Planting

We are zooming ahead with progress on the allotment, we have now planted carrots, parsnips, broad beans, early peas, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, basil and rosemary. Not bad going considering we only got the plot in January. We met some of our neighbours last week whilst we were their plot is attached to a Pupil Referral Unit and will be used to help children who are depressed and also those struggling with eating disorders, the idea is to help themj understand more about the goodness and nature of food and encourage them to eat well by being involved in growing the food. What a worthwhile project, they are also working with a local artist to design the plot and have wonderful animals and characters made out of reeds, I must admit it makes ours look a bit scruffy though I am pleased with the new raised beds I have built, they are only small but hopefully they will be very productive.

Mini is still enjoying coming with us, now the weather has dried up a bit it is a lot easier and she is getting used to her wellies and waterproofs. It can't be too long now until we start seeing some produce.

We finally joined the allotment society for a joint membership of £3, bargain or what, I also found myself volunteering to help the committe with IT stuff so I'll wait and see if anything comes of that. Looking forward to spending some time at the plot in the Easter hols and hoping for some good weather.

Preparing the beds

This is what the tree looked like when we first went on the plot some of the very low branches were at Mini's eye level which wasn't safe and also caused a lot of shadow
This is the tree now I have pruned it and trimmed off some of the lower branches, this should raise the canopy a bit and make it safer

After many discussions about how we will lay out our plot and several different plans I think we have finally agreed this years layout. We've also been split between making raised beds which would be my preferred option and digging the ground, my husbands preference. So as in all things an element of compromise is required. We have settled that for this year the main four rotation beds will be in the ground with the other areas planted in raised beds and even some pots and compost growbags for fruit, salads etc.

This week it's done nothing but rain here, and it's been a busy week workwise and family wise so we haven't done much physically on the plot. The amount of water is amazing and after so much rain it is really collecting in the uneven areas, it makes me wonder about how we will get on next year if we actually have winter veg in the ground but I suppose it is trial and error. We have however made further decisions about varieties we want to grow and I now have a stack of seed catalogues. We visited our local plant nursery to take a look at some different fruit trees and we are planning to have one apple tree this year and some some raspberry canes, possibly some strawberries too. I'd also like a pear tree in the future and a few outdoor grape wines but you can't do everything at once. I'd also like to grow blueberries maybe next year but you need a specially prepared peat bed and with everything else we have to do in our first year this is a future development plan.