Passing by

I always stick to the same path on my morning walk, it's just long enough for me to have some healthy exercise and then get back home to start my jobs for the day. But as I walk along I'm often tempted to go off in other directions as I pass by places which look interesting, other paths which seem to be inviting me to walk along.

I love the stile at the top of the hill--I know where it goes--we've walked along there before.  It goes over the fields to the scout camp where there are beautiful views.  But that's for another day.

Down through the park and I pass by the woods.  It's always muddy there and I'm reminded of when our daughters were young and they used to play on the big rotting tree trunk.  It's rotted down completely now to feed the earth with its remains.

Further along a haze of blue catches my eye--a clump of bluebells beyond the trees enticing me in.

Then past another entrance to the woods is the wild garlic, a mass of white flowers, the subtle garlic smell will linger long after the flowers have gone over.

I continue along  and take in the pink confetti like blossom fallen from the flowering trees lining the path. It will be blown away in an instance with the first strong breeze.

Down the lane to the farm, I stand at the gate looking over the fields for a while then back home with thoughts of places to go, paths to follow on another day when there's more time.

Path work on the plots

Last week we were busy doing paths/storage /sitting areas on our two allotments. We were fortunate that some paths were already in place when we took both plots on and also there was a variety of stuff left by previous tenants, paving stones, bricks, rubble, wood, all useful materials. The paths which were already in place determined the layout of the plots. The other paths and seating areas have been roughly laid out by us but no  surface material in place. This meant that weeds were constantly appearing and the areas became muddy and slippy in wet weather.

We decided that now we have got the growing areas up and running we could spend some time sorting out these other areas. We ordered 5 tons of crushed stone from a local tippers. It cost £30 which we thought was very reasonable.  The areas we were planning to cover were the path up to the polytunnel and a seating area on plot 10b and a seating area on plot 8. (all hard working gardeners need somewhere to sit and rest with a brew!). We used some of the wood and bricks to define the edges of paths then covered the ground with membrane or old compost bags before putting the gravel on top

We were really pleased at how far 5 tons of stones went. After covering these areas, we still had loads of gravel left. Richard  came up with a plan to gravel the water butt area on plot8 as it gets very muddy and slippy in wet weather, so that got done too.

That was phase 1 of our  path making plans.  There is still more to be done, but both plots are looking better already.  As well as making the place look much tidier and easier to walk on, the gravel should help to suppress the weeds. I'm looking forward now to the next stage in the developments. In the meantime I'm enjoying taking well earned lunches and cups of tea on our gravelled sitting areas.

Path plans

I think it's going to be the year of the paths on our allotments, plots10b and 8. When we took on plot 8 last year some of our plans for plot 10b got put on hold. These were the remaining paths around the top raised beds and the path up to the polytunnel (see picture below).

During this winter we realised how important it is to get these done as we have all slipped on the mud recently and the various planks which have been thrown down to act as temporary paths have got slimy with moss. Helen and I are reluctant to go anywhere near the polytunnel at the moment during this damp weather, so it's becoming a matter of urgency to get the work done.

Over on plot 8 we want a path from the entrance gate up to the top of the plot ( see above picture), another around the shed and more around the growing areas.

Richard has a plan in mind for the path up to the polytunnel which involves steps as it is on a slight slope. Hopefully he will be able to build all of these with materials we have collected and which are freely available on our plot. The least money spent the better. And the great thing about allotment life is that there is always someone with some spare wood, paving flags or anything else. We all help each other out.

All ready for planting

As the weather has gradually improved over the last couple of weeks we have been able to do more at the allotments.  On plot 10a our potatoes are now planted up in containers.  The containers are a mixed bunch of deep pots, potato growing bags or old compost bags. They are grown in a mixture of rotted manure and multipurpose compost. We've always grown our potatoes this way and we get a lot of success.

Richard has been making  paths around the raised beds, using much of the rubble and bricks we found as we cleared the plot. It's good to be able to use the things you find around the plot.

We have been preparing our raised beds ready for planting up with veg started off in the polytunnel.  We are very fortunate on our allotment site to have a regular supply of manure delivered, so we can keep our manure bins topped up. We have also recently had a supply of soil improver available through our allotment association. Our beds are new so we have mixed  rotted manure and soil improver into the fairly heavy soil. Hopefully this will help to break the soil down over a period of time.

In the fruit beds we planted our gooseberries and blackcurrants into their final positions at the front of the plot and their new growth is starting to show now.   The rhubarb is also growing well. The winter veg are coming to an end now and although the brassicas got attacked by the pigeons we were pleased to see that the purple sprouting broccoli is recovering and we were able to harvest some at the weekend.

The raised beds are empty at the moment except for the leeks and kale, but as the sun warms the soil we are ready to get sowing and planting.  The polytunnel is full of seedlings and it's so exciting to see them growing more each day.

What's happening on your allotment/vegetable plot?

Allotment plans

Last week I was feeling quite down. Trying to do things with my left arm after breaking my right wrist, and coping with the pain is quite tiring. Another result of my fall on the ice, that of a back injury is now becoming apparent. My emotions have ranged from tearful to angry to just plain miserable. Don't anyone annoy me for I might just whack you with my plaster cast!

It's quite frustrating not being able to do the things I want to do, especially when I read about all the things I could be doing in the garden right now. I have to remind myself that up here in the north it is still too early to be sowing any seeds. In a few weeks hopefully I will have more movement in my hand and then the time will be right for sowing seeds.

We checked through our seeds the other week and decided what we want to grow this year. This will be our first growing year on our new plot, so it's quite exciting. Our allotment association are doing a seed order from King's seeds, so we have put an order in. We also need to buy some potatoes, onion sets and garlic yet.

In the meantime as I can't garden, I have been thinking about our plans for the allotment this year. My daughter and I went down to the plot the other day to see how things were doing. We were pleased to see that the daffodil bulbs which I planted in the autumn are showing signs of growth. I'd put one lot under the holly bush and the others in front of the grow house. The soil is very heavy clay in these areas and I wasn't sure if they would grow. The garlic hasn't shown any signs of growth so we will have to plant some more in the spring.

Our plans for this year are: 

•  Do the paths between the raised beds. There is a lot of rubble around the plot which we can use as hardcore before putting some gravel down. The pathway up to the grow house and beyond may need steps. It is a sloped area and being clay soil gets very slippy when it has rained.

• We also want to lay some flags  to create a little patio area next to the shed. It will be somewhere to sit and eat our lunch, have a brew or for the grandchildren to play. There are some paving flags which we have found around the plot which can be used.

•  Dig over and improve the soil in the growhouse with compost, then make a path of some sort. This depends on what we can salvage from the stuff that we have found lying around.

•  Have a good tidy up of all the 'stuff' which is lying around the plot, like pieces of wood, bricks and rubble. These can all be recycled to use around the plot or stored somewhere safe. Other things which are of no use need taking to the local tip.

• Move the fruit bushes. These were given a temporary home when we moved them from the old allotment. We now have a long border along the fence which has a good depth of soil and has had soil improver added. It just needs some compost adding.

So those are the main projects for this year which, all being well, I will be able to be involved with in some way. If I can't do any physical work then I shall just have to stand and watch, giving orders and cracking the whip!