Allotment, March 2015.

I have had my allotment for a few years now. It started as a piece of wasteland, covered in nettles and couch grass and over the years it has become a proper vegetable patch. Some years it gives us plenty of fruit and veg. Other years it ticks by. Last year was a quiet year. The weather was grim and I wasn't inspired. This year though, is different. Having had a year of keeping the allotment tidy and ticking over I plan on growing lots. The thing with allotments is that they take a lot of work. Little and often is a good idea.

allotment

 Since I started with my allotment it has been interesting to see people come and go. Of the 12 plots on our site there are only 5 of us who have kept going. Four of the allotment holders have been there longer than me and the other seven plots have been taken over and given up several times over the last few years.

rhubarb, garlic and fruit bushes

 If you start an allotment you need to realise that its a long term commitment... Once the initial enthusiasm has worn off you need to keep plodding along. You never stop learning and some years are better than others.

onions

I went up there a couple of times last week, planting garlic and onions. I have Charlotte potatoes chitting in my kitchen, ready to plant this week. I love having everything neat and tidy and there's nothing better than having veg fresh from the ground.

When the weather gets warmer I shall plant pak choy, lettuce and beetroot, as well as French beans and cabbages. I shall start reading through my books too, to give me ideas as to what I might fancy trying to grow this year.

At the moment my rhubarb is starting to sprout... All is good!!

rhubarb

My allotment before ... and after.

Its been a little while since I talked about my allotment on here. Some of you may be relieved about that ... However, I think the time has come to shake the mud from my gardening gloves and do a little bit of typing so that you can see how its coming along.For those of you who are not into gardening, allotments, vegetables ... well, what's wrong with you??? Pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of wine/ cup of tea and prepare either to doze off or ... well, probably just prepare to doze off really.

Just to remind you, if you haven't been here before, or if you had forgotten, this is what the allotment plot looked like when I took my husband to see it in August 2010. Needless to say, he thought I had lost my mind.

I, however, had a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look and we are beginning to get there. 

We started by chopping everything down as far as we could. Then we covered it so that the couch grass and nettles died down. When that was done we slowly began to dig over the plot in small sections.

That first year I really didn't think we would be able to grow anything, but we did. The other allotment holders were wonderfully supportive and generous and before long I had been given Autumn fruiting raspberries, blackcurrants, strawberries and lettuces. An elderly gent, L, who has spent his whole life in the countryside and who could definitely be called a rough diamond/rogue has adopted me and without him I would be way behind where I am. He and I spend the happiest afternoons together, digging, chatting, planting ...

Last year the season was dreadful and hardly anything grew. I lost a bit of impetus really. But this year? This year I have renewed enthusiasm!!

This is what the allotment looks like today ...

This photo was taken from the same spot as that first one. We, well, my husband, has made raised beds and we have put down weed mesh and gravel pathways. You can see in the foreground my herb and rhubarb bed. On the left of that I have leeks and cucumbers.

Behind that bed is one with beetroot, lettuce and more leeks, all interspersed with French Marigolds.

On my big flat bed I am growing summer cabbages under netting. I have sussed how to net my produce this year! In previous years it has been somewhat disastrous!! Around the top sides of the plot are my fruit bushes. The pigeons tend to come and sit on the branches if you're not careful so I spent a lovely afternoon creating a Heath Robinson-like netting cage to protect redcurrants, gooseberries, blackcurrants.

The top edge of the plot is full of raspberry canes. I have Autumn fruiting ones which are yellow when ripe and beautifully sweet. There are also Summer fruiting which I put in last year.

This long bed has strawberries growing down its side, but will soon be full of climbing French beans which are currently in my little stand up green house at home. In the background you can see my blue water butt which will soon be full of liquid feed. My lovely L ( my gardening guru) has told me to get a little bit of horse manure or maybe some chopped up rhubarb leaf in a netting bag suspended in the water and liquid feed will ensue!

Here you can see my summer raspberries and then in the earth I have planted Charlotte potatoes. I am hugely late with these, but they will either grow ... or not!! In the netting are my Brussels Sprouts, again given to me so kindly by another allotment holder. Hopefully we will be able to eat them this Christmas!

This is the view from my raspberries with sprouts on the left, cabbages on the right. The first bed on the left has a courgette plant, as does the second bed, this time donated by my lovely sister-in-law. At the end is a bed with a marrow plant and a butternut squash.

From here you can see my courgettes on the right and marrow on the left. Both will grow massively soon ... I hope!! On the left you can just see my composter, made from pallets I got for free from a timber yard.

When we first got the allotment there was so much rubbish to dig out, amongst which was this old broken wheelbarrow. This year I have filled it with compost and planted nasturtiums. I plan to add salad leaves too.

I cannot tell you how much I love being down there. Spending an afternoon alone with my veg with only the sun, the breeze and the birds for company is wonderful. Some days I get down there and the lovely L is there doing some weeding, some digging. He is over 80 now, but the most amazing man - so interesting, so full of knowledge. We often work alongside, bantering together.

If you had said to me 5 years ago that I would have an allotment I would have laughed at you. It always seemed the realm of old people!! Maybe I am getting old ...

But there is something magical about turning a neglected and rubbish strewn plot of weeds into a thriving vegetable garden. I started knowing next to nothing and I still have so much to learn, but every day, every season I learn more and more. I still can't quite believe that I can actually grow things to eat!! I just wish my house looked as neat!!

A sunny morning at the allotment.

After the longest, coldest winter I can remember, Spring is finally ... springing! And its on days like this that I head down to my allotment. I have barely been there since October, a fact that fills me with shame. Still, when I put it to bed all those months ago it was neat and tidy.

Yesterday I spent three hours down there, digging and planting, writing my diary in the sunshine and planning the year ahead. It was absolute bliss!!

For those of you who don't know I took on my allotment three years ago in August. Allotments date back from possibly as long as a thousand years ago . When I applied to the local council it was, to be honest, on a bit of a whim, but when I saw the plot they were offering me I fell in love. In my head I had a picture of exactly how I wanted it to look, but to begin with I was the only person able to imagine it .. because this is how it actually looked!!

The plot was filled with nettles, couch grass and a hidden mass of rubbish.

In all we dug out mattresses, trollies and the frame of a green house as well as carpet, wire and  masses of plastic.

Yesterday the allotment looked much better!! We are still not finished with it as we need to finish putting gravel on all the paths, pavings in places and I want to add a small water feature/ pond so I can encourage frogs, insects and so on. The following photo was taken from about the same position as the first photo. You can see it looks a bit different!!

Six raised beds with a seventh raised bed for runner beans at the back and then  two large beds where you can see the
yellow cloches.

I sat in the sunshine drinking a nice cup of tea having planted my summer cabbages under net cloches. The bench you can see was made for me by the lovely Len - a wonderful 80 year old who has taken me under his wing and helps me with everything from digging to advice on plants.

My beds are ready and waiting for seeds, seedlings and plants. This year I am going to be growing:

• rhubarb
• chives
• sage
• onions
• garlic
• potatoes
• runner beans
• French beans
• pointed cabbages
• lettuce
• beetroot
• spring onions
• courgettes
• marrow
• purple sprouting broccoli
• cucumber
• cut flowers
• lavender
• raspberries
• redcurrants
• blackcurrants
• gooseberries
• strawberries
• sweet corn

It looks like a lot, doesn't it? I am learning more and more as each week goes by and it amazes me when things actually grow!! There is something so very relaxing about planning, digging, planting and harvesting. My idea of heaven is spending time on a sunny morning at the allotment with just the breeze in the trees and the occasional bee or butterfly for company!! Hopefully soon my beds will be bursting with healthy plants ... we'll see!!

Allotment photos & a plan to stay happy.

Following my last post I have been so touched by the responses I have received. I was very reluctant to write what I did as I don't really want people to know how I am feeling. But your comments have made me feel that I have done the right thing.

So ... knowing that sitting doing nothing is just about the worst thing I can do I have been planning my days like military operations. I felt pretty down yesterday so I lay in bed thinking about today and planned ...

• Get up and have shower.
• Eat breakfast.
• Pot up cucumber seedlings and water tomatoes.
• Go to allotment and plant other cucumber seedlings, brussel sprouts and net them.
• Visit friend at Craft Show to see her glass.
• Come home and make lunch.
• Sort out Year 1 work and stick and mark.
• Write blog.
• Play football.
• Cook dinner.
• Watch football.

I know this might sound a bit OCD but its my way of coping with the day. If I have physical things to do which are also quite creative then I know I feel better. If I have a plan then I tend to stay focussed and not fall into the trap of thinking too much and feeling miserable.

I had a lovely time at my allotment this morning - just me and the breeze. I have taken some photos so you can see how it looks.The crops ( if I can use such farmeresque terms!) are not doing brilliantly this year, but I don't think I am alone in that. Even the farmers around here seem to be struggling with crops that are a bit weedy looking.

my herb bed with rhubarb

2 cucumber plants and sweet corn behind

Brussels Sprouts

from left ... beetroot, lettuce,garlic,spring onions

my work finished for this morning

under the yellow net - purple sprouting broccoli

the first of my autumn fruiting raspberries - they are Autumn Gold and supposed to be yellow!!

nearest to camera - potatoes

getting there - just need more gravel for paths!

I never thought I would be a veg gardener and I look at my allotment with real surprise and pride!! This year I have grown most of my things from seed, which makes me feel like a real gardener!! Its such a lovely place to be alone in a good way. I enjoy making it look neat and tidy and seeing my plants actually grow. Let's hope it can help me get over my down period. Nothing like being outdoors to blow the cobwebs away ...