Starting

I went to the allotment today to drop off some tools and a large quantity of cardboard that was left over from our non-house move (long story!) last year. I put some hooks up in the shed, hung up some trugs and a pair of scissors, and squeezed the padlock onto the shed door, which is just about off its hinges anyway.


I found a couple of rhubarb plants hiding in the couch grass, so unchoked them a bit and will do a better job at the weekend.

There was no one else about at all this afternoon. When I got there a jay was being chased away from a nest by a couple of blackbirds. It was amazingly quiet despite being only about 50m away from a really busy road.

I've started a pile of 'useful stuff' by the shed - bricks and odd bits of rubble to hold down the plastic sheeting, and some wire frames I found stuffed by the compost heaps.

On close examination past custodians of the plot have created five beds about 3m x 1m, edged with old roofing tiles. The neighbouring plot which looks great is laid out in the exactly the same way, so they were obviously a single plot at one time. This gives me a great head start as I can work on one bed at a time whilst leaving the others to rot down. My plan is to dig out as much of the couch grass as possible in bed one, then cover with cardboard, straw and then weed suppressing textile, and plant some maincrop potatoes through the textile. The main job for this year will be to clear the paths and get them up to scratch.