Lazyitis has been the biggest feature of this blog, that and digging up weeds! Here’s hoping that 2011 will be known for lots of plot action and plentiful harvests!

Today was such a beautiful day – chilly, but the sun was shining, birds were tweeting and no wind at all… perfect for digging and actually SOWING!

We have packets and packets of old seeds, no idea if they’ll come to anything, but in went a short row of leeks (Lyon 2 Prizetaker) and two short rows of onions (Ailsa Craig and Red Pearl). Also weeded around the composters and stuck some Marigold seeds in – bit early really, but you never know!

So we actually have stuff growing now, stuff that’s not weeds that is!

We’ve still got the old groundsheets down that we put over the weediest parts in Autumn and early Winter – it’s proving to be a great thing, unless it gets really windy, then we have to go hunt the groundsheet around the neighbours’ plots! It means we can concentrate on clearing small sections at a time and not worry about triffids in other areas taking it over… perhaps we’re starting to break that vicious weed circle at long last?

Yes, we’re lazy, we know it! But today we went up to the plot to clear LOADS of weeds…

We had breakfast – lots of raspberries, straight from the canes – delicious! Shop-bought berries really pale in comparison.

Potatoes are looking healthy, plenty of time to go before we dig them up though.

And we planted a row of beans (Cobra) – the seed packet was very scruffy and out of date, but you never know!

Then it started to rain, so we legged it!

The weather wasn’t so kind today, but we managed to dodge the rain to get two rows of potatoes in (King Edwards) and a lot more weeding done.

We also harvested three sticks of rhubarb and a test onion! Oh, and some sage… it is going mad so need to find a good way to dry it or freeze it – any tips?

Hopping around us for much of the morning was the friendly robin, loving the fact that we were unearthing a lot of worms for him… greedy little thing!

We had a great time on the allotment today, basking in the sunshine! Of course we still had our wellies on

Lots of weeding to be done, the dreaded dandelions are in full irritation mode.

Raspberries are looking great, buds on all of them and the herbs are going mad – woohoo!!

It does seem like all we do on our visits to the plot is dig… but we’re making really good progress and we can see proper soil!!

Today we almost cleared the area where Marjory used to live, levelling out and digging out the blasted dandelions…

New canes for the raspberries has tidied up that section very well and they’re looking very healthy, so here’s hoping for a good crop

The herbs are coming back strong, they always look a bit pathetic after the winter months, but the sage, thyme and chives are looking fabulous. The lavender isn’t looking quite so good and we have lost one of them – we shall replace it as we found it great for attracting bees.
 

Some of our newest followers may not know about the third allotment girl, so we thought we’d re-introduce her!

This is Sallie… the crazy collie with the waggiest tail in town!

We wondered how many allotment owners take their dogs to the plot and whether dogs are even allowed on some allotments? We’ve heard some allotment associations don’t allow them… we think that’s a real shame – Sal loves to sit and just watch anyone and anything, ok so she sits on our thyme on occasions, but overall she’s very well-behaved and loves to be sat with us.

Love to all allotment dogs!!

With Marjory threatening to take over the entire plot, we thought we should move her to a new home…

An enjoyable lunch and wander round Gates Nurseries prompted us to buy a ‘flat-pack’ composter. It was hard work slimming down Marjory and getting her moved in, but it has made such a difference to the plot. It looks so much tidier and the Marjory’s bottom had turned into the most lovely compost so we were about to use it where the ground had sunk a little.

Our cheapo asparagus crowns from Wilko have been planted… followed the instructions, a little odd, but hey-ho!

We’ve planted them in a ‘ditch’ which we have to top up as they grow (if they grow!)… the roots didn’t spread out terribly well as they seemed to snap when we did that, so hopefully we’ll still get something – we have to wait til next season for a proper crop anyway.