A bit o' lottie history

Look what I found in my shed - some allotment history hidden amongst the books I inherited. It was a very exciting find. These two old photos are very cool.

The 'shed end', loaded up with all manner of veg. The shed's got some trellis on it which is a good idea. Maybe I'll reinstate it :) The two sheds to the right don't exist on that plot anymore and the other side is nice and tidy these days, with 2 sheds of its own.

Look at this mega squash haul!! No pressure to produce this on the allotment myself then! Hmm, what do you do with that many pumpkins?

Photos of the allotment, day1

every blog needs photos and now I have them. all 61 from day1 of being the offical owner! i picked the keys up for the shed from the previous tenants and they were really sorry to be handing them over, i think. every allotment has a story, eh. i met the previous owner's mum, 'betty', who had owned it before him and she was lovely. she wished me luck and i invited her to pop up whenever she felt like it to check how i was getting on :) i think she liked that.

so, here is my shed. have you ever seen such a quirky, fun shed? what a fab thing to inherit. it's crammed full of useful/not-so-useful things and i think it is quite charming. i think that great big window is such a bonus. it will be great to hide in here if the rain catches me out :) i am taking the horseshoe as a good omen for happy times ahead :)

i also have this little bench to sit on, take a break, contemplate life, sup wine/tea and admire my hard work. the allotment really is well stocked and i have inherited lots of fab goodies. look, i have 4 big butts! these fill with water from the shed roof so that should keep me going for a while :) i've been really lucky to get the allotment in the first place, but to get one which comes with lots of bits and pieces is a dream. i know most of the things won't be very expensive to buy but if you have 30 or so 'little bits and pieces' to buy it soon adds up. i also love the history of it too.

looking out over the allotment from the side of the shed - water butts, compost bins/heap and 2 old metal dustbins down here. you can see the little seat too

my allotment is already divided nicely into 3 areas. part 1 is near the shed...

this is furthest away from the access road and will be most likely where i spend most of my time. there are already crops growing away in this area, the 'shed end', such as asparagus (new discovery!), strawberries, onions and some sort of leafy thing! ha! such a novice!!

part 2 is full of soft fruits. 'betty' told me it was gooseberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants and that they had a fabulous crop from them last year. fingers crossed for a repeat!

i think i need to take out some of the dead bits and maybe prune a little but i shouldn't imagine i need to do that much in this area. it was nice to inherit something nicely established like this.

part 3 is the area nearest the access road. it has a few things in it at the moment but needs more work. there is a little area for me to park my car here so that is ideal for offloading/loading :)

the stuff in the front of the allotment was some sort of gourd-type squash and there are a lot of old ones left so i will try to gather some seeds and see how they go. you can see the full allotment in this photo now. the 'shed end' furthest from us, the soft fruit area, and the 'road end'!

...and just because i could park on my allotment, i did! (can you spot me!?)

so, that's the tour so far. later i'll post about the produce already growing away when i took ownership and the inside of the quirky shed :)

My first allotment

i have an allotment! my very first. i'm so excited! been waiting a year already and they said it would take 3 years for one to become available. 'ken' from the parish council called me yesterday and offered me a plot. went to look at it yesterday and it is perfect! imagine the best allotment ever. got it? well, i have that plot! hehehe! can't wait to be in my own bit of outdoors. one thing living in a flat i have really missed is having some outdoor space. a balcony just doesn't cut the mustard!

so much has been done already which is better than getting a daunting bit of soil. so, there is:

• shed with massive window to sup tea in, including shelving
• a rustic seat under a cute tree to drink wine from
• a pond
• globe artichokes already in
• lots of raspberry/currant canes already established
• a row of strawberries
• a row of onions or something(!)
• 3 big water butts
• a big compost heap
• not too many weeds/quite good soil to get going on
• a 'friend' already called john, who said hello and gave me a tour of the plot and CLEARLY has plot envy as he was going on that i should take it and it is the best plot on the allotment!!!

allotment party anyone? ;) hehe! :D

i chose the name "The Green Grower" as it works on a few levels - 'green' in the colour sense, 'green' in that i am totally new to all this and 'green' in that i'd ideally like to be as organic as possible. the 'grower' part is pretty obvious!

this blog will be a record of day1 to whenever! i am a total novice gardener. always loved gardens and the idea of gardening and having an allotment to grow my own produce has always been a dream. now i have one so you can see how i get on. i'll also use this blog as a useful history of when i have planted things, how things have fared etc. all tips/tricks/advice welcome so do feel free to comment. wish me luck!