Meet Tattie Bogie Gump

This is Tattie Bogie Gump

I was calling him Worzel, but that wasn't very original was it, so I asked Susan, my allotment buddy & Ian's (my husbands') Mum, who is my armchair gardener for ideas. Susan told me that Tattie Bogie means Potato Plot & Ian's Mum came up with Gump, which I also liked so Tattie Bogie Gump it is!

He originally started of made with some re-inforced cardboard lengths, but I thought that if he gets wet, then he might sag, so I went to Homebase and bought a length of wood. A nice man in there cut it 2/3rd's 1/3rd for me despite being told by his co worker "health and safety mate, what if you cut yourself?" What has happened to this country???? So, home came the wood (cut nicely thank you very much young man!) and the construction began. I borrowed Ian's drill and 2 x screws to make the cross. I then cut open an old fibre filled pillow and took half the stuffing out to make the head. With the help of a needle and some cotton, I shaped the head (thank you Mrs Ashworth my needlework teacher - I knew those classes would come in handy one day). On the head went - tied around the neck with some string. Next were the button eyes, nose & mouth, which I think turned out rather well!

Another pillow - again half the filling removed - was folded in half length ways and put on the cross section to "beef up" the shoulders - well he is supposed to be a "scare" crow and not a skeleton!

Next came the shirt - lovingly donated by hubby Ian. I had some free (magazine gift) gloves that I stuffed with some of the removed pillow stuffing and popped those on the ends of the cross sections & tied with string. The hat, I think is a bit girlie, so he may get a new one, but he also needs some hair, so I will go in search of some straw or rafia, and I think a pair of sunglasses for the sunny weather, when & if we get some! There might be a few more finishing touches, so keep tuned.

Down on the lotty this week.........

I followed Mavis's lead and put in my "earlies" and "second earlies"

I put my potatoes that I had chitted on Ian's office window sill, into holes, as one of my many books said I could do it this way, so I used my bulb planter. I made a 5ft wooden ruler in the week, again from a bit of wood from Homebase, so that I could get my spacing right as I have no concept of measurements in my head! I marked the begining & end of my rows with small stick, which I tied a bit of red ribbon too, so no one thinks they are just bits of stick stuck in the ground and take them out! If that happened it could be disaster on Ali's potato plot!!!!

Each row (2 so far as I only had around 9 potatoes in each batch) goes around 2/3rds down the plot, so the end of that plot I can use for my courgettes and / or pumpkins (which are germinating nicely) - well that is the plan anyway.

This weekend I need to get to the garden centre to by a long handled rake as I would like to rake over the raised beds that I have covered. Once I have done them I will probably cover them over again until I am ready to plant out - that of course will be dependant on the weather! I raked the area that was left on my potato plot with my hand rake yesterday - the soil it great once you get all the stones out! I have a blister to prove it on my thumb too.

And Finally........

A HUGE THANK YOU to hubby Ian, who put up 2 shelves in the utility room on his day off for me - he even went to IKEA to buy some special brackets. It has made a huge difference to the amount of space for the plants now. (picture to follow)