Links
- Henry Doubleday Research Association
- The gardener's almanac
- Organic Gardening Catalogue
- BBC Gardening
Archives
- 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003
- 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003
- 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003
- 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003
- 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
- 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
- 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
- 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
A day-to-day guide to creating an allotment garden from a starting point of absolutely no knowledge and no experience.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
I go to the local hire shop in New Malden to get a petrol strimmer. A very helpful bloke showed me how it works and helped me load it into the back of my car.
It makes short work of the long grass at the allotment but any bits of bramble knacker it a bit. Two hours later, and having used up all of the plastic cutter bit, most of the grass has been cut.
Now I'm ready for a bonfire before tackling the brambles that cover the final third of my patch.
It makes short work of the long grass at the allotment but any bits of bramble knacker it a bit. Two hours later, and having used up all of the plastic cutter bit, most of the grass has been cut.
Now I'm ready for a bonfire before tackling the brambles that cover the final third of my patch.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
I've enlisted the help of my dad - a bit of an expert on clearing gardens - to help me assess how best to clear the plot. I have an innate fear that other plot holders will see me using something like a hoe when I should be using a spade and snigger into their runner beans. I come equipped with my shears (which are very blunt) and we cut down about a square yard in a couple of hours. We soon realise we are going to need something bigger.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Today I got the key to the allotment site and am a fully paid up member of the Elm Road allotment association. I have grand plans for my little plot - plenty of potatoes, squashes, strawberries, fruit trees, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes and onions. But I've just been down again to have a look at it and the amount of clearing there is to be done is enormous. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. But I'm determined to crack on with it as soon as I have a few days off work.
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
I have just agreed to rent a plot at my local allotments. I read an article in the local paper that there were plots going spare and thought I might as well give it a go. I am a very inexperienced gardener but quite keen after growing tomatoes in my greenhouse this summer for the first time.
The allotment association chairman, Brian Swabey, shows me round. I think a half-plot (25m long by 5m wide) should be a big enough challenge. Brian shows me one that is hugely overgrown with 6ft tall grass covering two-thirds of it and a mass of brambles at the back. But it's got a shed and some compost bins, although they are full of rubbish. I agree to take it on and so the first challenge is going to be clearing it.
The allotment association chairman, Brian Swabey, shows me round. I think a half-plot (25m long by 5m wide) should be a big enough challenge. Brian shows me one that is hugely overgrown with 6ft tall grass covering two-thirds of it and a mass of brambles at the back. But it's got a shed and some compost bins, although they are full of rubbish. I agree to take it on and so the first challenge is going to be clearing it.
