A rest from the Rat Race.

Ok, so I'm not a city banker, I'm not a stock market broker, I don't even work in an office of any kind, but even us factory boys and girls are allowed to be stressed by life in general. What have I been stressed about? Car trouble. It seems to be a domino effect of problems. Time spent trying to sort the car out has lost me precious time at the allotment. It wouldn't be so bad if the weather played a part in obstructing me, but it had been fine weather for pottering on the plot. The car is still not sorted, I think it will be a case of cutting our losses. That was the conclusion this morning and with that I planned to take it out on the weeds today.

I was given as a gift a new incinerator bin, the old one has seen better days, so I tried again to burn the bramble branches and some dried out couch grass roots. I spent at least three hours just braking up the driest branches and dropping them in the bin, but to look at the pile still left you wouldn't believe it. At least there is a bit less to do next time. I have untill July to carry on burning. After that we are not allowed for three months. 

To give myself a break from the smoke in my eyes, I set about digging out the last part of the old grass path. It's fair to say that if there was a category for 'Best in show' dandelions, either longest, heaviest or funniest shape, then with the ones I've just dug up in this small stretch and all the others I've dug up these last few months then I could be in with a shot for first prize. I'm sure you all may have a good shout for the prize, but just for a moment let me bask in the glory of my fantasy.

I've just had a look at the weather report for the weekend and it ain't looking too bad for another visit. I'm hoping to make a start on my 'Garden Connect' 6x2 patch, eagerly waiting to find out what I'm going to grow. Well till next time and thanks for reading.

The shape of things to come.

It's seems to be quite hard to get to the allotment these last few months, and if you consider we are half way through winter and no sign of snow yet, you may be wondering what my excuses are. Christmas and all the preparations for the day have taken most of my time, when I do have time it has been the wind and rain that has kept me away. When I do have the weather on my side, it's the lack of daylight hours that forces me home. I only managed just over an hour today and that was with the cold wind and the occasional five minutes of rain bursts before it got dark and had to go home. On the upside, the days are starting to get longer and with that Spring shouldn't be too far behind. The only downside to the mild and wet Winter we have had in these parts is that the bug's and pests will have survived and the weeds have carried on growing.

So what did I manage to do today? I put more slabs down. My six sections are now starting to take shape ready for my crop rotation. I am finding that having all different size slabs means that when I getting to the end of a row, I find myself looking for a slab that is the right size. I still need to do a bit more scavenging to complete my paths, but I'm starting to get an idea of what it's going to look like.

I mentioned before the holidays that I am going to be involved in a transatlantic project. It's called 'Garden Connect' and the idea is very simple. Gardeners from around the world have a 6×2 foot plot and we all grow the same plants comparing the progress and the results throughout the year, good or bad. It's all the idea of Matt Hiemstra, a young gardener from Canada. He is also a blogger and I hope you get a chance to read his blog and see how things progress with his, mine are all the other participants. It would be great if you wanted to take part.Here is a link to Matt's blog with all the information I think you'll need. http://hiemstragardens.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/garden-connect-identical-gardens-across-the-globe.html

Happy New Year, till next time and thanks for reading.

Working off the Christmas turkey at the Gym.

We're still in December, but I'm determined to be healthy and fit in 2014. The gym is only a short walk for me, so I'm starting my exercise the moment I leave the house. The facilities are basic, but are there if you need them. The changing room, loosely called. The toilet, rustic to say the least. The showers, very popular in April. I must say my back can really feel it after today's cardio workout. I am of course talking about my allotment plot. Me in a gym? Wash you mouth out, I say.

So where to begin. That was exactly my thought when I got to my plot. I still have the grass paths to dig up and I had heaps of grass clumps dotted around the plot which I really needed to move. While I was putting on my wellies, I could see that at the side of the shed I have a lot of space that I don't use. It's all covered by trees and bushes, so I thought it would be an ideal place to put the clumps of grass and while I was at it, I could put the compost bin there also. The first thing to do was to clear a way in. If you've read some of my older posts, you'll know I've been cutting the brambles back. Well I haven't got rid of the branches yet. Do I add to the pile or start burning them? I started to burn them, but it's still too damp, so, adding to the pile it is. It wasn't too bad actually, I didn't need to cut too much away. I also found out where the awful smell was coming from last year. I found what was left of a dead fox. Poor thing, the only thing to do was to bury the fox under the clumps of grass. I was surprised that it was only two wheelbarrows full. I did have a flat tyre on the wheelbarrow, but not to worry, it was only at the bottom of the wheel. As ever, the robins kept me company while I was working today.

I did get rid of one section of the grass path and I'm so glad that I am because the dandelion roots were huge. I managed to fill a bag full. If only I could do something with them, I'd let them carry on growing. I did check on the onions but with no intention of mentioning them in this post, but when I saw one Red onion shoot coming up, I knew that I had to. And here it is. Happy New Year, till next time and thanks for reading.

The Rent is paid for another year.

I've paid my rent for the year today, so, unfortunately you've got my blog to read for at least another year. There has been a bit of a price hike. Last year we paid £21, this it's gone up by a whopping 25p and that's for 300 square yards. Personally I think that's really good value. I don't think you can get gym membership for that money per month let alone the whole year. It's a council run site, and in my opinion, it's run quite well. I've have no real issues there and there is never a shortage of people giving you advice to help you out.

After having a mince pie and paying up, I made my way to my plot. With the little time I had, I dug  up the last of the parsnips, carried on digging out the old grass path and laid more of the slabs. It was a bit boggy today, but the grass and dandelion still came up very easy. I don't know how it is with other peoples plots either in the U.K. or anywhere else in the world, but I'm always digging up some weird and wonderful stuff. Glass, pottery and clay smoking pipes, all broken mind. I've even found a small toy car. Because I'm digging up the path that hasn't been disturbed for what must be decades, so I've come up with more than usual. I keep most of what I find. My neighbour joked I should try and put the pottery back together. Here are just some of what I've found along this stretch along with some of the other things I've collected. Merry Christmas, till next time and thanks for reading.

2nd Class delivery for Mr. the Plot.

OK, so I didn't show my face at the allotment like I hoped I would according to my last post, and to top it off, I haven't made it for the last two weeks either. The small matter of Christmas coming ever so close has kept me away. I'm either out shopping for Christmas presents, or working extra hours to pay for it all. So something's gotta give. Unfortunately, it's the allotment.

Today I managed to make another double delivery to my plot. Why 2nd Class? It took so bloody long. Eight more slabs are at the allotment now. I did put one in place, but the rest will have to wait until I've dug some more or worked out where my paths across will go. Because I want to have six equal squares for crop rotation, I can't just put them where the old grass paths were, because they weren't quite equal and to give each year the same chance of growing the same amount, rather than having, for example, too many carrots one year then the next hardly any. And if you've read my carrot post from September, then you'll know I could never grow too many carrots.

My Japanese White onions are still growing well. Don't want to count my chickens, but I'm hoping for a nice bumper come spring. While I was there, I did notice that I hadn't managed to get rid of all the couch grass as some blades of grass have started to rear their ugly heads. Luckily at this time of year they are on a grow slow, so they should be quite easy to dig up. If I managed to clear as much as I did a few months ago, then I'm not going to be too worried about a few blades of grass. Now at the risk of repeating the end of my last post, I am hoping to make it back to the allotment, at least before Christmas Day, as I've kept the last of my parsnips in the soil so I can dig them up for our Christmas dinner. Not only that, the rent is due for my plot. But just in case I don't manage another post before the big day, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, till next time and thanks for reading.

Delivery for Mr. the Plot.

I finally made it to the allotment after nearly two weeks away from my plot. I really made up for my absence, I went twice. It would have been more but as I was wheeling round broken pallets and concrete slabs, my arms were aching, the fact I ran out of time didn't help either. Otherwise, I still had at least another three trips to make. A normal walk to the allotment only takes about ten minutes, but with all the weight and the gale force winds today it took another five minutes. With the slabs, as you may already know, I will be laying my paths in between my six squares. As for the broken pallets, they will be made into a fence at the end of my plot were the grapevine is. I will have to cut the grapevine back a bit as it's just growing wild at the moment. The fence will not go all the way across, I'm thinking of leaving a gap in the middle like I have now, although it was never by choice, you see all the wood is so rotten that this year a section of the fence just fell off. I like the idea of having an entrance in the middle as well as at the side, so that's what I'll do. Once the grapevine is under control and I can see where it actually starts and train it to go up. Luckily for me, the way the sun goes across from morning to night, it will not put any of my plot or anybody else's plot in the shade. It should look good.

While I was there, I did look at what's happening. Still no sign of the Red onions. I did check to make sure that I planted them at the right time, but as they will be harvested in August, I'm hoping they will pick up in spring.

The Japanese Whites are doing well, some about three inches tall. I still have some parsnips left, but they can stay in for a bit longer and we can have them for Christmas dinner. And, believe it or not, I still have some strawberries trying ever so hard to ripen.

What do you mean Christmas is coming, I thought it was Wimbledon.

I'm hoping to show my face at the allotment again in the next few days while the weather holds out. I still have plenty to do and more deliveries to make. Till next time and thanks for reading.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

OK. It's not yellow, neither are they bricks, but I really enjoyed my day of digging today. So please forgive my over excitement with the title.

After a bit of running around this morning with usual weekend happenings, I was hoping the weather would hold out for the afternoon, and as it turned out it did. With only about two hours left of daylight and my iPod tuned into the local BBC Radio station to listen to the football, I carried on where I left off on Thursday. Now I know I've mentioned in the past that I'll have two or more tasks on the go at one time so that I don't get bored and can flit from one to the other, but the thing is, I'm doing so well and getting so far that I want to keep going. If it wasn't for the fact that it was getting dark and I was loosing the feeling in both my little toes, then I think I my still be there now. The path does go one more slab further, but as I said, it was getting dark and the other photo I took doesn't do my work justice. The mound you can see is clumps of grass, roots and all. That will be put in a pile upside down behind the shed and covered. I've been told it should rot down in two years ready to be mixed in with my compost. As for the two shopping bags, the are mainly full of couch grass roots and dandelions, with the soil being so soft, they are coming up really easily. I think I need to start bringing over from home the rest of the slabs which I've collected over the last year, because I've used up most of the ones I have at the allotment. That will be an interesting day. But for now, a bowl of steaming soup made from potatoes, onions, parsnips and a marrow, all grown at the allotment to warm my chilled bones. Till next time and thanks for reading.