Our Allotment venture!: Potential Tenents came to view today!

I went up to the allotment early today,couldn't wait to see what the Chickens would do when they saw SNOW for the first time! I opened the hatch doors and they sort of rushed to the door to all fly out like they normally do every morning,and then all came to a halt as if to say "oh my god whats this on the floor"?, some stood on the duck boards and others came out slowly but flying from one platform to another as not to touch the snow,quite funny to watch.

Anyway,I was cleaning the Chickens out and changing drinkers etc today and as I stood up a pair of Blue tits were checking out the new property! one of the Blue tits actually went inside then came straight back out,probably checking if its suited to family life in there,so in the next few weeks I will be keeping a close eye on things to see if they settle into thier new dwellings.I will add photos too,Paul also said he would make another 2 boxes to go close by very soon. The Collard Doves (Stay away from my Brasicas thats all I ask) are still here also 4 Robins and 4 Jay's,lots of Great Tits,Blue Tits and Coal Tits were all there in one go today it was lovely to see them all in the snow flying in and out for the banquet of food I leave for them.

I have a new book,

well new to me but very old actually,it's from 1953! and cost a huge 2/6 in those days,I paid a whole £1.20p for thats inflation aint it? but I love old Gardening books and the old ways are the best ways I find. It's got a really good sowing chart at the back but what makes me laugh is the 'amount of seed required for a row of 30 feet' section, it states: 1/2 a pint of Runner Beans! 1/2 Pint? does or did anyone use to actually weigh them?

Also I found something else whilst flicking through this book under 'Salad Plants', how to grow Dandelions! I spend all Summer trying to get rid of the bloody things,nevermind give them a space of their own and care for them! out comes my weed puller upper thingy and on the fire they all go,and anyway when I was a kid if ya picked a Dandelion it meant that ya 'wet the bed' so I aint gunna grow these and pick them for my Greek salads thankyou very much! maybe thats a Northern saying,has anyone else heard of that?

This week I put toilet roll tubes (I knew they would come in handy for something) around the bottom of my leeks,which not only gives them a bit of protection from the biting wind up there,but bleaches or blanches the stems. In the book it suggest using land drain pipes or metal tubing and should be three inches in diameter and from a foot to fourteen inches in height. They seem to have taken ages to grow though.