Patience is a virtue

Very rainy today and people starting to comment on my usual lack of patience and how could I possibly wait for things to grow.  I don't know what they mean!

Rhubarb Fool

First thing made out of produce from the allotment.  Bit of a cheat because it was there already but a single stalk of rhubarb harvested for Rhubarb Fool sampler.  Only made 2 dessert glasses but I thought it was very tasty even if other's in Davies family found it a little tart.  That's how it's supposed to taste for goodness sake (note to self: slightly more sugar next time, and maybe a touch more ginger).

Photos to follow next time I make it but here's one that's not a million mles from my effort

Birthday present (late entry)

Forgot to put this photo when I took it.  Birthday present (earlier in May) from Elaine to add to my growing collection.  They're actually a bit dirty now so I thought that I should keep a record of them being nice and shiny.

 I wonder if that's a business opportunity - dirtying-up shiny new garden tools for new allotment owners? 

You can even see my reflection of me taking the photo - bit distorted in the trowel.

More planted

Super-nice Bank Holiday weekend so got a stack more random stuff planted.  Peas, lettuce.  Rocket seeds were amazingly small and I've probably planted too many but we'll see.

Bought some sweet corn plants from B&Q  and manged to get them in too.  Starting to wonder if I'm putting things in the right place but lets see how it all goes and I'll know better next year.

Its raining the day after the Bank Holiday so, perfect!

Might do a bit of path construction on the rainy days, or some of those cute raised beds using the big pile of paving stones Ive been left with.

Slug guards (pat pending)

Courgettes have taken a bit of a hammering from the slugs so I created these slug guards out of a plastic bottle and some copper strip. Hope they work!

Getting something in, at last.

After a bit more weeding and a fairly wet week we get a lovely sunny Sunday and a chance to get something planted.  It's harder work than I thought and I planned to get loads of stuff in in the 2 beds.  As it was I couldn't get quite that much done, unles I stayed there all day (which was tempting), but managed to plant courgettes, broad beans and runner beans.  The courgettes I was growing from seed actually look a bit weedy so I bought some nice stronger looking ones from B&Q instead. Looking forward to tempura courgettes flowers - hope that the slugs don't eat the plants before they have a chance.

Put up a runner bean frame too and got some planted with a nice big lump of well rotted manure. Lovely.

First planting

Determined to get something in this weekend even though there's a little bit of rain 'in the air'. Beans and courgettes will have to wait a few more days as there still 'hardening off' in the garden.

 Potatoes are in, trenches dug, rotted manure added and then seed potatoes (gift form allotment neighbour, Ron) planted at 12" or so spacing.  Think I might go back to imperial measurements for this allotment gig.

Anyway here's a couple of snaps of trench and filled in bed.  Wonder when they'll show?

Broad Beans

Coming along nicely and looking forward to getting them in the ground this weekend.  And building some bamboo pyramids of course.

Water Butt

As you will have seen from the opening photograph, I was left a 200 litre (big) water butt when I took the plot.  It wasn't actually connected to anything so I bought some gutter bits and pieces and connected it to the shed.  I would have taken a photo of my handiwork but its raining now.

Sad I can't get a photo but pretty chuffed to be 'harvesting' water.

Books, books, books

At last I'm able to use those gifts people bought me many years ago when they knew I would eventually be getting an allotment.

These books plus Google give me quite a bit of advice to be going on with.

Hurrah!

So, it's finally happened!  After a long, long wait, (10 years I think although I have lost count) and a few years at 'Number 1 Spot', I have been given an allotment.  To be fair to the Sheffield Allotment Department they did tell me a couple of times that I could get one at a different site to my preferred option I was happy to wait for one on the site closest to my house.  For those who know Sheffield, it's  the site next to the Library at the top of our road, less than 100 yards away.

This is what it looks like on Day 0.  It's funny when you take a 'first' photograph of anything and hoping that it will be part of a sequence showing improvement.  It doesn't look too bad at the moment  does it?  Soon get something growing.
See I've got a shed, a water butt and a wheelbarrow.  The blue cover in the lower left is over some 'rotted down' manure.  Sorted.