Photos

Strawberry plants in a raised bed

Olivia getting pots ready for seeds

Broad bean plants

Runner bean plants

It's all go!

After a slow start to the year plot 3 has finally started to get the treatment it deserves. Last year was truly an 'Annus Horriblus' in our house with my mother being diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently undergoing months of treatment and the death of two other family members in close succession. Autumn and winter were indeed dark times and we nearly gave up on the whole concept of 'allotmenteering' as we struggled to cope with all that was happening and the plot slipped further and further down the priority list. At Christmas we had a family meeting to decide what we were going to do about the site, we didn't feel it was fair to keep it and not use it while so many people are on waiting lists for allotments. We decided to give it another bash and although at the time I was thinking, 'Can we do this?' I'm starting to feel glad that we are.

In March work began in earnest clearing the weeds - again! Peter decided he didn't want to rotavate - again! and we started to plant our seeds - again! In a funny way clearing the ground and the weeds, digging over preparing the soil, planting seeds and starting to see the shoots appearing has kind of been symbolic for my life and this spring is probably just what I have needed. Springtime has certainly seen an upturn for us all and cultivating, 'our special garden' as Olivia calls it has been very meaningful.

Anyway, I digress, on the plot it's all go at this time of year, there is so much to do, plant and tend so I'm hoping keeping this blog will help me remember what is going on with everything and be a bit of a record for next year about the ups and downs so we can repeat successes and change direction on things that don't work. At the moment we have 4 large rotation beds for potatoes, roots, legumes and brassicas, we have two 1m square raised beds and another bed with fruit in it.

Bed 1 Potatoes - These are due to be planted next visit

Bed 2 Roots - We have some onion sets planted in here at the moment, they are covered with horticultural fleece to protect them from the birds and keep the soil a bit warmer for a few weeks until into May. I have carrot, beetroot and parsnip seen to grow here too

Bed 3 Legumes - We have broad beans, runner beans and peas in here and some lettuce filling in the gaps for now

Bed 4 Brassicas - Leeks (oops in the wrong bed) brussel sprouts, red cabbage and broccoli have all been planted from seed in this bed

In the smaller fruit bed we have strawberries and 2 very tiny immature apple trees which we hope will grow and be trained into cordons along the fence. The 1m square raised beds are mostly planted with salad crops but I hoping one will be a home to asparagus soon.

There's loads more to say but I'll save it for another post as this one is already quite long so I'll be back to update soon.