Horse Power

We took on our new allotment exactly one month ago. As time marches on, we are happy in the knowledge that with each and every visit we make, it’s transforming into an exciting plot full of potential.

Transformation

Last Saturday, for the second week running, my gorgeous best friend, being the lovely human being that she is, delivered us around a tonne or so of well-rotted, 5-year-old horse manure, fresh from her stables. I thought and desperately hoped that it would be enough to finish all the beds but I was to be disappointed. I can already here my back screaming “Noooooooooo” at the thought of more sacks of manure but, as they say, ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ ….. (pun intended).

Black Gold

With all the manure we have also adopted thousands of worms which are incredibly good for the soil and will hopefully make our beds even more healthy and productive. They’ll also keep the local songbirds and hedgehogs well fed.

We lifted 80 bags at approximately 25kg each!

After the muck came the bark-chip, which is free at the site, so we improved the paths around our beds with it. Whilst we were there we took advantage of some wooden crates that had been left in the public carpark for allotmenteers, claimed them as our own and started to plan our compost heaps.

The new compost bins

We also decided that the shed needed a damn good clean out, so we emptied it completely and gave it a good going over. We found tools from the previous allotment holder, old seed packets, coats and lots of plastic pots. We salvaged what we wanted to keep, arranged the interior to be more user friendly and now the shed is ready for a new felt roof and a lick of paint.

We will have order

We bought so many packets of seeds last weekend, more have been delivered after online shopping and a few are still on order, including some very exciting and unusual varieties which I am excited to share with you all soon. The potatoes are chitting, onions and garlic will go in soon. They’re currently starting off in trays, and the plot will soon start working towards its full potential.

Red onion ‘Red Baron’ and white onion ‘Turbo’

This is all so exciting …. I can’t wait to share the seeds and exotic veg and flowers we’re going to grow. The dahlias alone have got me salivating (surprise, surprise).

Happy Gardening One and All.

The Beau.

The beds are looking ‘Beau’-tiful…