Monday 27 February 2012

Plot number 16

It's been 10 days since we last posted. We've been agonising during that period because of the wait for the town council to give us a ring and tell us which plot was ours. We had been drawing up fantasy plans in our head and on paper, and today the letter came telling us which plot was ours.

I could not believe it when I saw which plot we had. Plot number 16.

The reason why we could not believe it is because it is directly in fron of my old alloment. Plot number 17. During my 3 years of allotmenteering on the site plot number 16 had never, ever been touched. It was just a weedy patch with a big fruit tree on it.

It was strange going back to the site today, I expected to walk straight past plot number 16 and on to plot number 17. It looks like in the 2 years I have been away from the site, plot number 16 has remained deprived of the sight of a spade the whole time. Something will be changing over the next week or so when we both recover from our winter colds.

Let me introduce you to plot number 16...



The plot starts at where I am standing and goes all the way past the big tree and then back to the greenhouse that used to be mine. It is a good sized plot, very narrow, but a good size. You can see the two plots either side of me are tended to so mark the boundary. There is a very small path (one foot in front of the other) between the plots.

The huge tree, I think if I remember correctly is an apple tree. But which variety, I do not know. It will be interesting to see what fruit starts forming on there this summer. Here is the view of the plot from the tree down to the houses...



Despite feeling ill, we've been drawing up plans and shopping lists so we can get started quickly...



We want to have 6 beds on our allotment and we will rotate the crops grown  in each bed every year to ensure good crop rotation and ensure we care for the soil correctly and avoid diseases building up. The six beds will be for soft fruit (which will be permanently fixed), squash, potatoes, roots and beans, brassicas and alliums. The top 1/5 of the allotment will hopefully be slabbed with the shed and a table positioned there. There will also be a couple of compost bins and a raised bed for growing salad leaves and a few lettuces. The beds will be divided by maintained grass paths to enable easy access around the plot.

We really feel that a shed is an absolute essential for the plot, it is somewhere to store tools, shelter from rain and to do all of the small potting jobs in the summer. We are going to ask for permission to erect a shed from the town council tomorrow when we go to pay the rates for the year. For £25 per year you have to admit this really is a bargain. However, it has gone up £9 since I vacated plot 17 just over 2 years ago, which is quite an inflation!

I've written a comprehensive shopping list and a production target for each vegetable (You can tell I study operations management at university) and I am going to work out how much it will cost us to start up the allotment this year against how much the worth of our veg should be.

We are both completly excited about the project and can't wait to get our hands dirty as soon as we rid of this cold!

Thanks for stopping by and reading. With spring now in the air we hope to bring you lots of interesting updates over the coming weeks about the advances on the plot!

Martin

7 comments:

  1. great news you finally got your plot, SOOO wahnt that fruit tree! you sound like me and my wife sis last year we couldnt wait to get stuck in too. your plan looks smart and hope it pays of for you.
    stace

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Stacy! We've been looking at your blog for ideas too!

      Martin :0)

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  2. Will the apples be yours? Do other people have sheds? That sounds so sensible since dragging tools back and forth would be tiring. Do people ever steal produce from someone else? I have so much land and no one to help with anything....sigh.

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    1. I suppose they'll have to be ours Linda. :0)
      On plot number 17 there is a bramley apple tree and I used to have the apples from that. Obviously some may fall on to other people's plots which is out of my control so they are more than welcome to them. Plot number 14 has a damson tree so hopefully some of those will fall on to my plot too.
      In my 3 years on the site before the only 'stealing' I ever witnessed was people taking the odd strawberry or raspberry as they passed. The only other time I saw people taking stuff was when there were 2 massively overgrown sites but it had all the veg planted in, it sort of became a communal allotment and people were taking all sorts of things from that. Not sure if it belonged to anyone or not, so best to keep away from it.
      It's a shame you can't find somebody to help with your land. Have you tried Landshare or other things like that?

      Martin

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  3. I think I feel as excited as you both - I remember when you had the other plot. I am sure you both will make a great success of it. How lucky to have a fruit tree - you'll be in profit from year one if you sell the fruit and make jams etc with it - and of course freeze some for the winter.

    You'll have to take measurements - I'll want to know all the details.

    Have fun - and get rid of those colds

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    1. Still have colds this morning which is frustrating.

      I can't believe I didn't think to take measurements when we had the flying visit yesterday. I'll definately do that tomorrow.

      Thanks for stopping by and reading! :0)

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  4. Exciting. I'm sure you'll soon have the plot looking ship shape.

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