We've been proud half-tenants of an allotment for over a year now. Well, I think it was Christmas 2007 when we first started discussing the allotment with Tom and Jane and decided we'd go for it in a haze of Merlot induced enthusiasm. It took a further year (and further wine, although this time I think it was Cava) to move the allotment discussion on.
It became a reality in March of this year. Four raised beds. Planning on a scrap of paper. Regular "how many peas do you get from a seed" type conversations and well, we're making progress.
The house has been taken over, we have root trainers in the porch - on all windowsills, herbs, tomatoes and peppers throughout the rest of the house. Potato grow bags, onions and garlic in the back yard and a distinct dislike for B&Q peat free compost, which has the consistency of horse hair and a similar itching capacity.
The planting selection has been based on
- what we'll eat fresh
- what we can make into chutney
- what we can freeze
It's rather exciting, at the moment - obviously because we're obsessed, in that new parent sort of a way, we can see changes from day to day, although I suspect I will become bored in looking at the state of change of a leek pretty quickly.
We've had our first casualty. Three actually. Three of the peppers were lost at sea. Nigel has an interesting watering technique - if its not swimming then it needs more. We are now exercising caution and restraint in watering. I don't think squeezing out the peat pods and hoping there is still life is a viable solution to over watering. But what would I know. I still don't know how many peas you get from a plant. And where is there to ask dumb questions like that? None of the gardening books or websites seem to cater for such basic questions - I know, I know, that the answer is a piece of string one, but please, have pity on us newbies!
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