This month we've been into digging on our plot a lot - and it's been fun. We decided the time - and the weather - was right to move the small apple tree. While MOH started to free its roots, I started preparing its new home at the other end of the plot, in an area we've not dug before. But the rain the day before and the following week have, I think helped it settle in.
I also took some strawberries which seem to be multiplying exponentially in our back garden over and planted them alongside the tree. I'm hoping to plant a strawberry border along one edge of the plot - I've definitely got enough, it's just a case of getting them over there.
After a strimming incident with one of my tiny lavenders, we decided to add some wooden edging to our plot so it's easy for the council workers to see where the edge of our plot actually is. It was tricky to know before, even I didn't know sometimes. Rather than buying new wood for this we dismantled the vegetable beds in our back garden and reused them here.
The stakes holding the old veg bed planks in place are also from our garden and left over from when we had our trees cut back. MOH had a great time sawing them into the required lengths, sharpening one end and banging them into place. Although if you ask him he'll roll his eyes and tell you he didn't, but I could see he was having fun!
With the apple tree moved out the way for the first time we were able to clear the width of the plot. And you know what, it's starting to look like an allotment.
At the top of the picture above there's the purple sprouting broccoli, with the cabbages and cavolo nero in front. Then there's a couple of rows of onions and then a few rows of garlic. In the middle of the picture you can see some bricks, which is the start of my path, in front of that there's a row of potatoes and then the latest addition a couple of rows of broad beans.
On the left of the picture there's still a bit more to dig, you can see where now that the ground is softer we've been able to put in an edge where it once was, many years before.
Alongside the apple tree's original position was this flowering bush. It was clearly a well established plant, but like the apple tree was in the wrong place. This too was dug up, and it was so large we split it into three new plants and planted it along the top edge of our plot.
It's responded well and is already flowering again. I guess that's partly due to the bonkers November weather, but I'm also taking it as a sign that it's happy. I'm adding largish plants as a border around the plot as a way of establishing our boundary as fences aren't permitted, but also as a fox deterrent, and it seems to be working.
It seems that the foxes are less keen on our plot the more we work on it, which is fine by me. Occasionally there's a new ball or a glove or a shoe on our plot where the foxes have been playing but it's a lot less than when we first took over the plot back in May.
I'm quite proud of my cavolo nero which I grew from seed, and was the only one to survive. And let's be honest, I'm looking forward to eating it!
Elsewhere on the plot the sunflower has finally given in to the seasons, but every so often a poppy blooms where you least expect it to.
We've still got a lot more digging to do, and that's fine. I find it quite therapeutic although the results of our digging is becoming a logistical nightmare. The existing compost bins are full and the grass that we've dug up is now growing in those compost bins instead of composting so, they look quite odd. It means there's little point adding more of it there, so we've been filling old compost sacks and bringing it home to go out with our green rubbish. We're at the point where all the sacks I have are full so the digging will pause until we manage to get them home and emptied.
Oh the joys of bringing our plot back to life!
