Last night I did a bit of calculating, and planned out the majority of my allotment plan for the year on Vegplotter. It wasn’t completely accurate ( some of my plants aren’t actually available on there and my estimates of the size of things is occasionally a bit out) but it’s a good vague plan of my intentions.
Today we went down to the allotment in the afternoon for a few hours. In terms of ourwork today, we placed some greenhouse window panes around the outer side of the poly tunnel. We then took one of the metal fences and used it to complete the fencing area around the back part of our plot. This was really good as it just finishes off the back area nicely and keeps our metal fence panels out of the way.
We also built the two final compost bins out of plastic pallets and put these in front of the metal fence. This was really good as it now feels far tidier at the front and looks far more like the image in my mind. The waterbutts are sat beside them for now, but I eventually envisage that where the pile of old compost currently is sat, we will build a cold frame using the old glass doors from the polytunnel, giving me a further place to start off plants and give them the best start in life.
Unfortunately, the polytunnel tape we used to put the polytunnel together wasn’t as good as we hoped, so we may need to replace it with gaffer tape, which should be stroner and better able to withstand the wind (which was blowing quite strongly today!) The old tape should however hold for now, which is good.
We also discovered a hole in the fence behind one of the other plots which E filled in with a piece of fencing material we had. It looked like people had been around the space at the back of that plot too as there was fabric down on the ground it looked quite clear of stuff.
Before leaving, we also cut a few more tulips from the plot, as well as some of the last few daffodils which have yet to open fully. They’re genuinely beautiful things.
On our last visit to the plots, the lady from the plot next-door-but-one to us let us know that she is giving up her plot as they have moved away, and that we were welcome to take cuttings or items from the plot if we so wished. Today I took a number of soft fruit cuttings, which I hope will take, though it’s very much the wrong time of year to take them ( this I realise!). I have also actually contacted the council, to request a plot of my own (as our current plot is technically E’s) specifically requesting next-door-but-one’s plot as the bramley tree and blackcurrant bushes would make it more than worth my time and money. besides – it would be nice to have some shade to grow some shade-loving flowers too! Perhaps it’s folly to take on a second plot so soon after getting the first, but the other plot is mostly trees and fruit, and would require very little work to maintain. Who knows – if I’m lucky we might soon have two plots instead of just the one!
Allotted Time 