Pilgrim's Progress

Tuesday 14th April
I found another bundle of pea sticks next to the shed today. Perhaps someone had some left over? I've had a few days away from the allotment over Easter, but luckily it has been good growing weather, as it's been warm, and wet. I got my grass seed planted just in time, although there's no sign of it germinating yet. I put the first row of peas in the ground today, and put the pea sticks in at the same time. I followed the instructions on the packet, made a six inch wide drill and planted the peas two inches apart in a zig-zag fashion. The peas I planted last week in the guttering are just beginning to show.
I also put in two rows of 2nd early potatoes. I used the middle bed on the other side, where Peter had used the rotavator. Fortunately there weren't many weeds to remove and the digging was easy. I didn't bother breaking the soil up much - I'll let the potatoes do that for me.
I bought a book last week in an antiques market in Newark. It reminded me of my first experience of allotments. Mind you it has nothing to do with gardening. I must have been about 10 or 11, and I used to play at the local allotments with my friends. One friend was always a bit more daring than the rest, and she suggested we used one of the allotment shed's as our 'den'. We found one very untidy shed which didn't look like anyone owned it, and we 'moved in'. We used to take our books and comics there to read, and decided it was safe enough to leave them there. I don't know why, but I had taken my Mum's very dilapidated copy of Pilgrim's Progress to read. It seems a strange choice now, for a young girl. Well of course the inevitable happened. One day when we turned up, all our books and comics had gone! I had lost my Mum's old book. I never did tell her about it, and she probably never missed it, but that didn't stop me from feeling guilty. So that's why when I saw that copy of Pilgrim's Progress last week, I just had to buy it. I can understand now why allotment sheds are usually pretty untidy places. I know some people who keep immaculate sheds - mentioning no names - but mine's not one of those. Maybe someone will move in to mine. Actually, come to think of it, I did think someone had been in a few weeks ago. I turned up one morning and the gate and the shed door were both wide open. I'm sure I didn't leave them like that.......