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A day-to-day guide to creating an allotment garden from a starting point of absolutely no knowledge and no experience.
Monday, September 01, 2003
Another chance to get some clearing done. I am left with a covering of stubby grass over two-thirds of the allotment and then a mass of brambles over the last third.
With the help of my dad and a pair of long-handled shears we hack through the brambles and use a rake to pull out the worst of them. It is surprisingly fast work. We start a bonfire to get rid of the remainder of the grass and some of the brambles. But the dry weather means the fire spreads rapidly and leaps into the plot next to mine. Some quick work with a hose and bucket brings it under control - although we were tempted to let it burn when it caught hold among the brambles on my plot.
We continue to hack down as much as we can - tomorrow a professional gardener is coming to give us a quote on clearing and turning over the plot. We want to have done as much as possible in an attempt to get more for our money. In among all the brambles we discover three wooden compost bins. They are rotten and have more brambles sticking out of them. They look like they will be a pain to clear.
With the help of my dad and a pair of long-handled shears we hack through the brambles and use a rake to pull out the worst of them. It is surprisingly fast work. We start a bonfire to get rid of the remainder of the grass and some of the brambles. But the dry weather means the fire spreads rapidly and leaps into the plot next to mine. Some quick work with a hose and bucket brings it under control - although we were tempted to let it burn when it caught hold among the brambles on my plot.
We continue to hack down as much as we can - tomorrow a professional gardener is coming to give us a quote on clearing and turning over the plot. We want to have done as much as possible in an attempt to get more for our money. In among all the brambles we discover three wooden compost bins. They are rotten and have more brambles sticking out of them. They look like they will be a pain to clear.
