This last fortnight has been spent tidying the beds at the allotment and drawing up a major ‘to do’ list as I have had a few improvements that have been sidelined for over a year now . Removing weeds has been a priority as well as warming up beds under sheets of plastic ready for early potatoes to go next week. This time of year allows me to check on how well last year’s weeds have rotted down . Because we are unable to burn our garden waste (apart from if we have a log burning stove installed in the shed which I must confess that is a task that I still have outstanding .) and I don’t have a green wheelie bin in which the local council collects garden rubbish in , everything generated on the allotment that is not going to be consumed goes back in to improving the soil . I put all my weeds along with cardboard from home in to a black plastic bin which has the lid tied down . It was an idea that the late Geoff Hamilton used to rot down weeds completely to produce some worthwhile usable organic matter .
An out of print book arrived that I had ordered weeks ago . It was the Gardener’s World £2 Garden book by the late Geoff Hamilton which was first published back in 1984 and is all about maintaining a vegetable and flower garden for £2 a week once everything such as a greenhouse etc were in place . I’m quite sure that 30 years later there are quite a few with allotments who manage within that budget! Anyway after reading that in my spare time within two days I took what it had to say onboard . with the hope of being more productive
On Thursday 26th February I purchased 10 large grow bags for £10 from a fellow plot holder and put them in the polytunnel as previously I have been growing directly in the beds and I am very wary about exhausting the soil and possibly the build up of disease .
Saturday 28th February was quite a day for receiving additional plants . In the morning I helped a fellow allotmenteer dig up 3 plum trees that he’s planning on planting in his garden at his new home . For my efforts I was rewarded with a plum tree sapling along with a hop root and a rhubarb root all of which were promptly planted on my plot . The rhubarb inside the fruit cage , the hop in the right hand corner between the Bramley Apple tree and the fruit cage and the Plum tree sapling was planted in the top left hand corner next to the fruit cage.
Our allotment rents are annual running from April until the following March and this year there appears to be at least 3 plots that will be vacated by the end of March . I have managed to enrich my plot by my friendship with these plotholders . One has given me quite a collection of seeds as well as plant pots the other plotholder has allowed me to remove his home made greenhouse to convert in to a lean-to green house to attach to the side of my shed . In return I have handed another plotholder several glass panels that I had already collected for the project but no longer need .
Hopefully soon my plot will be neat and tidy again !
Until next week I thank you for reading/returning , Paul
