I WAS taken around the back of the houses and led through a well-used but slightly overgrown alleyway. A quiet man leading two docile greyhounds nodded as he passed me in the opposite direction.

The land opened up and to my right, stood a large fenced off area. A gate in the panelling opened up and I was introduced to Jim, the keeper of the allotments. He held out his right hand in greeting and beamed a huge hello.

In his left hand, he held a cream and brown ferret. He must have noticed my eyes moving from him to the small odorous creature. "Oh, I've just had to kick some lads off their plot and found this in their shed" he grinned, holding the ferret up for closer inspection.

I know that every allotment society has different rules and regulations as to what you can and can't keep, grow and erect on the site, so I assumed that he didn't allow ferret keeping on this one.

"Oh no, we encourage a bit of husbandry, and ferrets are always needed by the farmers and gardeners to keep the rabbits and rats down. I got rid of the boys because they weren't looking after the thing properly. Look how thin he is, he hasn't eaten for some time and his water had dried up."

He went over to a small shed and put the ferret back into its hutch. A tracksuited teenager was busily sweeping shavings and straw out of the hut. "I've given this plot to Martin now.

He has done in a day what the last two took two months to do.

I won't stand for insolence and laziness."

Another tracksuited teenager, this one with a baseball cap, passed me with two eggs in his hands. "The duck's ad two more, Jim, " he said, without actually moving his lips or looking up at his mentor.

"You know where it goes Darren, and make sure those cabbages you planted out yesterday get a good watering."

Darren wandered off down the pathway.

I was shown round the rest of the site. There were raised beds planted out with all manner of vegetables and greenhouses filled to bursting point with tomatoes, courgettes and peppers. Home made sheds housed guinea pigs and rabbits, while penned off areas rippled with the jerky scratchings of chickens and ducks.

Jim showed me his incubation areas, where he taught the lads how to breed, hatch and raise the birds.

There were chickens sitting on duck eggs, ducks fluffed up on hens eggs, and bran barrels filled with neat circular rows of both types.

"Darren lad, remember to always put the pointed end down into the sawdust. That way the egg can breathe." Jim never raised his voice, and always followed a chastising with a good reason as why it should be done the proper way.

I was astounded and amazed at the goings-on in this small patch of land tucked away behind the housing estate. It had been a wasteland, littered with old caravans, briars, glass and asbestos. It was kindly given over to the allotment project under the guidance of Jim, who had been in the allotment game for most of his life.

Some of the local youths began taking an interest in the allotment and Jim decided to employ them on a voluntary basis and instruct them on how to work the land. He hopes that, from their experience and through his teachings, they will be able to find employment or set up their own businesses. In the meantime, it gives them a productive and positive pastime, as opposed to hanging around on the streets or possibly slipping onto the wrong sides of the tracks.

READER'S QUESTION

I HAVE had a letter from Mrs Jefferson from Bishop Auckland. I knew from the slightly thicker than normal feel to the envelope that it contained a sample. In the letter, she asks me to identify a sprig from a 20ft tree that has remained unidentified for two years now.

THE neatly pressed leaves are each about the size and shape of a teaspoon head. They branch out evenly from the stem, with the end ones being deep purple in colour. The stem ends in a spray of tiny flowers which have a pink tinge.

Thankfully, I knew at a glance what the mystery plant was. The sample belongs to a cottinus coggyria, or smoke tree. This is a deciduous bushy shrub which has masses of small flower stalks resembling a billowing plume of smoke.

The new leaf growth in spring emerges a deep purple colour and in autumn, turns orange.

At 20ft, this one is just about at the limit of its size, and must be a very mature shrub. This is the nottcutts variety, but there are other types, which come in shades of green, even bright, vibrant lime.

JOBS THIS WEEK

Neaten up the rockery by deadheading and cutting back anything that has finished flowering.

Make a sowing of late peas.

This can be done straight into the ground and should be ready for harvesting by August.

Make sure that all fruit, including apple, pear and plum trees are receiving sufficient water.

POSTSCRIPT

For further gardening advice, tune into Radio Cleveland's 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from 12-2pm with Brigid Press and Tim Ellingford. Questions can be sent to Brigid at Wingate and Station Town Family Centre, Partridge Terrace, Wingate, County Durham, TS28 5BD. Alternatively, email her at brigidpress@hotmail. com..