I spent part of a morning a few months' ago tidying the grass "baulks" or "balks" around my allotment. They are the narrow strips of path between adjoining allotments which need to be kept tidy and free from stones and weeds.
If pebbles or stones are left on the surface any mowing operation is fraught with danger! Damaged mower blades are the Committee's main concern but mine is a fast moving stone at hip height or lower! Having suffered one blow on the thigh I was tempted to dig out my cricket box but now spend a few minutes in lifting any stray or dislodged stones.
Weeds and long grasses are another problem. Many years' ago I was on the South Downs (before it became a National Park) when the group's botanist guide indicated a square metre and announced there were about 400 plants therein. My allotment's balks seem to have 'millions' of grasses and weeds of the flowering type. In a never ending saga of year-long weed control today's task was to gather as many as possible - seed heads, dying flowers... whole plants.
As a child I have fond memories of family blackberry 'hunts'. Now I grow my own or try to do so. This year the crop is promising. The original rows were raised from a hedgerow infestation several years ago. They need attention but I have four relatively neat rows.
From the field next door the cousins are still trying to join their relatives on my plot. They send tendrils from the hedegrow which is another scratchy danger. Also, they attempt Colditz-like escapes by coming under the balk and popping up in the allotment - but not in neat rows.
A few weeks ago one of the baulks became "humped" with an ants' nest. Having removed it, it was soon colonised with weeds but now (12/2011) must be the time to remove them. The hump was noticed long before it was removed but when one of my infrequent mowing of the baulk took place the mower almost became airborne - hence the subsequent removal. Will the ants return?
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