Year in Review - Veg

The peas seemed to start off really well but for some reason, (probably neglect!) they went down hill pretty sharpishly... we did manage to get a good few meals worth out of them though... i think we started them too late, along with almost everything!


Carrots!! Forget you carrot fly!! We planted them in with the onions and leeks and they just got on with the job of growing, no problems at all... let's hope we're as lucky this year.


A little bag of salad... Ok, so there are no tomatoes, but if it wasn't for the TMV then we'd have been able to supply ourselves with a full salad straight from the allotment... It always warms the heart to return from the allotment with food to eat... (even if it was Lisa doing most of the eating!)


Potatoes, Desiree, slightly afected by scab, but that was to be expected with the dry conditions early on in the growing period... the potatoes did really well, if only we'd planted more earlies and not so many mains, but I don't think our friends minded so much, they all recieved their fair share of spuds!! Once we'd started havesting we didn't have to buy any from the shops for months!


Once peeled there was no sign of the scab and the potatoes tasted lovely... I'm more or less over my spud aversion thanks to these creamy buggers, i've really enjoyed the pleasures of the roast potato and real mash (no more Smash for me!)

Year in Review - Fruit

Alpine strawberies, small but delicious, so Lisa tells me... one of the rare successes this year, a nice little strawberry patch!


One bonus his year was discovering that a neglected neighbouring plot used to be a well kept orchard. It is full of well established apple and pear trees. The only problem with the trees being established is that most of the good fruit is way out of our reach, but we boosted our own harvest with the odd raid into the orchard, acompanied by the neighbour's children, which saw us returning with carrier bags full of pears!!


Another neighbouring plot is blackberry city, I cut most of the overhanging shoots back, but kept a few sticking through the fences, so we'd got our own supply!!


Then there are the plum trees in the tree zone, 2 trees, one a victoria and the other has yellow plums on it... not sure of the variety on that one though...



The tree zone has had a really good haircut recently, just in time for bonfire night and over the next year i intend to tame the whole area and make full use of it...

Year in Review - Bruce

This is Bruce, our cat, sleeping on my lap... he's getting on in years but over the last year the allotment has given him a new spring in his step and a new lease of life... he's also lost weight. As part of the end of year review I thought i'd share a few of his cuter moments with you!


Getting some shade from the scorching weather in May.


Bruce unsuccessfully disguises himself as a piece of garden equipment.


Of course, the perfect place for a cat... the cold frame!?!

End of Year Review

Well, it's January 2007 and it's time to look back at a year in the life of our lottie. A chance to reflect on what we've learned, our successes and our failures.

Firstly, if i was marking myself out of 10 for this years efforts and successes i'd have to go for a 4. Maybe a little harsh but looking back i underestimated the amount of work, preparation and dedication required to turn a run down mess of an allotment into something resembling Berryfields!! (I'm currently weighing up the benefits of getting a heroin addiction and getting myself on Monty Don's rehabilitation small holding... For: lose some weight, pick up some gardening tips and learn how to shoplift... Against: spending time in prison, infected heart valves, injecting into my groin...)

When Lisa and i first ventured back onto the allotment in January '06, the first time we'd been there since the destruction of Bonfire Night '05, we surveyed a place that didn't seem capable of producing, er, produce! But as we dismantled the caravan and dug our 4 little beds things started looking positive. When the raddishes arrived we were well on our way to being committed allotmenteers but by the time the mosaic disaster had wiped out all the tomatoes and cucumbers (except for one cucumber!) our heads were down and we felt like we'd already failed. This sense of failure was compounded by the extremely hot and dry start to the summer, exposing our woeful water supply.

The combination of the virus and the weather conditions (and the fact that we'd gutted the house we'd just moved into and we were trying to turn that into something liveable) really hit our motivation... we weeded on occasion, we'd make trips from home to the allotment with the water butt in a wheel barrow every few days and give everything a water but our hearts were bruised and we spent more time sunbathing up there than actually working, which is unforgiveable, there is always work to be done. Then the weather turned and it seemed to rain for months on end... all the excuse to keep our maintainance trips to a minium... so the weeds really did start taking over, the grass grew too long and the crop was barely distinguishable from the weeds...

I guess a year in the life of an allotment is like riding a wave, you've got to stay on top, keep up the momentum, feel the changes in conditions and adapt to retain balance... i think we were overtaken by the wave and the weight of the unrelenting seasons pushed us underwater.

It was our first go and although i sound extremely negative here i am really positive that this time around we'll learn from our mistakes, be more committed, be wiser, cleverer, more savvy, less wasteful, more adventurous and above all, more successfull.