A bit of digging and a lot of rain

The weather continues to be rainy and windy, so we're not getting as much done on the allotments as we would like. On Friday though, the weather dried up enough for us to go down and do a bit of work in the afternoon.

Last year when we took over plot 8  there were some small raised beds which were a bit rickety.  We managed to grow some beans and salad crops in them, but we decided that we would dismantle them at the end of the summer and start again with the bed.  This has left a huge bed which we will divide up into two or three smaller areas. The picture above shows the plot last summer with the raised beds to the left.

Digging nearly completed

I started digging this bed over, it was full of weeds, but the soil is quite crumbly and easy to dig.  We had dumped some soil improver in that area last year so I think that helped. The weeds came up easily and I managed to get  most of the  bed dug in an afternoon.  We went back on Saturday taking lunch with us.  An hour's work completed the digging of the bed. So that's all ready for planting when the weather is warmer. We will probably be growing, onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips and beetroot there. The bed you can see to the left at the bottom of the picture above is the next one to tackle after we've had a bonfire to get rid of all the wood. We need some dry weather first though!

We had to adjourn to the shed for our soup lunch when it started raining. It's quite cosy in there and the big window gives us a good view of the plot. The rain however continued so we decided to call it a day.

Newly dug bed

Allotment picnic

Sometimes when we have lots to do at the allotment we like to stay all day.   So we take food with us to keep us going. When our daughter and the grandchildren are there too we have a sort of bring and share lunch. Helen often brings a flask of her home made soup, usually made with allotment veg.  Last week it was spicy parsnip, another time it was pea.  I brought crusty bread, cheese and salad stuff.  I like to make a cake to munch on, a  fruit cake is good.  I have a recipe that I call allotment cake only because it's not too messy, and very wholesome. Other times I have called at the pie shop on the way or our son-in-law has bought fish and chips. Not very healthy I know but very welcome when we've been working hard.

We have  plenty of chairs to sit on and a table to spread our offerings on, even a tablecloth. And with tea or coffee to drink we have a lovely feast.

What do you take to eat at your allotment?