21st October, 2012

A Retrospective from:  21st October, 2012:

The weather's still OK - but with the forecast of snow for next weekend (haha!! Snow before the end of October??!!), despite Jane's back not yet mended, we're getting on with the allotment!...

BIG news, though! While measuring up last weekend to find the centre of the allotment for the new fence, we discovered that we've actually been paying for the whole plot! When Sean phoned to find out what's happening, he was told that the person who originally wanted the plot no longer wants, it, so either it'll go back on the waiting list for someone else, or we could just (!!just!!) take it all on, as they had no record of it having being split into 2 anyway!! Slight confusion... but with the prospect of more space for a shed, & forgetting about all the digging & weeding it's taking on the other side, we agreed we'd keep the whole space for ourselves!

So the person who's not been doing the work on the next allotment, actually turns out to be us!!!!

Getting ready for tackling next door:

Setting the fire for the weeds...

Sean contemplating the scale of the job...

The weeds to be tackled...

More weeds...

Sean getting 'tooled up' for the job...

Compost bin filling up, fire ongoing, and first clearance completed...

Piles of weeds & 'interesting stuff' we found under the weeds... ready for the skip...

End of the 'first day' on the second half of the allotment - compare and contrast between the halves...

Really starting to feel we're getting somewhere now... roll on next weekend when we can start to tackle the concrete plinth... oh, didn't we mention the concrete plinth???!!!...

14th October

A Retrospective from:  14th October, 2012:

14th October - full of enthusiasm to continue working on the allotment, despite the cold, the wind & the rain... Well, we're human gardeners, not likely to dissolve or melt!!...

More weed burning, and we've taken down the pea and bean structures...
We've decided to use the round posts we've found in the weeds to create an artificial boundary between our developing allotment and the one that just looks abandoned next door! Sean's doing a great job securing the posts and wiring them together - perfect for when we've got rid of the couch grass and weeds, and ready for peas and beans next year!
Unfortunately, after weeding and digging for a few hours, Jane's back totally packed in & the day had to be abandoned once she couldn't stand, sit, or do anything useful....

Our allotment!

Our allotment!!

 So, off to the pub for tea....

7th October, 2012

A Retrospective from:   7th October, 2012:

September went by in a bit of a Sean's birthday-related haze... just a bit of weeding done to keep the allotment going, but nothing to really write about or photograph!

October arrives & we need to start thinking about getting the place ready for winter... tidying, sorting, & getting the ground ready for the frost & snow....

First things first... starting to burn the bags of weeds...

Ready for burning...

Can't beat a bit of petrol to get the flames going!!

With a bit of digging and weeding our soil, & the whole allotment, is starting to look more like it did in our imaginations when we started (although no fantastic produce just yet)!!!

After quite a lot of thought, discussion, and searching online and in the shops, we decided to just build our own compost bin - making it so heavy that it won't blow away, although forgetting to consider that it just might sink into the ground, making it look as if we hadn't ever heard of a spirit level!

Before we put anything in it, we did momentarily consider whether we should convert it into an outside loo!!

We're so proud of our ongoing work. However, the allotment is constantly at risk of encroachment of weeds from the next allotment. Along with some of the other allotment owners, we're wondering when the person who owns the one next to ours is going to come and start to do some work? Although Sean has strimmed it a few times, and others have also had 'a bit of a go', it just looks like a dumping area with weeds...

However, even weeds look good in the setting sunshine!

Doing a 'compare and contrast' at least makes us feel good about how much we've got done!!

At the end of the day, as the sun is low in the sky, we review our hard work:

Despite the grass re-growing, it's starting to look good!

Long shadows offer the opportunity to try to look like a teapot - just couldn't get my spout in the right  direction!!!

Off to the pub.... Roll on next weekend!!!