Not posted for a while, but that's 'cos I've not been to the allotment. Well, I wandered down there today and had a look. It is still ever so wet, but I pushed and pulled the rake around to disturb a few of the weeds. It made me feel better. The peas and broad beans are coming on nicely, and so are the onions.

I need to find some really warm clothes before I spend an hour or so down there.

Happy Gardening to everyone in 2010.

Cooo, it's wet!

A visit to the allotment was called for today. I hadn't been for a while and it was time to see that everything was OK. A couple of hardy souls were on their plots digging, but Boy, the ground was sodden. I fear that any digging done today will have resulted in some seriously compacted soil. I am much relieved that I had completed the digging and path creation before the record breaking wet weather started.

I did actually rake one bed to break up the crust that was forming, but that was it. The ground was just too wet to do anything else.

One good crop.

A visit to the allotment yesterday confirmed that my crops are thriving in the wind and rain. The water butt is well on its way to being full and the weeds are growing well.

It was satisfying to see my crops, but the allotments were not really a nice place to be. The wind was blowing hard and there was a horizontal drizzle. My plot is in the middle of the space and is really open. It means it gets a lot of sun, but the crops and Monica's shed are battered by the wind. The good news is that they all seem to be holding up well. It is to be hoped that the previous sentence is not some famous last words that I shall regret typing soon!

Flying Visit

A flying visit to sow some peas and cut down the raspberry canes. That's all.

Onions

Planted onions (both red and white) into bed no. 9. Hoed everything I could. I must plant some more broad beans and peas - a job for tomorrow.

The End of The Beginning

The digging at the allotment is complete. All twelve growing beds have now been dug and the paths between the beds have been covered with chippings. The photos on the left show what the finished plot looks like (although I am ashamed and embarrassed to note that I have managed to get a digit in front of the lens in one of them!). The foreground of the top photo shows the plot next to mine, which is in a bit of a state, but even that is not as bad as mine was when I took it over.



The fearsome sight that confronted me when I took over the plot has been transformed by the effort I've put in. I am ridiculously pleased with myself, but it is hard to say exactly why.

What is even more pleasing is that the vegetables, I've planted are beginning to appear.

The allotment project now moves into a different phase which is one of care, maintenance and preparation for Spring.

Water Butt

Having been given a water butt to collect the rain from the shed roof, today was the day for setting it up. Gutter fitted, butt installed on slabs and blocks, and downpipes all fitted. It all went quite smoothly.

Now we need some rain to test it.

Updated plan

Updated the Open Office plan of the plot to show exactly what is growing where. I need to be a little more careful in documenting what is where in the book.

The Story So Far....

Dug and raked bed 12
Bonfire
Received Water Butt
Put Chippings on paths

16.Oct
Dug 2nd half of bed 10
Raked beds 9 & 10
Planted daffodils next to shed and in bed 2

9 Oct
Raked beds 3, 4 & 7
Planted bed 4 with Onions and Garlic (Allum Sativum)
Sowed Broad Beans (Aquadulce) in Bed 5
Dug half of Bed 10

5 October
Built net protector for Bed 1 from water pipe and netting

1 Oct
Dug half of Bed 9
Sowed Spinach, broad beans and peas

30 Sep
Watered

24 Sep
Finished pruning Redcurrant Bush
Picked up stones
Dug bed 7 & raked bed 8

22 Sep
Unloaded trailer full of wood chips
pruned redcurrant bush
Dug Bed 8
Picked some of Ivor's raspberries

21 Sep
Built big bin from bits of Keith's shed
Unloaded trailer full of woodchips
Raked up dead material and had big tidy up
Dug and raked Bed 6
Planted Red Onions in Bed 4
Pegged out remaining beds

20 Sep
Unloaded a trailer full of woodchips

19 Sep
Planted two rows of Onions in Bed 3

17 Sep
Dug Bed 5
Bonfire
Planted Pak Choi in Bed 5

15 Sep
Dug Bed 3

12 sep
Refined plan and added the planing so far

9 Sep
Built Compost Bin
Dug Bed 1
Sprayed all undug areas with weedkiller

24 Aug
Created first version of plan in Open Office

5 August
Strim, then mow to remove the weeds

3 August
The plot becomes mine