We're well and truly back and getting stuck into the allotment after a lengthy break. Due to serious illness in the family, work commitments and a particularly stressful few months, we didn't get down to the allotment for several months over autumn and winter. We're trying to make up for it now, however, and have been pretty productive over the last couple of months.
Of course, the ******* mare's tail/horse tail/whatever you prefer to call it has been super active once more and it's been really disheartening to see it taking over the plot again after all our hard work of last year! We understand we just won't be able to eradicate it though so are just doing our best to keep it under control. Even the most pristine plots on our site - those with dedicated and retired tenants who spend hours on-site every day of the week - still have the odd mare's tail scattered around the crops so we've accepted we just need to get on with it. I still hate it though!
We have strawberries this year, although our biggest and best strawberry was eaten by a bird this week before we had a chance to net the plants. The nets are in situ now, however, and the rest of the plants look good.
We've dug over three beds so far, and have built wooden edging for the first one.
We decided against proper raised beds as we were concerned they'd have a tendency to dry out and with us both working full-time, it's not always possible for us to get to the plot as much as we'd like. Our beds are ever so slightly raised, but that's just the result of the extra material we've mixed in with the existing earth - rotted manure and compost to try and improve the soil. We chose to edge the beds with wood as it gives us the flexibility to raise the beds in future if we want to and also keeps everything neat. We are planning on using free woodchip for our paths so the wooden edging will act as a barrier to keep things in place.
We've also got a lovely bed of tomato plants on the go. A kind allotment neighbour gave us a tray of Gardener's Delight plants and we planted them out at the weekend after hardening them off outside. Unfortunately, the hardening-off period coincided with the weekend we were away in London and it was scorching hot for several days, so the poor plants looked a little worse for wear. A bit of TLC seems to have perked them up though and they're looking much better now. Neither of us has ever grown tomatoes before so we're looking forward to learning as we go and hopefully having a glut of delicious cherry toms later this summer.
Plans for this weekend include sowing some curly kale (I LOVE kale and have heard it's hardy and easy to grow so fingers crossed!) and finally starting work on a seating area so we've got somewhere comfortable sit on those long days down on the plot :-)
Finally, it's not our plot (obviously) but I am in constant awe of this super-neat and well-maintained plot behind ours...
