Back in May this year I took on an allotment in my local village. I’m not quite sure why I did, other than it was something that I’d always fancied having a go at but knew nothing about. I’ve only got a very small garden and so growing vegetables was never really an option if I still wanted somewhere to sit out and smell the roses. Or even grow the roses for that matter.
So when I saw that a small field had been turned over to allotments I quickly hurried around knocking on doors to find out who I had to ingratiate myself with to put my name down for one. I quickly found the member of the Parish Council who had organised the venture and signed up for one of the only two that were left.
Some nice photos…
The site is delightful. South-west facing on a gentle slope with views on three sides. Never mind anything else, I’d be happy just to sit out there on a summer’s afternoon.
I still hadn’t got a clue what I was meant to do with it, although I’d watched Gardner’s World for many years so thought I’d pick it up quickly enough. The land, which apparently had once been used as a market garden many years before, was divided into plots, each one of the standard allotment size of ten rods, which is about 260 square metres. Now that’s an awful lot of allotment for someone who’s just starting off, and besides, there’s only me to feed.
…of lovely leafy…
Each plot was rotovated and so it was simply a matter of marking out a few beds and deciding what I wanted to grow. It was obvious that I needed to start slowly and so I only used about a quarter of the whole plot. I sowed broad beans, French beans, lettuce, cucumber, radish, sweet corn, spring onions, onions, red onions – you name it and I grabbed a packed of seed in the local garden centre, marked out a thin ‘seed drill’ (you see, I was picking up the jargon quite quickly) and set to work sowing.
Last May was glorious and so I enjoyed going down there each day, doing a bit of work and admiring my efforts. I even took a garden chair down to sit and admire my handiwork. I’d seen on neighbouring plots and in books that the beans needed some support and people had built lines or wigwams of bamboo canes, strung together. I did the same and was impressed at my achievement. What I didn’t realise at that point was that the broad beans didn’t need any support, as the plants only grow to a couple of feet in height. Consequently, by the end of the summer, it was quite obvious to anyone passing that at least one plot belonged to a complete novice since my bare canes stood out like a sore thumb. Never mind, it was all part of the learning process.
…allotments.
As the summer progressed, every evening was spent watering and weeding, and a bloody boring task that is, I can tell you. There were many times when I wished I hadn’t bothered, but slowly things began to ripen and I was able to harvest my first crops.
The radishes came up first, long before any of the other salad stuff which was a bit of a nuisance but it didn’t matter. From then on, I was picking lettuce, spinach, onions, tomatoes and relishing the taste of something grown yourself and picked fresh.
There were a few failures but mostly successes and I’m now planning how to lay out the rest of the plot over the winter in time for a full season next year.
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