I'M LOOKING OVER A FOUR LEAF CLOVER

I'm looking over a four leaf clover

That I've overlooked before

Whenever I hear, or see, mention of clover I always have to “sing” those two lines in my head. I’ve no idea where this strange quirk came from, but as long as I can remember it’s been there in my head. The song was popular way before even my time, but I must have heard a recording of them at sometime. I’ve no idea of any of the other lyrics, just those two opening lines.

It’s funny how song lyrics stick in your head – they’re there dormant waiting for the smallest of nudges to set them off.

One of the recurring singalongs in my mind is

Adelaide, Adelaide Ever loving Adelaide I’m taking a chance, talk about a pop shot Taking a chance on you

I think I’ve sung this to myself all my life, but I had no idea where the lyrics came from. Then when google came along I looked it up. And they come from Guys & Dolls, where Nathan sings the song to Adelaide. I saw the 1982 revival on stage of Guys & Dolls at the National Theatre and I would bet a lot of money that Adelaide, Adelaide was not in that production. So my ignorance continued until google, which shows that it’s in the 1955 film version, sung by Sinatra who played Nathan Detroit to Adelaide played by Vivian Blaine . So I’ve remembered it from all those years ago when I saw the film – and I got the lyric wrong - it’s talk about a long shot.

And what has that to do with clover – absolutely nothing.

Except that the clover multipurpose compost now in the EAGS shop is a remarkable improvement on how it was a year ago. I think I wrote before, as to how the clover compost had become lumpy, stringy, and full of muck – and if sieved for seedlings etc, a third had to be jettisoned. Among those who agreed was Muddy Bootz (a youtube vlogger) – he made a video earlier this year demonstrating the poor quality of the compost. This prompted the clover manufacturers to contact him, and then visit him, and say, remarkably, that they had no idea of the deterioration in quality. To their credit they did embrace the criticism and promised to do something about it.

And, believe it or not, they have. The latest bags are fine – with little or no wastage. Power to the allotmenteers.

And they are available in the shop – with a 20% discount on offer. That’s £4.40 for a 75 litre bag.

Another veritable bargain from the EAGS shop.