Construction has begun...

Spring has definitely sprung! The crocuses and snowdrops are starting to die back to make way for the daffodils. The trees in the yard at school are brimming with blossom, and I'm beginning to wonder whether I should swap my big coat for a lighter jacket when I'm out and about.

I'm a summer lover through and through. I really hate winter. I know people talk about being able to sit in a cosy house in front of a fire with hot chocolate etc etc. But, I'm sorry, I always just find it cold, damp and pretty miserable. I do love Christmas, but as soon as that's passed I just crave the summer, so when spring hits, my mood definitely starts to improve!!

I've also realised, when you've wanted your own outside space for so long and then you finally get it, it's really all you think about or talk about. 
 I must be driving my husband crazy, especially as I keep asking him to come and help me out. 

 While I am super excited about it all and love it, I've also not been shy about how much I find this part of owning an allotment to be incredibly boring! Lets face it, nothing interesting happens! I'm simply clearing all the weeds/grass and brambles, either putting things in the incinerator or on the compost heap or I'm turning over soil to pull out yet more bramble roots. Each trip is the same!

I needed something to happen to make me a bit more excited, so the first piece of construction happened earlier this week!

We finally built a proper compost heap (using old and free pallets of course) While it looks like we're in the process of keeping ponies, this size was needed due to the amount of waste in the giant pile which used to be piled up to the left of the gate, or rather, the hole where a gate will be once we build one.
 Moving the giant pile of dead grass and things over was pretty satisfying though, and made me feel as though we'd achieved something.
 It was a pretty productive few hours actually, we've almost finished turning over one side of the allotment as well.

I was also quite excited because for my birthday I was given an apple tree (one of those cute little patio trees, as I don't think I'm allowed full sized trees on the plot (although it doesn't say that in the agreement!)) But for now, as the allotment is not currently in a state to plant anything, it has been sitting in a pot at the top of my stairs in the house. While I've been watering it, nothing was really happening. Then all of a sudden, spring happened in my house, and leaves have started poring out of every branch!

This was a shot from the other day of one of the branches!
 So I got very excited, I've since purchased seed potatoes which are now sitting out on my kitchen table waiting for their little eyes to grow, and next to the little apple tree are two trays full of pumpkin seeds and celery seeds.
 The pumpkin seeds have already just started showing their little selves, think it will be about a week or so until the celery seeds do. 

Basically, I am now counting down till Easter. Working in a school means I have two weeks off (two weeks and a day thanks to Good Friday!) so I can't wait to spend most days at the allotment making it look amazing- which it will of course!

First things first however, a trip to the local garden centre this Sunday for inspiration, ideas and probably the accumulation of seeds and anything else I think I might need!

Mid-March 2015: Getting there...

Well, it's safe to say we're getting there slowly but surely.

The turning over of the plot is definitely the worst part, so I guess it's best to get it out the way with first. 
 We weren't able to afford to hire a rotivator, so we were stuck with turning it over by hand. Which is fine, it's just time consuming and totally impossible to do it all in one go! So my helpful husband and I have been going whenever we can but just for an hour or so, basically so we don't get sick.

So, two days ago the allotment looked like this:

Getting there right?! Nearly to the back! And we went along again tonight, and did just past another fence post, so at the end of the next trip we will have turned over that whole side!

We've also had some progress with a shed! I decided from the beginning that I wanted to make as much as possible from things we were able to acquire. As it happens, the flat upstairs from ours just sold, so new people moved in and decided to make some changes, which meant they were getting rid of timber!
 Not just any timber either. The building was built in 1880, and the timber they were removing was original, therefore solid!

We worked out that from the timber that was suitable we would be able to get one wall of my shed...so I set the husband to work...I helped of course!

So now the wall is pretty much built, and it weighs a tonne! Not actually too sure how we're going to get it there. But it's safe to say we'll be making up each wall in our garage, and then transporting it to the allotment to build up when we're there.

So next step, in a few days when we've turned over one side, we will create the compost heap from old pallets of course! Then start building up the shed, and getting my all important pond in.

There's a little pond in the allotment next to mine, and the frogs were going crazy in there the other day, so very excited to get mine installed...something for the Easter holidays in a couple of weeks I think!

Keep checking back to see how the progress is going...

The incinerating and turning over has begun...

February half term - seemed like the best time to make a proper start on the allotment. Except for the first few days my body decided to give in to all the germs I spend all my time fighting. So the first half of the week was pretty much a write-off. 

Wednesday though we headed straight out to the shops and bought an incinerator. I don't want to be spending a fortune on things, preferring to get as much as I can from what people are giving away etc. However getting a hold of an incinerator was proving difficult so we had to give in and buy one. (A whole £16 from Wilko's). Setting fire to the now quite large pile of grass and bramble roots wasn't a possibility. There's too much dead grass around, and the plot is too close to others, so it certainly wasn't worth the risk. We did realise however after about an hour, that it's actually going to take quite a long time to burn all this stuff down in this small incinerator. (You can just see the pile in the background behind the smoke)

So, while my husband worked on getting the incinerator going (boys seem to love playing with fire don't they?) I made myself useful and began the long task of turning the whole plot over.
 As I said in my last post, we looked into a rotavator, but at around £80 a day, it wasn't really something we were able to stretch too.

So the hard work began!

It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. It turns over quite nicely. The soil is nice, quite like clay, but not quite as thick. And not waterlogged in anyway, so I wasn't squelching around. The only downside was every few feet fighting with a bramble root. They are definitely my least favourite thing at the moment! 

I think it's quite helpful to turn it over by hand though, to really see the sort of soil I'm working with. I did discover there are worms everywhere - including this monster! It was huge! So that's definitely a good thing...I mean, not for the worms I accidentally ended up killing, but there were so many it was pretty hard to avoid them. So I think it's safe to say the soil is well aerated. 

We are still working along the lines of, while it's still the boring, hard work phase, we will just do a few hours at a time so we don't sicken ourself with the place.

So after about 2 hours work the other day it was looking like this. As you can see there is still a lot to do! We worked out that if we turn over the same size patch each time we go then it will take 6 visits to turn the whole thing over...so putting it that way doesn't sound so bad! And if we have a slightly longer visit at some point we'll be able to get even more done I guess.

Sadly I am back at work tomorrow, so will only be able to head along at weekends for the next few weeks. Although when the lighter evenings come along I will be able to get along even if it's just for an hour or so after work.

It will get there eventually! And it should mean by the Easter holidays (in 6 weeks) that I am able to start properly planning thing out on there, and creating beds/paths/a shed etc...not to forget the pond that I am very excited to create!

And so it begins...

Yep, that's right. Well, I guess the clearing had to begin at some point!

At the end of January my key arrived. I felt like when you get a new house! Someone had finally given me my own plot of land, and it was only going to cost me around £50 a year! Bargain right?

So, at the beginning of February on a cold but sunny Saturday morning, I went along, with my rake in hand to start taking up all the grass and brambles.

So barely 10 minutes in, and I accidentally woke up this critter! Feeling very guilty, I ran around the allotment trying to find somewhere sensible to put it. In the end I ended up recreating the bed I had just woken it up from in a safer place.

I then figured due to the state of the allotment that I was bound to come across a lot more of these! There is also a mound of dead grass by the entrance of the allotment, so who knows what's living under there at the moment! However, all I could do was add to the pile!

After 2 hours of raking up all the dead grass, chopping down the brambles so I was able to rake them up, and pulling out the odd bricks and pieces of rubbish I came across, I had all but cleared barely 2 metres square... 

It's safe to say it's going to take a while! So, after a few hours that morning, even though it was freezing cold outside, I was sweating and dirty and in need of a cold drink and a shower, I headed home. I figured, probably better to do just a few hours at a time right? So I don't become disheartened? That's my thinking anyway.

So the next day, I took my husband along. We were able to go over much more with the 2 of us there! It still seems like a huge job, despite it being a fairly small allotment.

After taking a moment to pose with the rake, you can see how long and full of brambles the plot is in this photo! On the plus side, a lot of the grass just raked up fairly easily, even though it did mean we were left with the small pile now a lot larger...

It must look like I'm about to go and collect a couple of shetland ponies at this rate! Who know's what the people next door to me think! Although, I have yet to meet them.

So we decided after a few more hours work, and the allotment looking like this, that it was time to go home...

I know it doesn't look much better, but it really is!

We also decided the best thing to do would be to purchase an incinerator and a rotavator. Despite me not wanting to spend too much money on things to do with the allotment, we sort of thought that was the way to go.

Until today...payday of course! So we headed to the shops to buy an incinerator - we discovered Wilko's has them for just £16 at the moment, so decided that was a bit of a bargain.

However, we then drove to a garden machinery rental shop to look into a rotavator, only to discover that the shop that we thought was there was no longer there! After looking online and finding another place, we discovered that for a day, to hire a rotavator it would cost us at least £70. A little out of my price range sadly! So it looks like we're going to have to turn it over the old fashioned way...need to get some good hand moisturiser in!

The first visit...

OK, so it's freezing outside, there's no one on site, and no one from the council was available to show me around, so, armed with a map, the allotment number, tape measure and my husband (I need someone to bounce ideas off) I arrived in my wellies, thick coat and hat with a huge nervous smile on my face.

My warning from the lovely lady at the council was "It's very weedy, if you prefer to wait until a better one becomes available that's fine." To me, that was like being 10 years old again and choosing the one eyed lonely hamster because no one else wanted it.
 I knew I'd take it, regardless of what it looked like - even if I was told to expect a jungle. After all, that way the before and after photos will look even more impressive right?

I've got to say, I was pleasantly surprised. I was after all expecting a mess of an allotment, with giant brambles, a broken rotten shed and random dug out sections. 

So this is what I had greet me...

Not bad right?! Ok, so overgrown is right. However, no shed, no random holes anywhere. It's actually really flat, and it looks like it's been quite some time since it was once used for anything. Another allotment was available one up and to the left of this one, however that had a very high fence on the south side blocking most of the sun...sort of hoping this is just left, as it looked like a good spot for frogs in the summer and hedgehogs and things. 

So, I proudly stood in the centre of my allotment, thankfully still with a big grin on my face. This would definitely need some turning over, but I was expecting that!

So, it was time to get the tape measure out. It measures 13metres long by 6.5metres wide. Not large at all, but perfect for someone who works full time and works as a print maker on weekends & evenings. 
 The small size did not prevent my getting excited though and planning things in my head.

I already knew a few things I wanted. I definitely want a pond, and due to the unkept allotment to the left I think the best place for the pond will be the top left. It will be less disturbed there too. I will obviously need a shed, and ideally some sort of greenhouse. I also know I want to companion grow.

So, I spend the rest of the weekend putting my plans together. Drawing it out (to scale of course - with help from my husband as I'm not a particularly "to-scale" sort of artist). 

So far, this is my current plan...

So, there is my plan for 2015. Obviously this is subject to change, but we shall see how it goes!!

Job number one over the next week or so: try and get ahold of some sort of petrol strimmer, or cultivator type thing... Wish me luck!!