My Allotment (est. 2019)

I hadn't actively planned to have an allotment, but when I was offered one out of the blue, I felt very excited at the prospect and jumped at the chance!

As you can see from the pictures, it was a bit on the neglected side when I first took charge of it. I have plotted photo's of my progress...

Underneath all that grass is tarpaulin, totally melded to the earth by grass roots!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My little bro came to the rescue with his industrial lawn mower. Soon took care of all that pesky grass and weed wilderness!

Now it doesn't seem so daunting.

Unfortunately, the beds in the foreground were not mine! Luckily (for me), the plotholder was grateful for my help.
Next job, get the apple and cherry tree pruned. They haven't been pruned for years, judging by the woodpile!
I was given a greenhouse that was going to be thrown away. This is where the greenhouse will be sited.
There is a huge pile of earth under the wood...

First Bed

 

Second Bed

 
First bed dug over and weeded.   Onto the next bed.
 
Give a sprinkling of manure.   Tore off the tarpaulin.
 
Weed barrier, ready for the winter.   Dug over and manured.
 
Potatoes, courgettes, spinach and beetroot growing merrily!   Planted with red onions, shallots, garlic, parsnips and carrots.
 
A few weeks later...    

Third Bed

Dug over, manured and covered in weed barrier ready for winter.
Planted the cabbages. Netted, as I am not going to share any with those pesky pigeons!
Lots of things are sprouting. As I am not sure what my shoots should look like, I daren't do any weeding.

The Fruit Patch

I had set myself a very limited amount of time to complete this task, one Saturday morning before "Grandparent Duty". I was like the Tasmanian Devil, digging for England!
A couple of hours later...
A few days later, I found a pile of border edging outside someone's back gate, with a sign saying, "Please take me." Would have been rude not to! I have made good use of it containing the woodchips. Planted with nine fruitbushes: raspberry, blackberry, chokeberry, gooseberry, cranberry, fig, redcurrant, blackcurrant and blueberry.
Strawberries in a butler sink.

Pond and Woodland Path Area

Washing up bowl pond. Planted with aquatic plants and a miniature water lily!

 


That lawn edging came in handy again...

 


I was meant to be going to the Chelsea Flower Show, so bought some alpines and other pretty flowers to make my own "show garden" instead. Reckon I would have got a double gold for this one!

Herbery

Needed a good dig over, then a sprinkling of stinky chicken manure pellets!
Planted full of herbs: sorrel, parsley, cumin, coriander, borage, ginger, lavender, chives, garlic chives, mint, basil and dill.

Legume Bed

   

The herbery is next to the legume bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dug over and planted. My neighbour, Alan, offered me some berlotti shoots that he had left over. Told me to help myself if he wasn't around. They were on the top shelf of his greenhouse. Needless to say, I took the wrong plants and now have a lovely row of asters to go with my berlottis! I have also planted broad beans, peas, runner beans and French beans.

 

 

I used the garden edging to make a little bridge between the beds and lined pebbles along each side of the path.

 

 

 

 

Kindergarden

 
Picket fence and a slate step. Perfect little area for the grandchildren to learn how to love nature and how cool it is growing stuff!   Weed barrier ready for a little slate path in the middle of raised beds around the edge. Complete with washing up bowl pond!

Cherry Tree

The cherry tree has been a beautiful feature in my allotment with the blossom and the promise of a cherry bounty. I was planning lots of recipes to use them.

Sadly, I didn't even get one cherry, the "Jackdaw Mafia" scoffed the lot! Next year, I am going to net the lower branches, so at least I will get a share.

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