Our patch of earth: And it's March already

How it began...

So, we’d spent time walking past our local allotments, getting more and more interested in the mysterious things that other people were growing and the ingenious uses that people had found for stuff that non-allotmenteers would probably term ‘junk’.

In March 2007, we spoke to our council, and discovered that our local allotments aren’t council owned - it turns out they’re held in trust. So, we decided to find the secretary. We spoke to Mike and Louise who were really welcoming and enthusiastic, then eventually tracked down Alan the secretary and, a few weeks later, we chose a plot with a little blue shed, a water butt, a small bench, and a patch of oregano.

We dug. It was April, and for those of you who remember April 07, it was hot, hot, hot. The ground was like rock. Adam was having to jump onto the fork to get it into the soil. But we persevered – this was our new veggie patch! We had plans for a herb garden over there, and some rows of beans over here, a compost heap at the back and flowers planted down the edges… until, one week in, a little old Italian lady turned up and claimed the plot was hers. Wah! Much confusion ensued, until we decided we’d rather not have the hassle and uncertainty, and much less be known as the new guys who kicked a little old lady off her plot. Gracious, no.

So we found a new spot. South facing, with rhubarb, gooseberry bushes (I didn’t know they were spiky!), a damson tree (which we thought were plums to start with – till mum made Damson gin and we recognised the fruit) and the Biggest Strawberry Patch In The World.

Twas overgrown, tis true, but much better than plot number 1. Hurrah for little old Italian ladies!

And two sheds! His and Hers, obviously, mainly because mine isn’t quite tall enough for Adam to stand upright in. So, mine has the tea and coffee making facilities, small gas stove, radio, seed packets on nails and an assortment of gardening gloves, while Adam’s has all the manly things – tools, wooden crates, useful bits of wood, tangled netting and carefully wound up bits of wire.

So the digging had to begin, again. After assessing the plot, with some useful hints and random-plant-identifying by Mike, we headed home to get forks and other digging equipment. Ten minutes later we returned to our overgrown plot to hear a strange buzzing noise, and find Mike strimming all the thigh-high weeds with his petrol strimmer! Thanks Mike! A good start to our compost heap… (Add 'build compost heap' to the To Do list.)

And then, half an hour later, as we’re just beginning to curse the sun for being too hot and the earth for being too hard, around the corner of our sheds comes our saviours Mike, Louise and their mate Ali, on white stallions, (no, not really) all brandishing forks and ready to help us dig, till we’d dug the same amount we’d done on plot no.1. Bless ‘em.

And then it was all go! Nine months later, 2008 seems promising. We've read many, many more books, got more ideas and got much more ambitious. And we've actually grown stuff which tasted gooooood. It could still all go horribly wrong, but even if it does I can guarantee we'll still get some tasty fruit and veg from between the weeds, all for a few pence, and a bit of blood, sweat and tears... (well, hopefully not the blood or the tears... just good ol' elbow grease.)

And a bit of help from our friends and family. Any time, chaps - you're very welcome! We'll get the kettle on...

Sounds fun, eh?

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

And it's March already

Gah! March! Already! That's getting on for a quarter of 2009, gone before I've even blinked! We're halfway to May already, and we all know what happens in May - the Allotments Start Going Crazy. Weeds! Beans! Peas! Other Stuff! I'm not sure I'll be ready in time...

Adam went to the plot at the weekend, taking a wheelbarrow, some netting given to us by a neighbour, a bit of handy guttering and a soil sieve thingy with him... not sure we'll use that last one but you never know.

Something I've realised since getting an allotment is that you never turn down 'junk'. You just never know. It may 'come in handy'. I also peer into local skips - just in case, you understand - and gaze at pieces of wood and old pallets on an abandoned corner plot nearby with what I fear may be a longing expression. Although maybe I just inherited certain qualities from my Dad, who never gets rid of anything which might 'come in handy' one day...

While Adam was at the plot he also filled the newly-patched water tank with water to just above the patch. We'll see if there's any liquid left in it next week. Oh yeah, didn't mention that before. The weekend before last we patched the hole with some evilly-sticky sealent and some plastic, and then celebrated the completion of our task by digging up some leeks and having a beer. So fingers crossed it doesn't leak now. We also bunged a big bucket over the rhubarb. Feels a bit mean to deprive it of light but boy, it tastes SOOOO much better :)

I haven't been to the allotment for a couple of weeks. It was cold cold cold last weekend so I stayed indoors and made muffins instead. Yummy. Baking's much easier to get on with when you don't have to remember to buy eggs.

And it's nearly spring proper. Yey! Little buds are starting to burst on the trees and I really should get on and start trying to germinate some parsnip. Any hints or tips? Last year we had (count them) none. Not one. Bah. I want our own roast parsnip for Christmas this year.

Or is that just planning ridiculously far ahead?

10 comments:

Julia said...: Hi Sarah (and Adam!), I love your blog!
I managed to do well this year with my parsnips by chitting the seeds first - putting the seeds on some folded damp kitchen towel and making sure they didn't dry out. Then, when the little shoots popped out I sowed them as usual. I had 100% germination! They grew into whoppers too! Good luck!; 11 March 2009 at 12:42
Bettiboots said...: I've been hearing vicious rumours about chitting seeds, too (which I hadn't heard of until I got a book from the library). I've been reading about all manner of arcane rituals involving shaking seeds vigorously in a sealed jam jar with water in, or, in extreme cases, putting a nick in the seed cases with a kitchen knife...; 12 March 2009 at 20:23
Nic said...: Yeah, my Grandad starts most seeds off on some damp kitchen towel in the airing cupboard. I put this down to his faffing ways; why spend ten minutes planting seeds when you can make it last a week?
It doesn't seem to provide any better results to my more hap-hazard methods though.; 15 March 2009 at 17:04
Anonymous said...: Did you know there are over 4000 varieties of potato? Vivaldi has 56% less calories and 38% fewer carbs than other spuds. Can you tell I've been doing a lot of painting and listening to Gardeners' Question Time on the radio??
Chris x; 15 March 2009 at 19:59
Julia said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 15 March 2009 at 20:35
Julia said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 15 March 2009 at 20:55
Julia said...: Vicious and faffing?! :oS I'm not talking about all seeds, just parsnip seeds and Sarah did ask for advice! I just prefer to check my seed is going to sprout before I sow it rather than wait an age for it to come up and it never happening. It worked for me anyway!; 15 March 2009 at 23:02
Bettiboots said...: OK, so maybe vicious is a bit extreme! I guess I'm just bitter after my impressive failure with sweet peas 2 years ago, only to discover I should have been chitting them all along!; 16 March 2009 at 17:50
Julia said...: :o); 16 March 2009 at 21:18
Anonymous said...: Last year I accidentally chitted my peas in my coat pocket (well it was a very rainy day and I forgot they were there) but the results were impressive.

I have always just stuck parsnips straight in the ground but germination is poor and it takes so long to realise that I am definitely chitting them this year. And then planting them in rows covered with seed compost.; 17 March 2009 at 08:43

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How it began...

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

And it's March already

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