your favourite month on the allotment

[calendula]

just thought I'd start a thread on what is your favourite and least liked month on the allotment

January - still some food in the ground, making plans, full of dreams
February - getting sparse but the manure is on and there is more than a show of life
March - sowing gets full steam ahead
April - weather often makes you wish you didn't have an allotment
May - full of hope again and wondering where it will all go
June - fed up with weeding but the wow factor is there with all the produce
July - we will know by now what sort of a summer we will have, fingers crossed
August - the harvest is well underway regardless of the weather, all been worth it
September - ditto and time to enjoy the beginnings of autumn
October - time to take stock and keep on planting in all those empty spaces
November - have a holiday
December - make sure you have enough crops for the main meal

September would have to be my favourite time as it represents half done and half still to go. Least favourite is... don't have one  ;D

[calendula]

[sarah]

thats lovely. i think my favourite month is also sept/oct.  i love the coolness which makes digging a pleasure (for me anyway). planting out onions and broad beans. clearing away debris from the season gone;planning big things for the season to come. still plenty of time to prepare and not yet panic. i think my least favourite is july/august as the kids are off school and the allotment is very demanding then;so much weeding so much watering so much harvesting at a time when i have least time to do it all! cant complain really though i dont hate anything about my plot.

[djbrenton]

Probably August. By then, all the produce is pretty safe and I'm complacent about any weeds so can sit by the pond much of the time enjoying the garden.

[asbean]

I'd say end of June.  The beds are full, all the seedlings have flown the nest, so to speak, I've usually got all the weeding under control, and can watch things grow  :D :D

[saddad]

July/August as I'm not at work for 6 weeks and can spend loads of time in the garden/allotments... and it is even warm enough to sit out with a beer some evenings...
Least favourite Nov/Dec when it is dark after work so can only get out at the weekends.
:)

[redimp]

Ditto ;D

[MattD]

My faves are:

July - first beans and tomatoes harvested, and everything growing like the clappers.

December - nobody around, cold and damp and gets dark early so you have to stop digging but feel very happy when you get back inside.  Lots of thinking about next year too.

Actually early mornings almost any time are wonderful.

[tim]

Oh, yes - early.

And June - all the Herbs, Roses, Aquilegia, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Brassica........  Magical!

[silverbirch]

Great thread, and I agree that every month is fantastic.

One of my favourites is that sort of late autumn early winter period, getting on for 3:30 in the afternoon, with the smell of bonfire smoke drifting in the air, and a nip of frost promised for later on.  You finally stand up and stretch out your back and look at the ground you've turned over, all clean and waiting.  There's almost a sense of melancholy in the air, a feeling of the year drawing in, but a log fire and good solid stew to look forward to.

May on our allotments is great, as we're surrounded by fields and the whole place is full of skylark song.

I love it!!

[cleo]

I always think next month will be better ???

[Uncle Joshua]

July/ August for me but I'm loving being on the allotment, making permanent paths and turning the soil feels great.

[Suzanne]

I think my favourite months are March/April. It's when I am full of hope having already got little tomato plants growing and started the squash plants indoors. The days are getting longer and I am looking forward to the days when i can drift onto automatic pilot at the lottie and don't have to stress about anything.
Bliss  ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

I like May; crops are getting going properly, the bees are going like mad, and the leaves are at a fantastic translucent stage. There's plenty of light in the evenings as well.

[star]

I like spring and autumn best. Only because I dont like it too hot these days, and with arthritis setting in I dont much care for the cold damp winters either.

::)

[bedrockdave]

:)I think mine is August when everythings going nicely , the weeds are all under control and you can look and admire the fruits of your toils  , Here in the valley's ,buzzards circling above ,the peace and quiet, and an aching back after a morning in the lottie ....A feeling that money just can't buy

[Pumper]

Not having had our lottie for a year yet, our favourite month has got to be April, when we eventually got the plot.

All dewy eyed and enthusiastic, before the reality set in  :D

[calendula]

all these comments conjure up some wonderful images of you all on your plots - in all weathers and conditions, harvesting in the dark, cold and frosty early mornings, sweating but determined, alone with your thoughts, hunting for leeks under a foot of snow (done this many a time), weeding in the rain, challenging a forest of brambles and weeds, lamenting the losses and grinning and puffed up with all the successes, basking in total exhaustion but happiness as well, sometimes just doing nothing and just looking at what is possible

it really is the best thing to be doing and that's why every month offers something

it really is magic  ;D

[Tora]

I'd say June. :) Everything is green, the weather is lovely and I have so many things to look forward to. ;D

[tabbycat]

Three favourites for me - can't define them as months, just phases

I love the late autumn, early winter. As Silverbirch said, it's that lovely tang in the air, even when there's not a bonfire lit, it's that iron, cold sort of sharpness , especially when you're warm from digging, but your nose is cold and you know that you going home to a lovely hot mug of tea and a big slice of cake!

Conversely, I love the other side of the year, late spring with all the blossom and the green haze of the new leaves, and also, very early summer mornings when it's just me and the birds down at the plot, mooching around, just soaking up the stillness ( mind you, that's just me - the birds are too busy feeding their babies!)

Tabby