Allotment gardening

I have some jobs to finish off before a brief half-term break in Paris. I finish digging the last bed and then lay down two barrow-loads of manure over the top of it. I'm planning to put some of the potatoes in here. Because I have recklessly been throwing the top layer of soil into the two neighbouring overgrown plots, it looks like there's been a war going on round this part of the plot. My hope is that no-one else will ever venture down this far. I then weed among the onions and broad beans. I haven't got a very good hoe so I use my son's Bill and Ben handfork instead. It looks much neater after I've finished and I then top dress both crops with chicken manure pellets. I did it last year as it is supposed to give them a boost after the winter and so I use up the remaining pellets and scatter them around the individual bean plants and onion bulbs. Let's hope there are enough pellets to give the crops the kick-start they need. I won't be seeing the plot for more than a week now. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised when I next walk down there.