Grand Erections ....No this is not a porn site

This morning I went over to the allotment to tweak the base and get things ready, Emma drove over with Kelly and Jen (My wife) a little later, and they assisted in holding the first couple of panels to get the ball rolling. They left Jen with me and she helped and stayed with me for the whole day. Her twin Keith and his wife Pauline also came over and Keith got to work on getting his base ready on his plot after popping to B&Q for the slabs.

Photographs below are Jen with the Shed (no she isn’t tall the shed is short, in fact quite a lot shorter that I thought. And a couple of wide shots, from the usual locations just for record purposes!.

Attacking the Ivy and a Base for the Shed

Saturday 17th Nov and I was doing what it says in the title of this entry, no real option now that the shed has arrived and I want to get the soft elements covered i.e the floor by the shed and the roof by some felt, plus it will be good to have somewhere to stack the tools and make base camp –Boys always love having a camp or a place to call their own and most of us men still have that child in us somewhere.

I now have the massive pile of Ivy to cut up and get rid off and the plot looks more untidy than it did – but I keep telling myself I will get it cleared before next season. I’m on orders from the wife that we have to go shopping next weekend due to my daughters Birthday and something called Christmas that is fast approaching........  

The Shed Arrives

Friday lunch time, I received a phone call that the sheds had arrived,  so I dashed up to help Keith hump them from the entrance to our plots, we alternated the destinations for each element, so that we had a long walk to Keith’s’ Plot 6 followed by a shorter walk to my Plot 1A. Luck for us Keith was not working today as he in on shift work and could wait between 7am – 7pm for it too arrive…

Bedding Layouts - How many can I fit in?

I have my initial list of what I want to grow after talking to my wife and daughters, so now I need to work out how many and where to grown them allowing for a 3 year crop rotation so I thought first thing is to work out what I can fit in a bed....

Plan Layout Review

Here is the latest Master Plan after seeing the photograph at the top of this posting http://digtheoutside.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/the-nosey-gardener/

Remembrance Day on the Allotment

I was up and dressed and waiting for daylight, whilst the wife and kids were still in bed condensing snot. Out into the cold and scraped off the ice from the car windows – “Bloody hell I should have the ground turned, over this stuff can be helping me” goes through my mind….

So I arrived at the allotment just as there was enough daylight to see what I was doing, by time I had my boots on and unlocked the gates and trudged to my plot the sun was just coming up (yep the sun a big yellow ball in a very clear blue sky).

I did not hang around and started to attack the weeds and brambles with one of the scythes that Keith found in his Asbestos Shed before it was removed!! I am so glad that he did, I would have been lost without it.

Whilst on the site, Keith phoned me to say they had bought the sheds and they are being delivered next Friday!  There I was thinking that I had at least another two weeks to clear and get a base ready… It will be good to have somewhere to put the tools away.

During the day I have been visited by a Cat and Fox after the Chickens on the plot three down, a Robin after anything I may expose and the biggest Toad that I have ever seen. The Bees humming in the Ivy tree sounded like a well lubricated motor and for some reason I was not worried about them, normally I’m petrified of the bloody things, but we were all doing our own things and they are going to help me grow stuff.

This year has not been kind, with the stress of my wife turning blue, and spending weeks in hospitals and then my Mother dying, plus the usual life and work pressures. Allotment Therapy is really helping me to chill out a little and get away into a little nice relaxing place in my mind.

The photographs are the state of play at the end of the day after covering up all the piles of cut weeds so that they can remain dry and dry out more so that I can burn them to add back to the soil and save me many trips to the dump.

In Search of a Wheel Barrow (or Part thereof)

King Arthur called his knights around him and spoke “Gentleman, forget the Grail……go search the lands and find me an economic sturdy wheelbarrow for Cadalot's allotment” and they went on their quest ….

OK I did myself and used the internet – If you’re in a similar position then below are the direct links to the pages with Wheelbarrows. Keith (my brother-in-law) popped around the other night and he was about to buy a new wheel for his wheelbarrow from B&Q

Then Keith had an idea, if he used a £6 can of tire inflator (which are single-use devices intended to provide a quick, temporary solution to drivers who experience flat tires), he would not have to pay £15.59 for a new tire for his wheelbarrow.

That was when I told him that that he could but a whole galvanised wheelbarrow currently “on offer” at Greenfingers for just £19.99

Argos	B&Q	EasyBarrow	e-bay
Greenfingers	Homebase	Screwfix	Tesco
Wicks	Wilkinson

All the above links go to pages about Wheelbarrows I’m very Victor Meldrew and "I don't believe it" the vast variations shape style, colour and price when comparing like for like.  

Still Clearing The Weeds

I got a few hours in on the plot today started at 7:00 am 

Cut my way into and beyond the gate and fence to the top half of the plot, and found a tribe of pigmy's in the long grass, who told me their name, can you guess it?

Found yet another stack of glass sheets

I took the pallet fence and gate down and they are now leaning against the wall. I didn't find the compost bin in the photograph when I cleared the weeds, Jackie at the local Authority put me  in touch with a lady who no longer wanted her compost bin, so I went and collected it and dropped it off at the allotment during the week. I've decided that I'm not going to try and compost anything from the initial clearance of the plot but I'm saving material from home to bring to site  

View from the East looking West

View from the South Looking North

I've used the rotting pallet fence to make an enclosure for the cut vegitation so that it can dry out and I can have a bonfire once all the grass & weed are down and dry, I will be covering the piles up later before the sun goes down and the rain clouds arrive to make it all wet again. Even I know that wet grass and weed will not burn ;0)

Hopefully in the summer when the sun is higher in the sky that tree will not cast a shadow over my plot.

And the pigmy's are called the Fuckarwe tribe as you guessed, they jump up and down in the long grass saying "where the fuck are we, where the fuck are we?"

Local Societies

Benhill Crescent Horticultural Society: The BCHS trading hut is open on Sunday mornings 10.00 – 12.30 throughout the year. Supplies of potatoes, seeds, and many allotment and garden items are available, at very reasonable prices. Membership costs just £1.

Cheam and Cuddington Horticultural Society: evening meetings at St Christopher’s Church Hall, Dallas Road, Cheam, Surrey, SM3 8RS, 8.00 pm. – All enquiries to Mike Snowdon. Telephone (020) 8642 9670

Epsom Garden Society: meetings at St Barnabas Church Hall, Temple Road, Epsom, 8pm, admisssion £1.

Stanley Road Allotment and Garden Society: trading hut open Saturdays 11.00 am to 1.00 pm, Sundays 9.45 am to noon.

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