Allotment gardening

Today is a very significant day in the life of my allotment. It was exactly a year ago that I saw it for the first time - in all its overgrown, neglected glory. It's hard to believe a year has gone. We have had quite a lot of produce out of the 25m long by 5m wide plot. Among the highlights have been the onions, broad beans, courgettes, strawberries, lettuces, early potatoes and the carrots. Still to come are the delights of the maincrop of potatoes, the tomatoes and the squashes. The disappointments have been the garlic - hardly worth bothering with and the peas. I think the whole family has enjoyed having an allotment and making the regular trips down there to see what has grown. I certainly think it was among my better ideas to take it on. It has taken up a lot of time - and at times the work has been hard. I am staggered by the amount of weeds that still come through and the speed with which they attempt to reclaim the plot. But seeing the crops grow and then eating a salad made up of produce you have grown yourself takes some beating. I've learnt some good lessons for the coming year and am hoping things will get easier. I just hope it is not just a passing phase and that I will be posting another entry this time next year.