Plot 18

Well, I swapped my days at work so that I would have Wednesdays free from both work and child care commitment, and then the little one went and got chickenpox. This excluded her from nursery for two weeks and although I was still off on Wednesdays so was she and she was in no state to go out of doors let alone down the allotment.

Therefore this is the first Wednesday in three weeks that I have been able to get down to the allotment.

However it was a very productive day.

I finished lopping back the long hedge that separates us from plot 19, our longest hedge. This means I can now work on the second longest hedge, the one between us and plot 17. Plot 17 has actually cut the height of most of this down to a few feet, much to my complaint for privacy when it was done, but there are some problem spots at either end where it has gotten very out of control in most directions.

Although I do want to cut back the outside hedge by the gate it is in reasonable condition and therefore takes the lowest priority.

I also cleared behind the shed in order to get to the hedge to lop it back.

Next step in regard to the long hedge is to get some chicken wire in as there are huge gaps between the privet branches at the bottom and it isn't secure with dogs on the allotment site, least of all ours.

All the privet cuttings are now in the hedge cutting bay I made for this very purpose, it does look a lot better than just leaving a big heap of them on the ground.

Last time I was down with Alex we fashioned a new temporary roof covering from a blue tarpaulin as the shed roof is leaking like a sieve. The high winds in the last fortnight had ripped this mostly off so it was down the back of the shed. With careful application of climbing up and roofing nails, I hope I have got it back into position more securely this time.

Also the hosepipe was falling off the shed wall where I had looped it around some big nails. Whacked another few nails in and rewound it up for the winter (water off now until February).

I had resolved to start digging over potato patch to get it ready for cultivation in the spring and to move some earth to our new raised bed near the shed. You may recall we had blight in the summer and due to kitchen related moving out the potatoes got neglected. Apart from the row and a half I lifted in the good times, I had discounted the rest of the crop.

Well I started digging up the first row and by the time I got to the end of the row I had half a bucket of good potatoes. Mostly International Kidney but some Red Duke of York. So they have been brought home and washed and are waiting to be used.

This did put a stop to digging over potato patch until next week when we shall see if any more are just sitting in the ground waiting for me.

This does prove that potatoes are very very hard to get wrong I have to say and a big morale boost as well.

Next steps: dig over the second row of potato patch. Level off the raised bed and see if we can get some broad beans in before Christmas or if we are better waiting for spring. Dig, dig, and more digging. Chickenwire for the long hedge. Start cutting back the next hedge. Did I mention digging?