(lively orchestral music, violins, piano)
Tony terraced this steep half-plot for an orchard, so they could become
self-sufficient in fruit, like they are in vegetables. Red currants were just
starting to ripen. Next terrace down, the black currants weren't far behind. These
berries will will form right in the axle of the leaf juncture, so every leaf joint
will have berries forming, a single black berry. These three plants will give us
a lot of fruits. You can freeze them like any other soft fruit. What we do for our
blueberries, at Christmas we collect all the local Christmas trees. The Christmas
tree is quite acidic, so it keeps the ground acidic for the blueberries, so you
get a better yield of blueberries. Mulch that goes on top all the time.
Gooseberries here, and again they're starting to fruit now. Tony built a three-tiered
strawberry bed for maximum occupancy that would completely fill in over the
summer. So, Kaye, what we got here is all our fruit trees, and we've grown them in
cordons, espalier, and we are starting some fans here as well, and the reason
for that is because we can get lots of different trees and varieties in a very
small space. These were only put in this year, so it's a case of train them as
they go, and eventually they will fill this space and we'll have fruit on them.
Beautiful. This is just normal wood chips from local trees when tree surgeons take
down trees, they'll bark this chip up and they bring it up here for us. It's only
about an inch and a half. There you go, and there's the carpet underneath. And the reason for
that, is because it allows water through. Oh, it's a real carpet, yeah, and it doesn't
get moldy? No. And it'll allow water through to the plant. And it's
just a really good way of allowing these trees to establish themselves, and keep
all of the roots and weeds away from from them, and it saves me time. This is
called bindweed, and it grows up everything, and it will literally, every
single axle has a leaf. If you were to break this section off here,
and that went in the soil, that would grow a new plant. It sends down roots
metres into the ground, and once it starts growing, it
sort of ties itself up around things, choke plants to death, and it's a
horrible weed. So, we again put carpet down on the path. This is a bit deeper
mulch here, but there you go, you can see this carpet down there, and that will
stop that bindweed. We still get it coming up the edges, but we can pull
that out. Now, these are loganberries. They're a cross between black currants and
gooseberries. Wow.
So, this is Shingrig Road Allotments. These five hives are mine.
Now, the large hive right on the left there is one of my... Sorry, I am being
attacked here... Tony had to make a fast exit due to his hair gel attracting the bees.
We continued outside the protective netting. The smaller hives are where I've
have created a split from the very big hive at the end. There were too many bees
in there and they would do to swarm. Not only do the bees provide honey, but also
beeswax. And the wax that we get from here will help to raise funds so that we can
continue doing what we're doing on the plot. They now manage 20 hives in five
locations. This is Worzel Gummidge. I made him with
my children just as a novelty item over the years. He's been made 5 yrs and he's
had three different heads in that time. The head is made out of modeling clay
and it's screwed on to an inverted tree trunk. Well, tell me, does it scare away
the pests. No, ha, ha. It doesn't work whatsoever, but it's just a novelty item. It brings a
bit of cheer. When the school kids come up here, they all sort of talk to him and
what have you, so that's all it's for, a bit of fun. Tony works hard as watch manager or
chief of the local fire station, but he also has a bit of fun, like the day Hugh
Grant dropped by with a friend and his son to see the fire trucks. Since my
visit was early in the season, Tony shared some August garden photos with me,
so you can see how things developed. Though the weather was erratic
Tony managed great success in most areas, though the corn took a beating in a
windstorm.
(uplifting dramatic music)
This will be the first year Tony is competing at the Malvern Autumn Shows UK
National Giant Vegetables Championship, where last year four world records were
broken.
Unfortunately, slugs got to his two giant carrots, but the parsnip was measuring 21
inches in circumference at the end of August, and Tony's long cucumbers were
very impressive. The blueberries were huge, too.
(music ends)
What's your name? Caitlin. What's
your name? Wayne. Hey, Wayne, have you been to
California? No. Where'd you get that California shirt? My mom got me it. Do you
like to garden? Yeah. What do you like best about gardening? Fruits and vegetables.
What do you like to do in the garden? Play.
Do you like to work? Yeah, as well. I like to do all those.
What do you like better, planting or harvesting? Both. Do you like digging? Uh, yeah.
What do you like best about gardening, Caitlin? I like watering seeds. Do you
like big seeds or little seeds? Big seeds. You like watermelon seeds? Yeah. Do you grow
watermelon? No. What do you think about those really big vegetables that your dad
grows? They're great. But, can you eat them? No. They're just for show, right? Will he
get a trophy? I don't know. You don't know.
You got all dressed up for my visit. I love your shoes. Thank you.
I'm gonna have to go. Are you guys gonna remember me? Yeah.
Want to see my chicken impression?
Your chicken impression? Yes, I do I wanna see that.
Can you lay an egg? No! Ha, ha, ha.
Well, thank you so much for the very quick tour of your allotment and it was great
to meet your family and I hope to come back and see you again real soon.
Make sure you do. And we'll do some gardening. Yeah. I'll roll up my sleeves. I can
do with some help. This, I'm gonna use this guy for my wheelbarrow. This is Wayne,
this is Caitlyn, and Tina and Tony, in where are we we're Wales, U.K., a
little place called Nelson. Nelson. Beautiful. All right, thank you so much.
Goodbye!
I hope we'll come and see you next, is it? You're welcome, come and see my garden.
(chickens clucking)
(piano music ends)