It's been a while...

There's not been an update on here for ages, so I'll just contribute this pic of Lorraine and some of our wares. In other news: Plums!

9/10 May

A busy weekend doing, well, things. Surgical style weeding and some more digging of beds we've yet to use. Removed a lot of the rubbish still hanging around from the last plotholder. Lots of victories!

Sunday 19 April 2009

Last day of my Easter holiday and the last day of being off work for 17 weeks following Total Hip Replacement. In the last few days the allotment has really come together. There is lots of weeding to do, but it now seems realistic. I recommend everyone to look back in the blog and look up the earliest picture of the allotment and compare to the one for this post. Hmm. Happy!

Monday 13th April

Phew, as they say, What A Scorcher! A day that started overcast and cold quickly followed the example of Saturday and Sunday and turned warm and clear. Almost a bit too hot for the work that needed doing, but hey-ho.

As you can see above, the incinerator bin (Galvatron) was going, the whole thing has been thoroughly dug over and the trees are blossoming. Lots of Bees. Good. Now we have the following planted: Potatoes, Parsnips, Onions (3 types), Broccoli, Courgettes, Squash, Radishes, Spring Onions, Raspberries, Blackberries, Tayberries, Some other berries, Tomatoes, Chilli and Sweet Peppers and Cucumbers. Oh and peas, in their own little 'pea forest' made from pruned tree branches. Ooh, and Asparagus (we're in it for the long haul!) It all seems to have suddenly taken off, after months of hard labour rescuing the plot. Hooray. Compliments are often received from other members of the allotment society and it's nice to feel we've made a difference with the effort we've put in.

The Past Few Days...

"Little and often" has been the phrase for the past week'n'abit. Combined with my new found freedom on my bicycle, with my shiny new hip, it's even easier to get down to the plot. The greenhouse is up and beginning to have it's first residents. Doing several tomato plants this year, but going to try some in the ground and some in grow bags, to see what difference it makes. Also, excited to have chillis and peppers in there too. They're not only tasty but look awesome as plants as well.

Down side to plot - the discovery of HorseTail. This insidious git of a weed is almost impossible to eradicate, but with careful 'management' we may be able to starve it out of the soil.

29 March 2009

A fairly productive weekend, despite being blighted by extreme hangovers. We bought our new greenhouse, prepared the ground and managed to get the frame put together in the beautiful Sunday sunshine. No time for digging or planting this weekend unfortunately.

21 March 2009

...and so it continues, with a short but successful day at the allotment. The patch in the bottom left of the picture is now planted with potatoes and a little further back some radishes and spring onions have gone in. Lots more to put in, of course, but it's nice to have planted something other than the masses of soft fruit we've already got. Things are going nicely, thank you!

17 March 2009

We've been away for a bit, but the rest of the gang haven't been idle. The shed has been broken up and taken away, so the junk level has drastically dropped. A lot more digging and pruning done. Nearly proper planting time!

Sunday - 1st March

Well, the shed is built. Manure has been dug into the prepared beds. Weed Control fabric laid out in the foreground of the picture. Managed a little bit more pruning of the fruit trees. Hopefully next week we'll be removing ALL of the rubbish in a pick-up and things'll look dandy. Then we can start to worry about such things as planting vegetables! Imagine that!

Shed! 28 Feb 09/01 Mar 09

The above pictures show some of the various stages of our shed construction weekend. It replaces the awful rickety one that was on the plot when we arrived. We also learned a horrible secret about the old shed. A horrible, horrible secret - a secret involving milk bottles and a bladder. Fill in the rest yourself...

Anyway, the new shed went up nice and easy on Saturday and Sunday morning. All that remains now is a bit of fixing up and trimming of the roof felt. Very satisfying! Well done me, Lorraine and Nicola - Queen of Hammering.

Sunday 22nd February

A bit more burning, a bit more digging and a bit more pruning. Some of the roofing felt from the old shed is down to help warm up the soil. A lot of height taken off a couple trees and the centres made more open and clear. Apparently, you should be able to throw your hat through the tree... I didn't have a hat on though...

Saturday 21st February

Lorraine is here with my patented 'fire pit' design, which has provided a fantastic and successful way of eliminating the dry waste and bits of the shed, too. A long burning and VERY HOT fire.

Here is the evidence of the shed destruction. Once the front was off we managed to get the (already very loose) roof to fall in and then it was just a case of collapsing down the other panels. It would have been easier if whoever put it up didn't paint the nuts/bolts together. Duh.

It might look a bit messier, but that's because we'd destroyed the shed. However, pruning has started as well - a heart-in-the-mouth moment. In my mind the trees are screaming at me.

Sunday Allotment-ing...

It continues apace! A nice lady, one of the plot inspectors apparently, contributed some raspberry canes and advice. Lots of moral victories today! Hurrah!

Saturday 14th Feb - The Big Dig Continues

The work continues and it continues well. It was dry and chilly, ideal working conditions! Sort of. Propogation of seeds has begun indoors too. Hopefully soon the shed will be replaced (it's currently only held up by thoughts and shed-air) and the great greenhouse debate will be resolved.

Compare and contrast

Here's another view of the site, showing progress made. Look back in the blog to see what it was like when we began.

The plan comes together!

The last visit really helped... A moral victory as much as a physical triumph. All the paths were revealed and the shape of the plot was clear.

At the Allotment again.

The most important part of a very productive day... My brother and I enjoy the flask of tea and prepare for more work.

More Allotment

This shot is looking down at the Allotment from it's top end. There's a lot of work to do...

At the Allotment

First visit to our shared allotment. Frustratingly I can't get involved at the moment. Bah. I will return to prune the trees.

The End

The Darts Final always makes a good start to the year and for 2009, particularly so. For me, more or less laid up at the mo, it was a good time out of the house with pals. Good darts, good hotpot, good laughs. Stevo won Killer. We all won 'darts'

The aftermath

After the darts we play mass 'Killer'... This year I'm excluded due to being on crutches. Boo.

Amazing!

O'Shea fought back to 6 sets a piece but Ted Hankey took it. Amazing darts.

It's getting tricky

Certainly for us O'Shea supporters... It's 6 sets to 4 and looking all one way...

Darts again...

Stuart and Stevo represent the two factions of support. Stu, Stockport fan and O'Shea fan versus Stevo. You figure out who he supports.

...and it continues...

Stevo was very prepared, with a fetching red cape. Another Hankey supporter!

BDO Darts Final 2009

Lorraine demonstrates her support for Ted Hankey with her fangs, cape and tit-bats!