Thankfully no more blisters today....

The first thing that I had to do was to lift the strawberry plants from bed 2 and put them in what was the raised bed from plot 121.....

I found that a few split so I put them in separately in the hope that they will take, so this is the finished Strawberry bed, which I have covered in netting.

 Thankfully the rain did it's thing and I was able to fork over the old path area on both sides of raised bed 2.  It was still hard work but I thought it would be more beneficial to loosen up the areas that had only the other day been pathways!

As you can see, with little effort the ends started to come away, that's how bad it was getting.

I managed to get the sides and the lengths of wood away from the stakes and leaving the top end in place, I stored the wood neatly as they may come in useful. So here you see the frame work removed.   Wow that space is already looking huge and like fantastic growing space. 

 I must say, the soil is very very nice and will only need a little TLC this year.

You can see here, how badly rotten the stakes had become!!

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.

Raking from A to Z

If there is anything you need to know about raking couch grass out of rotavated soil, then ask me and my two blisters!

However I will start this blog post from the beginning and end at the end, as all good authors should do (not that I am a good author, but aspiring to be one?)

So, Saturday morning and I was asked to swap my Trading Hut duties with John as he was off somewhere nice, which was not a problem for me as my lovely hubby had to go to the office that morning anyways. However & as usual, I arrived early, watered the greenhouse and started the never ending weeding (again).

Plot 144

I weeded around the earthed up potatoes and along the back where the sunflowers and hops plants are doing well - plus I remembered to take a picture of my toad house, which is still vacant, so any homeless frogs or toads are welcome. So I now have a toad home a bee house and a ladybug place too. There is also a bowl of fresh water outside my Greenhouse for any passing bees, dogs, cats, birds etc.

Weeding then continued in what I am calling my "salad" bed as I need to prepare the soil here for the tomatoes that are going to be the lucky winners of a fantastic prize!

Yes - a summer outside of the greenhouse and in a raised bed. Not any old raised bed you know! This one has been specially selected for their comfort and care.

OK so Daisy the scarecrow looks a little tipsy and the ladybird house like the leaning tower of Pisa, but I am sure that it will all be tikety boo by the time the tomatoes are due. I have Roma and Cherry. The plan is to raise half of each variety inside the greenhouse and half in the raised beds so I have a 50-50 chance of getting a decent crop.

After shop duties, I planted the iceburg lettuces that Arthur kindly left in my greenhouse for me last week. They are good sturdy plants and will be welcome on my plate in the summer months.

I didn't really grow lettuces last year, apart from the cut and come again variety, so this will make a nice change.

And last but not least from 144 is a picture of my sweetcorn soldiers, that I am very proud to say are doing absolutely fabulous!

Now to plot 121 - this is where the hard work took place. Sunday morning - Nigel was in the shop, so he let me the rake and said "Oh you just need to rake as much of the couch grass roots out of the soil as you can,"

So I set to work.

Raking

I raked here and I raked there. I raked the length of the plot and then the width and back again.

I heard my name being called "Ali" and there was that good old signal being given to me that the kettle was on, so I went for a cuppa.

This is Arthur who is a godsend to the Trading Hut - he must barrow 50 to 60 bags of compost, manure and other things around the plot to satisfied customers nearly all weekend. He's getting a little sparkle in his eye now - and bossy with it sometimes too!

This is Ron (Hut Manager) and Derek (lotty hero) enjoying their cuppa tea.

Nigel kindly said that he would make me some raised beds from scaffolding boards - how was a girl to refuse an offer like that!

So here are the pictures of the beds being made, taken across to the newly raked plot, put into position (finally after a lot of umming and ahhing) and painted up.

121 will be proper up and running next weekend I reckon - see a bit of blood and sweat, a helping hand, alot of time and you can do it - Couch grass to resembling a plot in just over a week!

Constructing the beds outside the trading hut

Deciding where they are to go!

Being painted pink (remember - green is the new pink)

All painted up and in position - ready to be sunk in before filling with compost and manure

My asparagus and strawberries can't wait!