Allotment No 25

Its been a while . . .

2010-09-08T13:04:00.003+01:00

I think that is a bit of an understatement. Family wedding and holidays got in the way a bit as did the refurbishing of our bathroom.

We have had a bumper crop of gooseberries and also blackcurrents this season. The picture shows just the results of one trip, we had at least 3 of both. It is nice because we had a poor crop of both last year due to the fact that we moved them and they didn't get the chance to settle before they blossomed. I think the snow has helped kill the bugs.

We had an alright crop of Broadbeans in the end. Didn't get enough to save the beans for next season though so I will have to buy another packet or two again. Will definitely start them off in cells and wont put any directly in the soil this time around.

My Swiss Chard has been attacked by the Flea Beetle and we only had 3 plants, but they have been nurtured and are producing enough for a few meals. This just goes to show that I usually grow too many plants - something to contemplate for the future.

The Garlic was amazing and I have enough to last me a few years, if only it would survive that long.

The onions were poor, the winter ones just got to the size of small pickling onions. The summer ones are marginally better.

Our Tomatoes just didn't produce much and most of them stayed green. In fact I have just made some chutney with them as I didn't think they would turn red now!

The sweetcorn is going well. We have eaten some cobbs and we have more tonight.

Our potatoes went to Australia, ended up with just enough for 2 meals. I keep digging in the hope I will find some more.

The Broccoli went to flower, we only had a few heads off them. Cauliflowers look 'blind' so not sure they will do anything - darstedly pidgeons, eating them! Lesson learned, cover them as soon as they are planted, no time to go home for lunch before doing that job!!!

Leeks look amazing, cannot wait for them.

Cabbages - no good this year. They still look like seedlings - What am I doing wrong? Any help gratefully received.

Runner beans coming out of our ears, no French beans to speak of.

Strawberries and Plums just didn't happen.

Bumper crop of carrotts. Covered them with fleece until they started growing and then we earthed them up like potatoes. I think we were the only ones not to get hit by the dreaded carrot fly. This was a tip told to me by a non gardening friend. Some friends are amazing!!

This year has been a mixture of failures and successes, but then you will always have years like this, so I am hoping for better things next season.

Hope your crops did well.

Cheryl

Is Spring Here ??

2010-03-07T15:33:00.002Z

Just got back from the Allotment. The sky is blue, the sun is still shining and we have made a start. I managed to dig up some Cerleriac and Leeks. I also picked the last 2 Savoy cabbages. They are very small (about the size of a grapefruit) but together they will make a good meal. I also dug over where the cabbages were and I weeded it as there was some very large ones growing under the netting. The ground was still frozen in places so it was a bit hard to break up the soil, but where the sun was shining on it, it felt quite warm.

I have re-checked my Broadbeans and there is only one solitary little plant. My beans that I have put into cells ended up in my conservatory and are poking out. There is not 100% germination yet so I will give them another week and then we can think about planting them out next weekend, weather permitting.

The Garlic I planted last year is doing well, but the row of Autumn King Carrots has not germinated at all. Not surprising really considering the amount of snow, frost and generally cold weather!

We also planted out some over winter Onion sets that are about 2 inches high. Not all have grown, but we should get some early ones. I have now bought our maincrop Onions and they are ready to go into the ground soon. See what the weather does for the rest of this month.

I bought some first early seed potatoes a couple of weeks ago and they have been chitting away on the windowsill in the conservatory. We planted them out today. They are called Swift and I will be interested to see how they perform. I chose them because when I went to The Country Store to buy some, there was only a few packets of them left in the bin all the other bins were full. Working on the theory that they were popular because they likely grow well in our soil, I chose them. I am sure you will agree it is not a very scientific approach, but it will do me.

We did as much as we needed to today as we need to break ourselves in gently. I have already managed to pull a muscle in my left shoulder which is causing me a problem when I turn my head, and I must make sure that Mick does not hurt his back.

February 2010

2010-02-17T11:45:00.002Z

Well, February has come and nearly gone and I have not got anything started. Everytime I think I will get out to the shed to sort out some pots, trays and compost, it either rains, snows or is bitterly cold. As I want to put my filled pots and trays in the shed by the window so that the plants don't get too much heat (like they do in the conservatory) and then get leggy, I thought this would be the perfect solution. When will this cold weather end and some sunshine show through?

The official first day of spring is next Sunday (21st Feb) so we will see what that brings. I have been reading my seed catalogue and I have sorted out what I need for this season and I have now got to buy or order them. I have also had a plant catalogue through and I have read that with interest too. This year they are doing vegtable plug plants. As I have not had much luck with Red Cabbage seed and we love the stuff, I thought I would try some plug plants, alas they don't do them, just green ones - D'oh! I may give some cauliflower and broccoli plants a try though as we like them. I am seriously considering buying some Leek plants too as our crop this year has been so very weedy. The seed didn't do well in their trays and I am wondering whether the heat in the conservatory was to blame. I could really do with a green house but our garden is too small and the TC wont allow us one on the allotment. I suppose I could look at putting sheets of polycarbonite over our raised beds and sort of make a cold frame out of it; although it will probably blow away when the wind gets up.

Well, thats my ramblings for this month.

Thanks for looking

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T15:13:00.002Z

I would just like to start by wishing everyone who reads this blog a HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

The snow has gone but it is still very icy and cold. Too cold for digging at the moment. I did manage to go up to our plot in the snow and dig up some carrots for our festive meal. The hardest part was getting the netting off (we need it covering the carrots because the pesky baby rabbits are having a field day eating them). It was heavy with snow that then became ice. I also managed to to pull up some Savoy Cabbage, also for our festive meal - in stead of Brussel Sprouts! I took a couple of flasks of warm water with me that I had to use to was the snow and soil away from the cabbage roots. They were too frozen to cut. I took them all home and left them in the garage to thaw out. I have to say that they were rather nice and tasty.

I was very mean to Michael and I made him go and dig the rest up whilst it was raining, as I needed carrots for our Turkey stew. He is such a good sport though and went without a moan.

I also checked on my Aquadulce Claudia Broadbeans that had been sown in November straight into the ground and covered with cloche. Another year where there is absolutely no sign of any germination at all. I am now left with a quandry - do I leave them and hope that they germinate when it gets warmer or shall I buy some more and sow them into yogurt pots on the conservatory window sill? Will have to give that one a bit more thought.

Planted up some Garlic and some winter Onion sets. They seem to be doing OK. I also set another row of Autumn King carrots for the new year, but they too seem to have gone to Australia just like the broadbeans.

All the christmas decorations are now down and I have started to get the odd seed catalogue delivered, so it is now time to look forward to Spring with warmer weather and very many jobs in the garden and on the allotment.

Thank you for looking.

Autumn is coming . . .

2009-10-05T10:14:00.003+01:00

Well, it has been a while since I last posted. It has been a lot of hard work getting our plot back to how it was before our holiday, but we managed it. It is all under control again.

The soil is very dry and dusty as we have not had any rain for the past 2 months. The BBC weather girl has said that Bedfordshire has been the dryest county in the South East. We need rain and I am now going to start thinking about doing a native rain dance . . .

We came back from a recent trip to New York and I decided to go to harvest all our Sweetcorn as we did not have time to do anything with it before we went due to birthday and anniversary celebrations. When I got there, the sweetcorn had been trashed (see picture). Some other plot holders had the same problem and there seems to be 2 schools of thought either it was Muntjac Deer or it was Badgers. The soil is so dry that there were not any footprints for me to distinguish which was the culprit.

I have planted some Autumn King carrots which appear to be doing well, thanks to our water butts (which are now empty). I am hoping to have some of these for dinner on Christmas Day. I have been told that they can stay in the ground all winter so I wont have to pick them all at once. Had I known that before, I would have sown more! Never mind, there is always next year.

We are picking Chard as we have so much of it and I am going to try to freeze some to see how it copes. There is so much up there and I know it will get knocked out with the frosts, which makes me think it will not freeze, but I will give it a go.

I have been doing a study on the names of persistent weeds that we get on our plot, but that information will be for another post, possibly in the winter when there is nothing to write about.

We ended up with enough spuds for just one meal from our experiment with Tyres, so the moral is that you only need them to be 2 tyres high as any higher means they die. Next year we will grow 3 piles of 2 and see if that fares any better. That will please our miserable plot neighbours no end!

Well, I had better go and get on. Thanks for looking.

Early July and so many Weeds

2009-07-04T16:57:00.002+01:00

Well, we are back from our two week holiday in France. We stayed at a campsite called "Le Pin Parasol" in the Vendee, not far from Aizenay. Jolly nice it was too, would highly recommend it to any campers out there.

This morning we ventured upto the allotment and wow, so many weeds. Of course I didn't take my camera as it is full of holiday pictures to be downloaded. Our Potato Tyres are 3 high now and one has a single spud growing up through, but not the other one. Not sure what has happened there - could possibly be too high for them or they just need more water, anyway the weeds were growing very nicely thank you.

The sweetcorn, we couldn't see for weeds, but my lovely assistant, Michael cleared that and they are now weed free and able to grow. The Leeks and parsnips are to be weeded as we cannot see either of these as the weeds are higher than our veg. At least it is easy to clear, thank goodness.

I picked the last of the broadbeans and they were surprisingly weed free and I dug over the bed so it is ready for something else to go in. Not sure what at the moment, so back to the seed catalogues - bliss.

I weeded the runner beans, sweetpeas and savoy cabbage as they are all in one bed. I have lost 3 savoy cabbages which means I have 5 left but I have noticed that the red cabbage seeds that died in their trays, 3 are still surviving so I think I will plant them where the savoys were. Don't know what happened to them as they are covered so I didn't think the pidgeons could get to them - hey ho!

Some of my Swiss Chard has bolted and my carrots have been hit by the dreaded "carrot root fly" so I don't have a crop of them this year - double drat! I was growing F1 Maestro by Sutton Seeds and they are supposed to be resistant, but obviously they are not. Next year I must write myself a note to cover them with fleece to protect them.

Our 6 Rhubarb crowns all flowered this year. Never had that before. Now they are covered in black fly - never had that before either. In fact, I have noticed that all the underside of the weeds was covered in black fly too. They must like this warm weather.

Weeded the Celeriac and the Parsnips and we don't know which is which as their leaves all look very similar. At least we have got some of both this year which is a bonus. For the past 2 years our seeds have gone to Australia so chitting the parsnips first is definitely the way to go. Will have to write myself another note next year!

As I have so much washing to do and a quilt to finish for my Mum's birthday (which is next Tuesday) I had better get on with it.

Thanks for looking

Not Easter Yet!

2009-04-06T14:52:00.008+01:00

Well, what a great weekend it has been. Spent several hours up at the allotment. We managed to clear a small area and installed 2 tyres to grow potatoes in. Neil on the UK Allotment Forum has advised me to stuff the tyres with straw as they have toxic oils in them that could poison the potatoes. The next job will be to source some straw for this very purpose. Might use shredded paper instead as we have a supply of that. It will also mean we will use less soil to fill the tyres which will be a bonus. We have used potatoes from our veg basket that were sending out shoots, some were new salad potatoes (no name) and the other were the small ones left from our first earlies last year called 'Foremost'. They were a bit scabby because of the very wet conditions, so hopefully these few will be enough for a couple of meals at least. 4 spuds per tyre.

You can just see our Plum tree in the 'before' picture. It is in bloom, so we are hoping for fruit this year. We have tip pruned it, weeded it, fed it and watered it so fingers crossed. We have been told it is a Victoria Plum - lovely.

My lovely assistant, Michael also cleared and levelled the ground in front of our very substantial compost bins and laid some conveyorbelt fabric and then topped off with 4 large paving slabs which will make it easier for me to walk on. We will fill in the gaps with stones. The very rotted compost in the left bin has all but gone now so we are in the process of making more in the right bin and also we have 2 green plastic dalek types that are getting slowly filled up.

We took the covers off our Broadbeans too as they were getting so tall the tops were bending over. Didn't take a picture of them, so will try to remember to do it next time.

This doesn't seem very much for the 3 hours we spent up there but we certainly feel the 3 hours work. We ache!

I have added this picture which I took when we returned from the lotty and it is the first butterfly I have seen so far this year. It was taken on the step by my patio doors at home. The poor thing looks like it has a torn wing, but hey aint he beautiful - summer must be coming.

Well, that is all for now, thanks for looking.

Digging, Digging and More Digging

2009-03-23T23:19:00.005Z

Before After

Well, it has been a lovely week and I got into the swing of things and took myself to the Allotment with my spade earlier last week. I managed to dig over an area that was previously covered in black plastic for 2 years. It was an easy dig, which was lucky for me as I cannot manage the area covered in couch and brambles.

I have heard about a French tool called a Mattock, so when we go to France for our holiday in June, I will see if I can find one to try and possibly buy. It must make life easier and less stressful on the back.

Well it took me 2 hours in total to dig this patch and remove all the large stones. I hope that you approve. I now have 2 rows of carrotts put in on the left hand side with many more veggies to follow.

Thank you for looking.

Seeds are Sown

2009-03-12T14:12:00.003Z

I have spent some time sowing some of my seeds. So far there are: Celeriac, Leeks and Tomatoes. I have still got lots more to sow, but not yet. This year I decided to get organised and I went to B&Q and bought a set of black plastic shelving to put in the Conservatory. Being black they hold the heat from the sun (when it shines) and it doesn't show any specks of soil. They fold down when I have finished with them so they can be stored in the loft for next year. In fact, I may buy some more to put in the loft to store Christmas decorations on which will clear the floor area.

As you can see, I use Icecream containers to grow seeds in as they are deeper than seed trays. I just drill some holes in the bottom and I use discarded oven trays to stand them on.

I hope you like my idea!

Shed Moving

2009-03-06T09:49:00.008Z

As you can see, the shed has been moved successfully. My lovely assistant has still not managed to repair the door and frame. We are trying to create a small patio area so that we have somewhere to sit and have a cup of tea.

This shot was taken from our neighbours plot. You can see our broadbeans under their covers.

This is my lovely assistant, digging, digging, digging away getting ready to install another of our raised beds. We have found that the previous tennants of this plot have scraped the couch grass from the other side of our plot and piled it on top of wood, bamboo canes, hoes and lots of meshing. It has been a very difficult time trying to clear this area and it is not at all level.

This is just some of the wood etc that we have dug out of the above area. The blue barrel you can see is a water butt.

This is the pile of Couch that we have cleared only to find the above wood etc. It has been a very long and hard task, in fact it is still not finished! We are not sure whether to burn all this or just cover it in black plastic for a few years. I think it will depend on the weather at the time we make the decision.

Moving Forward

2009-03-01T16:09:00.005Z

What a busy time it has been over the past two weekends, we have transferred strawberry plants into one of our raised beds. We have dug out the old rotovator and cleared a large plot and moved over 6 Gooseberry Bushes, 3 Blackcurrent bushes, 6 rhubarb crowns and lots of Raspberry Canes. Life is so much easier with a rotovator and light sandy soil. This plot does not have as many stones in it either which is a bonus. I have planted out all 36 broad bean plants and when I checked them today they are looking fine, see picture, they are under the cloches.

Today my Son Philip and his friend Gazz came up to help us move the shed. It was an ingenius way of moving it that Michael devised. We put straps under the shed that was at least 3ft wider at both ends and then we threadled wood through the straps and then we lifted. We only had to stop twice because I was finding it a bit heavy, but it now has pride of place on the new allotment. The waterbutts are in place and ready to catch any rain that we may have in the future. The men also moved all the remaining paving slabs so that we can finish off our paths etc on the new site.

My experiment with the parsnips was a failure as I kept forgetting to water them. They were in the airing cupboard and I didn't see them so I didn't water them. I think I will try to put them in toilet roll centres and see if they germinate in the conservatory. Fingers crossed as we have not been able to get any to germinate for 3 seasons!

I will take piccies of the shed and upload them next time I am at the allotment, but I am sure you will agree, things are looking better and the plot is taking shape.

Ta Ta for now.

Thank Heavens the Snow has gone

2009-02-18T12:22:00.003Z

We have been having severe weather in this region and because of that we have not done a great deal on the allotment since Christmas. The above picture is of our back garden. The snow got thicker than this.

We have laid the base for the shed and that should be moved at the end of this month (February). I have planted two packets of broad beans and one packet has gone to Australia and the other packet has yielded me 6 plants. I decided that the weather conditions have just not been good enough to get anything going as it has also been below freezing for the majority of the time. I have bought yet another packet and started them off 2 weeks ago in pots in the consveratory. It is heated, but because we have been using the wood burner the heating hasn't been on much so I feel that conditions out there have been perfect for them. They are doing well, we have 36 plants this time to put out when we have the time.

We have moved the very substantial compost bin from our old site - this job took us an hour and it nearly killed the both of us, it was so heavy. Never mind, it is in place and looking splendid. All 5 of our raised beds are now on the new site. 4 are in place and 1 is not. The paths are laid and we are looking forward to better weather.

I have started an experiment I read about on the UK Allotment Forum. I have put some parsnip seeds between kitchen towel and made it wet and then put it in the airing cupboard to see if the seeds start to chit. They have been there for 2 days and nothing so far, but I will keep checking when I water them.

When the shed is in place, I will take my camera and post some piccies of the new plot.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T13:52:00.002Z

Well, it is December and time is passing so quickly. The weather has been very cold, wet and not the type to be out digging which is just as well as we are re-modelling the shower end of our bathroom. Two tiles fell off after Mick touched them back in November and ever since all our spare time has been working on knocking down a small wall and taking tiles off. Mick managed to steam all the residue tile glue and then he had to rebuild part of the small wall so that we have somewhere to hang the toilet roll! He has also had to take out water pipes which means I had to be in the water tank (well my arm and shoulder) so that I could plug the hole where the pipe was so that he could fit a new tap to turn the water off. We chose the coldest day for that job and I have to say that it took a while for the warmth to return to my hand and arm!

We are in the middle of doing the tiling, its Christmas Eve and I have had to go and buy an electric tile cutter so that we can finish it off. I do hope this will be all finished by mid January so that we can get up to the allotment and start digging it over.

We have also had the builders in taking out our front door and bricking it up and putting in new windows. They have also been building me a porch with a lovely 9inch square solid Oak post - it is lovely and I have been keeping it well oiled to protect it from the weather.

Now the question will be where to put everything when we have managed to dig it all over, I have got some time to look through the seed catalogues and make decisions as to what I want to grow. I hope we have plenty of room as there are lots I want to try.

Well this is all our news for December, if you have taken the time to read my blog then I wish you peace for 2009.

New Plot Update

2008-11-04T15:17:00.002Z

Well, the weather beat us last weekend, and we didn't manage to get up to the lottie at all. We did manage to watch Lewis Hamilton win the F1 World Champion title. I wish Lewis wouldn't leave it until the very last bend before he speeds up and gets 5th place - we nearly had a heart attack watching him. Anyway, Congratulations Lewis, a job well done.

The weekend before was very windy and we managed to move another raised bed onto plot 25 and and I wheeled 8 barrow loads of compost from our bins on plot 30 into the new raised bed. I will leave it to overwinter for a bit and then I will plant some more broad beans. That was all we could do for that day.

The following day we purchased a 5 ltr pump action sprayer and whilst Michael was laying the slabs for our shed to go onto I was spraying Roundup on all the grass and brambles. Two weeks on and the couch grass is still growing well, but the brambles seems to be showing signs of dying off which is good.

We have had several discussions about where to place the shed, and we have not come to a conclusion yet as I think Mick is trying to put it too close to the corner which will make it difficult to get to the waterbutts. We have made a decision on where to place the new green dalek compost bin and that is in the corner and will be quite close to the water butts, if I get my own way!

Despite the weather this weekend, we did manage to get to Stevenage to pick up about 16 used paving slabs that have been donated by my Mum's neighbour, Lee. We managed to get them loaded into the car and we took them straight up to the lottie and put them in a couple of piles while we clear some more ground to put the other raised beds onto.

We have also been to see friends of ours who have a Rotovator that they want to sell. We were interested in buying it, but we cannot get it going, so for now we have decided not to buy.

I am very pleased with the progress so far and cannot wait to get the shed and the big compost bin transferred. We have been very busy recently even though I have not kept the blog up to date with our goings on.

I will try to add some pictures next time.

October 2008

2008-10-21T17:29:00.002+01:00

On Sunday 19th October, we went up to the new allotment, having got back from the Algarve on Saturday 18th. We worked hard moving one of the empty raised beds. We managed to put it in place and dig over the soil at the bottom. I then put 2 barrow loads of horse manure and straw on top and we then put all the topsoil from its previous position back into it. It is looking ok, all on its own. Can't wait to get the rest moved over, but that will be more difficult because we have Purple Sprouting and Strawberries in the other two.

Today (21st) I sowed my Broad Beans - Acquadulce Claudia in our new raised bed. We don't have many, but it will be enough for now.

We have a nice shiney new Dalek type compost bin to go up there, but we are not sure where to put it at the moment. Will have to give this some thought and perhaps to draw a plan.

September 2008

2008-10-10T16:16:00.005+01:00

Whilst we were in Rome celebrating my 60th Birthday, our new Shed on the allotment was being broken into. Fortunately it has been so well made by Michael that they could not achieve what they set out to do. I reported it to the local Rural Police, but you only ever get an answerphone and low and behold, they do nothing about it. They don't even call you back or visit you when they are supposedly patrolling the village. What a waste of time paying your rates for Police protection when you have none.

On a lighter note, we heard that the plot behind ours that is on the level has become available because Sarah had to give it up. We asked the Town Council if we could move because it will be easier for me to move about without falling over. I am glad to say that at the last Town Council Allotments Meeting, it was agreed that we can move plot and we have until renewal to get it prepared and move all our chattells across. Hopefully the shed will not be so visible from the road or the car park and it will be safer.

We are going to have to work fast, as it is time to put in our Aquadulce Claudia broadbeans now, so we have to dig, dig, dig our new plot to get some space for them. I may even start them off in ice cream containers until we have some ground suitable for them, or perhaps we will not grow them this year!!

The top picture is of the new plot at the far end, looking towards our current plot. The bottom picture is at the opposite end. As you can see, lots of work to do here. I have now straightened out all the black plastic so that the couch does not start growing again before we have time to dig it all out.

We will have to call our blog, Allotment No 25 in the future.

Well, thats my ramblings, thanks for looking.

May 2008

2008-05-24T13:29:00.002+01:00

Well, May has been a very busy month. I have been very busy on the lottie. We have 8 rows of onions 6 x white onions and 2 x red onions (we like onions!) My Broadbeans are growing well and producing lots of pods. They are not yet firm enough to pick but I am watching them and will pick some as soon as they are ready - yum yum.

I have sown 2 rows of carrots and another row has gone in today.

I have 3 rows of runnerbeans that were doing well, but they have been zapped by a frost on Tuesday morning so I have had to re-sow some of them today.

My peas are virtually non existant. From the 3 rows planted I have just 5 plants - I think the mice have had a field day up there eating them all. I will sow some more at home to see if I am more successful.

The sweetcorn is extremely patchy, out of the 30 seeds sown I have just 10 plants. I will give them another week to see if any more germinate and if they don't I will move about the plants into a block and use the space to grow salad veggies.

I have also sown some more parsnips as they did not germinate again. This time I have also sown some radishes in the same drill so I will be able to see where they are should they decide to grow this time.

I have also put in a row of beetroot, this will be one of many and I am trying to leave a week or two in between so I don't end up with a glut.

Mick has cleared the area where the shed is going. We have to go back (possibly later today, after the Grand Prix practice that he has to watch) or perhaps during the weekend and put the slabs down. We have an old builders bag that I intend to cut up and put on top of the soil before the slabs go down to protect from the weeds and couchgrass. Then we have to make arrangements for getting the shed up there. It will be so nice to be able to cycle to the allotment when the weather is nice instead of taking the car

Well, thats this months update done. I would just like to wish Monty Don a speady recovery from his stroke and hope he is able to get on with his own garden, even though he has given up presenting Gardener's World. Get Well Soon, Monty.

My Dog Corky

2008-04-21T23:16:00.002+01:00

It is with regret that we had to put our Corky to sleep this evening. He was a poorly chap for several days and there was nothing further that the Vets could do for him. He passed away peacefully and was no trouble to the bitter end. He was 13 human years old.

We love and miss you Corky. Always in our hearts.

Its April and its time to Sow

2008-04-12T16:27:00.002+01:00

Been to the allotment today and I have managed to get another row of white onions in and 3 rows each of Peas (onward) and Runner Beans. I am not putting up any canes for the runners as one of the other allotment holders just lets his beans scramble along the ground and his beans are very tender and prolific. He says that by growing them this way they get shelter from the wind and as our site is very open (surrounded by farmland) it is very windy, even in the summer. This will be a trial to see how they do. If they are not any better than last year when I used canes, then I will go back to the old and trusted method next year. I will let you all know in a later blog.

Whilst I was weeding and sowing, Mick made a start on clearing the area for our shed. We have got 3 wheelbarrow loads of nice soil from one side that we have spread around the plot and we just have the second side to clear. I will be very pleased when the shed is there and we don't have to use our car as a mobile shed. We can then go up there on our bikes and save petrol and get some exercise into the bargin.

The weeds are still growing, despite my spending time before Easter weeding all the beds. Isn't it amazing where they come from. Someone on the site seems to throw potatoes around and they always seem to land on our plot. They are rotten and not very nice to remove. If I find out who is doing it I will have a word, I will not be afraid, I will do it. I will !!!

Well, that's all my ramblings for today. Tomorrow we intend to cut the grass on the plot and try to clear a bit more of the area for the shed, weather permitting.

Thanks for looking.

Easter and afterwards

2008-04-12T16:17:00.002+01:00

Well, the deed is done. I have been to a very nice private hospital courtesey of the NHS and they successfully removed my metalwork from my hip. I have got the metalwork and I will take a photo of it to publish on this site. It is very interesting and a superb piece of engineering. It weighs 95 grammes so theorectically I should have lost some weight - mmmm, not sure about that one. Did this operation hurt - well yes actually it did. It hurt more than when I broke the hip at Christmas 06. I was very surprised about the amount of pain but like everything, it goes away and I am feeling much better now.

On Easter Sunday the young nurse on night duty came into my room to tell me (very excitedly) that it had snowed overnight. She opened my blind and I could not believe what I saw. It was magical. By mid morning it had all gone.

It has taken me several weeks but thankfully I am so much better that I can consider doing some gardening up at the allotment, next post on its way!!!

Thanks for looking.

March Photo's

2008-03-16T23:08:00.005Z

Here is my lovely, clever assistant, Michael peering out of the doorway from the shed he has made me. It now has a roof but not a door yet. Watch this space!!!

The Long Peppers are now twice as many. Lets hope our crops will also be plentiful.

This is the start of the Chillies. Will have to give some of these away as we have now got a lot more than are showing.

These are the first early Rocket potatoes that are chitting so nicely on the conservatory windowsill.

March 2008

2008-03-16T12:12:00.002Z

March has not been a very well behaved month so far. We have managed to get up to the allotment last Sunday (9th) and managed to line one of our compost bins with corrugated iron from our good friends John and Janet. We have also found a spare plastic dustbin in our garage that we have dug into the ground so that we can catch some rain. It is just downhill to the compost bins so it should be pretty central for watering the raised beds. The winds have been so strong that I put 3 large bucketloads of water from the tap into it to keep it secure.

The shed is finally built. Mick has done a sterling job. We now have to paint it and then try to get help getting it to the allotment. We have yet to clear the space we require to site it and to lay the foundations. Mick is on holiday for the next 2 weeks so I am hoping we can get up there and make a start. We have a very nice builder as a neighbour who has a flatbed truck, so we are going to be cheeky and ask him if he will drive our shed up there for us. Fingers crossed!

Our seedlings are coming along really well. I have 5 marrow plants, hundreds of tomatoes (gardeners delight) loads of peppers and chillies. I had a few main crop potatoes left in the bottom of our sack (Saxon) so I have set them chitting and will give them a chance to grow. There are only 7 so it wont be a huge main crop, but as Tesco always say "every little helps".

I am off into hospital next Saturday (Easter) for a few days to have the metalwork removed from my hip. I wont be in for long and I do not know how much I will be able to do when I get out. I certainly wont be able to dig etc at least until the wound has healed. I will post a piccie of what they remove if I get it back to keep as a souvenier.

Thank you for looking and happy gardening.

February Update

2008-02-24T00:49:00.002Z

Well, we are zooming through February and I have started to sow my chillies, peppers, marrows and tomatoes. The potatoes are doing will and chitting nicely.

The Shed is coming on really well. So far Mick has made the floor, both sides and the back. We have the difficult bit of making the front next. We will not be having a window as we don't want people to see in. Once it is all complete we have the job of finding a way to get it from home to the allotment. Anyone got a lorry?

The weather has been cold and very frosty so not been up there for a few weeks, but hopefully some warmer weather is on its way and I can while away a few hours pottering about and not doing very much, my favourite passtime.

Well, not a lot to report this month, but thanks for looking.

February 2008

2008-02-12T15:27:00.000Z

The potatoes that I bought last month thinking that they were Home Guard have turned out to be "Rocket". Not sure if I will like these, but they are bought and chitting away nicely, so I will have to eat them (assuming they will grow of course).

Mick has made a start on building our Shed. So far he has made the floor, and an extremely good floor it is too. Very sturdy with lots of supports so it should not "sag" when we walk on it. He has made a continuous frame around it by interlocking the corners so that no mice can get in to make their nests. When it is finished, I will post a picture. That of course, means more work up on the lottie clearing away all the old compost bins and the contents that is mainly couch grass. I know this because it is still growing. The best way to remove it is to put it in a pile and treat it with glysophate (roundup) and then cover it. Hopefully next year we will have some good soil to put in our raised beds.

I do hate this time of year when the weather is as good as it is at the moment because it is far too early to start sowing seeds, but I am itching to get going. I have made my lists and drawn up my plans, so hurry up Spring, lets go.

I took part in the "Big Garden Birdwatch" this year and I had some good results. Much better than last year when I only had 1 bird in the back garden all day. This year I was more prepared. I put out plenty of food a couple of days earlier and I got up and took the numbers early in the morning and not in the middle of the afternoon. Learnt that lesson. Will do the same next year.

Well, thats all for this month. I hope you like the piccie of my Corky who is now 13 years old.

Thanks for looking

Photo's

2008-02-10T09:24:00.000Z

This is our very fine notice board that I made a fuss to get. Isn't it smart, so much better than I was expecting. I have put a notice on it already, but I am not sure if anyone has read it or will read it. Never mind !!!

These are the Solent White Garlic. As you can see they have been treated with ash from our wood burner that I have been assured will do them the world of good and assist with their growing.

Here are our broad bean's Aquadulce Claudia. I keep them covered so that the birds, cats and deer cannot eat the tops of them.

These are our new raised beds, don't they look good. I will be growing pea's and runner beans. They have been well manured.

January 2008

2008-01-25T12:47:00.000Z

Happy New Year to one and all

There has not been too much activity this month on the allotment. We have managed to get in some more digging and laying of paths. I must take some photo's, but I keep forgetting to take the camera with me. We have had even more wood ash to distribute as we have a fire most nights now. In fact we have been to collect some more wood this month.

I have been buying my seeds and I have also purchased some "Home Guard" first early pototoes. I have also drawn a plan of the plot thus far so that I can work out where to put what so that nothing is in the same place as last year. I need to make sure that my crops are rotated. The big area that we are currently digging has had potatoes in it as we are finding them, so no potatoes in that bed this year.

We have been to our friends John and Janet's to get lots of lovely horse pooh. It is so well rotted and full of worms that it should really help with my runner beans and peas. This of course is an ongoing job that needs to be done whenever we have a nice day, a bit of spare time and the energy.

Hopefully next month I should have all my seeds in place and I will write a list of what variety of each I have chosen to grow and then I can work out what grows for us and what doesn't.

Well, that is all for this month, thank you for looking. Photo's will be posted as soon as I remember to take them.

December 2007

2007-12-27T16:19:00.000Z

Well, December is upon us again and the weather has finally become cold and will hopefully kill off any bugs that may be around. We have had several ground frosts and the coldest has been -4C. I have not seen any flies, mosquitoes or wasps since.

Not really been able to do much this month because of the cold, but we now have the wood for our shed and that will be built sometime before the spring.

We have been having lots of fires on the woodburner so I have taken 2 buckets of ash to put on the beds. More to follow during the cold months.

The broadbeans are approximately 2" high and the garlic is now 4". I have covered the broadbeans with green mesh tunnels to keep the birds off. I purchased these from Waresley Garden Centre.

We have managed to harvest lots of leeks for our Christmas Dinner, that tasted really good. Not bad considering that we were given a pot of seedlings that Colin on the site had over. Our parsnips did not germinate so we could not have any this year, but next season I will try to start them off on my conservatory windowsill.

My sweetpeas are in their root trainers and they are outside tucked up next to the conservatory and I have removed the lid so they get rain but are protected from the frost and wind. They appear to be doing well.

Well, that seems to be all for now. Thank you for looking and a Happy New Year to you.

November 2007

2007-12-12T18:08:00.000Z

Well, the weather during November has been just right for being on the Lottie. We have dug over another area and installed a further two raised beds. We now have 5 in total.

I have sown the Solent White Garlic and the Aquadulce Claudia Broadbeans. They were recommended by our Lottie neighbour Graham, so we have decided to give them a chance. I was not able to get any wintering onion sets as there was a shortage due to the summer flooding. The nice thing about raised beds is that I can put a board across and sit down which is helpful for my hip (which is improving all the time, albeit slowly).

We have been given some really chunky paving slabs that we have put down in front of the Compost Bins and also between two of the raised beds.

I went to our local brewery and managed to get a sack of spent hops that we have mixed into our compost bin with lots and lots of John and Janets horse manure, so that will be rotting down over winter. We have also been collecting our Ash from the woodburner and will use that in the Spring as a soil conditioner.

That is about all for November. Thanks for looking

October 2007

2007-10-01T18:03:00.001+01:00

It has been a while since I was able to update my blog as I have been so busy. We have had a nice trip to Wales to see our friends, laying carpets in our young Son's flat and visiting eldest Son as we haven't seen him for a while. All thoroughly enjoyable of course.

Well, all three raised beds are now in situ. They have been dug over and filled up to the top with horse manure, so that it can rot down over winter ready for our Spring Sowing. We have made the paths from conveyerbelt fabric which is very hard wearing. One side has fabric so we have placed that up to walk on so it is not so slippery in the wet. We have lots of Ironstone on our plot and we are piling that onto the conveyerbelt fabric paths too.

We have had the last of our calabrese - Mick liked it (I didn't - yuk!!) so if we have the room we will grow some more next year. We had to throw away all our Sweetcorn cobs as they were very patchy and shrivelled. We try again next year. We will grow more so that we will hopefully get better pollination. The SB celery is beginning to turn yellow, so I don't think it is getting enough water so I will have to keep my eye on that. The parsely has been moved 3 times in all, but it is still hanging on and producing nice leaves. Our leeks are spread out over 3 parts of the plot and seem to be doing well. Not as well as our neighbours who have been gardening for years, but I am happy with them so far. I have also sown 2 rows of carrotts and I am hoping the mild weather will continue so that I can pull them for Christmas Dinner. So far the seedlings are approx 1" high.

We have started work on the Raspberry canes. As some of them are entangled with couch grass we are lifting them, weeding them and replanting them in another part of the plot with a big gap between the rows so I can walk along them harvesting the berries. This will take another 2 or 3 weekends, so I will update you next month.

We have turned the compost and put in lots and lots of horse manure to try to make it break down over winter. We have also put some old carpet over the one side that is full to keep it dryer and hopefully warmer.

We are continuing to level out and fill in any holes in the paths and our patio area. We are going to have a bonfire later in the year to burn all the couch grass in the old bins and make way for our shed. Not yet decided whether to build one or buy one. This is a job in progress.

Well, thank you for looking, I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

Getting Ready for Autumn

2007-09-08T18:34:00.000+01:00

Today we have spent 4 hours on the Allotment. Whilst we were there we saw the Red Arrows do a fly past plus a Spitfire and a Sea Rescue Helicopter. I think there is an Air Display at Duxford - I love living here!!

At the allotment we have managed to clear away the remains of the runner beans, beetroot and salad leaves. Mick has dug it all over and then we have put down some of the carpet that was in the sitting room to try to keep it weed free for next spring. I am sure we will have to lift it and dig it occasionally during Autumn, but hopefully not as much as when we took the plot over. Mick has also been filling up and levelling out some grassy area's so that when the grass grows into it we will have a bit of lawned area for sitting and drinking tea.

We have also managed to fit a second raised flower bed into position. Mick had to dig all that up too. We have had the area covered with black plastic since we took the plot over so it was quite easy. I have managed to acquire some conveyor-belt fabric that we have put down as a path. We are going back up there tomorrow and will try to fit in the third frame and then that part of the allotment is finished - phew! Lots more to do yet though.

We are thinking that when the strawberries and raspberries are finished we will dig them all up and dig over the soil and reposition them as at the moment we have to tread on the strawberries to pick the raspberries. We are getting bumper crops of both this month though - yum!

When all the raised beds are in place, I will publish a picture of before and after so you can see how much work has been involved. I have now got to get my thinking cap on and design the rest of the plot that has been covered in black plastic and where we are going to put our shed. Such decisions.

First week of August

2007-08-07T18:31:00.000+01:00

So far, this years harvest is going well. I wouldn't say we have a glut of anything as our produce is growing and ripening in small enough quantities that we can manage to eat them as we go. I am very pleased with most of our crops and will endeavour to grow all of them again next year.

A point to note is that despite several attempts, not one parsnip seed has germinated. Not sure if it is to be with our bad weather conditions this year and the "so much rain". Will try again next year and if we have 100% failure again, then I will not bother again.

Still have not got around to testing the soil's ph balance. Mental note to do so asap.

Checked our Sweetcorn cobs and they are still not ready yet. The very top row of corns is yellow but thereafter they are white. Need to give them a bit longer.

Still have a row of beetroots to pull, but this lot are very small, so will give them another week.

Our onions are still small, especially the red ones. They look more like pickling onions than big red juicy jobs. Never mind, we are lucky to harvest anything considering the flooding.

I have dug up our peas, they managed to give us 3 good meals from the 2 very small rows, so I am happy with them. I have also dug up the sweetpea's as they were finished (early I know) and they had peapods all over them.

That is my update for this fortnight. I hope you have enjoyed reading my ramblings.

Thank you for looking.

Summer Harvesting

2007-07-30T16:46:00.000+01:00

We went off on holiday after the last blog and what a difference 2 weeks make. We came back to lots of weeds and crops to harvest. It is only a modest Harvest, but we are eating our crops at last. We have an abundance of carrotts, lettuce and beetroot. I have managed to pickle plenty of beetroot for Christmas and I have given some away. It tastes amazing and we eat it as a vegtable. We have another row of untouched beetroot to harvest later, but the sun doesn't get to them very much and they are quite behind.

We have also eaten the pea's but there was only a modest amount. We will have to grow more next year as they are delicious too. The carrotts are almost all gone now and I am thinking of sowing another couple of rows while I have the chance, but I do not have any room at present only where I am taking the present crop from and I don't want to do that.

Mick has mistaken my baby Leeks for couch grass and has pulled quite a few up, so we will croper fewer than expected. It is an easy mistake to make as they do look similar.

The sweetcorn is doing extremely well and I cannot wait to pick them. We are off for another weeks holiday soon and I should be able to crop them when we get back.

We have frozen plenty of Rhubarb for the winter and still managing to have a crumble at least once a week.

The Strawberries, Raspberries and Gooseberries have been very disappointing. Not sure if its because of all the rain we are having and the lack of sunshine, but we are not managing more than a mouthful each.

Our runner beans are full of flowers but not a lot of beans, presumably because of the lack of bee's this year to pollinate them. We need sunshine !!!

We have lost 3 marrows and managed to harvest one distorted one, but it will do to add to stews.

Our onions are not going to grow any more so my next job is to pull them up and dig over the plot (idea!) I can then sow some more carrotts in their space - Perfect!!!

I hope you enjoy this update and I will write again soon.

Thank you for looking.

Crop Progress

2007-07-02T14:56:00.000+01:00

The many crops that we are currently growing are all doing well. We have 3 marrows on our 1 plant. The Sweetcorn are producing cobs and are looking good. The Sweetpeas are flowering and are too close to the Runner Beans as they keep attaching to each other. Something to remember for next year.

After two different sowings, we have eventually got some parsnips to grow and they seem to be doing really well. The pea's are still poor. I have seen a total of 2 pods so far. We have eaten the best of the radishes and we have dug up the rest and put them in the compost bin as they are very woody. I will try to sow some more before our holiday if the weather permits, if not it will have to be when we get back.

The second row of beetroots are doing much better than the first and need thinning out. The rhubarb is growing like it is a weed with all this rain we are having. The tomatoes planted are flowering and it doesn't look great but at least we should get something. They are way behind the plants we have in the back garden so that should stagger the harvest. I just hope we get some sunshine soon.

Our strawberry plants are sending out babies and I am cultivating them so that we can build up a good stock of them for coming years. Last but not least, the carrotts are doing well.

There is still a lot of digging to be done, but we seem to have packed in an awful lot onto our small, dug area and it is a job and a half to keep the grass under control. I sometimes ask myself why we started this at this time as we are still trying to get the house sorted out.

Raised Flowerbeds

2007-07-02T14:42:00.000+01:00

Now that we have managed to dig over some of the soil enough to install one of 3 raised beds. As you can see from the picture the soil level has not been increased - yet but at least we are able to grow things in it and they are relatively sheltered. So far we have got: Parsley, Broccoli, Self Blanching Celery and a row of Leeks. Not bad really as we have been given all the seedlings. I do find it easier to weed as I have something to lean on. The rest of the ground has to be dug before we can install the other two structures.

I need to source some conveyabelt material for the footpaths in the hope that it will suppress the couch grass and other weeds. If I cannot then I will have to re-think what I am going to use for paving. Whatever we use, the accent will be on recycling as I don't want to buy anything new.

We now have permission for our 6x4 shed - yippee! We got caught in a very heavy storm yesterday so we need to think about a shelter sooner rather than later. All in all, it seems to be coming together.

Weekend of 9 & 10 June

2007-06-12T14:28:00.000+01:00

It has been a very busy time up on our allotment this month. There has been a lot of weeding to be done plus with all the rain in May the grass suddenly became waist high. We have managed to purchase a sickle and on Sunday 10 June we managed to cut down the long grass at the bottom of our allotment and we set fire to a lot of it. We also bagged up 6 bags of it to take to the dump. The next job is to put Roundup on it all to make sure it doesn't grow back within a week or two. The ground is very uneven so I have to be careful because of my hip, but I do not need my crutches now - yippee! (Just need to learn to walk without waddling).

We purchased a pair of chairs and a petrol strimmer yesterday (11 June) as it will be easier to keep the paths under control than with a sickle (also less effort).

Still no sign of the raised beds going in yet as the designated piece of land has not been cleared, but we must seriously think about it because Janet has kindly given us a tray of Broccoli and Alison has given us a pot full of self blanching Celery. It will be a waste if we don't get them in.

The Town Council has decided that there will be an Allotment Competition in July. I know that we will not win but I would so like to have a tidy plot when they come round so I do not win the wooden spoon! I have got to work out some innovative ways of growing things so that they at least include our plot.

Well, I am off now to spend some time at my lottie replanting peas and runner beans.

First Small Harvest

2007-06-04T22:43:00.000+01:00

2nd and 3rd June found us back up the allotment. I managed to get some hoeing done and we have mown all the grass footpaths. I took this photo of our very first harvest. The potatoes were from a rogue plant that was left in the ground by the previous owner. The radishes are all our own work. We also pulled some rhubarb to take home.

On the Saturday the sun was so hot that I managed to get sunburnt. We both forgot to take hats with us or the sun tan lotion.

Bruce helped Michael make some raised bed boards from scaffolding boards that I managed to cadge from a local yard, when he came home for a few days in May. They will go into place when the ground has been prepared properly and the couch has been removed.

One of the other plotowners had his shed broken into and all his tools were stolen, including a petrol strimmer. I hope the theives do not prosper from their actions.

There is still a lot of work to do on our lottie and I love spending time up there. I will update the blog as and when we achieve something. A 36 hour day would be helpful.

Thanks for looking.

Rainey May

2007-05-16T13:32:00.000+01:00

Well, its May and we should be happily digging on the Lottie. Unfortunately it is a case of rain, rain and more rain since the beginning of this month. I am getting withdrawal symptoms as I want to get out clearing and nurturing, but all I can do is sewing.

Heard from the Town Council regarding us taking on a second plot (No 25) for a year so that we can move onto the more level one, but alas it will not happen. We could have done a straight swap, but as we have cleared so much and planted so many crops Mick has decided to stay put. No news yet regarding our erection of a 6'x4' shed, so I am chasing that up. If all else fails, we have found a very nice "Tool Store" that hopefully conforms to the required size boundaries that we can install. Just need to know what their decision is first.

Doing a sunshine dance now!!

Spring 2007 - Sowing for Harvesting.

2007-05-05T16:47:00.000+01:00

We have cleared more space and managed to find another rhubarb crown - this takes us to 8 in total.

Upon inspection today (5 May) I have noticed that we have gooseberries on 2 of our bushes. They look pink at the moment, so I am not sure if they are gowing to turn green or stay red. No idea what they are called (other than gooseberries) so it is a case of wait and see what kind of crop we get. Glad I didn't manage to kill them when I cut them back earlier in the year.

We have 4 strawberry plants with flowers on. A couple of others look as though they are just hanging on to life, so we keep them well watered.

The Raspberry canes have suckers growing all around the place. We will cultivate them and see if we can get new canes from them for cropping next year.

We have sown 2 rows of beetroot (Globe 2), 2 rows of carrots (F'Maestro), 2 rows parsnip (Tender & True), 1 row of spring onions in between the carrotts (White Lisbon), 2 rows of swede (Ruby), 1 row radish (Pink Beauty) and 1 row of Lettuce that I got free with my "Gardeners World" magazine. I keeping a log of when it was sown and how big a crop we get so that we can decide on what to grow next year.

My friend Janet has given me 3 Sweetcorn plants and we have put in a bed close to the rhubarb. They look as though they are doing fine today.

All 14 seeds of Gardeners Delight Tomatoes have germinated. I have given Mum 3 plants, Jude 2 plants and I now have 9 left. We will grow 3 in the back garden and I will plant some up on the allotment and see how they fare.

We have dug up more soil and it is beginning to look like an allotment now. Mick is talking about taking on another plot (oh my god!), perhaps one that is not sloping. I will make enquiries, but I am used to our plot and have got rather attached to it.

Planting

2007-04-17T13:04:00.000+01:00

Easter has been and gone and we managed to spend a few hours at our lovely Lottie. We have managed to clear another area by the old compost bins that is all very overgrown with the dreaded couch grass and stinging nettles. We have found another crown of rhubarb, at least we should get a good harvest. The onions that were previously planted are poking through the soil and Mick has built the cane supports so that the beans I have started on the conservatory windowsill have something to grow up. We have also planted some more seeds so hopefull the crop will not come in all at once. We have also got two rows of peas in. We just do not need a frost!

Mick has also put me a small wigwam of canes so that I can grow some blue Sweetpeas up them. I don't know why I want them, but most people seem to have them on their lotties, they must attact beneficial insects.

As you can see from the unflattering picture of yours truly, "where there's a will there's a way". I am weeding the strawberry patch as more couch grass was growing - again! It is so easy to leave a small piece behind in the soil and then it will take off and quickly spread all over the place. As you can see, I abandoned the caravan seat and cushion for soil as I needed to be lower so as not to hurt my hip.

Doing some digging - at last!

2007-04-03T11:30:00.000+01:00

It has taken us two visits to our lottie to get this patch cleared and to celebrate Mick has sown some of our onion sets. We will plant up the rest over the easter weekend, weather permitting. We have to dig the other half of this terrace and then we can sow some of our other veggies that are waiting to be planted. I have managed to sow some tomatoes, Gardeners Delight, in pots that are on my windowsill that I hope will take as I have promised my Mum some. Goodness this has been hard, heavy work, no wonder we always ache and sleep well when we get home.

Spring 2007 - New Structure

2007-03-20T11:46:00.000Z

Its Monday 19th March and another nice day to start with, so we managed to catch up with our friend who dropped off the pallets at our lottie. It took a while to build, but we got there, despite the weather closing in and we had a few flakes of snow! It was bitterly cold by the time we left and we were glad we took the flask.

As you can see we now have a substantial double compost bin (Mick doesn't do anything other than substantial). We have dug out the invasive couch grass from the bottom of the bins. We just need to dig over the rest of this terrace and I can start to sow my vegtables. I am hoping this cold snap will pass and we will get some more warm spring weather again.

It is daylight saving next weekend, so hopefully as the nights get lighter we can do some digging during the evenings. I have requested permission to erect a 6'x4' shed, but we seem to be pushing the boundaries with the town council as they have only given permission for 3' wide structures in the past. I do not know where we can buy a 3' wide shed so we will probably have to make one - no pressure of course!

Spring 2007 - Getting Started

2007-03-13T12:27:00.000Z

Weather has been very wet and I am still on crutches but its March now and we want to make a start. Fab weekend 10 & 11th so decided to put in a few hours. I sit on a caravan step and use a hand trowel to remove some couch grass from between the strawberries. I feel like Margot Leadbetter out of "The Good Life" as I am not really getting down to serious work. What you can see is the strawberry patch that is interspersed with Gooseberry bushes. I think we have inherited 5 of them!!!

Mick is cutting the grass paths and also one of the four tiers on our easterly sloping site. This has helped us to see exactly what we are up against. As you can see, there is a lot of hard work ahead of us. We have decided to get the fruit sorted out and one other patch so that we can get some veggies started and build a nice new compost bin.

Getting Our Allotment

2007-03-12T18:11:00.000Z

It is December 2006 and the letter drops through the letterbox offering us an Allotment. Such excitement, didn't post the acceptance, decided to hand deliver it in case it got lost in the post. We have been allocated plot No 30. We received a map and decided to have a look and see if we can find it. It slopes down on the Easterly side, so anything we erect will cast shadows, but some shadows are good. The soil is sandy and the site is very, very overgrown with couch grass. What have we done? Will this ever look like everyone elses well tended patch - yes of course it will, given time and effort but we now have Christmas to look forward to so the allotment is put on a back burner.

Then on 13th December I had an accident and broke my hip. Can't do anything as I am not allowed to put any weight on the left side. It was a miserable Christmas as I couldn't do anything at all. Mick cooked a wonderful dinner for me to enjoy - what a star!

Come February 2007 we took a trip to a garden centre, me in a wheelchair, Mick pushing and bought a book about growing organic vegtables and some seeds. It gave me something to read and plan but I was impatient for spring as I am sure to be better by then and we can get on with our allotment chores. Such optimism!