Junior's Raised Bed

It was a beautiful sun shining day today and after the school run (I am getting used to it now) and an hour in the gym, I hot footed it down to the allotment.

With the help of my lotty neighbour - the very kind Brian from 144a, I managed to dig up the raised bed that was previously on plot 121 and housed my strawberries last year and somehow, between us, we walked it from one end of the plot to the other with me at the front and Brian at the rear!

It was bigger than I remembered and made from scaffold boards so it was quite a heavy lump, but I am not a girly girl, despite my petite frame and all 5ft of me, so I just grabbed hold and made it in one, without stopping for a rest, although Brian did kindly offer!

As you can see it's been positioned nice and close to the shed and the greenhouse so that he's at the other end of the plot - more in the middle and away from the gate. It's right next to the Patio area too and I have put planks of wood down the sides so Junior has access all the way around. This will be his "little plot". I will take him to see his "surprise" on the way home from school!

I had to dig up all of Juniors Broad Beans as they were in the prime spot. Only 7 had taken from about 12, so not too bad a crop. I then dug 2 wheelbarrow loads of earth from 121 and managed to get the loads up to plot 144 to fill the raised bed and then I re planted the broad beans Junior had grown.

It didn't look very plentiful, so I dug up my 3 - yes 3 broad beans that I planted in November and added them to Junior's little collection, so he now has 2 rows of 5 broad beans to start him off. After that I had to fork and rake over where my broadbeans had been!

I wouldn't have managed all this back breaking hard work without Brian's help! Thank you Brian.

My intention today was to sow spinach & beetroot and to have a good sort out and going through of my seeds in the envelope marked "March". There is so much to do, so many seeds to sow! I really do have to get stuck in tomorrow when the weather is promised to be nice once more.

The other ongoing project at the moment is the wood chipping of the area by the fence. If you look underneath scarecrow Hilda in the last photo, you will just be able to see that all the old brambles have been dug out and woodchip has gone down. I would like this to happen all the way along so that I have access to plot from the fence side and at least I won't get scratched by the brambles all summer.