7 – Spring Part 1

A new year and plenty of work to be done down at the allotment. Since my last post we have decided to do away with the terraces and to have a single path running down the middle of our plot with two big beds on either side. This has the advantage that I can quickly zip up and down with the rotavator to clear and ready the soil each year and also maximises the amount of land that is being used to grow stuff and not for paths.

As you can see in the pictures below we have already cleared the existing beds, temporarily giving the strawberries a new home in an as yet unplanned patch (still to decide on where the strawberry patch will be).

We have reclaimed all the paving we could find and made a nice solid path at the top where we enter our plot, this will help the kids find their feet better as are a bit unsteady on uneven surfaces still. I’ve also had to make some simple fencing from bamboo and string as the little one kept walking over all the seeds we have just planted.

Don’t forget to check out one of earlier blogs if you want to see the difference since last year.

As you can see I have also found a new use for some white storage bins, I’m testing to see if white potatoes do better in the ground or in the bins. The deciding factor might be how easy harvest is.

A rhubarb also survived the purge last year and has come back a treat, it accidently got chopped up with the strimmer last year.

Not going to plant too much this year, just a few test crops. Some seeds I started off at home didn’t make it but we have potatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, peas & beans to name a few. Will kind of just plant an leave then and see what happens and concentrate and sorting the rest of the allotment out.