Early May, 2013

Early May, 2013

(A retrospective)

Early May Bank Holiday. Sean is away at a Stag Do for Andrew <hic...>, & Jane has a plan for digging over in the allotment... again...

There was the possibility that our allotment neighbour, Gordon, might have rotivated the first, older side of  the allotment - but I was not prepared for the sight of ALL the plot being rotivated except for the corner with all the rubbish!!! Yeah for Gordon and his nephew!!!

Fantastic soil - all rotivated into lines... ready for planting!!!!

Even the newer, second side's been rotivated... right up to our neighbour's chicken coop! Just the end corner with the rubbish and pile of excavated bricks left to do in our own time!!

At the end of the first day... all measured out with sticks and string! Some of the other allotment people didn't seem to think all the measuring & pathways were really needed... but I'm new to this & don't think I could make such straight lines as them without the measuring!!!!  (And as we all know Jane has a thing about straight lines and measuring - it makes her happy to know things are straight and even - personally random and chaotic would suit me, but perhaps at least we'll know what goes where this way and this did look thought out and looked good!)

Jane's measuring... and a pot of strawberry plants ready to be put into the fruit patches once the weeds in the foreground are cleared.

Despite a fuzzy head the day after the Stag event, Sean was persuaded (yes, lets call it persuaded) that fresh air and some digging would be a good idea!... and again on the Bank Holiday Monday... sunshine and good conditions... and at the end of the weekend we'd planted up a combination of plug plants, bulbs and seeds....
At last... our allotment is starting to look more like all the others...

The allotment starting to look great at last.... not just an embarrassing overgrown pile of weeds... 

 Still loads to do... clearing.(weeding).. digging over.(weeding).. planting.(weeding).. weeding..(weeding). watering..(Weeding). etc.... But time to go home happy... or to the pub for a celebratory drink!! Yeay for pubs!

Sean and Jane's first allotment... 

2013: A New Year... April & a New Start!

2013: A New Year... April & a New Start!

We didn't get any photos of the allotment in the floods and the snow... but now the weather has started to improve... albeit it late for Spring... already April...

Looking from behind the fence... the bare twigs of the bushes... and less weeds on the original side...

If you look close nothing survived the winter or the hungry birds!

We're left with dead weeds, mainly... but some are showing signs of coming back to life... so time to start digging again...

14.04.13: At the end of the first weekend... we've been digging & digging... and the pile of rubbish bags for the Council to pick up is starting to grow... but we've got so much to do...

21.04.13: Still digging... the patches of dug-over earth are starting to grow & join up... but we're questioning whether we're ever going to be able to plant anything...

... but growing piles of rubbish prove we've done something!!

However, we've got allotment envy: this is the soil on our neighbour's plot - dug/ rotivated over, and already planted up with potatoes!

Back to our plot... the bushes are starting to sprout leaves... and May is on the horizon...

We're looking forward to the early May Bank Holiday... 3 days off work... the forecast of good weather(!!), and the very helpful Gordon has offered the use of his recently-mended rotivator... 

November, 2012

A Retrospective from 3rd November, 2012:

We'd mentioned the concrete plinth... turns out it was the base for a stable.

We forgot to take a photo of the concrete - but this is the hole where it had been.... removed rather heroically by Sean and Shaun... 

Sean : oh aye over a ton of concrete over 100 years old, solid, hard and very very heavy, ohh me back

Sean and Shaun take a break to consider removing other bits of wooden posts and concrete... contemplating the difference between the weedy 'new' side, and the more productive-looking dug-up side...

Ongoing work... as the Winter threatens to move in...

A Retrospective from 10th November, 2012:

Last jobs of the year:

Collecting leaves into our new chicken wire heap... ready to decompose over the Winter...

Burning the last of the weeds as the ground gets harder to dig... 

The grass and weeds actually look rather pretty as the Autumn sun sets and create long shadows.

There are plants growing, but doesn't look like we'll be having home-grown sprouts for Christmas dinner!!

Last photo of the year...

Doesn't look like much, but it was hard work even achieving this much, thanks to our neighbours for the kind offers of spare plants!

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!!!

September holidays.

01.09.12:

August Bank Holiday all over with, disappointment with the weather coped with, and onto the last weekend of our holiday... last push for making a difference before we have to go back to work...

Saturday 1st September: despite the forecast for reasonable weather, it was windy, dull and not an inspiring day for creating stuff. But after a visit to the builders yard we returned with a car full of timber... and Sean was ready to start fencing...

First was the structure on the left of the picture above - 3 new and 2 uprights that we found in the allotment - linked with planks for stability (and to keep the soil on our plot and stop it sliding next door) ready for the wire & raspberry bushes. Hopefully the ones we rescued from the patch of weeds will survive into next year...


Next was the fence at the bottom of the plot - we seem to have lost several feet of our plot which had slid down to next door's garage. None of these plots seem to be straight or level - and ours is particularly wonky!!! So, here's Sean measuring the gaps and the planks...

At the end of Saturday... Structures built and waiting for another de-weeding before planting up the raspberries, and the gooseberry bushes we rescued. Sean's on his way home...

Last photo of the day as we leave... the fence is set deliberately at this interesting angle!!
Jobs for tomorrow - de-weeding and planting...

02.09.12:

Sunday 2nd September: sunshine and much better weather for inspired gardening...
Weeding, digging, planting, and watering done... and by the end of the day...

Raspberries planted, watered and cut back.

All fruit and veg watered

Weeded, leveled out and gooseberries planted.

Left: pile of weeds; Right: Sean's retaining fence and gooseberries.

The view of the allotment from the mound of weeds on our neighbour's plot.

At last: time for Sean to sit down and survey his fabulous fences!!!