I’m not sure if anyone did it on horseback but the option has been there!!
As for the weather, it has been very mild. I’ve resisted any thought of swimming although the mild going makes it perfectly feasible and plenty of my friends continue to swim.
The amber continues to wash up on the tides and after a long spell of not being to spot it for distinct reasons around my eventual homelessness. The doughy for me disappated with a few succinct and necessary adjustments to my personal life. This enabled to look at things with a clear eye and the amber soon followed again. All pieces I’ve found I’ve given away to a close friend on her 55th and then on the same night to an elderly lady out celebrating her 90 th with her 70 year old Daughter. A vital lesson taught me there is no need to aimlessly hang on to the semi precious resin as hoarding it doesn’t make sense or give enjoyment so enjoying giving it to strangers is as rewarding
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