Allotments

Yesterday evening we went to see a man about adopting a new allotment. Was very exciting.

The allotments are on Ward Street, about a 3 minute walk from our place. So nice and close. But it really was deja vu all over again. The plot is absolutely *stuffed* and I do mean **STUFFED** with weeds. But the weeds are waist high rather than head high. The plot is nice and level, so no toe curling slope to contend with, and the Allotment Man says that the soil is sandy and probably quite friable once we've got the weeds out, so no hard, clay digging to contend with. I think The Builder is going to hire a cutting device and get the weeds down to ankle level so we can start digging. The allotment costs the princely sum of £5 pa, as against £35 in Sheffield. Only downside is that there is no water on site, which there is at Hangingwater. Looks like several water butts will be needed, especially if subsequent summers are as dry as this one has been so far. So deja vu but not quite the mind boggling, overwhelming challenge that the Hangingwater allotment was when I very first set eyes on it

In the meantime, we've still got the Hangingwater allotment. Seems a pity, really, to be adopting a new one. This is the first year that it's all been under cultivation, thanks to the good offices of The Builder who has been digging vigorously. And it's been a good growing season so far. We are still eating raspberries (I made a pot and a half of raspberry jam last evening, in addition to inspecting allotments -- oh and a couple of pots of rhubarb and apple chutney, though the apple was not from the tree for they are not yet ripe). We are eating onions and garlic from the lottie. Next week the next row of peas should be ready, along with some broad beans. We have had two cherries each from the sweet cherry and the morello should supply us with lots of cooking cherries very shortly. And I am confidently expecting a bumper crop of black currants next week. I might need to buy a new freezer to accommodate them all!

The garden at The Sidings is coming along quite well, too. The herbs are all settling in and beginning to spread out. The pond plants seem happy and thriving, mostly. The shrubs we've replaced the conifers with are bedding in. The Builder has turned his attention to the larder now. We shall commence Phase 2 of the garden plan in August, I think. We need to have the raised beds ready to receive the fruit trees in October/November, so starting them in August gives us time to get them sorted and them time to settle down before they receive their fruit.

The Builder hasn't had any work from the agency since we got back, which is inconvenient from a financial point of view, but quite handy from the Getting-Little-And-Major-Projects-Done-Around-The-House-And-Garden point of view. He's working quite hard while I'm gadding about in Sheffield during the day. Today he's out searching for a part for his van, which *still* isn't working a month after it broke down. Colin, the semi-retired village mechanic, has been having trouble finding the relevant bit. The Builder has gone to the Volkswagon dealer in Hillsborough this morning to harass them.