Plot 16, Plot 36 and the beginnings of a plan..

Being an absolute total novice allotment-er the thought of taking on a derelict plot was really very daunting. I did a lot of reading of websites and blogs yesterday about methods of clearing and overgrown allotment and it was very reassuring to have come up with a plan of action to strip back the brambles, simply cover the whole plot with tarpaulin and then work at digging it over just a small piece at a time. To the left is a pic of how Plot 16 looks right now. We arrived bright and early, about 9 this morning, to get the ball rolling and had some unexpected and fabulous news. Another plot had become available, plot 36, would I like to see it? Yep yep yep

And here she is, Plot 36, an infinitely less daunting prospect than Plot 16 . This plot includes a sweet little shed with some hand me down tools inside, perfect, and as you can imagine I jumped at the chance!

I spent a couple of hours there today cutting back brambles and some of the bigger weeds and found my first edible plant, this small crown of rhubarb. It will be a while before I can imagine having cleared enough space or raised any veg plants from seed that are ready for planting out. This year I would like to try to grow some potatoes, purple broccoli, kohl rabi, leeks and fast growing snack sized carrots alongside the heritage tomatoes that I saved seeds from last year.

I've also been doing a little research on complimentary planting and stumbled across this useful chart.

My lovely chum Kat gave me a heads up about a great Tesco clubcard deal, £5 worth of clubcard vouchers for £15 worth of  goodies from Thompson and Morgan (linky to the deal page). I want to try see if I can interest my kiddies in growing things and also I want to try to encourage beneficial insects in to my new allotment so there will be quite a bit of focus on pretty flowers including the planting up of a wheelbarrow with my daughter. The vouchers mean that she can have the flowers she would like for her first allotment project as plug plants rather than to grow them from seed (which would seem like forever to a 4 year old) and I can choose companion plants for my veg guilt free.

Jolene xx

Plot 16? I must be off my rocker.....

Last summer, very enthusiastic from having grown my first ever tomatoes right from seed and even harvesting seeds for this year from my own crop, I applied to go on the waiting list for a local allotment. I got a call out of the blue last week to ask was I still interested and could I come along at the weekend for a look at the plot? Yep yep yep.

Sooooooo I went to look this morning, expecting to see a pretty overgrown plot, I was not disappointed.  This particular space has not been cultivated in at least 2 years and even has saplings growing there. There is a compost bin though which made my Daughter very happy (thank you Mr.Bloom). There are also brambles that are as high as my waist in many places. It'll take quite a bit of graft to get Plot 16 cleared and ready for any sort of planting but I'm so up for the challenge, despite the fact I am a complete novice gardener, know almost nothing about growing veg and will be learning on the fly as it were.

I will be heading back there tomorrow after breakfast to make a start on clearing some of the brambles, and right now I'm off to surf the web for all the helpful advice I can find!

Have a great weekend, Jolene x