In April, realsing that is was going to take many hours to really get going on the allotment, I decided to take a week off and go for it. Hired a big Passat Estate (dad car) and set to work on digging up more of the allotment and setting out some beds. Also managed to time the week well with the arrival at the allotment site of lots of new wood chip. The council leave the woodchip for free and its great for marking out paths.
Managed to plant some peas, runner beans and sweet corn.
Last Tuesday a Ton of fresh organic top soil arrived from my friends at Dandies Soil, I was out so it was delivered into the parking space in the front of the house, 2 weeks of rain meant it was going nowhere fast. Finally on Sunday me and Matt managed to get it into the Van, and took it to the allotment. Plan A was to wheel barrow the 40 X 25 Kilo bags over the field. That proved far too taxing and we switched to plan B : Throw them over the fence.
My arms are feeling it today, but it must have saved us 2 hours. The Ton I orders (the amount chosen by the fact it sounds like a lot) managed to fill 2 of the raised beds. Still need to figure out how to fill the other 2. Needless to say I don’t plan on repeating the soil journey.
We also planted an Apple tree and some blackberries, whilst digging the whole for these and clearing some more bramble weeds, we found a marvelous array of goodies, including a Bra and Syringe and a Shoe, that must have been one wild night!
Last Saturday, armed with a Petrol Driven Generator, A Circular Saw, 20 Large planks of wood, 2 electric drills and 4 friends, project allotment got underway.
An early trip to B&Q to get the wood was followed by a cheeky stop at Greggs to get the pies and on to the allotment we went, the wood awesomely fitted through the fence, everything else went over, and only the heavy generator had to be walked around to long way.
step 1 : cleared earth of any large brambles still lurking under the soil, flattened the parameter and then laid out the agricultural cloth.
Step 2: Layout the wood in the initial shape, and hammer in the corner posts.
Step 3: attempt to screw the side panels to the post. Fail. then drive quickly to Wickes and get some nails after following the advice of Kasper the Estonian shoemaker.
Step 4 : Watch the aforementioned Shoemaker hammer 4 inch nails in 3 taps, He is now on nail 10 whilst i’m just finishing my first.
Step 5: complete the whole bed, and repeat 4 times
Step 6 : go to pub for much needed beer.
Great work Team! I now have a tonne of earth sitting outside my house, after it was delivered on Tuesday, looks like a little job for this weekend
I was looking around for some info on how to best build a raised vegetable bed, and a quick search on You tube turned up these videos.
This one has the be the most perfect raised bed allotment in the world.
When it comes to constructing a raised bed, this video was the most instructive when looking at what you need to consider.
This will be the guide for the lads when it comes to make them. Bring it on
Not having enough space to grown more vegetables has been my ongoing problem for the last few years. So when I received the call last month informing me that there is now an allotment site available for me, it was a dream come true. 18 months on the waiting list had not dampened my desire, and I went down to the site the following week to see what I’m dealing with.
The site is the other side of the borough and has recently been cleared of brambles so the location and soil are not perfect, but my own 5 rods of land for £52 a year cannot be argued with.
5 rods (for those who dont know) is 125 square metres, half the original allocation given to allotment holders, but much more manageable for first time allotment growers. And having seen the size of my five rods, I’m happy not to have 10 to contend with.
Given the quality of the soil I’m looking to do some raised veg beds with new topsoil, to save me digging up the whole plot.
Mid Feb looks like the kick off point, looking to get a few of the guys down to help. Have purchased a rake and a fork, have been lent a wheel barrow (thanks D for that one) and am looking to borrow a generator, so that I can saw and drill the raised beds onsite. ( not to mention the tea for the troops).
