Hilda sails in

Ever since the birth of this allotment site, we wanted to make this project different from anything else seen in Cornwall, part of that ethos was to create community gardens near the entrance for the many visitors we get to enjoy.    The plans for these have changed a few times along the way but we are now starting to create the 3rd and last garden with the first two starting to look mature now being their second year. A wildlife attracting area with a very mature fallen Beech tree forming the back and a pond at present teeming with tadpoles is very popular, all the plants donated by the tenants will attract the bees and butterflies and the tiny formal garden directly outside the main shed has 4 matching beds with a flower urn in the middle looks good now the spring flowers are out.

We were looking for a bit of inspiration for this 3rd one, it's quite an area and needs to look right so imagine our pleasure in obtaining an old 15 ft dinghy complete with sails and rudder to use as a focal point. It had to be fetched from Exeter but should have known we could rely on Billy, the tenant who bought and donated the boat, to go up and fetch it late one evening. I kept him company and we eventually arrived at the allotment site around 11.30pm with the boat still in tow. Pitch black, no light anywhere so it had to stay in the car park overnight but as soon as dawn broke we were back easing her in thro the narrow gap in the Cornish hedge and into the gate to place in her last resting berth. She was tilted slightly towards the South West for maximum light and the deck will be planted up once the night frosts have passed. She has been given a new coat of green paint as the mixture of yellow and blue flaking off didn't look good. Gardens will now be created around and along from Hilda as she is now known and was the spark we needed to get our creative juices going. Hilda was the name of Billy's dearly loved mother-in-law who has recently passed away and we thought it was a fitting name, so many have known a Hilda in their lives with fondness, even my wife's mother was a Hilda too. A Hilda is an anagram of Dahlia so perhaps we will use this popular flower to form the base of our gardens around her.