Sunday, 6th June, 2004 - a fresh start!
First day on Plot 4, Oakwood Lane Allotments! Paid the rent, got the key, and was introduced to all the little quirks! Well, some of them any way!
And got started - and am immediately realising how much I have to learn, and unlearn. I now have a thick, solid clay - fortunately still a little damp as there's some shade from the trees. But, by golly it's hard work!
I'm having to drive in the spade - the soil is like concrete! - and skim off the top 3 inches, thick with couch grass and bramble roots. It's been quite a few years that this plot hasn't been in use, judging by the size of some of the bramble roots - nothing much on the surface, as it's been regularly strimmed, but underneath!
There's going to be one mother of a compost heap by the time this is finished! I've only carved out 2 10x4 foot patches - took about 4 hours work!
Ah, but it's good to be back on the soil. Listening to the skylarks as we walked over; and on the plot, in the shrubs at the north end, I spent a fair while watching a family of young wrens learning to fly. Had to be very quiet, as the slightest disturbance broke the young birds' concentration - they'd fly into things, and miss their footing!
Wednesday, 9th June, 2004
Completely lost my voice this morning, so didn't go to work. So spent a bit of time doing some hard planning - and then down to the plot!
Got one 12 metre bed skimmed, and half dug; all to the song of skylarks up high. Pure satisfaction - and only stopped because my barrow now has a puncture. Eleven more beds to go! I'm trying to get some mushroom compost - the soil doesn't look to me to be particularly fertile; it may just be the compaction of the clay? But if I'm going to get a couple of beds ready to take crops for the autumn and winter, the soil looks like it needs a lot of help.
I am a little concerned at the very limited weed cover - there's only couch grass, brambles. And bindweed, so few and small, so innocent, on the surface - but underneath? Monsters be here!
I'm discovering the risks of working a plot next to the beehives! Something seemed to be irritating one of the hives today - they were out and angry for a good half hour. And one silly little bee got caught in my long hair - rather than climb gently out, she decided to panic. Ouch! - one sting just behind my ear.
Saw a beautiful butterfly - my recognition of them is non-existent, but it may have been a Meadow Brown?
Sunday, 13th June, 2004
Another 12 metres skimmed (10 more to go!). Found a patch which breaks up into a reasonable tilth for transplanting my leeks into - so that's dug.
The rest - I'm not going to do much digging, I don't think - unless I can find some way of breaking the concrete clods easily! I'm arranging for a load of mushroom compost, and will try a couple of green manures! Slicing the top turf off is still worth doing though - to build up the turf pile, remove the bramble roots, and (I hope) make autumn digging a bit easier; at least I'll know where to dig!