Today was my first allotment day of this year. The sun was out, it was dry but cold. Perfect digging weather.

I must admit I had allotment anxiety as my last year attendance at the plot was a bit erratic due to a combination of a knee injury and work. I geared myself up to expect the worst after the snow and ice and neglect this winter so was quite happy to see things were not too bad when I arrived. My original plot design was a good one. My plot is set up as raised beds. Being time poor, this helps me pace my routine gardening.. a square metre at a time. It also avoid me walking on the soil, which helps it stay friable.

This is what met me when I arrived:

Veg End

Fruit End

The Worst Bed

One end of the plot is vegetables, the other end is fruit. The fruit end needs the most attention and the veg end needed the most digging and weeding.

There was a little bit of winter damage.. one of the raspberry supports had broken as its base…. and the paths need weeding and more chipped bark coverage.. but all achievable over the next few weeks.

Today I weeded and dug over nine beds.. 14m2 in all. This was only three hours work but really broke the back of the bed preparation. I have 3 3m beds that were covered in weed membrane for the winter, but I’m leaving that in place as the black cover will absorb the heat and warm the soil.

The After Shot:

All Dug!

Including the Worst One!

I received a recognition bonus last year.. and I selected garden vouchers that arrived today. I needed a few bits so I went to the garden centre. Some twine, some new secateurs and seaweed fertiliser. I also found a lovely book that I treated my self too. It’s part of the River Cottage series and its called Veg Patch by Mark Diacono. The writing style is very good, the lay out is easy to navigate and it is a neat book. However, I am going to have to go to the opticians, as I found the print quite small!!!

I now have the self righteous ache of good gardening.. and feel eager to get back to continue the clear up. There is the Wells farmers market tomorrow, and I hope they will have some interesting plants… we will see.