Paulclem

The allotment is coming on nicely. We’ve had some of the first early potatoes, and I’m now harvesting broad beans and radishes. The sweetcorn is looking very healthy and the runner beans are at the top of the canes.



The first crop

We have put in three kinds of courgette ,(zucchini), yellow globes, green globes and the usual ones. The globe ones are nice roasted, whilst my wife usually makes a good lasagne with the long ones.



Courgettes in the sweetcorn


My wife runs the nursery side of the operation employing three small portable and cheap greenhouses in our small back garden to fill the allotment with ready grown plants. She does a great job, and has aubergines, chillis, salad and tomatoes going in the garden, greenhouses, porch and conservatory.



A chilli plant with white flowers



An aubergine plant with purple flowers.



Tomatoes in the little greenhouse



The other aubergine plant. Both have fruit on them now.

The only problem this year was a lack of space to put in the kinds of amounts we want. Potatoes take up a lot of room, and so it’s a balancing act to try to get a good mix of produce in. I also wanted to try to grow some flowers this year, but neglected to think about when they need to go in – Spring. I am a novice at this.

Anyway I went to see the chap who runs the allotment committee – he’s younger than you’d expect and doesn’t wear a flat cap. I said, “I’ve come to register my intention to have another half of an allotment.” (I can be verbally pompous, though some people regard me as rough as an old boot). He works in a firm of solicitors and so was undismayed by my pronouncement. He informed me that there was a spare plot almost opposite mine, and that I could have it for £12 quid – seeing as we were halfway through the year. He gave me the key and I had a quick tour. I’m constantly amazed at how cheap it is. I didn’t even have the £12 quid on me, but then he does know where I live and may well command a substantial army of spade wielders. I’ll pay him on Saturday.



Overgrown is how I’d describe it, with various bits of rubbish populating the edges, but, when I looked closer, I could see bare earth between the stalks of the weeds. Large parts of it are not matted with grass, and so it won’t take too long to clear a good part of it. I’ll be planting in the Autumn.



You can see that the ground won't be hard to dig.

It also has a shed, a large old shed, that looks as if it will fall down any moment. In fact on investigation, the whole thing is very solid. It is held up with railway sleepers, and would take some knocking down. It is just that the panelled sides look rough.



A fine old shed

So I’ve got a bit of a project for the summer – clearing the weeds and improving the ground. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some fat off.