A bit of History.
26th May 2014
It's turning out to be a rather wet day so very little can be done down the allotment. I have been looking at what few photos I have of my allotment. Silly really as I've two really good cameras but I tend to forget to take them with me when I go. Instead most of them are rather poor shots taken with my rather old phone.
This photo from Feb. 2008 seems to be the earliest I have, yet I must have been working the plot for a couple of years by then.
The next picture I can find is in 2011. I'd actually forgotten how crowded the plot had become. It was a combination of the fact that I had retired and was struggling to find room to plant everything that I decided to take on another plot. There was a very long narrow plot alongside mine, it had never been successful and was a source of annoyance as year after year it changed hands and was allowed to get overgrown. Overshadowed by a huge oak tree it was never going to be an easy plot to work but I like a challenge so I took it on.
At the time I didn't realise that main problem the plot had was very shallow soil and very quickly I discovered the reasons so many others had failed to get to grips with it.
I am actually quite annoyed with myself because I have no record of what my second plot originally looked like prior to me taking it on. I adopted it part way through the summer of 2010 so the local authority were not in a position to rotovate it. The weeds were nearly three feet high in places and there was a lot of rubbish left from it's previous owner. To give you some idea of the task I had taken on I actually discovered a wheel barrow beneath a pile of compost and rubbish.
This photo is also taken in 2011 and I had finally decided the only way I was going to be able to grow successfully was by setting up raised beds. At first I was a bit daunted because I realised I was going to need to make a lot of large beds and that was going to need a lot of wood. Spending money on wood seemed to be a bit foolish, I know it's my hobby but I do like to think I'm also saving money by growing my own fruit and vegetables. Freecycle came to the rescue and with the help of my husband we managed to source a rather large supply of old decking.
The plot slowly started to take shape. Of course I made loads of mistakes some of which I've decided are too much trouble to change. I wished I'd left more space for the manure at one end of the plot and some of the beds could have been in a better position. I wished I'd planted the blackberry bushes in a different place and I realise the raspberry canes would have caused less trouble if they had been at the other end of the plot. The beds have been thrown together rather than constructed carefully, but they work and for me that is all that matters. I know planning is important but I'm here for the gardening. On the other hand it is all my own work and I now know how to use a saw.
The space directly under the oak tree was never going to be that productive so I treated myself to a brand new shed. A bit decadent considering I already had one, however I wanted somewhere were I could brew up and get out of the weather in the winter. It has been a god send and I wouldn't be without it. The other investment was the weed suppressant membrane. Another mistake as I should have put this down before I constructed the beds. It was an after thought when I realised how difficult it was going to be to keep the paths weed free. It also makes it a lot easier to work the plot in wet weather. Earlier this year I was working this plot weeks before I could get onto the old one.
The latest addition to my plots is the small polytunnel. I made it from a cheap cover I found on Ebay. I used six scaffolding poles (courtesy of a fellow gardener) and some large plastic water pipe (a 99p bargain from Ebay) to construct the frame. I managed to grow quite a bit in there last year, including a sweet potato plant. It did take a battering in the storms during the winter but I am quite pleased that it is still standing. It is a bit of an experiment.
