Plot Progress

I haven’t spent as much time as I’d like at plot 33 lately. Storm Callum and life pulling me in different directions are to blame, but when I have visited I’ve made the very most of my time there by continuing to dig over the new growing areas and enriching the soil with rotted manure. It’s hard to explain how satisfying it is to stand back and admire dark worked soil, yes I really did just say that and it’s true.. well it is for me anyway!

I can see my badly drawn plan I have on paper beginning to take shape at the allotment, so much work has gone into getting it ready for spring 2019 and I’m super excited about it. There’s a couple of unfinished projects to get on with over the coming months until winter weather arrives, I might get lucky and get them done before that happens but they can wait until spring if need be. My plot is on the small side compared to most half plots I see on platforms such as Instagram and other blogs but I’m squeezing in as much as I possibly can!

The soft fruit patch has been extended by adding 3 blackcurrant bushes alongside the rhubarb, I also plan to add a strawberry bed near the shed using runners from my strawberries at home in the garden. I spent a couple of hours yesterday potting up the baby strawberry plants to overwinter in the greenhouse, the strawberry bed is still very much a plan on paper at the moment so I’m not ready for them just yet. The lonely gooseberry bush I inherited with the plot has been relocated to a better position, previously it was growing in the middle of the lawn near the shed but this area is now a pathway.

The plot is looking very autumnal at the moment, the trees behind my shed are putting on a beautiful display of red and gold. Soon they’ll be bare and the houses behind the allotment site will be visible once more. The central grass path I laid recently is growing well, a thick carpet of grass is so much nicer to walk on than slippery mud!

The old trough is still providing late little harvests of radish, also pak choi which I’m so happy about because I usually fail miserably at growing it. It’s so delicious in veggie stir fries and even more so now I’ve grown my own. I think a combination of growing it later on in the year as the weather cools and being in a trough high up away from slugs is the key to my success, I’ll certainly try this way again next year.