Day 29 - being prepared, preparing to be prepared and dig

The sun was out, which this time of year means it was chilly, but you can cope with chilly for a few rays of sunshine and the clear blue skies.

We await some more raspberry canes, so our lass has started the preparations, digging over, and putting down some wood so we can pick our crop hopefully. Also a running repair on next doors fence with the use of a slab.

Also a little weeding now that the strawberries have become established

Before

After

Hopefully this time the planner won't be spoilt by the damp.

The onions are coming on nicely

Will the above experiment come to anything, more shoots are coming through, are they tomatoes? Will they last until next year? Time will tell.

Day 27 - Planting bulbs and a little tidying

 Exactly what it says in the header, bulbs in ready for next year, and we both had the idea at the same time, where as the old kitchen surface does a great job of blocking out next doors compost heap it is not that tidy, so some membrane our lass had kept made for a perfect cover.

Bulbs and a trusty dibber

Before

After, although I hadn't swept the grass.......

Day 25 - Our lass tinkers, I stinkers.

We are, bit by bit moulding the allotment to how we would like it to be. Today as the header suggests doing two differing jobs, I had a dream about sorting the compost bins. Maybe not one of the most conventional dreams, but when we got to the allotment there had been a fresh, and I mean fresh (it was steaming) delivery of horse manure. So ten trips up and down the hill if not more, the compost bins are now full and it should help with breaking everything down, as well as having our very own well rotted manure. (No photos of this, as who wants to see horse muck, just imagine)

Our lass however was getting on with sorting an area out for the sunny days, where we can sit out, and who knows, if life returns to normal, have the grandkids round. You will see from the series of photographs below, firstly how it looks now, and as you look further down, what it had been altered from, we are still mid process. We await a rose, bulbs to plant, soil to put in as well as fresh bark chippings to lay. But you can more than see the overall aim. 

Todays work from our lass

Before

Before that

How it looked in the beginning on the left hand side.

Day 23 - preparing to be prepared

Obviously, everything you do happens in the present, yet when working an allotment everything done is for the future. In the times we are in at present, planning for a better future might come as a relief.

We are both itching to grow, yet to grow you do have to prepare, the soil is quite clayey, so our lass has added grit, and dug over where the paths were for the frost to get to the soil, we should be getting some compost in the week, add more grit to the compost and place that in the last bed and around the edges in preparation of the raspberry canes.

Our final preparational work of the day is for the section by our neighbours fence, we had moved an old compost bin, fencing and triple layered carpet, only for our neighbour to put an open compost bin by the fence. Luckily we hadn't started on that section, so where as we was going to put an arch, we have used the side of the old compost bin to block this part of the fence, and as we have an abundance of membrane, used that as a screen. For the moment we have left the fake grass down, but it gives us an idea of the effect. Seating area with soil to plant around the edging, we await a bare root rose which will grow to cover the area. Bulbs and other flowers along the pallet fence, and our lasses experimental bottles stayed in place, so have been filled with a bargain find of 10 pence violas. 

Also don't forget the birds, with a bird feeder for the tree.

Our lass having gritted the beds, hoping to help with the drainage

Never ending supply of previous tenants bits n bobs to dispose of, and of course carpet

Before

Just Before

After

Experiment working, they have stayed in place now filled with bargain flowers 10 pence violas

Looking after the birds

Pretty flowers

Day 15 - Pond Life and more digging.

Our lass had bought a pond when we still had the half allotment, but for sometime it had spent its days in the garage and then our new shed on the new full size allotment, Today was to be it's day for being put into place, with nearly every choice, and our lass makes the choices, I make suggestions. It can take a eureka moment to go, "that's the location" or "this is what we will do." The pond was no different, Our lass had deliberated with differing locations, but this had been the same for the compost bins, and now everything is slotting into place. You have the before and after photographs, but this was not all, whilst I dug for the pond, our lass dug in front of the new compost bins ready for the new fruit section. Plans are in place, potatoes down one side, with vegetables in the other side, and they will be rotated each year, fruit along the edges and around the compost, and flowers anywhere else we can put them. The pond area under the apple trees will have wild flowers which our lass has since sown. 

After

Before

Before

After

Day 13 Carpet clearance day

After a very busy day 12, we returned to light but still significant news. It was carpet clearance day, now I do have photographic proof, but that photograph has our number plate on it, so as I don't have the skills to blur the photograph, you will just have to imagine a car filled with carpet, it has been one of several trips made to the tip, and we still have quite a bit more to go. I did however take the photograph of down the allotment. So another before and after is due.

Differing Paths - Before and After

This is our lasses finest work, I moved the slabs about, but when it came to laying the slabs our lass sorted things. It is a fantastic transformation I feel. But also shows how the allotment has changed as well. Not bad in only 12 days on the allotment.

* It has been brought to my attention that where I said "Our lass sorted things" What I meant to write was "Our Lass laid each slab, whilst preparing the ground and ensuring it was level" 

Our lass did a grand job.

Greenhouse - Before and After

As I look through the emails I have sent, there are some striking before and afters. So will post the contrasts periodically throughout. Here is the first one. First photograph on an angle doesn't quite show all what had been growing on the right hand side.

Day 9, We started and we will finish

I had been sending photographs to our lass each day, and the header of this blogpost was the header used for my email to her. It seemed a day where we had started different jobs but not actually finished any one of those jobs. Our allotment we believe was owned by someone called "Frank" (In reference to a local carpet shop called Franks) a running joke due to the amount of carpet, carpet underlay and in this case artificial grass. This had annoyed our lass for quite a while so wanted to know what was underneath, as it was getting treacherous under foot, and to simply get it sorted. I tackled the greenhouse as this was going to be my domain, somewhere to grow our lass tomatoes as well as other vegetables/fruits which needed protection, You will see from the before, it needed some attention as well as the removal of quite a bit of carpet!

Day 6 at the allotment

Today had various jobs, One is where we softened the look of the compost bin, with lavender and a pot of pansies, Our lass moved up the strawberry runners from the old half plot and starting to clear the back corner under the apple trees.

Strawberry bed being prepared

Compost bin softened

Corner before

Corner on its way to being transformed.

Day 4 Compost Day,

When taking on an allotment, one of the first things they tell you to sort is a compost bin, (The very first job is to take lots of photographs) at the time that we took on the allotment, there were three differing bins spread around the allotment, One of which was right near where we wanted to sit out in the sun. So today, was going to be the removal of the last crime scene and placing of our first compost bin, as you can see moving the big one in front of the green house to it's new location. Also idea evolve, we have gone from having three bins in a row along side the green house, to having them to along the fence, to have we have it now and how you will see in the future. But this is what we have done on day 4.

Jobs done on day 1

Our lass is a tour de force when it comes to digging, and all I ever seemed to want to do is clean up, so it is no wonder that the first photograph of before and after, is of two beds our lass has dug over, to try and attack the bind weed, and me having swept up the slate, which for some reason is randomanly scattered on the path way.