The first sowing

Being a lovely October morning we thought we would visit the allotment. We hadn't been for a while as we had been away on holiday. On the way Jack managed to stand in some dog dollop that someone had left on the pavement. Luckily he had his wellies on. When we got to the allotment we found that water had gotten inside the shed but thanks to our lino all was OK. Dan managed to find out where it had been coming in and was able to repair it. Hopefully it will be water tight now .

While we have been away there was a shed broken into on next door's allotment, nothing was taken though. The police think that the people were looking for things they could sell. Also pumpkins on another plot had been used as a football. Very sad.

We decided that we would try to plant some things before the year is out. We bought some onion sets. We are starting with a variety called Radar. They are a good over wintering variety. We made the drills and have planted three rows to begin with. We will see how they get on. We watered them in and have protected them with a cloche to give them the best possible start.

As we won't be planting on the large bed until next year we dug it over and have covered it. We will plant garlic in a couple of weeks and also spinach and over wintering peas. It was lovely at the allotment today and as I was digging a little robin red breast came and sat on our fence.

Fence posts and cow sh*t

Well! It's been a while. It has been quite quiet up on plot number 5 recently, not a lot going on so haven't written since the end of August. The shed is still coming on and Dan has made the potting table under the window and added some more wood to the inside. We are yet to put up the hooks and other shelves as we are waiting to source more recycled wood. As you can see the potting table comes in handy. We have some chairs in the shed, which again are recycled from a neighbour who was just going to throw them away. Good for when you need a sit down after all that digging and weeding. All we need now is to get the kettle and stove up here. Noticed that we seem to have a bit of a red theme going on, not intentional.

The tools that Dad gave us are really good and the spade has made it easy to dig the ground. Both Dan and I have had a go with it and even Jack tried to dig with it, although it was a little big for him. The beds are looking good now and it is just a matter of keeping the weeds down until we are ready to plant some things. We have covered some of the beds and will probably cover the others as well soon.

We thinned out our strawberry plants and found out that we have two varieties, one of which is an alpine. The raspberries are still producing and doing well. There are also a few blackberries left.

We have put in some new posts along the fence to reinforce it. Think we will add a line of wire In between them to prevent people from climbing over. Dan said he is going to electrify it, that'll stop any drunks hopping over to help themselves on a Summer evening next year.

These lovely cows are in the field next to our allotment and we hope to utilise their poo. The farmer kindly gives our allotment the manure, we all pay £5.00 for the year and he donates this to a charity. Last year it was the Devon air ambulance.

So the next couple of months will just be spent keeping the plot tidy. We want to make a new compost bin as the other one has rotted. We have a small patch that we still need to clear and dig and of course there is the on going shed project. See you all soon.

Weekend workout

Dan has done some more work on the outside of the shed and has now started on the inside. We have added a nice door handle and lock, and some flooring that was kindly given to us by our brother in law.

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The inside has been partly cladded and is feeling really warm now. Dan is going to make a potting table underneath the window and put some hooks and shelves up. This is an ongoing project.

When we were at the allotment today, Dan's windows that he put in really frame a nice view over the hills and allowed us to see who was walking past.

We have had a busy weekend, with both sets of grandparents visiting. The boys have had a lovely time showing them the allotment. Jack had some lovely boots bought for him by his one nanny and a little bucket from his other nanny so is all set and ready now. He picked lots of blackberries for them all to take home.  He was very keen to show them what will soon become his patch. Harry also enjoyed playing with his bucket and watering can.

We were a little sad to hear that one of our allotment neighbours has had all her sweetcorn taken off her plants.

My Dad brought us down some bits and pieces for the allotment. This watering can has been in our family for over 42 years now. He bought Dan a stainless steel fork. Hopefully Dan won't be able to bend this one. He also bought him a lovely spade which is supposed to make digging a little easier. We will soon see!

I started to dig over a patch which Dan had previously dug and rotavated. Dad showed us how its done and did another few rows for us.

The allotment is really coming on now and we are pleased with our progress. When we look back on what it first looked like it gives us a real sense of achievement. We hope to keep digging over the plot now and clear all the ground to get ready for planting.

Shed resurrection.

So! Dan spent most of Saturday afternoon making a start on the shed. I know it's just a shed but we are very excited about what it will turn out like.
We have some wood that we got for free off a recycling website and a recycled door. We like the fact that our shed will be made from all different pieces and be unique.

First of all Dan made a frame with the wood. He then attached the original corrugated pieces onto the back, front and sides. He is hoping to use some more pieces for the roof.

He painted the door that we got and has hung this.We would like to clad the inside with wood but haven't made a final decision on this yet. We also have to put a floor in and then put shelves and storage inside. Jack was really excited when all this was going on and was being very helpful by passing things to daddy. He does however think that daddy is just building the shed for him and that he is going to have all his toys in it.

It's now been a few days since we were able to get to the allotment. We were kindly given three more windows and some more wood for the shed.  Dan has worked hard and has got the roof on. We have put a large piece of EPDM roof rubber on top of the steel. He has made a base for the floor and we are going to hopefully put the floor boards in any day. The light in the evening isn't lasting as long as it was a few weeks ago so time is limited.

It is now Saturday again and Dan spent another day bodging together the last bits of the shed. He has used a large piece of thick clear plastic, left by the previous owner for the window. We did this instead of the small window with the intention of possibly growing seedlings inside.

Dan has found some pale blue paint in our garage, which he will use to paint the shed.

This is our shed before.

This is our shed now. Although it isn't finished yet, it has come along way. We have a little more to do on the outside , and then we will begin on the interior.

The plot continues!!

Plot 5 is looking great. Dan has been spending every spare minute that he has on the allotment trying to get things done. He spent a good two hours going over the large area that he dug and it's made a real difference. The plot is beginning to take shape now.

We have decided that we are going to work in a four yearly crop rotation. This means we will have Five main growing beds, four to rotate and one permanent one which we will plant herbs and rhubarb in. Hopefully this will work well and will produce some lovely fruit and veg. We will also have a patch that Jack and Harry will be able to grow their own things in. Jack is very excited about this, and has been given his own gardening tools and seeds.

Our allotment friends have been very generous and have given us some of their produce. We had some lovely runner beans and potatoes. We have found out that in our allotment  there is a stone that you can put any surplus produce on and any one is free to take it home. What a really lovely idea.

So now we come to the shed. We were hoping to salvage what we had inherited but on closer inspection we have now found out that the wooden frame is rotten. We are going to use the corrugated sheets in some way, but dan has had to pull the rest of it down. We have bought a door from our local recycling centre for £3.00 (a bargain ).

The up side to all of this is that we will be able to have a much larger shed. Dan has already constructed the 6'x8' frame and is putting it all together in between working and the rain. Watch this space!

Our old shed

The space where our shed was

Mission Impossible

After the heavy rain this morning, we thought we would take a trip up to the allotment. So with tools in hand, off we all trotted. Well! Only 10 minutes into digging, Jack decided that he needed to go for a poo. We don't have a toilet on site so we had to return home. Luckily this is only a five minute walk away. We left Dan digging with Harry watching to make sure he did a good job. On our return we find that Harry had filled his nappy. Adding to the fun, no clean nappies were on site. So yes you've guessed it. What a nightmare !! We wondered if we were ever going to get any digging done. Dan took both the boys home and I was left with my spade. Dan had managed to start clearing a large area before he left.

I started to clear a smaller area of ground and could have shouted with joy, when my spade went through the mud. It was like a hot knife going through butter. Once I started, I couldn't stop. It took me about an hour and a half to clear all the grass off the top and dig the soil over. The area looks good now and is ready for some weeding and more digging over.

We are starting to see the different areas which will hopefully become our growing beds.

As Dan had left with the car (yes only five minutes walk away, but it's blooming humid and the kids were a nightmare) I was left with all the tools to carry home.

After all of the days hard work, hours of endless screaming and crying children, a well deserved cup of tea was waiting for me when I got home. We are so jealous of all you allotmenteers with loads of summer veg!

Going soft

Hello again!

You will be glad to know that we are still here, and haven't disappeared under all the weeds. In actual fact, the weeds are looking less and less. It has been a week since we last visited plot 5 and I can definitely say that I had allotment withdrawal symptoms last week. Good to be back!

So the plot is looking pretty much the same at the moment. The ground is nice and soft after the rain. Dan was able to do a fair bit of digging this morning. We are hoping to make four good sized areas so we can do a four year crop rotation plan. Hopefully with a little more rain we can really get stuck in and get things moving on.

While we were up the allotment this morning we picked some more blackberries. We seem to have a really good crop. There were only a couple of raspberries, think the birds had a feast on them. Last week I made a lovely blackberry coulis. This week maybe crumble, or even a pie!
While picking the fruit we came across this little beetle. Not sure what it is but he didn't seem to mind having his picture taken.

We passed another allotment on the way to plot 5 that looks a bit like ours did a few weeks ago. We are not sure if it is being tended to or not as we haven't noticed anyone there. There was lots of wildlife in it though enjoying the long grass.

Worms, snails and corrugated mishaps

We took a trip up the allotment this afternoon. Jack loved digging in the bit of soil that we had dug previously. He found some worms and snails which he thought were great. All that was missing were the slugs and puppy dog tails.

Dan dug over the soil bed with the fork. We think that they must have had potatoes in here before as it was really nice and easy to dig. The other part was like stone, and unfortunately we bent the fork. We have covered the area with corrugated pieces and hopefully this will help suppress any more weeds that we have been unable to remove. While doing all of this, Dan managed to drop the corrugated sheet on his shin and has sustained a nasty injury. All is ok and he is still able to walk and most importantly , still able to use the bent fork.

Ouch

We are going to wait and see if this week weather will bring any more rain, as we hope this will help soften the ground so we can dig some more beds. We are aiming for little and often to start with.

Before we left the allotment , Jack and I picked a few blackberries. They were delicious and only a few made them home as most were eaten on the way back.

My Dad sent us another really lovely and useful book from 1978. The old ones seem to be the best.

Stick the kettle on

Well the weekend bought some very hot weather so we started at the allotment early before it became to hot. We decided that we would take a look at the back of the shed to see what treasures, if any it held. We found lots of useful items such as netting of various types which will certainly come in handy for covering plants and protecting them from insects and birds. There were also some very good canes and three bottles of weed killer. Dan will hopefully use the canes when we plant our beans. One of the best things that we found was a small gas ring and whistling kettle. Essential for an allotment tea break. We couldn't believe that people would just leave this behind!  There was also a lot of rubbish. A whole dumpy bag of it. None of it was reusable, or any use so it went to the recycling centre

 

So after this, with the sun blazing down and the temperature rising, we decided that we would tackle one area of ground. No digging, just a quick rake over and a little weeding. We found some small potatoes, and the earth seems very easy to work.

After day six and seven, the allotment looks like this. Still a long way to go but looking good. Hoping for some slightly cooler weather this week so we can get back to more diggin'.