First dig

Hello everyone, I hope you are all enjoying a lovely weekend.  I have had a few busy days and not had time to get on here to blog although I have read your blogs.  Thursday and Friday were mainly my normal days of housework and washing, ironing etc.... interspersed with a whole lot of research on fruit and Veg growing.  It is becoming more and more apparent that we have minimal knowledge!  LOL.

I have been up to the library to collect some books and also got myself a cheap pair of wellies as I didn’t want to ruin my Ugg (imitation ~ £5 from Primark)  boots!  Last night I had lots of phone calls to do and then I went for a drink with my friend Eddy, who has just left today for 5 weeks in Thailand.  Lucky person!

Today we have been at the allotment for the first time. Simon was in school this morning for a Green Power thing so he dropped me at Coralie’s house just after 9am.  We got wrapped up and set off with Evan in the pushchair.  He was very good all day just sitting watching and having little naps.

I think we both thought that as it was a nice, bright day we would get to meet lots of people all tending their plots but as it turned out there was no one there.  A couple came in and walked to the other end, they stayed about an hour. Someone else came in a car but only stayed 10 minutes and that was all we saw.

We had one spade between us so took it in turns to attempt to dig and pull out weeds.  We cleared (sort of) a small patch by lunch time when we walked back to Coralies house so that we could feed Evan.  We thought we had done rather well!  It was hot work and wasn’t long before I had to take off my scarf, then undo my jacket and finally remove my jacket.

Me digging

Evan watching the progress

Nanny was looking really good!

Coralie getting stuck in.

 

Evan sleeping

Simon joined us at Coralie for lunch and then he and I drove across the city to collect some old pallets that a factory had said we could have.  They are to make a new compost heap.  That is, they are to surround the compost heap.  By the time we got back with them Coralie had just got there too.

Our efforts staring to pay off?

 

I think Simon was impressed with our efforts but apparently we hadn’ been doing it right!  We hadn’t been turning it over!  He gave us a demonstration and it is really hard.  Coralie could manage it but I can’t turn it over as my wrists don’t have the strength.  We found an old fork in the “shed” so Simon begun digging a second bed and Coralie sort of broke up the lumps with the fork.  Evan was no help- at all and just slept in his push chair!!!

A very cold Evan.

 

Saskia and Simon digging

Saskia turned up to help about 2pm and she took over the forking while Coralie loaded rubbish from the shed into the back of our car.  I pottered!  LOL!!  Simon left us to it for a while and took the rubbish to the local dump.  He also took Evan with him who slept in the car.  By the time he got back it was about 4pm and beginning to get very dusky so we called it a day.

Me and Saskia digging, it was much colder in the afternoon.

 

We have decided not to have the council rotovate it, but to do it ourselves.  It will be very slow work!  The plan is to get the 2 beds that we have started ready so that we can plant some stuff shortly.  We have ordered some things that can be planted outside in February.

The rest of the plot we will do a bit at a time.  We are going to cut the weeds down to ground level and then cover the whole lot with tarpaulins for 3 months.  So we have read, this will kill off all the weeds and in the middle of April we can dig it all in.  We can also uncover bits at a time to create new beds as we go.  That is the plan.

This shows just what we are up against

Our "Shed"!!!!

So tomorrow Simon is going to get the tarpaulin from the barn and we will attempt to get it all covered.  He is also going to join the pallets together so we can shift the old compost heap. If we have time and it isn’t too wet, we will try to progress on with preparing the 2 beds.  That may not be possible though as it is pouring with rain at the moment so it may be too wet.  We will have to see.

More digging

 

Cleaning up. Its getting dark now.

Evan and Auntie Saskia

We have ordered some things to plant in February; Salad potatoes, first early potatoes (2 kinds), garlic, shallots, radishes, onions, parsnips and raspberry canes.   It is very difficult to know what to order as there are so many varieties of everything!

Quantities are also another difficult area as we haven’t been able to find advice on possible yields.  They tell you that X number of seeds or tubers are enough to grow a row 12 feet long but they don’t tell you the yield.

This has led us already to a mistake. When we were choosing our shallots they were being sold in 200g bags.  That didn’t sound much so we looked at the 400g bags.  It still didn’t sound a lot so we eventually purchased two,  400g bags. 

We have since discovered that one shallot set should grow into 10 actual shallots.  We have also found out that a 200g bag has 50 sets.   Do the Math.......... 2x 400g = 800g = 200 sets = 2000 shallots!!! We think we may have overestimated!!! LOL!  We knew we had a steep learning curve ahead!  Anyone for shallots?

Right, I think that is all I have the energy for tonight.  I have had a hot bath but I still have a really dodgy right wrist and my left knee, which kind of gave way half way through this morning, has kind of seized up now!  You should see me trying to get up and down the stairs.  I look like I’m about a hundred!  Oh the joy.