Reality hits!

Now it was time to do some work!


We collected all of the fruiting plants we had carefully collected over the last few years and put them in the car together with a carefully collated selection of tools to cover every eventuality.  Our strawberries were a triumph last year despite being in pots at the front of the house and so were a priority to get planted.  There were so many runners that we threw away enough to fill the allotment many times over but still managed to keep rather more plants than we should have!


Our youngest son Sam was surprisingly keen to come and help and ended up planting most of the strawberries,digging and levelling the land - Sam has a precise and accurate nature (typical Virgo!) and was even keener the make sure the surface was perfect than we expected!

Unusual choice of handtool but the bed was nice and smooth!

The most usual comment we hear from other, often defunct, allotment holders is the trauma involved in getting started. The digging over and the removal of nettles and even worse brambles.  We are incredibly lucky because our soil is VERY easy to dig and mostly clear.  We tacked the worst patch first but I am sure you will agree that it is not bad at all - and only one nettle plant!

Probably the worst section - aren't we lucky!

By now you will have noticed the strange wooden stakes in the front section of the patch.  This is/was/will be the fruit cage minus any netting - now purchased from Lidl - a strange but lucrative source of gardening supplies!  Well, actually gifted from the MIL another lucrative source of supplies but not so strange!
We are lucky to have some (reportedly) raspberry canes already in the fruit cage section and we have under planted them with a couple of our potted gooseberry bushes.  


Today's planting totals:
Approx 40 Strawberry plants
2 Gooseberries
1 miscellaneous Current (ok I forgot what type!)
2 Rhubarb plants
and a Buddleja - not a veggie, but self-seeded into the pot with the gooseberry and I didn't have the heart to throw it away - anyway it is excellent for butterflies, who eat the baddies on the veg. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!
All of the plants are well established and add zero cost to our running balance.


We met an older couple who are our neighbours (names to follow when we learn them) at plot 26 and after a brief chat, which mainly composed us asking their advice on every thing under the sun, they kindly give us a very large handful of onion sets, probably to shut us up.  This will be our next planting job.


That evening, requiring a snack, I notice that I couldn't get up out of the chair and when I delegated the refreshments to Mrs 2K she politely told me to make my own as she had the same problem.  After a long soak I forgot about the snack and settled for the comfort of the bed - although I could have slept on a bed of nails!