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.