In July 2023, John moved from the allotments' Gardening Club to his own half plot. Here he charts his journey...
It’s the end of summer 2024, and so much has changed since my last update.
I now have four main vegetable beds. Over last winter, I laid down cardboard covered with grass cuttings and compost and then more cardboard. It rotted down and has really enriched the soil - the potatoes I planted there are much bigger than last time. I followed that by planting sweetcorn, which went under netting to protect it from pigeons.
The grass cuttings have also helped to keep moisture in and the weeds down. I’m lucky as in the flat block where I live, I’ve arranged with the gardener who comes to take the grass cuttings for the communal garden and I wheelbarrow them down here and put them in my compost bin. I made two bins out of some old pallets.
READ: My new plot - a beginning
Speaking of grass, I also decided to have a little circular lawn area on my plot underneath the shade of the apricot tree, because plants wouldn’t grow well there. I sowed it and got it established last autumn. I picked a grass seed that said it was shade tolerant and didn’t mow it until late spring.
I then laid out some circular paths, which provided a nice organic shape, and I laid out two flower bed on one side of the plot. I put down some grass cutting compost down as a mulch and sowed a wild flower mix in that, along with some summer bulbs. That’s to try and attract pollinators.
Pond life
Nearby I have a barrel pond, which I put in in spring. I put down a paving slab underneath it so it's not sitting direct on the soil and won’t rot. It is in the shade of the apple tree a bit, which isn't ideal because it will collect leaves, but it's a moist spot and small enough to clean.
There's still lots to do. I haven't yet worked on the area under the two apple trees. Other than to strim it and keep the weeds down. I’m wondering about a clover lawn. Tana has been really helpful advising me on the apple trees – you’re supposed to have no more than three apple per spur, so I've been going around and pulling out the smallest apples and composting them.
In spring and summer I tried to come down a couple of times a week, either after work or in my lunch break. It’s a case of snatching half an hour and there and setting myself small tasks. Like just do the strimming one day and nothing else. If I do bits of everything I don’t get anything done.
In July I was delighted to be awarded newcomer plot of the year. I’m just learning from everyone else and I'm not doing it for awards, but that was a lovely bonus.
My next plan is to get a shed, so I need to look at the sizes and talk to the committee. And see what is working or not working on the plot. That is the joy of an allotment, it’s never finished.