BRINGING THE ALLOTMENT HOME

First published Wednesday 19th July 2017

THIS IS ONLY MY SECOND POST ....and just like the first time I stood in my winter garden (post plum tree), and wondering where on earth I was going to start… I am now finding this task just as daunting! Well I guess there really is only one place to start and that is the very beginning. 

I remember pacing out the garden trying to get a rough idea of its dimensions, thinking I needed a plan, but having absolutely no Idea what that might be. I needed to factor in some permanent features, like my summerhouse tucked up in the top left-hand corner and my polytunnel, which I had recently brought home from the lottie and installed close to the house.

LISTING MY MUST HAVES!

I knew that I wanted a fruit cage and I needed some paths. I also had to consider the aspect, so where did the sun rise and set? One other consideration, (and this was the trickiest bit), was it needed to look attractive. After all this was my garden, and from now on, I would be looking out at it every day!!

It was such a frustrating process, with numerous discarded ideas scattered around the waste paper bin and copious cups of coffee, I finally came up with this!

DIGGING UP THE LAWN

The only way I could deal with this was to dig small areas at a time, filling my green wheelie bin with turfs until it was almost too heavy to tilt and move! Blimey, this was hard work and I can tell you it took me months to dispose of!

On bin days, I would hide behind my blinds watching to see if the bin men could even move my wheelie bin let alone offer it up to mechanism on the back of the truck, to empty it!!!  The sense of accomplishment I felt each time they were successful, would always leave me feeling very naughty, but considerably smug too!

THE FIRST CUT IS THE DEEPEST

I tried to mirror my plan as closely as I could and with each area that I managed to clear, would then allow me to mark out another bed or edge a new path. 

I created a focal point using my bird bath and shifted wheelbarrow loads of gravel! It was slow going to begin with as the days were short and I had to fit all this around my shift work, but by mid July 2015, I actually had my first crops in and they were thriving!

Finally, by early August 2015 it looked like this.......