A wet plot and a new greenhouse

A new year on the allotment and there's lots to plan and look forward to. Now we just have one allotment to look after there is a sense of relief as we go down there and walk past the old plot. I must admit though there was one moment last week when we arrived at Plot 8 to find water pouring out through the gate and puddling on the beds and paths that I wondered if we had chosen the wrong plot out of the two to keep. But after scooping out the debris from the drain at the top of the plot, the water started to clear a bit. A couple of days later it had all cleared and we had a reasonably dry plot. With all the rain at the moment it will never get completely dry. 

With bad weather around there's not a lot can be done on the allotment but  this is the time of year when less urgent and  maintenance jobs can be done. It's the time to mend the fence or build new compost bins.  On our plot, as well as sorting out the drains, Richard has started work on building a greenhouse. This is a small greenhouse which we got for free from our grandson's school. The door was bent after damage from vandals, but that was easily put right. We spent a cold day last November in the school playground dismantling it. Since then it has been stored in our garage waiting for suitable weather to assemble it.

Finally the storms and heavy rains have eased off and given way to drier, colder weather.  Knowing that in a few weeks time I will be needing space to start off seeds under cover, Richard got started on the greenhouse. It is going where the old plastic growhouse was and the winter storms very kindly saved us the job of taking it down ourselves! The original base had started to rot so we replaced the wood. It's a bit of a puzzle remembering where all the pieces go back together, but Richard seems to know what he is doing, so I'm letting him get on with it. I'm sure he'll have it finished in no time.