Moan Moan Moan
February 2013
What a month! After starting work on family bed number 4, it quickly became obvious that my plans for the layout had to change due to an unbelievable amount of crap underground. Not happy! On top of that, 2 weeks were lost on site thanks to the kids being poorly. Then there was the weather…….it has been absolutely horrendous here, and still is. The final straw came when I had a fall down the stairs at home leaving me with very little use in my right hand and foot. Xrays showed no breaks, just lots of swelling. Eight years ago if I fell down the stairs I could laugh it off and carry on, not now!
I have sorely missed the escape the plot usually provides, and with snow still coming down now in March, getting back into it seems a long way off.
My Leeks ‘Musselburgh’ are doing well, as are the potatoes first early ‘Winston’, second early ‘Charlotte’, and main crop ‘Maris Piper’. The onions I had planted on site at the end of last year were ruined by neighbouring chickens so my second attempt is being started at home in cell trays, so far they’re looking great. Unfortunately, the Sprouts and Cabbages which I sowed (hoping for a miracle turn around in the weather) have not survived and have been added to the compost.
Before my little accident I did manage to get the path started, it will run straight down the middle of the plot. A little old fashioned perhaps, but I like it and it works for me. I have also found someone who will supply me with all the chippings I need for the path for free as long as I collect it myself, which is fantastic. Some bargain fleece cloches in place to start warming the soil up make it look and feel like a real allotment, rather than a muddy building site.
I sound like such an old winge bag when I read this back, but this has been my February!
Thank you
Michelle
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The first visit to my new allotment
October 2012
So this is it, my new allotment on a hill in the North East of England. It has been left to run wild for quite a while, and as you can see from the pictures is going to take a lot of work and time to get it in full working order. It looks like I have every weed there is growing here, except for bind-weed thankfully!
The allotment is a full size plot which used to house guinea pigs, apparently a big fire destroyed the buildings which housed them years ago and has not been worked fully since.
Cutting myself a path to the upper end of the allotment, I find myself looking down at the scale of it all and questioning whether I can really do this, where do I start?
A huge bonus I didn’t expect was finding that I have my own water supply half way up the plot. Under the growth I’ve also found a hose, fork, spade, wheelbarrow, and a garden chair.
At the lower end of the plot there is dappled shade from the nearby trees. It is from this end I got my first vision of what it could be, will be!
Some exploration of the soil tells me I have clay soil, heavy to work and slow to warm up. That’ll be fun!
Thanks for taking your time to read this, and I hope you’ll join me in future posts as I battle my way to a better and healthier way of living
Michelle Mawson
