Yup, my very own key!
So now I can come and go to and from the plot as I please, meaning I can pop up for an hour or two after work whenever I feel the need! Brilliant now the lighter evenings are rolling in!

Actually, no. I feel no shame, just disappointment. You see, I had such plans for this weekend – at least one day digging over another chunk, and hopefully another day doing other bits and bobs. And maybe, hopefully, planting the potatoes.

Sadly, it was not to be.
Friday  my chief gardening assistant was somewhat hungover. Besides which, it rained. All day.
Saturday it rained.
Sunday… actually sunday was quite bright, but it had rained so much the night before – not to mention the preceding 3 days – that to attempt anything up there would’ve been futile.
And monday? Monday was gorgeous. But of course, we had other plans. Namely a trek accross 2 counties to visit family.

And that’s it. Weekend over, back to reality. Looks like the longer evenings are soon going to be my best friend!

I managed to completely dig over one of the smaller beds, which was subsequently forked, raked, and pooped by my CGA (bless him!) as by the time I’d done the digging part my arms were incapable of lifting more than a small cup of coffee and a gingernut. My back is still voicing its displeasure this afternoon!

We also attempted War With Weeds. A liberal dose of weedkiller has been applied to the grass around the plot edges, and also to the second of the larger beds on the plot. Fingers crossed it actually does what it’s supposed to do, although I’m expecting this war to be a series of long drawn out battles over many years. Another battle I expect to fight for a long time is with a seam of clay we have discovered along the top edge of the plot. Time to start research into plants which like clay soils – any tips?

So hopefully next weekend, of which there are 4 days – hooray for Easter! – I shall be planting the seed potatoes and making a start on digging over the second of the small & large beds. Then maybe we can think about getting some other seeds in the ground too!

Here are this weeks photo updates:

CGA gets raking

Making progress

Look what I did!!

My chief gardening assistant & I packed a picnic  – never underestimate the requirement for tea and cake - and collected a good friend of ours to assist with the digging (I’d like to add here that the aforementioned tea & cake may have been used in a bribery deal… hey, whatever works!).

So the three of us, armed with forks and spade, attacked the grass and weeds with venom, the results of which can be seen below. We worked for around 5 hours (including tea breaks!), and I must say we didn’t do a bad job!

 The first large square needs a further go over, but should be ready for the seed potatoes, currently chitting on my windowsill at home, in a couple of weeks.
Hopefully one of the small rectangles should be ready for my newly acquired raspberry cane and blackcurrant bush next week as well, and we are hoping to make a start on the second large rectangle soon. This one is mainly weedy, less grassy, so shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem.

I think the only way to go for the rest of the plot is an attack of weedkiller. I never planned to go organic, so if it’s going to make life easier I don’t see a problem! The only issue that may be brought about by this method is my new friend, Mr Slow Worm, who we found slithering about underneath part of the blue tarpaulin. I don’t want to hurt him (apart from anything else it’s illegal!) but hopefully he’ll have moved under the other tarpaulin and be safe for now. If nothing else, he’ll be needed to munch away at the abundance of snails there seems to be around.

I shall leave you now, with the progress photos:

Not a bad morning's work!

Sub-chief gardening assistant - happy in the mud!

There is one word that describes it best… wilderness.

The plot is huge – 50ft long and 20ft wide – and clearly has not been looked after at all well in the last year or so! We really have our work cut out to try and clear the plot to make it ready for planting!
Had a nice chat to an older chap, Malcom, who has a plot on the corner of mine; glad I have pleasant neighbours!

Anyway, here are a couple of photos showing the mass of grass and weeds that I shall lovingly call “mine”.

From the top to the bottom

And the other way up!

The journey begins in January 2009, when on a whim, I decided to apply for my first allotment. “Grow your own” was just beginning to become popular, and I felt inspired by the enthusiasm of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the Landshare project.
I signed up to this, and investigated allotments. Suprised to find out it could be as little as a year to get my own plot, I sent off the application and waited.

Impatient as I am, and keen to gather my first harvest, I decided to see what could be grown in containers on my small but sunny (British weather dependant!) patio.
I trotted off to the garden centre and spent a small fortune on new pots, compost, fertiliser, a watering can, seed trays, and a selection of seeds suitable for pots. Phew!
I spent the rest of that weekend filling pots with soil, and sowing seeds. Broccoli, small carrots, mange tout and salad seeds were all carefully sprinkled into trays, watered, and placed in the lounge with propagating lids on.
A couple of weeks later, and success! There are sprouts! Feeling very proud, the strongest and biggest shoots got planted out into pots. The gardening bug had well and truly bitten me!
 
Fast forward a few months, to early summer. Things were starting to look promising – the carrots had tops, the beans were climbing happily around their little bamboo canes, I’d already eaten a good bagful of mixed salad, and the broccoli was starting to get nice thick stems and plenty of leaves. A few tomato plants had also been aquired, it was all very exciting!
Then the first disaster – cabbage butterflies! I got home from work one day – yes, about 10hrs was all it took – to find half of my lovely-looking broccoli plants ragged and wriggling. I could have cried!
With the help of my heroic OH the caterpillars were removed, and life went on. For a week.
Then they regrouped for a second assault. This time leaving me little more than 4 bare & sorry-looking green stems. I think my heart broke that day.

Over the following months I pressed on with what I had left. I harvested a small, but nonetheless enjoyabe mange tout crop, quite a few tomatoes, and a goodly amount of salad.
None of this, however, compares to the carrots! I don’t think I have ever tasted such sweet, flavoursome carrots as these were! Small, yet perfectly formed, they really were a joy to behold! So good that second and third crops were sown (I have, infact, not long dug up the last few remainders. Slightly frost-damaged, but they made a lovely batch of carrot & lentil soup!). And nothing is more satisfying that sitting down to a hearty bowl of home made soup, made with fresh produce, with a chunk of homemade bread to dunk in it.

And that brings us to today. One solitary, brave, and hardy broccoli stem has survived through the winter snows & frosts, and is starting to show signs of new foliage. The last of the carrots have been consumed, and I have been considering whether or not to repeat last year’s valiant efforts.

Then completely out of the blue last week, sitting and waiting for me in my inbox was an email to inform me that I had reached the top of the waiting list and an allotment would be mine! All of the excitement I felt this time last year has come rushing back – I don’t even have the keys yet and already I’m plotting and scheming what I will grow, when, where…!

So that’s where we are. I decided to start this blog as I’d quite like to be able to chart my progress – regardless of success or failure – in the world of allotments, and also to share my experiences with anyone who might be interested.
I’m hoping it will enjoyable and useful. Please keep popping back for updates!

xx