My luxury shed.

                         

My shed may not look like much, but that's just how I like it. There are two parts to it, a door for each one and only one has a basic lock. If I had a nice new shed with a sturdy lock, then it could imply that I've got something worth taking. I don't, but nobody needs to know either way. When I first got my plot, the shed came with it and was lavishly tooled with the basics, spade, fork, trowel and a push along lawn mower, but the mower only works if the grass is fairly short to start with, once it gets a bit too long, the grass just jams up the gears and just doesn't go any more. I've always kept my Wellington boots in the allotment shed, but the after the first winter, the mice had made some nice little holes in them for me. Now, they are kept in one of my girls old plastic toy boxes with a lid. Let see the little buggers get through that.

As you may have read before, a pair of robins had made their nest on the small shelf I have. It was quite nice to have the robins there nesting, chirping away every time I went in the shed, just wish they hadn't built their nest on my new gloves, the rain had kept me way long enough to make a good job of it. There were three eggs that hatched and no sign that any chick was left behind, so I'd like to think that all three made it out safe and well.

The best thing about having two doors is that they are at right angles from each other, one opens right to left and the other left to right, and if I open them both, I've got myself a little cubical, just in case nature calls. Otherwise I just keep my cut off fizz bottles and netting in the other shed, basically stuff I don't mind if it went missing. 

The shed needs a bit of work, the roof needs fixing and re-felting, some of the walls need holes patching up and I need to tidy it all up, but otherwise it suits me down to the grown. Till next time and thanks for reading. 

My Plot.

When I first took on my plot, it already had, besides 3 foot tall grass, a small grape vine, plum trees, raspberries and blackberries. Although now I can't tell the raspberries from the blackberries. After cutting the grass down to lawn height, I dug out 6 squares and had lawn paths around them. This was all well and good if I keep on top of cutting the grass. The idea was to crop rotate each year which is working for me for the simple reason that I don't know about testing the soil or what to put in the soil before or after certain crops. As for the grass, with last years rain, it's just taken over. So I'm collecting as many slabs as I can and have them in it's place. From the back to the front of my plot I have my shed. Luckily for me it came with a few basic tools, fork and spade etc. Next I have brambles which I had cut down with the intention of controlling them. But they have come back like some sort of bramble hydra. Well at least we can have blackberry crumble and jam and lord knows what else. Backing on to the brambles are the plum trees, yellow plums to be exact. But even they are running wild. The raspberries seem to be following suit and if I could get to them I'd be happier. Then comes my 6 squares. 2 rows, 3 deep. Or is it 3 rows, 2 deep. Either way, they are roughly 2 meter squared. Along the side of my squares I have my strawberry patch, which this year, even with the weeds around it, I've done quite well. I'm not talking punnetts full. Just enough to keep my daughter happy munching away on a hand full every other time she comes with me. Finally, at the front, I have my grapes. Not really had much to do with them. One year I picked them and gave them to my mother-in-law to make wine, but that's it. And that's my plot for now. Till next time and thanks for reading.

A Short Introduction.

I'm starting this blog to remind myself what I've done and when. I don't go to the allotment as often as I like. Work and weather do get in the way. Who could forget the summer of 2012. Did very well for grass and weeds last year. As my name suggests, I am clueless. I know the basics, put stuff in the ground, water it and in a few months dig it up or pick it off. Having said that, I have picked up a little knowledge, the hard way. Nobody told me you should wait until the end of April to avoid the ground frost at night. We had no sweetcorn that year. 40 plants lost the next day after planting out. But the following year was much better. I'd cut the bottoms off 2ltr fizz bottles, put them over the seedlings and waited till May to remove them. That did work. I've yet to repeat that success, greenhouse issues. But that's another story.