week 2.

Last week seems so far away. This week we've made good progress.
One night (I can't remember which) we went down after work and Luke finished the large square bed while I did some general tidying. Our rake arrived so we were finally able to rake both beds and put down some fertilizer. I also began work on another small rectangle bed. It was very overgrown with grass and weeds, so I was basically ripping that up before I was going to start digging. To be honest, it was cold and dark and I wasn't too keen on being there, so thankfully the clocks have changed now and it will be lighter in the evenings.
On Saturday we raked the beds again and finally laid the stones in the large square bed.

On Saturday we double dug the rectangle bed that I had more or less weeded during the week. It was a very long and arduous task: we've calculated that we shifted 2.2 tonnes of soil out of the bed and then back in.

We were pretty exhausted by the end of that, but very pleased that the soil is well and truly dug over and good for planting.
On Sunday we didn't get down during the day to do any more digging, which was quite a relief really because we were sore and tired from the previous day. In the evening we decided to have our first bbq at the allotment and had 3 of our friends round for the occasion.

This week we aim to start planting, but we're still undecided about what should actually go where.
Our tomato seeds have sprouted on the window sill and will be planted in another 2 weeks, hopefully.
We've had our potato seeds sitting beside them so they should also be going into the ground later this week.

One guy we've met at the allotment is very pleased with our progress and has been giving us lots of advice which is nice. Actually, there's a few people we've been speaking too and they've all been very nice and helpful. My dad's also been very kind in sending us lots of nice things for the place and this week we should be getting a table and a better bbq.

It's all going very well and hopefully by next week we'll have some more things planted.
Rachael.

Our first weekend.

On Thursday 15th March 2012 Luke signed the paper work and we officially began our allotment journey. We paid a bit extra for a plot that already has raised beds, a gate, a shed and compost bins, along with a few other odds and ends and a lot of weeds.

From the gate:

From the shed:

As you can see it's all a bit overgrown. There's 11 beds (3 big square ones, 1 long rectangle and 7 'regular' rectangles). There's also 2 smaller climber beds. We're not planning on using all in the first year.
So far we're planning on:
1 regular rectangle bed for strawberries and rhubarb. This was weeded and dug over this weekend. It was full of potatoes, so we harvested 8.5kg of potatoes on our first day!
1 square bed for root veg, also weeded and 3/4 dug over.
1 regular rectangle bed for herbs.
1 regular rectangle bed for lettuce, spinach and garlic.

1 climber bed for raspberries, weeded, dug over and 2 raspberry plants planted this weekend.
1 climber for beans or peas, weeded and dug over this weekend.

1 grow bag for tomatoes.

There is also 1 regular rectangle bed with celeric and beetroot growing, we haven't really decided what to do with this yet. The beetroot looks very small. We dug up some celeric tonight. It was our first time eating it and it was pretty nice. 

Our plan is start planting next weekend and dig the next 2 beds. 

Tomato seeds have been planted in our house and will be moved to grow bags in a few weeks.

Our compost bins were 75% full when we arrived and are now full. We've dug a big hole in a bed we're not using and putting weeds etc in there. We'll then cover it over in a week or two and leave it to compost. 

Our other plans for the allotment in the future include ripping up the black sheeting on the floor, planting grass and laying stepping stones. 

We're going to get a bbq & chairs at some point too and sort out a seating area.

Rachael.