No. 22: Positives so far!

While it's easy to be disheartened by the amount of work we've got to do, we have come across some positives so far!

Cherry tree

We've been told by other plotholders that our cherry tree is way too big and should have been kept to a height of around 10 feet ideally. I've no idea how tall it currently is...20 feet maybe? It's hard to tell. When we first viewed the plot it was in full blossom and looked so pretty that it definitely helped sell the plot to us. It went on to drop a lot of cherries before they were ripe and it hasn't been possible to cover it this year to protect the cherries from birds as it's so huge so I'm not sure we'll get much from it this season. We plan to cut it back considerably when we can and give it a little TLC.

cherry tree in full blossom (April)

Redcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries

When we viewed the plot, we were told we had a few raspberry bushes at the entrance. Turns out it's not just raspberries.

redcurrants starting to ripen (June)

The bushes were/are absolutely swamped by weeds and mare's tail (of course!) but we're working on clearing them. There was an awful lot of bindweed strangling the fruit bushes but we've made good progress with this. We've got a few decent berries from the bushes, and the goosberries have probably fared best of all this year. Perhaps they're simply more able to stand up to neglect and pests than redcurrants and raspberries? Hopefully by next summer we will manage to get a decent harvest from this part of the allotment!

Apple and pear trees

We originally thought we had two apple trees, but it soon transpired one was in fact a pear tree. Neither tree looked in particularly great condition. and we soon discovered the pear tree had pear leaf blister mite. This turned out to be fairly easily dealt with, despite it not looking very attractive. We're looking forward to seeing how the apples and pears turn out this summer!

apples growing (June)

Brambles

Of course, we also have lots and lots of brambles, reaching around 8 feet high in some places. Possibly a lot more than 8 feet - it's hard to tell! We're going to collect as many blackberries as possible once they're ripe, and then plan to drastically cut back the brambles in the winter. We will probably keep a small area of brambles as they're predominantly right at the back of our plot in a shaded area next to a fence and trees. We're planning to place our compost bin next to that area, and want to leave a small part of our plot relatively untouched for wildlife. We have a lot of frogs on our plot and they seem to be concentrated around that damp, shaded area. Also - blackberries. Who doesn't love blackberry and apple crumble?

First Look at Our Allotment

Saturday 15th April, 2017. I had a terrible cold and a slight hangover (the results of two consecutive nights out - it was Easter weekend) when the phone rang. It was the site secretary from an allotment I'd never even heard of.

Well, one I'd forgotten I'd ever heard of. I'd put my name down on the waiting list, so I must have seen the name of the site at least once. They had an allotment up for grabs, and did I want it? In my excitement, I agreed to meet the secretary at the site in a couple of hours. It was only after I hung up that I realised I had no idea where the allotments were.

After Google-mapping the allotments and discovering they were about a 10-minute drive from our house, we set off to view our plot. I'd never been on an allotment before so had no idea what to expect. If pressed, however, I probably would have told you I'd expect to find a slightly overgrown plot with a rickety shed and possibly a little greenhouse.

What we found instead was a scruffy wasteland with a smashed greenhouse at one end, lots and lots of rotting wood, and absolutely no signs a shed had ever stood there. It did have a cherry tree, which was in full blossom, and several other trees we couldn't identify.

Our cherry tree in full blossom

Not gonna lie - the cherry tree was a big selling point!

Needless to say, we took the site, and were handed the keys to the gate. It all seemed so quick and easy!

Of course, this was before we discovered the dreaded mare's tail...