– The Garden Centre
One of my favourite places to visit is the local garden centre Wyevale near the race course. OK full of Christmas overload currently (how many robin mugs does one need?) but they have wonderful cream teas and reasonable lunch deals for oldies as well as a fantastic range of seeds and plants.
We wander along rows of Christmas trees and look out for a few bargains. There is always room for a ‘manager’s special’ which is usually some plant or other that needs a bit of extra tlc. We find two!
We chat to a lone lady having a snack outside the restaurant in the sun. Inside a couple waiting for Christmas pud tell us all about singing in a choir to raise funds for the Martlets. We note down the details of where and when.
By the time we get our tea we are lucky to have remembered why we had come in the first place. It was to buy poppy seeds!
Apparently 1917 was the year the government encouraged the creation of new allotments as part of the war effort. So growing poppies will be an appropriate reminder of those lost in the trenches and the sacrifices made.
I am old enough to remember the Second World War, food rationing and shortages. I like the idea of drifts of poppies on my starter allotment plot next summer and if I start them under cover after Christmas, there will be.
Which reminds me we just have time to nip over to cut a few more sprouts. I just love home grown veg!
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